Meet Abelian Rabbit, my shiny new folding bike. It joins Abelian Newspaper (what's black and grey and commutes?) as the latest addition in my transportation arsenal. The rest of that arsenal consists of my left foot, my right foot, and several pairs of shoes in various stages of disintegration. (I'm sure I'll be motivated to get a pair of sneakers without holes when I wade through the first snowdrift of the coming winter, but 'till then...)
Abelian Rabbit is a Dahon Mu P8. It weighs a zippy 24lbs and shifts with surprising smoothness between its 8 speeds. It's also nice and twitchy - hence the name. 20-inch wheels make the Rabbit ridiculously agile. Whoa, a pedestrian! Whoa, an opening car door! Whoa, a squashed banana in the street! Did I just actually make that turning radius? Mmm. I'm looking forward to taking the little dude on the train (which is the main reason why I got it). It's going to be my primary vehicle for the next 4 months while I'm in DC, and probably tied with Abelian Newspaper (a hybrid) when I get back to Boston.
There are a few modifications that I need to make; at some point, I will have to shell out for a luggage-style case (or make one) so that I can take this on the plane with me when I travel somewhere for an extended period of time. I may also someday grow rational enough to put fenders on a bike I own. (Maybe I'm weird, but I actually like getting splattered with mud and rain sometimes.) I also wish the cranks were just a little longer, so I could get more leverage. However, the immediate thing is to replace the saddle, because the current saddle sucks; bugfixes trump enhancements. I'm not sure how to pick a saddle; I've never done that before. (Suggestions welcome!) Another thing to learn this weekend!
