Dahon Folding Bikes - higher gear

Anybody has experience on Dahon folding bikes, especially the higher end ones?

Andy

 

For some time I've been collecting information on user experiences taking bikes on planes, trains,
buses, boats, etc. There's lots of stuff on rentals, FOLDING bikes, boxing, airlines, and railroads
around the world and how to ride in/out of about 120 airports.

See it at http://www.BikeAccess.net

User experience with several different folders, plus links.

Andy wrote:
> Anybody has experience on Dahon folding bikes, especially the higher end ones?
>
> Andy

 

There is quite a lengthy post of mine that was put at this site re: a Dahon 26" Mariner riding on a
commuter train.

Since then, I would add: There is a pedal on there that collapses to allow the bike to lie flat in a
car trunk; I gave it a good thrust one day and it snapped thru. I made Dahon aware of this and they
replaced it with a redesigned pedal for no charge.

It just may be that because I fold and unfold the bike *and* lay it on a Tr-Rail luggage rack, that
it requires gear and brake tuneups more frequently. I take it in for "the works" about twice a year.

Also I notice that the brake cable on the folding handlebars slips, and I just have to give it more
slack very few days.

All in all I like the Mariner a lot. Given that whatever bike I would get was to be slapped around
on a commuter train, for $350 I don't cry about the odd scratch and dent. If it were a Brompton or
such, I'd be afraid to use it, at least in this commuter setting.

For me, 26" is the only way to go if you can possibly get it to fit where it needs to. The 20"s were
just too small and didn't feel like real bikes. But the 26" may be a little hard to find - I got
mine at BoatUS in Ft Lauderdale after *no* bike shops had 26-ers. I guess boaters have more cargo
space. But then, try to get a boat shop to service a bike...

Good luck wayne "George" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> For some time I've been collecting information on user experiences taking bikes on planes, trains,
> buses, boats, etc. There's lots of stuff on rentals, FOLDING bikes, boxing, airlines, and
> railroads around the world and how to ride in/out of about 120 airports.
>
> See it at http://www.BikeAccess.net
>
> User experience with several different folders, plus links.
>
>
> Andy wrote:
> > Anybody has experience on Dahon folding bikes, especially the higher end ones?
> >
> > Andy

 

In article <[email protected]>, "wayne dooley" <[email protected]> wrote:

> There is quite a lengthy post of mine that was put at this site re: a Dahon 26" Mariner riding on
> a commuter train.
[snip]
> For me, 26" is the only way to go if you can possibly get it to fit where it needs to. The 20"s
> were just too small and didn't feel like real bikes.

_Twenty_ inches too small? Geez Louise, my Hon has 16" wheels! [1]

Granted, the ride wasn't the best, but it got me to the train station after I bought my first house
and couldn't afford a car for a while. I even managed to climb some Hills from Hell despite the
Hon's 3-speed Sturmey-Archer hub, but you should have seen my thighs back then....

If I had to do it over again I'd consider a Brompton, a Bike Friday, or a higher-end Dahon with more
gears. I'd probably lean toward the Brompton for foldability, the Friday for ride performance, and
Dahon for price.

Van

[1] Back in 1985, Dahon was known as Hon and was based in San Leandro, California.

--
Van Bagnol / v a n at wco dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com ...enjoys - Theatre / Windsurfing /
Skydiving / Mountain Biking ...feels - "Parang lumalakad ako sa loob ng paniginip" ...thinks - "An
Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"

 

Van Bagnol <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> [1] Back in 1985, Dahon was known as Hon and was based in San Leandro, California.

why the name change, I wonder?

I always thought it kind of interesting that there was a folding bike out there called "leaf"
[dahon, in tagalog, means 'leaf']--in kind of the same way that a bunch of Italians are driving in
cars with "let it be done" (fiat, Latin) on their bumpers--just *asking* for it, I guess...

-Luigi

 

Luigi wrote:

> why the name change, I wonder? ...

AFAIK another larger company with a similar name sued, in one of those confuse-the-marketplace
deals. That would be Hon, mfgr of office supplies (file cabinets). "But those don't fold up and
fit in a carry-on, and you can't ride one to the train!" Yes, but still...

--Karen M. campaigning on an original Hon folder

 

I own a Dahon Mariner. It has been ridden for rides up to about 25 miles and has performed really
well. Have about 500 to 1,000 miles on the bike. I like the ride as it is softer than my Trek 7700.
However, the other night I went to the grocery store and accidentally went off a curb and I weight
about 220 ..... I bent the rear axle... It does take a bit more tuneups to keep it shifting well but
then again you have a lot of slack in the cable for folding. Cables for shifting and braking were
never intended to be bent like they are on the Dahon so this is to be expected. I love the little
bike and the 26" tires and 21 speeds make it nice for most all occasions. I have replaced the
knobbies with slicks for road riding.

Cheers,

Bill

On 5 May 2003 23:15:28 -0700, [email protected] (Andy) wrote:

>Anybody has experience on Dahon folding bikes, especially the higher end ones?
>
>Andy

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Luigi de
Guzman) wrote:

> Van Bagnol <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>
> > [1] Back in 1985, Dahon was known as Hon and was based in San Leandro, California.
>
> why the name change, I wonder?
>
> I always thought it kind of interesting that there was a folding bike out there called "leaf"
> [dahon, in tagalog, means 'leaf']
[snip]

Hon is the name of the guy who founded the company. Former aerospace engineer, if I recall. I guess
changing to "Dahon" made an interesting play on words -- I didn't know it was Tagalog!

Van

--
Van Bagnol / v a n at wco dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com ...enjoys - Theatre / Windsurfing /
Skydiving / Mountain Biking ...feels - "Parang lumalakad ako sa loob ng paniginip" ...thinks - "An
Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"

 

Van Bagnol <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Luigi de
> Guzman) wrote:
>
> > Van Bagnol <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> >
> > > [1] Back in 1985, Dahon was known as Hon and was based in San Leandro, California.
> >
> > why the name change, I wonder?
> >
> > I always thought it kind of interesting that there was a folding bike out there called "leaf"
> > [dahon, in tagalog, means 'leaf']
> [snip]
>
> Hon is the name of the guy who founded the company. Former aerospace engineer, if I recall. I
> guess changing to "Dahon" made an interesting play on words -- I didn't know it was Tagalog!

...probably unintentional, alas. One of those great linguistic serendipities...the most famous of
course being the Chevy Nova in Spanish: "el nuevo Chevy no va" of course meaning "the new Chevy
doesn't run".

My particular favorite was "ate" (ah-te) which in Tagalog means "older sister" (or "eldest sister,"
if you're being excruciatingly correct). In Ancient Greek, apparently, it was also the name of a
goddess of destruction....

At least the guy's name wasn't Han. Then we'd have Dahan bikes, which would just be too funny for me
to contemplate (dahan-dahan= slowly, little by little)

-Luigi

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Luigi de
Guzman) wrote:

> Van Bagnol <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Luigi de
> > Guzman) wrote:
> >
> > > Van Bagnol <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:<[email protected]>...
> > >
> > > > [1] Back in 1985, Dahon was known as Hon and was based in San Leandro, California.
> > >
> > > why the name change, I wonder?
> > >
> > > I always thought it kind of interesting that there was a folding bike out there called "leaf"
> > > [dahon, in tagalog, means 'leaf']
> > [snip]
> >
> > Hon is the name of the guy who founded the company. Former aerospace engineer, if I recall. I
> > guess changing to "Dahon" made an interesting play on words -- I didn't know it was Tagalog!
>
> ...probably unintentional, alas. One of those great linguistic serendipities...the most famous of
> course being the Chevy Nova in Spanish: "el nuevo Chevy no va" of course meaning "the new Chevy
> doesn't run".

...as well as Ford's "Pinto" which is slang for a certain male body part.

> My particular favorite was "ate" (ah-te) which in Tagalog means "older sister" (or "eldest
> sister," if you're being excruciatingly correct). In Ancient Greek, apparently, it was also the
> name of a goddess of destruction....

"Lolo" ("grandfather") is funny in Hawaii, where "lolo" means "crazy".

One of my sister's boyfriends, who came over the house a lot and ate whatever was cooking (which is
pretty much inevitable as you can never leave Mom's house without being fed), was always told to
"have some... kwan" ("whatchamacallit"). She was too busy cooking to bother with the details.

He always remarked to his friends that my mom was a great cook and finally got the courage to ask
her, "Mrs. Bagnol, what is the recipe for making 'kwan'?" My mom did a double-take as if he were a
bit lolo (in the Hawaiian sense).

> At least the guy's name wasn't Han. Then we'd have Dahan bikes, which would just be too funny for
> me to contemplate (dahan-dahan= slowly, little by little)

Well, were it "Li" we'd have Da-Li bikes. ("Dali-dali!" = "hurry up!")

I'm waiting for a bike manufacturer to name a model "TNT", which would be a
double-(triple?)-entendre for trinitrotoluene (dynamite) and "tago-ng-tago", meaning "place
to place" and is slang for an illegal alien, many of whom I see riding bikes to their
restaurant jobs. ;-)

Van

--
Van Bagnol / v a n at wco dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com ...enjoys - Theatre / Windsurfing /
Skydiving / Mountain Biking ...feels - "Parang lumalakad ako sa loob ng paniginip" ...thinks - "An
Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"

 

In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] (Luigi de
Guzman) wrote:

> My particular favorite was "ate" (ah-te) which in Tagalog means "older sister" (or "eldest
> sister," if you're being excruciatingly correct). In Ancient Greek, apparently, it was also the
> name of a goddess of destruction....

Which, if you grew up with older sisters, might be pretty accurate.

Van

--
Van Bagnol / v a n at wco dot com / c r l at bagnol dot com ...enjoys - Theatre / Windsurfing /
Skydiving / Mountain Biking ...feels - "Parang lumalakad ako sa loob ng paniginip" ...thinks - "An
Error is Not a Mistake ... Unless You Refuse to Correct It"