Our friend Ramon rode the train, and this automatic 2-speed folding bike, to Flying Pigeon LA from Covina yesterday. He let me take it for a test ride. It was cool! Waiting for the hub to shift was nerve wracking, but a great change of pace from my heavy duty bakfiets I ride everyday.

The hub changes into a harder gear automatically when the bike speeds up, and drops down into an easier gear when the bike slows down. The tricky part, as mentioned above, is knowing when that shift will occur.

The bike is a folder of the old Raleigh 20 style – with a hinge on the stem and a hinge midway through the frame. The wheels are 24″. Ramon told me he got the bike through eBay – which explains the Wisconsin bike license.

The Brooks B72 was a nice touch. Ramon is a frugal, and funny, guy – he made a big deal about how “high tech” his homemade tool bag was. It turns out that shoelaces that match the paint and some canvas make a functional tool roll.

How did it ride? The bike was obviously well looked after – it was smooth and nimble. Anyone who’s ridden an old Enlgish 3-speed can attest to the slight increase in their pulse when you consider the age of the bike as you hammer down on the pedals to put it through it’s paces. For me, it that usually comes in the form of, “Gee, I hope these cotters will hold.”

The shift to a harder gear happened as the bike hit the pace of someone jogging beside you. How did it feel?

Clunk.

“I see I am now in a harder gear. What happens when I squeeze this handbrake?”

“What happens when I squeeze this handbrake and engage the coaster brake?”

The bike slows and, just as you reach walking speed, it clunks back down to the easy gear.

The two speeds should be named “Window Shopping” and “Get out of Dodge” – as they engage or disengage at about the speeds you’d be doing either of those two activities.

All in all, I enjoyed the couple of minutes I shared with this funky of German automatic 2-speed. Thanks, Ramon!