Outdooritis: The Return of the Cycling Lust via the XDS FA-20 Bicycle

My XDS FA-20 bicycle.

How long has it been since the last time I rode a bicycle. The last time was with my girlfriend now wife at Taman Botani Negara Shah Alam (also known as Taman Cahaya Sri Alam). And that was more than 7 years ago. My 1st cycling contraption was a green tricycle when I was a mere toddler; the 2nd was a blue car which you can cycle in when I was 5-ish years old; the 3rd was a small bicycle when I was about 7 years old in Sheffield, United Kingdom which I have no memory of; the 4th a chopper when I was in standard 3-ish which was finally stolen; the 5th a blue BMX with 26" tyres when I was in standard 5-ish; the 6th a racing 6.22" inch tyre bicycle; the 7th a second hand dark red bicycle for riding to classes at University of Liverpool; the 8th a black 20" BMX bicycle which was eventually given away to my brother-in-law; and then it was all purely motorbikes and cars; until now. My 9th bicycle, the XDS FA-20.

The racing green Brompton M6R bicycle; folded.

Why the XDS FA-20? Frankly, I have been eyeing the racing green Brompton M6R for quite some time. To me at least, the Brompton is the most compact 16" wheeled foldable bicycle ever built. However, I would not appreciate Brompton's features after forgoing cycling for such a long time. So I needed a temporary platform for me to bring back the electrifying feel of cycling with minimum cost. I also need a base where I can modify the bike without worry, such as changing the chainring, rear hubs and gear cassettes. To me at least, it will be of great concern if I were to modify an overly expensive Brompton. That's where the XDS FA-20 comes in. The bicycle is not that expensive, costing half that of a medium class Dahon 20" (a Dahon with 16" wheels is even more expensive); it can be folded compact due to it's small 16" wheels frame and can fit in the leg space of a small car; it is several kilograms lighter than the average 20" wheeled bicycle; and there is little anxiety when modifying the bike.

My XDS FA-20 bicycle; folded.

I ordered the XDS FA-20 bike at WMS Adventure at via phone at 11:08am 7 October 2014. Luckily, the WMS Adventure shop owner mentioned that the bike I wanted with the prefered colour was available in stock and quoted the price. I haggled for a cheaper price, stating I would come to his shop that very day if he gave the price I asked. He replied that my asking price was still reasonable and mentioned that the bicycle will reach the shop at 5pm from the shop. I agreed to come at 6pm sharp. 10 minutes before my arrival however, the shop texted me that the bicycle has just arrived. So when I arrived at the shop, I was completely smiling seeing the bike being put together by the shop attendants, so much so that I forgot to take any photographs of it being assembled. My bad. It is not that often that I buy stuff for myself.

My bike from the front.

Immediately upon reaching my home, I took some rounds on the bike, chased by my 6 year old son on his bicycle red. Wow. It felt sooo goood to cycle again. The soft breeze on the face, and the faint all too familiar clickety click sound of the bicycle's rear freewheel hub. Just awesome. Anyway, I found the bicycle slightly slow, even started the ride directly with the highest 7th gear. The handle also felt a bit loose, and I noted that the bolt can be tightened afterwards. Overall, the ride was smooth, more for the sort of a leisure ride in the park then a serious commute. But not surprising since the bike uses only 16" wheels, 48T chainring and for the rear hub, a Shimano Tourney 7 speed with the smallest cog at 14T (7th gear); giving me a gear ratio of roughly (48T chainring / 14T smallest rear cog) x 16" wheel size = (48/14) x 16 = 55 gear inches. In comparison, a regular touring bicycle with 27.5" wheels and 52T chainring has gear inches of roughly (52T chainring / 14T smallest rear cog) x 27.5" wheel size = (52/14) x 27.5 = 102 gear inches; making my bike half as fast as a regular 27.5" wheeled touring bicycle. But while my bicycle is slow, it made up for compactness. It could easily be stowed in the small leg space of a small car's back passenger seat.

I do plan to add a rear rack, maybe a bicycle computer and trim off the extra seat stump at the bottom of the bike to shed a few hundred grams of weight, but that will be covered in future postings. In the meantime, please enjoy the photos on the XDS FA-20 bicycle :)