I want to make more trips this year, but what I find galling is the cost of many transport options when you get to your destination. Many airfields aren’t right next to or walking distance from a railway station or the town that they serve. Most of the time it’s not a problem, I’m flying somewhere to visit someone and I get a lift from the airport, but this isn’t always the case. For instance, on a trip to Gloucester last year, the taxi fares to Cheltenham Station were more expensive than the landing and parking fees at Gloucester combined. Given it’s only a 3 mile journey to the station, I think the taxi drivers are trying to take advantage perceiving that airport users are rich and can be charged more. (On the Sunday the taxi driver even apologised for the £18 fare for the short 3 mile journey, with the limp excuse that it was a Sunday). Sure, that’s only a fraction of the cost of operating the plane – it’s not the absolute cost that bothers me, but the lack of value for money. I found out later I could probably have hired a small car for the weekend for less than the taxi and train fare combined and had the additional convenience of a car for just the cost of whatever the fuel would have been.
Since I’m flying an antique aircraft which is strictly VFR, the weather’s always going to be reasonable if I go on a trip somewhere, particularly as all my flying is just for fun. So I’m thinking of getting a folding bike for random trips to places on a nice weekend. My requirements are: must not have restrictions on taking it on a train, must be easy to carry when folded. The Auster has massive luggage space so the aircraft isn’t really the limitation.
Anyone here use a folding bike? Which type do you use? How far would you ride one after flying a couple of hours? I’ve seen that Bromptons have a good reputation, so with no other information that’s probably what I’d buy. I enjoy cycling and in the summer often ride my bike to work and back (25 mile round trip with plenty of hills and usually a strong headwind) but that’s not a folding bike and probably a lot better for riding those sort of distances. I would take my normal bike in the Auster except that I can’t usually take it on the train if I need to go further than cycling distance from somewhere and a folding bike would be a hell of a lot more convenient (no need to take the wheels off)
Some folding bike options are here I think.
Achim has an impressive €1500 folding bike. But it’s not practical for say 20 miles unless you are super fit, and even then you are going to smell a bit 
(not suggesting he smells 
)
Incidentally I think taxi drivers do really well. Their challenge is utilisation. If they can work without too much downtime, they can print their own money. I used to know one personally. He paid 20000 quid to buy the license from another driver (Brighton area) and it was easily worth it for what he was making. But a lot of the time they are not working – especially in the parts of the UK where most GA airfields are located which tend to be devoid of much economic activity especially one that involves people moving around. So they charge way over the top, to make up for the downtime. This results in huge charges for the longer runs e.g. 10-20 miles. For example not too long ago I flew to Wellesbourne and spent about 100 quid on taxis! Admittedly I should have done due diligence on that one (and driven in my car instead!) but it was a ripoff by any standard. And that ripoff happens all over Europe and is IMHO worse in say France than in the UK. That’s why car hire is such great value, relatively, almost anywhere.
Achim has an impressive €1500 folding bike.
I have two. One is a Birdy (1000 €, I have the entry model) which I think is a great foldable bike for serious biking. The Bromptons are very clever and small but strictly for roaming around Canary Wharf. Not what I would use for cross country.
The other one is a Gocycle G2, a futuristic and high tech pedelec. It’s around 1500 €. Nice for driving in the city but not suitable for cross country.
But it’s not practical for say 20 miles unless you are super fit
If lettuce and avocado is your nutrition…
I currently fly with a full-size non-folding bike, taking the wheels off. It is slightly more practical for longer distances than a folding one, but only on a relatively flat terrain. I am trying to work out a solution for a quick-disassemble light motorbike. I have identified several potential candidates for an easy conversion (under 80 kg, single-tube frame), but haven’t yet found a cheap one in running condition. If anyone is interested in joining the project, or has a good idea to add, or has an old light motorbike collecting dust – please drop me a line!
We have two A-Bikes. I don’t think you can get anything that is smaller and lighter than this.
They are not comfortable for longer rides but work fine for getting a few miles down the road (paved roads only). We have the City versions which are a little bit more comfortable. They only support bikers up to 85 kilos (I wish that was me).
See here for how it looks next to a Piper. This is how I store them away.
I have a Gocycle, which brings me to work and saves the rental car.
The Birdy looks really good, but I still feel quite drawn to the Brompton :-) At least I have a tricky choice to think about (I like that the Birdy has suspension, which probably helps a lot with a bike with small wheels).
(My other problem with taxis is that many of them don’t take any kind of credit/debit card payment, and when I arrive I usually have a wallet full of Manx money which the taxi driver won’t accept. Last time that meant I missed my train because we had to stop off at an ATM to get the money to pay for the taxi… So it’s not just about the absurdly high cost of taxis per mile but having the independence of travel within the local area).
We have two Brompton bikes in the plane which helps a lot to reduce transport costs quite frequent. One has 11 kg or 24 lbs, which is easy to carry. The bikes are very reliable and convenient. The longest ride we have made was from Tököl airport to Budapest which is about 15 km distance. And one should be aware that riding a bike after several hours sitting in a small plane is healthy and a pleasure !
At risk of sounding naive, aren’t taxi costs calculated according to a fixed schedule in most places?
I’m contemplating unicycling from the station to the airport I fly from, but will have to change my flight bag to a rucksack if I do as my current shoulder bag interferes with my balance. For short distances it’s surprisingly practical – significantly faster than walking and nearly as fun as flying. But to get something a bit more compact than my 28" wheel you’d want to have a hub gear, which is where it gets expensive. And I wouldn’t want to mix with heavy traffic.
I saw somebody whizz past on something like this the other day – don’t know how practical it would be, but it looked a lot of fun:
http://inventist.com/soloindex.php
