ENVIRONMENT: Folding bikes Part 2
I finally purchased a 2005 Downtube VIII FS Orange bike, it is a 20" folder with derailleur gears and a full suspension. No racks and no fenders/mudguards as yet. This is what it looks like..
Hub geared bikes are much cleaner to operate than derailleur, but I heard on www.bikeforums.net that when the inevitable puncture occurs, it is a chore to service. Nowadays, the tires come with some sort of puncture protection. Look at the Schwalbe Marathon and Schwalbe Big Apple series. They enhance either comfort or speed, depends on your choice. A recommended choice of many on www.bikeforums.net and Dahon's support forums, is the Cane Creek Thudbuster suspension seatpost. The Thudbuster looks very expensive, but a tire upgrade is very cheap compared to it, tires cost $30-35...
I looked at the following companies:
1) Dahon - The king of folding bicycles! Good products, for a comparable price the specs on Dahon's bikes are loaded with accessories. I particularly like Vitesse D5 or D7 with the internal hub gears. They suffer from extremely poor shipping dates, some dealers told me that they would have a bike in 2-3-4 months, never immediately!
2) Bike Friday - Good reputation but too expensive for many people, starts at $700. If you know your stuff at customizing your bike, you will probably go with them.
3) Brompton - Folding size is smallest, comes with 16" wheels, but very expensive $800-900 for a halfway decent model. This is what I would like to get, smallest folding size of 44" with the maximum airline legal size being 62" (L x W x H), this fits in very easily. People say, that the factory version is not spec'd right, have to upgrade soon as you get the bike.
4) KHS - I looked at their 2005 models, their 2006 lineup has a 'Mocha', which looks like a good bang for the buck at $330.
5) Breezer - Looks like they have cross-licensed Dahon's design.
6) Alex Moulton - Alex Moulton bikes are the fastest bikes in the world. Anybody doing any search on the Internet would come across this fact somewhere. This is what I dream of owning if I ever go on a serious tour of Europe or cross country biking. It consists of a separable frame, which is NOT folding. Can be dismantled and put in a suitcase, and assembled when you reach your destination. Feel free to browse around to find out why a Moulton is the best if you have no hangups about money. They start at £ 1500 or so, some at £ 2100. With the USD being 1.8 times the UK pound currently, that means a lot of money.
7) Pashley-Moulton - The TSR8 and other variants is a cheaper cousin of the same basic Moulton design. Costs start at about $2000-2500 USD.
For servicing I looked at Gaerlan and Sheldon Brown's website for tips.
Happy biking!
(Disclaimer: The prices are current as of mid-March 2006, they may change. Don't blame me, do your own due diligence [DD] before putting in money!)
Hub geared bikes are much cleaner to operate than derailleur, but I heard on www.bikeforums.net that when the inevitable puncture occurs, it is a chore to service. Nowadays, the tires come with some sort of puncture protection. Look at the Schwalbe Marathon and Schwalbe Big Apple series. They enhance either comfort or speed, depends on your choice. A recommended choice of many on www.bikeforums.net and Dahon's support forums, is the Cane Creek Thudbuster suspension seatpost. The Thudbuster looks very expensive, but a tire upgrade is very cheap compared to it, tires cost $30-35...
I looked at the following companies:
1) Dahon - The king of folding bicycles! Good products, for a comparable price the specs on Dahon's bikes are loaded with accessories. I particularly like Vitesse D5 or D7 with the internal hub gears. They suffer from extremely poor shipping dates, some dealers told me that they would have a bike in 2-3-4 months, never immediately!
2) Bike Friday - Good reputation but too expensive for many people, starts at $700. If you know your stuff at customizing your bike, you will probably go with them.
3) Brompton - Folding size is smallest, comes with 16" wheels, but very expensive $800-900 for a halfway decent model. This is what I would like to get, smallest folding size of 44" with the maximum airline legal size being 62" (L x W x H), this fits in very easily. People say, that the factory version is not spec'd right, have to upgrade soon as you get the bike.
4) KHS - I looked at their 2005 models, their 2006 lineup has a 'Mocha', which looks like a good bang for the buck at $330.
5) Breezer - Looks like they have cross-licensed Dahon's design.
6) Alex Moulton - Alex Moulton bikes are the fastest bikes in the world. Anybody doing any search on the Internet would come across this fact somewhere. This is what I dream of owning if I ever go on a serious tour of Europe or cross country biking. It consists of a separable frame, which is NOT folding. Can be dismantled and put in a suitcase, and assembled when you reach your destination. Feel free to browse around to find out why a Moulton is the best if you have no hangups about money. They start at £ 1500 or so, some at £ 2100. With the USD being 1.8 times the UK pound currently, that means a lot of money.
7) Pashley-Moulton - The TSR8 and other variants is a cheaper cousin of the same basic Moulton design. Costs start at about $2000-2500 USD.
For servicing I looked at Gaerlan and Sheldon Brown's website for tips.
Happy biking!
(Disclaimer: The prices are current as of mid-March 2006, they may change. Don't blame me, do your own due diligence [DD] before putting in money!)
posted by Amit Kulkarni at 3/19/2006 08:25:00 AM
4 Comments:
commie buys expensive bike, product of oops capitalism.
in other news, sun sets in west.
This is the cheapest durable folding bike I could find at the time. I brought it solely for its folding capacity, to save money when going out of town. No taxis, no buses, no trains when you are in strange city. Over the course of just 4 out of town trips, it will save this commie some money.
Thanks for the review! I'm really impressed with small bikes that carry a lot of weight.
Oddly enough, I just bumped into someone who is making Downtube bikes.
To experience the disk brakes Black, Skin Wall, Reflective Stripe Alloy, Cold Forged SS, Four Spider Cast Aluminum, Welded AL Mount Internal, Rear Hub Freewheel in your folding bike or strida, Just order your folding bike today on your http://www.myfoldingbike.com/
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