This was the instruction manual that came with the bike when purchased...
dimanche 28 février 2010
vendredi 26 février 2010
A Rather Muddy Belgian Outing
Took the Micro to Belgium this week. After a rather rainy Tuesday, Wednesday morning promised better things, with the sun making a feeble effort to come out. Despite all the rain, the roads weren't too bad, except for the bits near the kerb, and of course the cycle "lanes". Cycled down from the hotel to the office, nominally 6 and a bit kilometres, but the GPS kept trying to send me back onto the (busy) main road. Several attempts at keeping away from traffic resulted in an extra three kilometres added to the trip. The last kilometer, a long drag of 1km on a steadily rising cycle track along a very busy road was particularly difficult; the track was strewn with debris, lots of mud and at the top some guys were in the process of cutting back trees, blocking the path.
Arrived at work with a damp patch on back of shirt. Must rethink dress code..
Arrived at work with a damp patch on back of shirt. Must rethink dress code..
The evening was equally nice, even a rare sunset. Cycled back to the hotel; first three km, know the way well enough by now. Wind in the back, roads drying out quite nicely. Last three km a nightmare. GPS directed me on to a narrow, single-lane mudbath with several cars crossed en-route. Poor bike suffered. Spent half an hour and half a roll of bog paper in the hotel cleaning it up. Didn't use it Thursday apart from the very last leg from my station to my house (3km, uphill into a southerly gale).
samedi 20 février 2010
Cresswell Micro Statistics
Cockpit (length from centre of seatpost to bars : 66cm
Standover height : 53 cm
Bottom Bracket height : 28 cm
Max seat height : 101cm
Wheelbase : 89cm
Front Fork Trail : 5cm
Crank length : 172,5mm
(Try comparing these to your bike or your folder).
In terms of folded size, I have compared the Micro with two "similar" bikes, the Brompton and the Dahon Curve D3:
D3 : 34 x 67 x 64 = ,145 cubic metres
Brompton : 27 x 58,5 x 56,5 = ,089 cubic metres
Micro : 76 x 51 x 38 = 0.147 cubic metres
Head Tube Badgemercredi 17 février 2010
How to Fold & Unfold a Cresswell Micro
Folding a Cresswel Micro is relatively simple, although the folded package is less neat than a Brompton, and the chain is "on the outside", so beware of yours and other folks' clothes. Folded, the whole thing measures 76 x 51 x 38cm, or 0.147 cubic metres, well inside the limits defined by some train companies.You can of course make the folded package smaller by removing the saddle, better for putting bike in bag.
To fold, start by unlocking the seat post quick release and push the seat post down into the frame. While you are down there, might as well fold the pedals up too. Now, open the main frame clamp by unscrewing and pivot the frame so that the front fork locks into the grip on the real triangle, left hand side. Finally, unscrew the clamp holding the handlebar stem in place and fold the bars down, these should be held to the frame by another grip. Some hints - the left hand pedal should be under the bars, so that the weight of the bike rests on the pedal and not on your headlight or gear shifter.
To re-assemble the bike, firstly unclip the handlebars, at the same time swing the front part of the frame round so that it meets the back half. If you try to unfold the frame without unfolding the bars, it is quite likely that the bars will hit the plastic guard around the chain wheel. Tighten the bar and frame clamps by screwing the lock. Unfold the pedals next, with the VP folding pedals there is a little tab which you turn 90° to prevent the pedal from folding up. The hardest part of unfolding is pulling the seat tube out and finding the correct height before closing the quick release. After a while the limit mark wears off and in the dark it is
quite difficult to find. I have made a scratch so that I can find the limit mark. Under no circumstances should you ride the bike past the limit mark.
Voilà, your steed is ready for the road. Just one final tip; make sure that the brake and gear cables are on the left side of the bike once unfolded. Otherwise I have found that the brakes don't work quite as well.
To fold, start by unlocking the seat post quick release and push the seat post down into the frame. While you are down there, might as well fold the pedals up too. Now, open the main frame clamp by unscrewing and pivot the frame so that the front fork locks into the grip on the real triangle, left hand side. Finally, unscrew the clamp holding the handlebar stem in place and fold the bars down, these should be held to the frame by another grip. Some hints - the left hand pedal should be under the bars, so that the weight of the bike rests on the pedal and not on your headlight or gear shifter.
To re-assemble the bike, firstly unclip the handlebars, at the same time swing the front part of the frame round so that it meets the back half. If you try to unfold the frame without unfolding the bars, it is quite likely that the bars will hit the plastic guard around the chain wheel. Tighten the bar and frame clamps by screwing the lock. Unfold the pedals next, with the VP folding pedals there is a little tab which you turn 90° to prevent the pedal from folding up. The hardest part of unfolding is pulling the seat tube out and finding the correct height before closing the quick release. After a while the limit mark wears off and in the dark it is
quite difficult to find. I have made a scratch so that I can find the limit mark. Under no circumstances should you ride the bike past the limit mark.
Voilà, your steed is ready for the road. Just one final tip; make sure that the brake and gear cables are on the left side of the bike once unfolded. Otherwise I have found that the brakes don't work quite as well.
The Micro foldedmardi 16 février 2010
A bit of history...
I am the proud owner of a Cresswell Micro purchased from Messrs Pratt & Co in Hull, frame number M511. The velocipede was obtained in January 1998.
Despite one or two outings in Eurostar from time to time, the machine earns its keep on the not-so-faraway shores of Paris, France, where it is regarded as something of a curiosity.
Initially, its primary function was to make the liaison between my former home at Clichy and SNCF Clichy-Levallois (about 1,5 km) and at the other end of the journey twixt SNCF La Verrière and my office at Maurepas (3.5 km). I had to change trains twice, but I devised a system for finding the best place on the train.
La Verrière-Maurepas is almost exclusively on cycle path, whilst at the Parisian end I used to risk my neck mixing it with other heavier road users. Generally traffic noticed me - a six footer on a bright yellow bike with sixteen inch wheels is pretty obvious.
Eventually we moved house, further out into the suburbs, on the side of a fairly steep hill (well for a bike with little wheels & three gears). So Micro went into semi-retirement, coming out for the occasional trip to the UK. Recently, a new project at work meant that I will be spending some time in Belgium, where the link between the hotel/station/office is a tad sketchy. Two colleagues have bought Bromptons, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to dig the Micro out of its quiet life. Unfortunately the weather has been lousy for commuting this Winter so as often as not, the Micro sleeps during the day in a nice warm hotel room !
The Micro runs well, a bit too much flex in the bars for my liking, though. At first I experienced a serious failure in the bar stem resulting in cracks appearing in the stem tube; Pashley were called and a replacement piece arrived within a week, free of charge. The replacement part is an improved design and the fault has not reappeared.
I'm not over impressed with the choice of gears; first is a waste of space - the thing just wheelies, second is too low and third too high. The jump in between is enormous. I've punctured twice to date, and getting the small tyres back on is a job and a half!
I've successfully fitted a Cateye Mity 2 computer and a Cateye Krypton front headlight to the bike as well as a Zèfal LED on the seat-tube. Micro has been to the countryside once and it was fun, but really it's a "vélo de ville". I recently replaced the original Swallow tyres with Schwalbe Marathons in a bid to resist the dodgy Brabant road surfaces. I'll blog my findings eventually once the tyres get some miles in.
Despite one or two outings in Eurostar from time to time, the machine earns its keep on the not-so-faraway shores of Paris, France, where it is regarded as something of a curiosity.
Initially, its primary function was to make the liaison between my former home at Clichy and SNCF Clichy-Levallois (about 1,5 km) and at the other end of the journey twixt SNCF La Verrière and my office at Maurepas (3.5 km). I had to change trains twice, but I devised a system for finding the best place on the train.
La Verrière-Maurepas is almost exclusively on cycle path, whilst at the Parisian end I used to risk my neck mixing it with other heavier road users. Generally traffic noticed me - a six footer on a bright yellow bike with sixteen inch wheels is pretty obvious.
Eventually we moved house, further out into the suburbs, on the side of a fairly steep hill (well for a bike with little wheels & three gears). So Micro went into semi-retirement, coming out for the occasional trip to the UK. Recently, a new project at work meant that I will be spending some time in Belgium, where the link between the hotel/station/office is a tad sketchy. Two colleagues have bought Bromptons, so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to dig the Micro out of its quiet life. Unfortunately the weather has been lousy for commuting this Winter so as often as not, the Micro sleeps during the day in a nice warm hotel room !
The Micro runs well, a bit too much flex in the bars for my liking, though. At first I experienced a serious failure in the bar stem resulting in cracks appearing in the stem tube; Pashley were called and a replacement piece arrived within a week, free of charge. The replacement part is an improved design and the fault has not reappeared.
I'm not over impressed with the choice of gears; first is a waste of space - the thing just wheelies, second is too low and third too high. The jump in between is enormous. I've punctured twice to date, and getting the small tyres back on is a job and a half!
I've successfully fitted a Cateye Mity 2 computer and a Cateye Krypton front headlight to the bike as well as a Zèfal LED on the seat-tube. Micro has been to the countryside once and it was fun, but really it's a "vélo de ville". I recently replaced the original Swallow tyres with Schwalbe Marathons in a bid to resist the dodgy Brabant road surfaces. I'll blog my findings eventually once the tyres get some miles in.
lundi 15 février 2010
Bienvenue !
Welcome to this, the first-ever Cresswell Micro Owners' Blog.
The idea is to share experiences, technical stuff, hints & just stories about this underrated folding bicycle.
To start out with, here's mine:
The idea is to share experiences, technical stuff, hints & just stories about this underrated folding bicycle.
To start out with, here's mine:
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