Comments on: Hey, Gilbert! What is that?

By: JoeMiller

JoeMiller — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 22:02:17 +0000

In reply to Rob E.. Looks like fun to ride.

By: Rob E.

Rob E. — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:08:24 +0000

I had never heard of it until it popped up on Craigslist. I don’t know that it was innovative as much as a cheaper knock-off the Raleigh Twenty, Moulton, and other collapsible bikes of the day, but for a small wheel bike, it’s got a long wheel base, making a solid, smooth ride. It doesn’t shrink down small by the iXi standards (or by any folding bike standards. It’s the pickup truck of folding bikes), but it fits in the car, so it gets to go places the other bikes don’t.
Dolled up for the Sho Nuff memorial ride: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_e/4499106664/
Carrying me around Ohio:
https://picasaweb.google.com/woodstock42/OhioMay2009#5345706480416927010
It’s a fun, little(ish) bike.

By: JoeMiller

JoeMiller — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 17:25:39 +0000

In reply to Rob E.. Sears! Who would have guessed they were pioneers in cycling. (OK, maybe not pioneers. But they saw the potential in something unusual. I was so intrigued by the Tote-Cycle, Rob, that I had to Google it.

By: Rob E.

Rob E. — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:16:47 +0000

I got to test ride one of those around the Yanceyville square last fall. Nice little bike. It still tempts me, and when/if my 40 year-old, break-apart bike gives up the ghost, this would make a fitting replacement. The iXi is like the futuristic, high-tech, great-grandson of my old Sears Tote-Cycle. And Gilbert’s shop is indeed a cluttered warehouse of everything I ever wanted to add to my bike, not to mention the bikes themselves. And so much of what you’ll see on the shelf is what most shops would consider specialty items, and would have to order them. It’s a dangerous and wonderful shop for a person who loves bicycles.