On August 4th, the fifth annual Summer Streets festival began, closing down the entire length of Park Avenue to traffic, all the way from the Brooklyn bridge to Central Park, making available a 7 mile stretch of New York streets for people to play, run, and bike to their hearts content.
This year, Park Avenue was filled with all different kinds of activities— rock climbing, zip lining, and a huge communal picnic supplied by whole foods. The keen observer would also have noticed passerbys sporting a wide variety of folding bikes.
Showing our folding bikes at Summer Streets
This year NYCeWheels joined up with Summer Streets, supplying the event staff with Brompton Bikes to help them span the 7 mile stretch, and setting up a tent at 25th and Park to give out information and free test rides on some of our best folding bikes.
Setting up for Summer Streets
To set up for the event, Peter got up at four in the morning and headed over to our shop at 85th and York to help load a van with about 20 folding bikes that would be used for the event.
The Folding Bikes
Among the bikes used was the Dahon Speed P8, a speedy, durable commuter featuring a nice black finish; the Tern Link D8, one of our most affordable and bestselling folding bikes, the Tern Verge X10, an ultra lightweight high performer.
Our Folding Bikes at Summer Streets
We also brought along the IF Mode, the Montague Boston 8, Dahon Jifo, and of course the Brompton Folding Bikes.
All day from 7am to 1:30pm, people of all different sorts stopped by to ask questions about the folding bikes on display, see how the different bikes folded up and take free test rides.
A better understanding of our folding bikes
It was a great opportunity to see how our Folding Bikes matched up to one another in the eyes of our customers. One rider took out a 3-speed Brompton Bike, and then wanted to compare it with the Tern Verge X10. After her ride she remarked about how light and fast the Tern Verge was but that she felt the sporty seat wasn’t very comfortable for female riders and that she liked the way the Brompton folded up more. Being able to hear these kinds of responses is incredibly useful, helping us better understand how to tell which of our bikes is the best fit for different types of riders.
Talking to the Summer Streets Crowds
By the end of the day we were all tired (especially Peter who started off the day) but the day had been fun and we were in good spirits, joking with one another as we packed up the tent. We all had a blast and were looking forward to coming back next Saturday for the next round of Summer Streets.
We’re now two weeks into the festival, but there’s one weekend left to go, and we’re excited to be a part of it. Come by Park Ave next Saturday, August 18th, for the finale of Summer Streets. We’ll be there at 25th and Park, giving out test rides on some of our best folding bikes, and having a blast.
Hope to see you there – Jack
