Basses to bicycles: Music store adds folding bikes

Over the summer, Metro Gnome Music, 4044 E. Speedway, expanded and is now known as Metro Gnome Music & Cycle To Go since it started selling a line of folding bikes at the store.

Store owner Todd Crawford said he was looking for something to supplement his music business when a friend turned him on to folding bikes.

“I was starting to notice a little bit of a trail-off with CDs and DVDs as people are shifting to Netflix, and I was kind of looking for another area to kind of be able to ease into over the next couple of years,” said Crawford, who founded Metro Gnome in 2000.

Metro Gnome is Tucson’s only dealer of Brompton folding bikes and also carries a line of Tern and Montague folding bikes. There is one other Brompton dealer in Arizona, Portapedal Bike in Tempe, which carries Brompton and other brands. Elsewhere in Tucson, Ajo Bikes carries the Dahon brand, a top seller.

Folding bikes were introduced in the late 1800s and were used in World War I, but the modern version was pioneered by Brompton and Dahon in the 1980s.

According to Brompton’s website, even with little practice, their bikes can be folded up 10 to 20 seconds. The wheels of the bike tuck in, the frame folds down, the handlebars swing in and the seat pushes down, locking together.

The bikes weigh between 19 and 29 pounds, depending on model and accessories, making them easy to transport and store.

And, Crawford said, by carrying the bike and taking it indoors, owners no longer have to worry about theft.

So far, Crawford has sold seven folding bikes quite easily.

“People seem to really like them, especially when they start to ride them,” Crawford said. “A lot of people think they aren’t going to ride that well because they’re a folding bike and once they get on it and try it, they are pretty impressed that it rides like a normal bike and it folds.”

Crawford has an array of bike colors in the store. Customers can find anything from a traditional black bike to an orange and blue combination to the popular raw lacquer, which is a clear sealant that exposes the bike’s natural metal color and brazing.

Fernando Ma, a native Tucsonan, has been riding his Brompton raw-lacquer folding bike for more than a year.

At the time, Ma had to ride his bike to work, which was a 17-mile trip one way. When Ma wanted to catch a ride home with a co-worker, no one would have a bike rack to transport his bike, too.

His new bike’s folding feature makes transporting it ideal.

“I can call anybody and they could give me a ride to where I needed to go,” Ma said.

Ma said that these bikes are more nimble than a traditional bike and have smaller wheels, but the gearing is set so it’s the same as most other bikes.

“The effort (to ride these bikes) is about the same as traditional bikes.”

Another selling point is the bike’s luggage system. As opposed to other bikes, where a basket can be fastened to its handlebars, the folding bike’s frame is so much lower that the basket or front luggage accessory can attach to it and have more room.

Crawford uses his folding bike’s basket to transport his dog, Metro.

“One of the things that really hooked me on it was that it has a really neat luggage system,” Crawford said. “For me, I have a little dog that I take to and from work, and he can sit in the basket and look around, and he really likes being on the front of the bike.”

The bike can also carry a rear luggage accessory.

In addition to the bags and baskets, Metro Gnome sells traditional bike accessories and folding-bike accessories such as lights and seats. The store also carries a line of KaZAM brand balance bikes for children just learning to ride.

All Brompton folding bikes are custom built and start at $1,193. Prices go up depending on color and other bike options. The bike builder tool can be accessed on Metro Gnome’s website, which will show customers the cost and weight of their bike as they customize it.

Metro Gnome’s Tern folding bikes with 20-inch wheels start at $500, and the Montague folding bikes with full size wheels start at $649.

For those wanting to try out the folding bikes, Metro Gnome has weekend group demo rides. On their website, customers can find the day and time of their next ride and the destination.