A box from Abio Bikes in New York landed on my front porch Saturday morning. The Albio Penza I received is a shaft drive folding bike, but when I pulled it from the box Mrs. Fritz squealed with delight at the wonderful purple color of this bike.

While the looks of the Albio Penza appeals to the right brain, here are the left brain details of this bike:

• Folds to 32″ x 23″ x 14″
• 3 speed Shimano Nexus hub
• Kenda Kontact 1.95″ x 20″ tires with reflective sidewalls
• V brakes
• 30 lbs
• Fenders (front and rear)
• Rear rack
• Tail light built into rear of saddle
• Kickstand
• Shaft drive
• MSRP $790

The beefy 1.95″ tires and stiff locking hinges give this bike a very solid and smooth ride. The bike folds in half with a swing hinge in the top tube, similar to the way the Dahon Curve folds back on itself. Like some Dahon models, the handlebar also folds down, the seat post can be pushed all the way through the open bottom seat tube and the pedals fold in.

The differentiating feature of this folding bike is, of course, the shaft drive: the Abio Penza is one of the very few non-chain folding bikes available.

Shaft drives are heavy and noticeably inefficient — I can feel the bevel gears as they grind against each other, there’s resistance when I pedal backwards, hard pedaling bends the shaft enough so it rubs against its housing, and the shaft bike weighs two pounds more over the similar belt driven Abio bicycle. According to shaft drive afficiandos, the efficiency loss is about 8% compared against chain driven bicycles.

There are notable advantages of a shaft drive over chain drive bicycles: the completely enclosed drive shaft reduces maintenance, protects moving parts, and keeps your pants clean. You don’t need to bag this folding bike to keep chain grease from soiling bus seats and other passengers. Some people also like the compact design of shafts over chains, especially if you want to completely enclose the chain in a chaincase. There’s no danger of pinched or severed fingers, and with good maintenance the shaft drive can last for tens of thousands of miles.

When I ride the Abio Penza, I don’t notice the shaft’s presence unless I really pay attention. I believe the everyday bike commuter will not notice the 8% power loss, and the disadvantages may very well outweigh the benefits. I’ll put the Abio Penza through its paces in everyday riding over the next couple of weeks and report the results at Commute By Bike.

In the meantime, I know Bike Hugger has received the belt drive Abio Verdion. Momentum Magazine will also feature several folding bikes in the January/February issue including, I’m told, the Abio bicycles.

Carlton mentioned General James Jones on his blog and on The Spokesmen podcast this week because General Jones — Barack Obama’s choice as National Security Advisor — was a bike commuter when he Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and Commander of the U.S. European Command in Belgium. He retired from the U.S. Marine Corps last year

According to the New York Times, Jones still bikes to his job as chairman of the board of directors of an influential Washington think tank.

At 64, General Jones bicycles from home to work twice each week, riding the nine miles from McLean, Va., to the offices of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, two blocks from the White House, where he runs a task force on energy.

Read more.

I got up bright dark and early Thursday morning to join David Bernstein and Carlton Reid for a new episode of The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast. Listen to us here where we discuss leg waxing, indoor trainer tips, a little bit of politics, Twitter, and Thanksgiving. We had probably two hours of material and covered maybe half of what we intended.

This is the Continental Hometrainer tire David mentioned. Here’s the broken bike I mentioned. And I think of Chico as flat because the stretch from Sacramento to Chico is flat, but Carson Blume pointed out to me that mountains with excellent riding are very nearby.

David also posted the missing Issue 34 from Interbike.

I won’t be shopping this weekend, but I know plenty of people will so here are some Black Friday deals for you over the holiday weekend.

Xtracycle offers $10 off the ShowerCap and DryLoader and any non-Xtracycle items with the coupon code “radishical”. This is on top of the 20% off they’ll offer on Friday.

Twin Six started a three day sale on Wednesday. TRUNK t-shirts will be $16, new t-shirts will be $20, the brand new BACK SACK and T6 SACK are both marked down to $100.

This isn’t really a bicycling specific thing, but I am an Amazon affiliate. Besides the normal Black Friday Specials, they’re running the popular Amazon Customers Vote promotion where you compete to get deals on product (think random selection, though, not cage fights).

My buddy UltraRob in Colorado is 10% of his sales proceeds to World Bicycle Relief through Christmas.

Rivendell Bicycle Works is giving 30% off from Dec 10 to Dec 17, but only for Rivendell members who have lost their jobs or their retirement income. See their Holiday Flyer [PDF] for details.

I’m posting this now before I run out of time: Have a great Thanksgiving, all.

Times are comparatively tough for many people. If you’re not one of the million who are newly jobless this year in the United States, you’re faced with the insecurity of not knowing if you’ll be employed in the next few months.

For perspective, I think back to what’s seen as the first Thanksgiving feast at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Of the 102 original colonists, only 53 were alive for that first harvest meal; only four adult women survived the first year. They enjoyed their feast with the Wampanoag, gave thanks to Massasoit and to God, and they didn’t even have bicycles for the after feast fun!

I’ll be up early Thursday morning to record a new episode of The Spokesmen Cycling Podcast with David in Utah (except when he’s in California), Carlton in the UK, and Phil Gomes in Australia. We’ll talk about belt drive bikes, politics, Tour Down Under, Cyclocross (hence my inquiry yesterday), and Viagra among other things. After that, the family is headed to a friend’s house where we’ll make gluttons of ourselves and have a good time.

What are your plans for the long weekend? Does anybody plan to get any riding in?