Is Bird a dirty word?

[m@Robertson]

While it is a cool-looking bike, the specs raise some eyebrows. What in heck is a 28 inch tire? Is somebody just rounding a 27.5 inch 650b tire to 28 inches or is it something weird?

I'd want to know more about that wheel size. If it is truly a weird wheel size that is going to make sourcing replacement tires a monstrous pain and I'd avoid the bike.

Believe it or not, a 28" tire designation is a) a 700C tire and b) you often see this designation on German bikes. In the land of metric no less. You'll find Schwalbe makes plenty of tires in 28" sizes. It has the same ETRTO of 622 as 700C tires and 29er tires.

 

[m@Robertson]

Bird launches 'improved' new electric bikes, ditching VanMoof design

Bird, the once-darling of the shared electric scooter market, has launched a new version of its electric bike under a...

electrek.co

 

[Doggyman1202]

Looks like it is $650 plus $200 shipping US. For $850 and I'm sure there is tax involved, it is a hard pass for me. Reviews are limited but horrible. I like the Gates belt and good looking cockpit, but it appears to have great paper weight potential...

Agreed.

The "gotcha" and undisclosed $200 delivery fee doesn't inspire much confidence in the integrity of the distributor. (The $200 is tacked on if you add the bike to the Amazon shopping cart).
I don't put much stock in the Amazon reviews since there's a limited number of them. Some are likely shills for the seller posting glowing reviews, and others are angry customers that encountered shipping or delivery issues. With that said, the overall feedback on this bike is, at best, mixed.

The fairly recent Youtube owner reviews linked below seem sincere. (I think one is an update to the review posted by Mr. Robertson above). My takeaway: This is one very odd Bird, with a mix of premium parts and features mingled with junk and quality control issues. This brings to mind a mechanic I know that from time to time will buy a salvage vehicle and then methodically go about "making it a lady". You can probably wind up with a pretty nice bike here for not much money if you have the patience, skills and a little extra cash to smooth out the rough edges.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

What in heck is a 28 inch tire? Is somebody just rounding a 27.5 inch 650b tire to 28 inches or is it something weird?

Believe it or not, a 28" tire designation is a) a 700C tire and b) you often see this designation on German bikes. In the land of metric no less. You'll find Schwalbe makes plenty of tires in 28" sizes. It has the same ETRTO of 622 as 700C tires and 29er tires.

Totally correct answer.

Just to clear the matters @Mr. Coffee:

ETRTO 622 mm wheel

• French: 700c
• Imperial: 28" if the tyre width is < 50 mm (2") or 29" if the tyre width is >= 50 mm. With this convention, the tyre nominal width is also expressed in inch (28 x 1.5" = 38-622 mm, or 29 x 2.25" = 57-622 mm).

ETRTO 584 mm wheel

• French: 650b
• Imperial: 27.5". (A typical designation for a 66-584 mm tyre is 27.5 x 2.6").

All this "inch" talking relates to the wheel diameter including the tyre itself. It is because the 622 mm wheels with narrow tyres have the outside diameter close to 28" while the wide tyres make the wheel more close to 29". Of course, the 29" wheels have wider rims, too.