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Folding bikes - Brompton, Dahon, Mezzo etc - recommendations and chat

lintin said:
does anyone know where to get these cheaply but reasonale quality. i will be travelling by tube and trian and need to get about
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Brick Lane on a Sunday - Oh and if you see mine, I'll have it back thanks!

Seriously, unless you can find a genuine second hand one, cheap and reasonable quality are non-existent in the folding bike world. I recommend Brompton (not that cheap, but folds v small and quickly). Don't go for very small wheels (<16") and make sure you test ride (and fold) whatever you intend to buy. If they won't let you ride it first, go elsewhere.

And finally, don't leave them lying around (even locked) like I did. There seems to be a very ready market in nicked bikes of all sorts but folders seem to go particularly fast. As an afterthought - if buying second hand, try to obtain some proof of ownership and check the frame number has not been filed off.
 
Dahon folders start out cheaply (around £350 upwards - cheaper if you get last year's models). If you go really cheap, I'd be concerned about the quality.
 
No idea what it costs, or even if it's commercially available... but this is the first folding bike I've been impressed by...


http://www.likecool.com/Dominic_Hargreaves_Contortionist--Bike--Gear.html

Dominic-Hargreaves-Contortionist.jpg
 
Dahon make good bikes, but as folding bikes go, that's a pretty big thing. How important is portability? He'd be hard pressed to get on a bus with that bike.
 
mrs quoad said:
"is this any good?"

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product.aspx?id=9956

Any thoughts appreciated :hmm:

(p.s. this is after considering a >£1k gocycle, and a Brompton - not sure whether or not he's still considering that - and a moped)
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That Dahon is pretty cheap and nasty.

As ed says, they don't fold that small, they do meet the regulations for taking them on rush hour trains, but buses or crowded trains and you have problems.

I have a Dahon Cadenza and it's a lovely ride, but the relatively poor build quality is starting to show after a couple of months. And that's on a bike that costs quite a bit more than the one you have above.

For top quality and ultimate in bicycle origami, go for Brompton. If you can live with a Dahon and are prepared to replace parts with better quality ones etc. then the one I have is a lush ride.

dahon-cadenza-solo-folding-bike-46017.jpg
 
editor said:
Dahon make good bikes, but as folding bikes go, that's a pretty big thing. How important is portability? He'd be hard pressed to get on a bus with that bike.
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Portability is kinda important.

We've been through a series of questions, trying to work out what he wants.

First thought: a new £3-400ish bike. That'd be left chained outside Cam station whilst he commutes to and from London each day. It'd be nicked. No two ways about it.

Second thought: a moped, which he'd leave outside the station each day. Which - I suspect - would also be nicked.

Then he suggested the Gocycle. Which is £1,200 - four times his budget. But he liked the electricness and foldingness of it.

Erm... IMO a Brompton is looking sensible for what he wants; or possibly a semi-decent slightly-battered second hand bike that no-one's going to nick, but isn't going to fall apart either.

The Dahon was his last email - portability is clearly important, I'll pass back whatever I hear here to him.

TY!
 
mrs quoad said:
"is this any good?"

http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/product.aspx?id=9956

Any thoughts appreciated :hmm:

(p.s. this is after considering a >£1k gocycle, and a Brompton - not sure whether or not he's still considering that - and a moped)
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brompton or birdy all the way (or an airnimal if you want to be flash), dahon = dogshit. a quite scary amount factory fuckups. some work just about alright, lots are unrideable out of the box. they licence their designs to some other companies who do a better job but if he can afford a brompton there is no possible reason to get a dahon.
 
Boycey said:
brompton or birdy all the way (or an airnimal if you want to be flash), dahon = dogshit. a quite scary amount factory fuckups. some work just about alright, lots are unrideable out of the box.
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A little harsh, methinks. Me and Eme have done hundreds of miles on our Dahon (including an epic Plymouth - Dartmoor) with no problems at all and they're *way* better value than a Brompton. More stable too.
 
mrs quoad said:
First thought: a new £3-400ish bike. That'd be left chained outside Cam station whilst he commutes to and from London each day. It'd be nicked. No two ways about it.
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Better to get an old clunker for a couple of hundred or less and use in instead? I'm doing this with my hand-painted three speed and it hasn't been trashed yet, despite having lived outside Victoria station for a week now. I'm on holiday for a week from tomorrow so am going to leave it and see if it gets trashed or nicked to test the theory.
 
Is it worth mentioning that the Jetstream looks like it's priced at about £300 more than the Espresso, whilst the Cadenza is about £100ish more?
 
editor said:
A little harsh, methinks. Me and Eme have done hundreds of miles on our Dahon (including an epic Plymouth - Dartmoor) with no problems at all and they're *way* better value than a Brompton. More stable too.
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perhaps the distributor was making a cruel joke at our expense but when 25% of the bikes come with frame hinge hardware welded in the wrong place you kind of lose trust in a company. in terms of brand customer satisfaction you are definitely in a minority as far as the people i've spoken to go- i'll accept that's partly because lots of the people i've spoken to are returning a bicycle that's decided to fold spontaneously, handlebar stems that won't tighten to either the steerer or handlebar or the poor people who've chosen one special order waited for the day it was meant to arrive then had to be told that it had been returned because it wasn't built safely. having dealt with GT, ridgeback, trek, kona, specialized, brompton, cannondale, norco, yeti and colnago (may have missed a couple there) i've been continually shocked by dahon's QC and warranty departments. IMO you got lucky- every broken clock get's it right twice a day.

if you must ridgeback and *i think* trek licence the designs and do a much better job at building them.
 
electroplated said:
anyone know if these are any good, if one were to want a folding mountain bike?
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I truly cannot think of a single scenario where anyone would want a folding mountain bike.

That aside, the fact that they don't give the weight for the bike triggers alarm bells for me.
 
Lemon Eddy said:
I truly cannot think of a single scenario where anyone would want a folding mountain bike.

That aside, the fact that they don't give the weight for the bike triggers alarm bells for me.
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it says it's made from aluminium, so probably shouldn't be too heavy

I quite fancy one of them:cool:
 
I bought a Brompton for my commute. It fits between the seat backs on the train.

For me it came down to a choice between that or a Mezzo D9. The Brompton's luggage system is more elegant and can stay on the bike when folding.

No regrets after a few months of daily use.
 
Lemon Eddy said:
I truly cannot think of a single scenario where anyone would want a folding mountain bike.
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Then you haven't thought very hard.

They're mainly popular with people who travel to interesting places in order to go mountain biking.

I'm looking for one because we live on a narrowboat. Bikes are a pain in the arse on a boat - they scratch up the roof or block the front door, unless you sacrifice precious living space in order to have a large enough deck to keep them on. And round here they need to handle regular flooding and a towpath in a very bad state of repair - I feel a great deal safer on chunky tyres.
 
editor said:
Have to say my Dahon Jetstream is still going strong, but I don't ride it every day.
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you got a bargain with that and you know. It's amazing what kind of folders you can get now for a couple of hundred pounds. But that's nothing if they don't meet your needs. :)
 
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