Tyrell IVE - First Impressions

It has been quite a while since I upgraded or got a new bike. Reason is that I have tried many different bikes, and I already know what I want. From there, the remaining bikes that I own are those that are really useful and are really what I want.

However, sometimes I do want to try riding a new bike, even though I don't need to own it. The best way to do this is to borrow a bike, preferably for an extended period of time, so that there is time to test it comprehensively.

For this year's OCBC Cycle, I wanted to try riding something different. Last year I rode the Brompton M6R for OCBC Cycle, so this year I want to test another bike. I asked MyBikeShop to see if I could borrow a bike from them, for me to try out for about one month or so. A folding bike is more ideal as I can transport it more easily to the start point of OCBC Cycle.

A Tyrell IVE was available for me to borrow, and it was actually what I had in mind! By coincidence they had a spare Tyrell IVE that I could borrow, and it was something that I could try for an extended period of time. I did try it when it was first launched in Singapore, but it was too brief to form any judgement.

From the point when I borrowed the bike, to the date for OCBC Cycle, I had about one month to test ride the bike, with the final test being the OCBC Cycle 42km Sportive Ride. It is also a great chance to study the Tyrell IVE in detail, and to compare it with my other two folding bikes, the Dahon MuEX and the Brompton M6R.

As this bike is new to me, there are many details that I am seeing for the first time. In order for me to give a detailed account of the Tyrell IVE, I will need to split the blog post into a few parts, so that the post does not become too long.

Let's start with the introduction of the bike, which is also my first impression of the bike.

Tyrell IVE, the first 18" folding bike by Tyrell, with less focus on speed and more on urban practicality.

IVE logo displayed prominently on the top tube. This bike also comes in a dark red colour which looks good.

Triangular mainframe made of chromoly steel means that the ride will be stiffer than other folding bikes with just one big top tube, such as Dahon or Brompton. The tube shapes are also special, as they are not round tubes like most other steel framed bikes.

Front luggage truss mounting point is available, if you choose to mount a basket in front.

Handlepost design is similar to that by Tern, which clamps onto a long section of steerer tube. This should give a stiff handlepost, which Tern is good at.

Interesting looking clamp that links the horizontal handlebar to the vertical section of the handlepost. After measuring, I found that you can actually mount a regular stem on the handlepost, with the handlebar offset forward like a regular full sized bike.

You can't miss this big red lever installed on the handlebar!

This lever releases the rear catch that holds the rear triangle to the mainframe, allowing you to fold down the rear triangle easily. Brompton uses a lever on the rear suspension for the same function.

Normal Tektro V brake levers

Shimano Sora 9 speed shifter, for road flat handlebar. 9 speeds should be sufficient for an urban bike.

Sora 9 speed road rear derailleur, with a medium cage length.

9 speed 11-30t cassette

Tyrell branded front and rear hubs. Smooth spinning but not the lightest.

Tektro V brakes, with slightly shorter brake arms compared to regular V brakes.

Tyrell branded crankset, with a 53T chainring but a 58T chainguard. Allows you to upsize the chainring while using the same chainguard.

Left crankarm and bottom bracket cups.

Seatpost clamp. The lever feel is not so nice as the shape is not ergonomic. Besides, the tip of the lever will scratch the top tube when you close the lever.

Another Tyrell branded component, the aluminium seatpost. It has the same diameter as Dahon/Tern seatposts, at 33.9mm.

Normal saddle, slightly wider than usual.

Another view of the full bike from the non-drive side.

This bike is equipped with 18" tires, 40-355, or 18" x 1.5". Although it says 18", it is actually almost the same size as the Brompton 16" wheels, which has a size of 37-349. The rim diameter of 349mm vs 355mm is very close, the inner tubes are actually the same, although the tires are still different.

The gear range, with 18" (16" actually) wheels, 53T front chainring and 11-30T rear cassette, will be 28.3" to 77". The actual gear range might be slightly higher due to the relatively fat tires. Even so, this gear range is still quite low, which is why some people upgrade to larger chainrings on this bike.

From my first impression, this bike has a nice frame design, with a sensible choice of components and parts. What is not so ideal is the weight, as it comes in at 11.5kg (without pedals) in stock condition. It looks lighter than it actually weighs, which I am not sure is a compliment or not. A regular Brompton M6R will weight about 12kg.

The chromoly steel frame and rear triangle probably contributes quite a bit to the overall weight. If those parts are made of aluminium, it will definitely be lighter, but the folding design might not work, as will be explained in the later posts.

How does it fold compared to Dahon or Brompton? How does it ride compared to the Brompton? These will be analysed in future posts.

Fizik Saddle Bracket with Cateye Rapid 3 Rear Light

The Canyon Endurace came with a Fizik Aliante R3 saddle, which is the first Fizik saddle that I ever had. What is special about some Fizik saddles is that it has an integrated rear light mount under the saddle. This means that some compatible rear lights can be installed under the saddle neatly.

Fizik saddle, with a plastic cover taking the place of the saddle bracket that is needed to mount a rear light.

With the plastic cover removed, the saddle is now ready to accept the saddle bracket that can be used to mount a rear light.

Depending on which rear light you want to use, you need to get the correct bracket to fix the rear light to the saddle. For me, I will be using a Cateye rear light, and so I got the Cateye saddle bracket.

Cateye saddle bracket that is used to mount a Cateye rear light to a Fizik saddle.

It comes with two different sized brackets as different rear lights and saddle will require different bracket lengths to work.

Short bracket on the left, long bracket on the right.

Cateye Rapid 3 rear light. I would have preferred a USB rechargeable rear light, but I could not find a suitable one.

Battery life of up to 80 hours in flashing mode, which is excellent.

Battery run time for the different lighting modes.

Although the light works well, there are some areas on the light where the build or design quality is poor. It used to be better, until cost cutting measures came in and some quality was sacrificed to achieve lower costs...

Edges of the Cateye badge sticking out, which looks really poor.

This is because there is only one snap fit in the middle, with the edges free to deform.

Uses 1 x AA battery. The rubber seal at the edge of the housing also comes off easily.

Lighting quality is good, with the two smaller LEDs at the side...

...and one big LED in the middle.

Together with the small bracket, the light and bracket weighs 56 grams.

The rear light slides onto the bracket...

...which is then inserted into the saddle mount.

Sticks out quite a bit from the saddle. Still leaves sufficient space for a saddle bag.

View from the rear. Depending on your saddle angle, the light angle will vary.

Advantages:
1) Compact as it does not take up space on the saddle rail.
2) Integrated look.
3) Another light can be mounted on the saddle bag or seatpost.

Disadvantages:
1) When moving your bike, most people will lift the rear saddle. In this case, they will end up pulling the light, causing it to drop out from the bracket.
2) Light angle is linked to the saddle angle.
3) Limited choice of rear lights.

What I feel is that if you already have a Fizik saddle, this is an option for mounting a secondary rear light. However, if you are thinking of getting a Fizik saddle just to mount a rear light on the saddle, you should reconsider as I don't think it is worth it. Good to have but not a strong enough reason to switch saddles.

Cycliq Duo Mount - For Garmin + Fly12

When I ordered the Cycliq Fly 6 CE, I received a free Cycliq Duo Mount as I was one of those who made the pre-order. It was a nice surprise as I did not know that when I placed the order. Also, the mount is apparently quite expensive so it was a good offset from the price of the Fly 6 CE.

The funny thing is that this Cycliq Duo Mount was shipped separately from the Fly 6 CE, and it actually arrived before the Fly 6 CE! When I first received it, it looked just like any other ordinary combination mount, which I already have a few.

Almost all combination mounts have an interface on top for a Garmin cycle computer, while the bottom side has a GoPro type of mounting for your camera. This is good enough if you are using a Garmin on top and a GoPro or similar camera. However, what happens if you are using a Cateye cycle computer instead?

I found that there are actually a few different adapters for the top mount, so that you can install different cycle computers on it. Other than the most common Garmin type, it also has those less popular types such as Cateye, Polar, Wahoo, etc.

The only bike where I have a chance to use this mount would be the Avanti Inc 3, but it already has a REC Mount which allows me to install a Cateye cycle computer on top and the Cycliq Fly 12 front camera/light at the bottom.

One problem I had with the REC Mount is that the mount itself prevents me from accessing the Fly 12 charging port easily. Since I already have this new Cycliq Duo Mount, I might as well give it a try to see if it is better.

Packaging for Cycliq Duo Mount, with the other adapters visible. 

As stated, it comes with optional mounting disks (adapters) to make it compatible to a wide range of cycle computers. 

Weighs 43 grams without any adapters installed. It feels strong and rigid as it is designed to withstand the weight of the Fly 12. 

With the Cateye adapter and the fixing bolt at the bottom, the weight comes up to 59 grams. 

Installing the Cateye adapter was an interesting process. The adapter uses two countersunk bolts to attach the adapter to the aluminium mount. However, the Cateye adapter layout is such that the design gets in the way of the second bolt (refer to picture below).

 

First bolt for Cateye adapter installed easily. How do I install the second bolt? Can I do without it?

I tried using the adapter with only one bolt installed. The adapter is not loose, however the Cateye button does not work. For those who have used Cateye cycle computers before, the bottom of the Cateye screen is actually the "button". Pressing that area will cause a bump on the adapter to push the actual button located at the back of the Cateye cycle computer.

However, on this adapter, as the bump which is located on the plastic tab is not supported from below (refer to picture above), the Cateye button cannot be activated. I realised that the only way to make it work was to install the second bolt UNDER the bump on the Cateye adapter. Therefore I had to bend the tab on the adapter by almost 90 degrees so that I can slip the second bolt underneath and tighten it, all the while praying that the tab does not snap off. This is quite a strange design as it can fail easily, but I could not see any other way around it.

After installing the second bolt under the tab with the bump, the Cateye cycle computer can be activated! Luckily the thin plastic did not break off. 

With the Fly 12 also installed underneath the mount. Looks to be a much cleaner and tidier arrangement as compared to using the REC mount. 

The clamp for the mount is located on the left side of the stem, which is good as it does not interfere with the Alfine Di2 Digital Display which is mounted on the right side.

With this Cycliq Duo Mount, the one-armed mount construction no longer obstructs access to the charging port of the Fly 12. Also, everything just looks neater, compared to the utilitarian design of the REC mount. Overall, I am pleased with the Cycliq Duo Mount as it is a better mount. Best of all, it came free of charge!

Cycliq Fly6 CE - Rear Camera + Rear Light

If you don't already know, Cycliq makes the Fly 6, which is a rear camera plus rear light for bicycles. I have been using it since the second generation Fly 6 came out, which is more than 3 years ago. It is so popular because it is easy to use. Turning on the rear light also turns on the rear camera, and the video recording overwrites the earliest data when the memory card is full, similar to a car camera. This removes the need to manually delete the footage on the memory card when it is full. The only time you need to remove the Fly 6 from the bike is when you need to charge it, or when you are using it on another bike.

Recently, the Fly 6 was updated again, to Fly 6 CE, which stands for Connected Edition. It can now be linked to the Garmin cycle computer, so that you can control the recording or the light modes from the computer. Not that I need it, as I don't think I need to change the mode on the go. However, what attracted me to the latest version is the upgraded video quality.

The previous versions had a video quality of HD, which is 720p. However, under less ideal lighting conditions, the video footage will become grainy and low quality. The new Fly 6 CE has increased the resolution to Full HD, 1920x1280p at 60 frames per second! This is excellent and it is my main reason to upgrade to the Fly 6 CE. For examples of video quality, just check out Youtube.

New all black design makes the light looks more sleek and less obtrusive.

New packaging

Similar layout, with the big camera lens on top and the LEDs below. The casing is now all black instead of red to blend in with the bike.

Power/mode button on the side

Brightness selection button on the other side. 

The charging port (USB-C) is on top, right beside the Micro SD card slot. Covered by a rubber flap for rain resistance.

Instead of strapping the whole unit to the seatpost, it now attaches to a bracket via a twist type mount, similar to the Garmin type. The bracket remains on the bike.

Weighs 112 grams without the mounting hardware

Comes with a whole bunch of rubber shims, velcro strap and bracket to match almost any kind of seatpost.

Weighs 127 grams with one set of mounting.

Taking a closer look at the bracket, I found that it only works in one direction, as there is a stopper. No wonder I could only twist it in one direction instead of both directions like on the Garmin.

Installing and removing the fly 6 CE is easy, just twist it off like the Garmin.

Comparing the size to the previous version, the Fly 6 [v]. Much smaller in size as the mount is not part of the unit.

Much bigger lens on the new version!

Ring of red light around the lens, a signature design of the Fly 6.

The LEDs are really bright, and I find that using the low or medium brightness mode is sufficient.

For full HD recording at high FPS, a high performance micro SD card is necessary. This one is on Cycliq's list of recommended micro SD cards.

The camera and lights work well, and can be configured on the phone by downloading the app. However, the PC app does not work no matter what I try, luckily it works on the phone app.

Another issue is the poor quality of the velcro strap. It has a rubber coating for improved grip with the seatpost, but this layer of rubber peels off easily. Not a big issue as it can be solved by some DIY, just a little bit annoying that this is happening when it is new.

Black rubber layer peeling off the back of the velcro strap.

How it looks as mounted on the bike! All black look matches the bike well.

New bracket has a lower profile, which is good as it ensures that the VCLS seatpost can work properly without being constrained by the velcro strap.

For a super detailed review, refer to the one by DC Rainmaker, which is the benchmark for a good reviews with technical details and unbiased comments.