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Mini Velos have been all the rage in the past few years, and we’ve documented a fair share of them as well. What began as a solution to compact housing in urban areas has spread worldwide, inspiring builders and companies to develop their own. The latest to cross our radar is the Soma Fabrications Rufus…
The MONoPOLE No 01 is a 24″ x 20″ wheeled front-loading mini velo cargo bike with an interesting Gates belt-driven steering mechanism. John got ahold of a rolling chassis a few weeks ago and finally built it up. We figured you’d like to see the complete bike before he customizes it to suit his cargo needs. And we wanted to ask you how you’d build it up, so let’s get to it!
Shane Sellers is an artist, educator, Philly Bike Expo ambassador and Velo Orange collaborator. Their recent project converted a Neutrino into a “Yakimono Bike,” where they open air-fired grips and a saddle using traditional Japanese methods. The mini velo was then outfitted with a display case, where Shane displayed traditional Yakimono pottery.
Check out the full project on the Velo Orange blog!
Nicholas Haig-Arack satisfied his mini velo curiosity with a test of the Kyoot Itty Bitty, a “futuristic bicycle moto-cross transportation vehicle”. Read on for a subjective review of the 20″-wheeled joy machine and to find out more about the sole offering from the Austin, Texas-based Kyoot Bikes.
The G Line is the first Brompton to ride like a full-size bike across multiple types of terrain—from the city to gravel tracks and beyond. And it’s still designed around the folding chassis that made Brompton famous. This line of Brompton features new geometry, 20” wheels fitted with custom-made Schwalbe tires, hydraulic disc brakes, and an internally geared Shimano 8-speed hub.
Petor Georgallou got his hands on a new G Line ahead of today’s launch and, today, offers all the details of the versatile folding bike. Check it out below!
John and Cari were in Australia earlier this month, and since they were on the same continent as Matt and Cheech from Crust Bikes, they had to visit them at their home in New South Wales. While there, John documented a selection of bikes from their shed, including some prototypes and soon-to-be-released future cult classics. Let’s check it all out!
We haven’t shared Tommy Gunn’s classic folding bike freestyle video, Team Clonc, so we look to change that today!
If we won the lottery, there would be signs! A customer commissioned Firefly to make a coupled titanium mini bike to fit inside a Rimowa case for easy travel with a bike. This sort of bike is peak custom, so we had to get a closer look…
The Bike Friday All-Packa is a versatile mini-velo, designed for off-road riding and touring. Julien shared with us his beautiful photos of his All-Packa for this week’s Readers’ Rides…
Some say small wheels equal more fun. Dave’s Bike Friday All Packa is a testament to that and to up the ante, his is set up fixed gear. Let’s check out this wild bike and Dave’s review below!
The Velo Orange Neutrino is the perfect bike for urban dwellers who are short on space or adventure-minded people looking for something different to meander the familiar upon. This year’s Neutrino stock just landed at Velo Orange, with a few updates. The first of which being the most obvious: that color! The second is the Neutrino now has dropper-post integration. Head to Velo Orange to read all about it and to pick one up for $750 if you’ve been waiting.
Remember that big-tire, mini-velo that Spencer Harding took on a packrafting trip in NYC with? The Velo Orange Neutrino is a mini bike with big possibilities and these frames are arriving to Velo Orange mid-February, so they opened up the pre-order today. For $695, you get the frameset, which features:
-4130 double butted chromoly frame and fork that accepts fenders and rack.
-Unicrown fork with accommodations for Fenders, Randonneur Rack, and even a Mojave Cage or a bikepacking-style cage.
-Seattube, downtube, and under-downtube bottle cage mounts.
-406 Bead Seat Diameter wheel size. That’s BMX, so high-quality rims and tires are cheap, plentiful, and strong.
-Clearance for 2.3″ tires WITH fenders. Holy cow!
-Sliding, 135mm QR dropouts for geared, single speed, or internally geared hubs.
-Disc brake mounts (POST rear, IS front). We suggest 160mm rotors.
-Full length, external cable routing.
-1 1/8″ threadless steerer.
-31.6mm seatpost, compatible with external droppers.
-Paint is Cool Gray with Galactic Glitter.
We had quite the coverage of mini velos last year, beginning with this dude’s personal bike. Isao’s Falconer was one of my personal favorites to hit these pages in 2019 because it really embodied the notion of deep custom and something we don’t address a whole lot here on the Radavist; this idea that when you get a wacky, 100% custom bike, you’re essentially getting a working prototype.
I, along with a few other eccentrics, have been dreaming of the idea of a small wheeled bikepacking rig for years. If you have ever had to box up your 29+ or other fat-tired bike for international travel in a small box, under 50 pounds, then you understand how annoying and stressful that can be. In my mind’s eye, I saw a 20” minivelo with a massive triangle floating on 3”-4” tires, maybe even a Ritchey Breakaway style seatpost break if I was truly dreaming. Minivelos have been around for quite some time, but they have almost always had rim brakes which limited their tire clearance and thusly my interest. When Velo Orange dropped photos of their new bike, I was drooling, my mind racing with ideas.
When Alpacka Raft approached me about shooting a trip to New York, my mind started running with places upstate I had heard so much about in the past. But, that was quickly tempered as I inquired further to find out that they intended to raft the East River between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Minivelos gained popularity in cities where space is limited. The Neutrino Mini-Velo is a full sized bike with BMX tires, so high-quality rims and tires are cheap, plentiful, and strong. The small diameter wheels keep acceleration quick for cruising around town. Thick 2.4″ tires eliminate the harshness of typical small wheeled bikes. The short wheelbase makes it easy to store inside so you don’t have to worry about it getting ripped off overnight.
When Cameron Falconer posted what looked like a miniature bike on his Instagram a few weeks ago, I don’t think I had ever seen so many people so intrigued by a Mini Velo in my life. It was kind of like that time when Ultra Romance decided to let the world know how cool Recumbents actually were. While I’m still not entirely sold on Recumbents, the Mini Velo has been on my list of super cool bikes that I’d love to own for a while now.
Do you all know what a Mini Velo is? It’s not just a miniature bike, with miniature wheels. It is a bike that fits a large range of cyclists using very few frame sizes, it usually has 20in wheels, a short wheelbase, and a rigid non-folding frame. And do you all know why this bike came into existence? As our cities become more and denser and real estate becomes more and more expensive, people wanted a small compact bike that could fit anywhere and everywhere, but still ride very much like a full-size bike. People wanted something that was compact, able to be brought inside and stored easily, without the proprietary parts and complexity of many folding bike frames.
