NEW, “OFFICIAL” URL: http://bit.ly/BromptonFoldingRace
OK – this is an idea from me and @yaxu – provisional rules are as follows:
- Fold your Brompton bicycle completely (telescoping seat sections may be left folded for competition entry)
- Set up a video camera and start recording.
- Stand by the bike, with both hands on the saddle.
- Shout “Go!” and fully unfold the bike to a safe, rideable state (nuts tightened, seatpost locked, pedal out, etc)
- Optional: Shout “Stop!”
- Use the video to determine your unfolding time, try to get it to sub-second accuracy if you can, but no biggie if you’re not sure.
- Post the result to YouTube …
- … WITH tags “brompton” and “bvurace” (so people can find competition entries) …
- … AND do please put your elapsed time (from shout, to ready-to-ride) in the title.
– eg: Brompton Unfolded 18.4 seconds
This is just for fun, so no cheating / fast-forwarding in iMovie; and if there’s a gap in the rules do apply common sense.
Feel free to add a comment below, if you want to share the link faster. I’ll post my entry this afternoon, even though I know I suck at unfolding.
UPDATE: changed the youtube tag to “bvurace” to save clashes with other words
UPDATE: OK, I’ve just done my first entry, not timed it perfectly yet but it appears to be 13 seconds.
Because of the cheapo Quicktime editing software I used, I timed from the first frame where my hands started to leave the seat, to the first “Sssss” of shouting “STOP” – and after the clock stopped, I bounce-tested the bike on camera to prove it was fully assembled.
This was literally my first attempt, so the method (and I) could use some refinement/practice.
Can you beat my time? I’ll do another one with more precise timing, later today – after some practice. 🙂
Search for other entries on YouTube using the tag ‘bvurace’!
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