here she is folks... 

my new (old) mini velo. it's a RH+O... that's what it says on the checkered sticker on the seat stay anyways.

purchased her 2nd hand and did a flip & chop thingee on the drop bars, also managed to reuse the bar tape as well. not bad for a first attempt at installing bar tape, just goes to show, with YOUTUBE, you can learn to do anything! i am the proof.

added a tekro long reach front caliper as well cuz the bike came fix-geard, tried that once... didn't like it so flipped the flip-flop hub over and added a dicta freewheel... much better for my old bones.

been a while since i commuted such a distance (cecil street to fernvale) so i told myself to take it slow. wife didn't think i had it in me to survive the journey but i made it home... in one piece too.... note to self: make bicycle purchases closer to home.

above picture shows the bike in the lift, against the lift wall with room to spare hence no need to do a "angle job" which i know pisses off the other fellow tenants... especially at the end of a long day at work.

this is actually my second mini velo since my KHS foldie. the first being a MASI (see below) which i bought brand new from GPbikes. yes...hot pink! 

  sadly, it was a waste of a good bike on me as it never saw the action it should.. knowhatimean? so i sold it off. she's with a good owner now.

the adds-ons/mods have already started.

below is a picture of the porteur rack that i designed based on some pictures i found on flickr, did some minor tweaks to the design and had a good friend of mine make it for me.

it's a rough version made from what was available just so i can fine tune it for the final design but apparently the rod diameter i chose was way off, it was too large, it's way over-built and super heavy! (that's 12mm solid stainless steel there) 

but i do love it when something i designed comes to life... thanks for your help Aloysius! 

next steps

its been a long time since my last post... i have since moved into an apartment where space is a premium. so much so that the only space i can store "one" bicycle is in the storeroom. having said that, i have owned a KHS foldie before and although it was a great bike...i wore that one out really quickly with my daily commutes to work some 16clicks away (one way) so i offloaded it to some guy who wanted the foldie just for the frame.

doubt i will get another foldie for commuting.. the creaks and flexing really did not inspire any confidence at all.... just cause i prolly weigh too much for any foldie to handle comfortably and not because of build quality issues.

solution, a mini velo.... rides well, has strong 20 inch wheels, no creaks and squeaks, fits into the HDB lift & storeroom at my in-laws, blends into the office environment so i don't need to park it outside where it will get nicked. only drawback is the fact that i look like a circus bear on his tiny bicycle.