Airnimal

Soooo. I've had the Airnimal now for a few months - time for a quick review and a couple of questions.

Firstly I like it. It was definitely a good buy 2nd hand but there are a few buts.

For me it's working well. My requirements were fairly specific. I needed a bike I could:

• fit on my boat
  
• move around easily by taxi and train (London to Burton and York to Burton being main journeys)
  
• commute to work daily (about a 7 mile round trip with mild hills each way)
  
• get in a taxi (I actually didn't realise this requirement until I had the bike but big shops / crazy August rain made it a necessity)
  
• fit panniers on (again not a consideration initially but shopping / commuting kit-wise this has become essential)
  
  

Good news for me is that I picked the right bike - the Airnimal handles all the above.

There are some buts though:

• Folding. For me the fold is fine. But I don't need to get it really small or fold it that often, which is a good job. Folded it fits easily in a car boot but it's a pain to do regularly and to be honest especially with the rack it doesn't go that small. You have to:
  
  • take off the front wheel
    
  • tuck the handlebars into the spokes
    
    

As I don't have to fold that often this is OK for bunging in a cab but would proper piss me off if doing it every day for a commute. On a train I find I leave it unfolded. Better off with a Brompton I would think.

One thing I would ike to do is change the bars from flats . Ideally I'd like to stick bullhorns on there as that I mainly ride on the drops and miss this for the commute / any longer journeys.

Thing is it has V-brakes. Anyone have any experience of doing this (can V-brakes work with bullhorns?) or should I just get drops?

If so can anyone help me with a good set-up?

cheers!