Gocycle is the culmination of founder Richard Thorpe’s expertise in lightweight vehicle design, his daily commuting experiences of London and insights into the market opportunity of providing better city-specific mobility solutions. 

About a decade ago, Richard Thorpe left his job as a designer with McLaren Cars limited to fully concentrate on developing a new class of powered two-wheeler designed specifically to meet the needs of the modern city dweller. 

True to its designer’s pedigree, the Gocycle is a winner of more than 10 International design awards including the IF Award at Eurobike 2012.

Togoparts managed to take the Gocycle GZR...

The Dahon Mu P27 is the latest mid-priced offering from Dahon. The Mu P27, with its Dahon’s signature "Mu" curve design, comes with 27 gear options and is positioned as a light touring bicycle that is also suited for city commuting. The Mu P27 can be ridden by anyone that falls between 1.42cm to 1.93 cm in height and take up to a maximum of 105kg.

MU P27 is built using Dalloy aluminium which is proprietary to Dahon. According to Dahon, Dalloy alumnium is considered aerospace grade alloy which apparently gives 20% more frame strength than standard 6061 aluminium. Dalloy tubes are double butted at the ends where stress is the highest and th...

As the name suggests, the Dahon Vector P9 is a 9-speed folding bike (single chain ring in the front and 9-speed cassette in the rear), with gear shifting duties provided by the Neos 9-speed indexed shifter (below right) which is reminiscent of SRAM’s popular grip-shift amongst their mountain bike specific range. The Neos 9-speed indexed shifter is matched with the Neos 9-speed rear derailleur (below left) which was designed specifically for small-wheeled folding bikes – it is mounted onto a special dropout in front of the rear wheel. This compact design means that the derailleur protrudes slightly from the frame. This is crucial for foldin...

Merida, one of the biggest bicycle manufacturers in the world, is known for its expertise in mountain bikes given its long-time sponsorship of the Multivan Merida Biking Team.

Nevertheless, the Taiwanese company is showing the world that its road bikes are no slouch either. From this year onwards, Merida is the sponsor of the Italian based Lampre-Merida professional road cycling team. The Scultura SL is the team’s workhorse road bike with all the nifty touches such as the BB386 and a blend of special flax fibres integrated into the High Modulus (HM) carbon fibre lay-up of the frame. 

For this review, I got to try the ‘younger sibling’ of...

Polygon bikes, hailing from Indonesia, have definitely come a long way and is really becoming a solid contender offering consumers a full range of affordable and value-for-money rides depending on their preferences and choice of riding disciplines. We reviewed the Polygon Spy 6.0 last year, one of the most affordable carbon hardtails in the market.

I got a sneak peak of Polygon bicycles for 2013 at their Eurobike booth from last year and even had the opportunity to test ride the Helios A8.0 briefly during the Eurobike Demo Day too.The Helios range has been revamped with 2 main model ranges: the Aero or ‘A' series and the Comfort or ‘C' se...

Brief Company Background:

Founded by Mr Masahito Hirose in 2004, Japanese bicycle maker, Tyrell is famed for their mini-velo bikes. What is noteworthy is that the brand has already garnered numerous design awards in Japan, even before their products were first launched to the consumer market in 2005. Not surprising considering the fact that all Tyrell bikes are designed and assembled in Japan under the strict supervision of Mr Hirose. Despite the widespread media coverage it enjoys in its homeland, the Tyrell bikes are relatively unknown globally as mini-velos are still considered niche in the bicycle industry. Tyrell bikes have however b...

Road bike aficionados will realize how "different" the Colnago M10 S is compared to the usual lugged and tube construction of other Colnago frames. This also includes the M10's elder brother and top of the line bike, the C59. Why is the M10 S so different? The M10 features a full monocoque frame construction with massively-sized tubes and an oversized head tube. It's literally a different kind of animal compared to the CLX3.0,which we tested some months back.The CLX3.0 tends to be a more sedated ride while the M10 S is an all-out race rocket.

Road bikes were designed for speed, mountain bikes were designed to take on rougher trails, and likewise, foldable bikes were built for the leisure urban commute.

Preferences for bicycles are diverse and specific. While foldable bikes may not be regarded as real bikes by certain quarters of the cycling community (what we jokingly call the bike purists), there is no denying that these versatile wheelies are growing with fast popularity here in urban Singapore.

For the city dweller who wants the resilience of a touring mountain bike combined with compact portability for multi-modal transportation, the Bike Friday Pocket Llama is a clear wi...