strummer_fan said:
What is the ride quality like on the Dahon folding bike? I have just gotten back in to riding after years off and I do several business trips per month and it has been hell on my riding / training schedule.
I have been considering the many alternatives for taking a bike with me on the road... S & S couplings, Ritchey BreakAwayBike, as well as folding models from Brompton, Dahon and more.
Can you tell us a bit more about the ride of the bike, whether it handles well at speed, and so on? How small does it pack? Have you ever taken it on an airplane?
Thanks in advance for the reply and keep on riding.
cheers!
I've had an interesting problem happen today that's put my bike out of commision for the moment and has left me to answer your questions more carefully than I'd like. Before I get into that, let me answer the easy stuff you've asked.
I've never flown with the bike. It packs into an almost small package that, if it had a more convenient hand-hold area, would be pretty easy to carry anywhere. That said, I don't have any kind of bag for it and I travel by subway and train with it all the time (typically four days a week).
Riding the bike is pretty great. It accelerates very well, beating most anything off the line and cruises well too, but isn't quite as quick as a typical 700c bike on the cruise. It climbs really well; the smaller wheels taking alot less energy to 'wind up'. It has a wide turning circle, which I'm not too fond of and though it's very stable at speed, it's a touch skittish in the front end. The flat bars are pretty much a requirement if you fold the thing often (which I do and do need to do) and so, it's not as comfortable a ride as a fullsize bike. The riding position is also, invariably, a bit more upright. You can get the bars lower but it really gets hard on your hands. I ride with them set to as low as I can ride at least 10 miles without pain.
I ride with the rear shock set to as stiff as it can be, which makes the bike feel very much like there's no shock at all, (at least as far as I can tell).. I do this because I find the 'pump' down on the first couple of pedal strokes disconcerting and can't ride comfortably with it in 'cushy' mode. Dahon makes a hardtail called the Helios SL that's far lighter (around 2 lbs lighter) and less expensive but I haven't ridden it, so cant say whether a hardtail would be a better or worse choice. My research convinced me that having suspension on a small wheeled bike, especially one with wheels as stiff as these Rolf wheels are, would be necessary. So, I bought what I bought.
I suppose that if I were looking for a travel bike to train-for-racing on (for flying somewhere and then riding as opposed to a rail commute), I'd probably look into the Airnimal and Bike Friday Air-Friday, or the twirly titanium bits you mentioned earlier. These would be better for that kind of situation, but pretty lame on the subway at rush hour, if you get what I'm saying.
Drop the Brompton from your thinking as it's just not suitable for your kind of riding (I rode one and it's riding position is pretty odd and not readily adjustable to any kind of race-style posture).
For a straight commuting bike, I think that what I've got is the best thing that there is out there.
I really love this riding bike and I like keeping it tuned as well. But today....Man!
The problem I had today put my bike out of commision and I'm hopeful that the solution is just a quick parts replacement. The hinge pin on the bike has a long hex bolt that adjusts, as well as being the center piece of the whole folding assembly. Today mine bent and though I'm not exactly sure how this happened (there are a good number of possibilities), I'm most upset that the bent pin made it so the bike wouldn't track straight. I guess the worry in that needs little farther explanation.
So, that said, my experience with it has been great so far and I'd buy it again, no doubt. If the problem I had today isn't an easy fix though, I might have to rethink that. Now, that said, eyeballing the set up without the bolt in it, all does seem as though it will be fine.
That help?
DG1
