Test ride: Falter Faehnrich automatic 2-speed folding bike

Sachs Torpedo Automatic 2 Gang hub

Our friend Ramon rode the train, and this automatic 2-speed folding bike, to Flying Pigeon LA from Covina yesterday. He let me take it for a test ride. It was cool! Waiting for the hub to shift was nerve wracking, but a great change of pace from my heavy duty bakfiets I ride everyday.

Falter Faehnrich automatic 2-speed folding bike

The hub changes into a harder gear automatically when the bike speeds up, and drops down into an easier gear when the bike slows down. The tricky part, as mentioned above, is knowing when that shift will occur.

Sheboygan, Wisconsin bicycle license on an old German folding bike

The bike is a folder of the old Raleigh 20 style – with a hinge on the stem and a hinge midway through the frame. The wheels are 24″. Ramon told me he got the bike through eBay – which explains the Wisconsin bike license.

Brooks B72 and homemade tool bag on Falter Faehnrich 2-speed folder

The Brooks B72 was a nice touch. Ramon is a frugal, and funny, guy – he made a big deal about how “high tech” his homemade tool bag was. It turns out that shoelaces that match the paint and some canvas make a functional tool roll.

Test riding a funky old German two-speed folding bike

How did it ride? The bike was obviously well looked after – it was smooth and nimble. Anyone who’s ridden an old Enlgish 3-speed can attest to the slight increase in their pulse when you consider the age of the bike as you hammer down on the pedals to put it through it’s paces. For me, it that usually comes in the form of, “Gee, I hope these cotters will hold.”

The shift to a harder gear happened as the bike hit the pace of someone jogging beside you. How did it feel?

Clunk.

“I see I am now in a harder gear. What happens when I squeeze this handbrake?”

“What happens when I squeeze this handbrake and engage the coaster brake?”

The bike slows and, just as you reach walking speed, it clunks back down to the easy gear.

Falter Faehnrich headbadge on a 24" folding bike

The two speeds should be named “Window Shopping” and “Get out of Dodge” – as they engage or disengage at about the speeds you’d be doing either of those two activities.

All in all, I enjoyed the couple of minutes I shared with this funky of German automatic 2-speed. Thanks, Ramon!

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4 Comments

  1. Posted January 12, 2012 at 12:42 pm | Permalink

    Interesting two-speed hub action! sounds a lot different than the old or modern two-speed kickbacks, where the slight backpedal puts it into higher gear, and braking puts it back into low. Given the choice, I’d rather have the kickback, bu the “automatic” hub is much more unique, at least in the U.S.

  2. matt bee
    Posted June 15, 2012 at 6:05 am | Permalink

    I believe that is a kickback hub I have one of the bikes that is all original and that what it has no automatic you just lightly kick back on the peddles like your breaking real quick to change gears.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/30046058@N02/7185308907/in/photostream

  3. Posted June 17, 2012 at 11:00 pm | Permalink

    matt bee,

    You are incorrect sir! This is/was indeed an automatic two speed hub. I rode it myself. The owner rode it. It was not a kickback two speed. We are both familiar with the kick back two speed, and this wasn’t it. As described above, this was an automatic two speed, which flopped into gear once the hub reached a certain speed.

  4. Steve
    Posted October 29, 2013 at 6:41 am | Permalink

    Regarding the automatic 2-speed, were you able to take it apart to clean it? I just got one of these bikes off of Craigslist. It is in pretty rough shape and so I am taking it apart to clean it. Am I opening Pandora’s Box if if I open the hub? Do you know where I could find instructions/manual for the automatic 2-speed?

    Second, I can’t figure out how to remove the crank arms. Any idea?

    Thanks!

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