Good question ! When we do a trip that is mostly on asphalt, we use these Kenda Kwest tires that are 40mm width. We find them large enough to be comfortable even on cobbles, at 55 psi. It might be that larger tires could be more comfortable but they could not allow the Helix to fold properly. I have made a test comparison by doing the same ride on both bikes, the Helix vs my gravel bike. I sold my gravel bike since I found the Helix equal or better in all conditions. For the shock, it is fine for me but my wife has a fragile back, so she bought a seat post shock absorber and she is now fine.
Great overview of a beautiful route. How comfortable do you find the bikes with those narrow tyres on gravel, cobbles, and broke road surfaces? Do you get hand-jarring at the handlebars, and body shocks through the saddle? How does it compare with a typical 700c touring bike?
We toured Sicily by bike in 2013 for about 3 weeks from late April to mid May. It was a marvellous place to travel. Lots of good quiet roads, mostly very respectful drivers and very affordable. We camped a bit, but eventually found the cheap 2 or 3-star hotels right in the town centro to be better value. We followed a route somewhat similar to your SIBIT route, but beforehand spent 4 nights in the Aeolian Islands, rode from Milazzo via Novara di Sicilia to Giardini Naxos, visited Ragusa, and rode from Sciacca to Calefitimi and Palermo at the end. All part of our longer 3 month tour - th-cam.com/play/PLEX2xbENINSsKkxLgg9HXyDAFFWIcjlGy.html&si=0AiPkHE_FnzKp6o2
Hello ! I would prefer to have mudguards and as soon as they are made available from Helix, I will get some. With a folding bike, it is important to have some mudguards that do not intervene in the folding process. Hopefully, the mudguards should be available this year. In the last 3 years that we have adopted folding bikes, we made several trips and we have been very lucky to have only an average of one day of rain per 2 weeks and it was tolerable. So, crossing our fingers while waiting...
@@Freewheels_ca thank you for the reply. I am in the same boat. My Helix arrived in june and I am commuting by train and bike now. Had a few downpours so far so bought some "musguards" to clip on while waiting for the Helix mudguards. Fingers crossed here too...
Of course ! As I explained in the textual description of the video, our route was a bit different from the one proposed by Italy cycling guide. Here are the 2 sets of GPX... 1. Our route: drive.google.com/drive/folders/10i44G9HLpAfkbE_WNwjoxVB2UJoRDVp-?usp=drive_link 2. The route of Italy Cycling Guide: dgenk2ebcidb9.cloudfront.net/Southern-Sicilian-coast-gps-files.zip Questions are welcome. Enjoy !
The rear racks that we used so far were prototypes of the upcoming commercial rear racks made by the Helix team. The new rear rack should be available commercially in the coming months, see the advertisement here on the Helix site: helix.ca/store/?categoryID=3
Thank you for this great video in English, I love French version also.
Great video. Well presented, informative, and good camera work. Thanks for sharing!
Good question ! When we do a trip that is mostly on asphalt, we use these Kenda Kwest tires that are 40mm width. We find them large enough to be comfortable even on cobbles, at 55 psi. It might be that larger tires could be more comfortable but they could not allow the Helix to fold properly. I have made a test comparison by doing the same ride on both bikes, the Helix vs my gravel bike. I sold my gravel bike since I found the Helix equal or better in all conditions. For the shock, it is fine for me but my wife has a fragile back, so she bought a seat post shock absorber and she is now fine.
Great overview of a beautiful route. How comfortable do you find the bikes with those narrow tyres on gravel, cobbles, and broke road surfaces? Do you get hand-jarring at the handlebars, and body shocks through the saddle? How does it compare with a typical 700c touring bike?
We toured Sicily by bike in 2013 for about 3 weeks from late April to mid May. It was a marvellous place to travel. Lots of good quiet roads, mostly very respectful drivers and very affordable. We camped a bit, but eventually found the cheap 2 or 3-star hotels right in the town centro to be better value.
We followed a route somewhat similar to your SIBIT route, but beforehand spent 4 nights in the Aeolian Islands, rode from Milazzo via Novara di Sicilia to Giardini Naxos, visited Ragusa, and rode from Sciacca to Calefitimi and Palermo at the end.
All part of our longer 3 month tour - th-cam.com/play/PLEX2xbENINSsKkxLgg9HXyDAFFWIcjlGy.html&si=0AiPkHE_FnzKp6o2
Like your videos! I'm still at the bike bag stage. Live in the mountains, train by loading bike and bags on my back, and walk around my yard.
The important is to enjoy every moment whatever how we do it. Enjoy !
May I ask how your experience without mudguards on the bike is? Did it bother you?
Hello ! I would prefer to have mudguards and as soon as they are made available from Helix, I will get some. With a folding bike, it is important to have some mudguards that do not intervene in the folding process. Hopefully, the mudguards should be available this year. In the last 3 years that we have adopted folding bikes, we made several trips and we have been very lucky to have only an average of one day of rain per 2 weeks and it was tolerable. So, crossing our fingers while waiting...
@@Freewheels_ca thank you for the reply. I am in the same boat. My Helix arrived in june and I am commuting by train and bike now. Had a few downpours so far so bought some "musguards" to clip on while waiting for the Helix mudguards. Fingers crossed here too...
Hi - great trip! Any chance you share the gpx of the route? Kind regards SuSu
Of course ! As I explained in the textual description of the video, our route was a bit different from the one proposed by Italy cycling guide. Here are the 2 sets of GPX...
1. Our route: drive.google.com/drive/folders/10i44G9HLpAfkbE_WNwjoxVB2UJoRDVp-?usp=drive_link
2. The route of Italy Cycling Guide: dgenk2ebcidb9.cloudfront.net/Southern-Sicilian-coast-gps-files.zip
Questions are welcome. Enjoy !
Hai,may I ask where you bought your helix rack,tq
The rear racks that we used so far were prototypes of the upcoming commercial rear racks made by the Helix team. The new rear rack should be available commercially in the coming months, see the advertisement here on the Helix site: helix.ca/store/?categoryID=3