Buying a folding bike advice?

"Paul Healy" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hello there

I'm considering buying a folding bike and have approx £400 to spend.
What is the best bike to buy? Brompton?

A to B magazine seems to think so http://www.atob.org.uk/Buyers'_Guide.html
giving that brand the top rating. Personally I'm only interested in the
electric bike side of their magazine so have no personal experience with
folding bikes.

Paul M

On Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:01:43 GMT someone who may be "Paul Healy"
<[email hidden]> wrote this:-

Quoted message said:

I'm considering buying a folding bike and have approx £400 to spend.
What is the best bike to buy? Brompton? Any recommendations please?

The best bike for you depends what you want to do with it. Using one
every day on a multi-modal journey is different to using one every
few weeks for car based leisure.

--
David Hansen, Edinburgh
I will *always* explain revoked encryption keys, unless RIP prevents me
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/00023--e.htm#54

Paul Healy wrote on 30/04/2007 06:01 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Hello there

I'm considering buying a folding bike and have approx £400 to spend.
What is the best bike to buy? Brompton? Any recommendations please?

Before we can help with the question we need to know what you want to
use if for. There is a wide range of folding bikes from commuters to
out and out racers and even off-roaders. Some hint would be helpful.
FWIW the Brompton is the folder par excellence for commuting and taking
on trains/public transport. Its less suitable for long distance
journeys although there are people that do double century rides on them.

If you are near Bath any time Avon Valley Cycles just behind the station
has probably the best range of folders to view and try out.
http://www.foldingbikes.co.uk/

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell

Quoted message said:

Before we can help with the question we need to know what you want to
use if for.

and how tall and heavy are you?
TerryJ

I have a Trek F400 and love it but I'm not sure you can still buy one
new. The F200 is still available at:- www.carackers.com and seems
very good value. Dahon are the Nissan of the folding bike (no bad
thing) world while Brompton are the Rolls Royce (and probably outside
your budget), and are priced accordingly. Would you feel happy with
small wheels (with a smaller "folded" size) or prefer 20" for a longer
commute? You can even go the full-size folder route (e.g. Dahon Jack).
But beware there really are some awful folders out there.....either
far too big when folded or too heavy which defeats the object. I would
set a minimum of ?300 for a folding bike.
Those that I considered before buying my Trek were:-
Giant Halfway
?300-400 Dahons
Dawes Kingpin
Raleigh Boardwalk Lite

Hope this helps

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

Dahon are the Nissan of the folding bike (no bad
thing) world while Brompton are the Rolls Royce (and probably outside
your budget), and are priced accordingly.

Not at all.

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world - very
British, slightly behind the times and a bit hard to get hold of, but much
loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the Porsche of the
folding bike world, ruthlessly efficient and stylish German engineering,
costs typically twice as much (and is probably value for money)

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

Dahon are the Nissan of the folding bike (no bad
thing) world while Brompton are the Rolls Royce (and probably outside
your budget), and are priced accordingly.

Not at all.

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world -

Except they build more than nine a week. :-)

Quoted message said:

But... a Birdy, possibly the Porsche of the
folding bike world, ruthlessly efficient and stylish German engineering,
costs typically twice as much (and is probably value for money)

Or perhaps it's the Audi? Vorsprung durch technik.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

In article said:

in message <[email hidden]>,

(') said:

Dahon are the Nissan of the folding bike (no bad
thing) world while Brompton are the Rolls Royce (and probably outside
your budget), and are priced accordingly.

Not at all.

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world - very
British, slightly behind the times and a bit hard to get hold of, but much
loved by their afficianados.

But almost undoubtedly the most practical solution for one particular
niche, so maybe not a Morgan either.

Quoted message said:

loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the £1000 POGO-STICK of the
folding bike world

TerryJ

Simon Brooke said:

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world - very
British, slightly behind the times and a bit hard to get hold of, but much
loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the Porsche of the
folding bike world, ruthlessly efficient and stylish German engineering,
costs typically twice as much (and is probably value for money)

Top of the range Birdy has a speedhub, which is a very good thing on a
folder.

Actually a nexus would probably do, does anyone make a folder with
one?

Paul Rudin twisted the electrons to say:

Quoted message said:

Top of the range Birdy has a speedhub, which is a very good thing on a
folder.

Quoted message said:

Actually a nexus would probably do, does anyone make a folder with
one?

Birdy City ...
--
These opinions might not even be mine ...
Let alone connected with my employer ...

Quoted message said:

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world - very
British, slightly behind the times and a bit hard to get hold of, but
much loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the Porsche
of the folding bike world, ruthlessly efficient and stylish German
engineering, costs typically twice as much (and is probably value for
money)

Then there're the Airnimals, possibly one of the slowest and fastest of the
folders 😉

TerryJ said:

loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the £1000 POGO-STICK of the
folding bike world

Try riding a brompton for in excess of a few miles down a Scottish
hill track (or Belgian pave) and you will see why suspension is such a
Good Idea [TM]

Once you get used to it you don't bounce the suspension as you pedal
because the pogo effect is a good indicator of an uneven pedaling
style.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

Phil Cook wrote on 01/05/2007 05:39 +0100:

Quoted message said:

TerryJ said:

loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the £1000
POGO-STICK of the folding bike world

Try riding a brompton for in excess of a few miles down a Scottish
hill track (or Belgian pave) and you will see why suspension is such
a Good Idea [TM]

Once you get used to it you don't bounce the suspension as you pedal
because the pogo effect is a good indicator of an uneven pedaling
style.

Errrmmm....the Brompton has suspension but only on the rear unless you
fit a Pantour front hub.

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell

Phil Cook said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world -

Except they build more than nine a week. :-)

And they are /very/ practical. In terms of British cars, with so few to
choose from, probably the Black Cab.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch wrote on 01/05/2007 08:16 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Phil Cook said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world -

Except they build more than nine a week. :-)

And they are /very/ practical. In terms of British cars, with so few to
choose from, probably the Black Cab.

My choice would be the (original) Mini. Small, practical, great in
traffic, quintessentially British and has that undefinable grin factor
when using it.

--
Tony

"The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there
is no good evidence either way."
- Bertrand Russell

In article said:

Phil Cook wrote on 01/05/2007 05:39 +0100:

Quoted message said:

TerryJ said:

loved by their afficianados. But... a Birdy, possibly the £1000
POGO-STICK of the folding bike world

Try riding a brompton for in excess of a few miles down a Scottish
hill track (or Belgian pave) and you will see why suspension is such
a Good Idea [TM]

Once you get used to it you don't bounce the suspension as you pedal
because the pogo effect is a good indicator of an uneven pedaling
style.

Errrmmm....the Brompton has suspension but only on the rear unless you
fit a Pantour front hub.

I assumed he meant that riding a Brompton down a few miles of hill track
might make you think a fully suspended Birdy would have been a good idea.
Which seems plausible, but my short test rides of a Birdy and a Brompton
were only on city streets. (Where the Birdy didn't pogo wildly, but did
feel slightly strange to someone not used to bikes with suspension.
I didn't notice the Brompton's suspension at all. Both of those might
be changed by choosing a more suitable elastomer block rather than use the
default on the demo machine.)

In article said:

Peter Clinch wrote on 01/05/2007 08:16 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Phil Cook said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

> Bromptons are the Morgan equivalent for the folding bike world -

Except they build more than nine a week. :-)

And they are /very/ practical. In terms of British cars, with so few to
choose from, probably the Black Cab.

My choice would be the (original) Mini. Small, practical, great in
traffic, quintessentially British and has that undefinable grin factor
when using it.

And, while some people are happy travelling long distances in one,
others would want something a bit bigger for touring. I think that's it.
Steve Parry as John Cooper?

Alan Braggins said:

And, while some people are happy travelling long distances in one,
others would want something a bit bigger for touring. I think that's it.
Steve Parry as John Cooper?

Sounds good, but who gets to be Michael Caine and leave lots of Italian
machinery looking simply over-sized? ;-)

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/