Following on from my recent cruiser/shopper thread, I've, ahem, spent the weekend looking at folding bikes, I'm ashamed to say 😳 . Sheesh, there's some rubbish out there and I've come to the conclusion that anything under £500 is utter cr@p. Care to prove me wrong? 😉

what wrong sweatheart………….you run out of options cos you have owned every other bike at one time or the other…….. 😆

see if they have a right big one too…. 😉

Yeah, probably Ton 😉

Already got the mid-life crisis bike 😛 . Time for the old lady bike now . . . I even went into Halfords yesterday to look at the baskets 😳

im looking for a folder at the moment …. something i can use as a road bike while traveling for work … and commuting 12 miiles to the station daily there and back and 2 miles at the other end

dahon speed tt is looking like the winner but at 1300 quid its a bit much(alt … but not much else suitable – unless the STW masses have any ideas ?

depends what your doing on your folder mamadirt …..

Had a birdy folder for 2 years, cycle to station, train, cycle to office . . . great wee bike, fast fold and small enough when folded . . . the grip shifter was junk but an old XT thumbie soon sorted that out . . . tyres were epensive and difficult to find because they were a unique size IIRC . . . that was the only issue . . .

What do you want a folder for? You're bikes are so tiny, surely storage isn't a problem?? 😀

X

Nah, not the storage but I'd feel a bit overbiked tucking the Slopestyle under my arm and jumping on a train for a shopping trip to Cardiff 😉 . Maybe I need a trailer.

My Dad picked up a Dahon d7HG for less than £400 at JE James a month or so ago. Seems quite nifty and has a 7 speed nexus hub too. I want one.

yep I got one for commuting on my German work trips (Pyramid).

And it's pretty crap. But it's quicker than walking and at £90, cheaper than a hire car.

Not quite a folder but……how a bout a Thorn Raven Nomad with S&S couplings?

Oh and not cheap either

hth

http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornRavenNomadBroHiRes.pdf

Trail_rat, I thought you'd go for this

i saw that – looks good but wholely unsuitable for riding home from work on if i so wish ….

Hmmmmmm . . . I've seen plenty of folders similar to Buzzlightyear's Pyramid (stickered with different brands) at a decent price but by the time I've swapped the seat, added a micro-adjust post and no doubt fitted new cranks/chainring just because I can 😉 (I can't help being an eternal fettler), then I may as well have dropped more cash on a Dahon or similar anyway. Maybe I'm just looking for a new project and using the shopping bike excuse to justify it 🙄

Cheers all!

runs off to search for a full-sus, disc-braked shopper . . . in orange

i used a Dahon 5 hub geared thing for a while – was fine for its purpose – i also borrowed a Specialized Globe 20" folder for a bit which was far betterer but no longer available

I've got one of these:

Except I have different handlebars. It rides (very nearly) like a big wheeled bike, I use it for commuting. Love it.

Just re-read your post, it didn't cost less than £500.

I had a go on a Dahon- it was £500, single speed with 26" wheels. Folded using an allen key, which actually wasn't as much faff as it sounds. Def worth a try. It was at Evans, might have been in a sale….

There you go…now only £399!

Do you have a Decathlon anywhere near you? They're doing a 20" wheel folder for £250. I'm pretty sure I saw then in orange, last I was in there.

I love Decathlon, me…

What's wrong with the classic Brompton? You can even get it with titanium bits, which is of course the one I have 😳 Not cheap, but a really good town bike and perfect for public transport! And they hold their value quite well, especially if you buy secondhand in the first place (which is what I did). Paid £500, should be able to sell it for the same whenever I want to…

Bromptons are way, way overpriced; poor quality proprietary components, silly little wheels (16" harder to get tyres and innertubes than 20"), and an unsecured back end that could potentially fold underneath you if you hopped off a kerb (you need to secure it with a bungy).

Bromptons are way, way overpriced; poor quality proprietary components, silly little wheels (16" harder to get tyres and innertubes than 20"), and an unsecured back end that could potentially fold underneath you if you hopped off a kerb (you need to secure it with a bungy).

utter, utter bollox from king fred of bollox.

Piece of piss to get tyres and inners for them.
Even though there's a new bungy attachment for the back end, Ive never had a problem with the back end on my older versions that dont have the mod – and I certainly have ragged it around and off kerbs in London.
The proprietary components I assume you refer to are the brake levers and 2spd shifter which work fine – but since they arent branded your whoring is limited eh?

Bromptons are excellent bikes. Yes they are still over-priced as they have restricted retail channels but the second hand value is exceptionally high and depreciation far lower than any other folder. They also have very long useful lives.

Or you could listen to fred who blatantly has never even ridden one let alone owned one… 🙄

Bromptons are way, way overpriced; poor quality proprietary components, silly little wheels (16" harder to get tyres and innertubes than 20"), and an unsecured back end that could potentially fold underneath you if you hopped off a kerb (you need to secure it with a bungy).

Yep, sorry Talkemeda, going to have to side with Stoner here 🙂

I'll concede that RRP for a Brompton is quite high, but then they are made by hand right here in London (I think?), so that's a factor!

Silly little wheels? well there's a reason for them, they fold up nice and small! No problems at all getting tyres/tubes, I run Schwalbe Super Marathons on mine and never get punctures 🙂

New models come with a 'latch' type thing to lock the two halves together, but same as Stoner, I never have issues with my unsecured version and I too pop off curbs etc, just make sure you don't get any air (which I did once, yes, this did cause an issue 😆 )

Get one fully kitted out with a rear rack and dynamo and the front carrying block, fit a front bag of your choice, and you have an excellent town bike.

the second hand value is exceptionally high and depreciation far lower than any other folder.

This is one of their best features I think… as I said, buy one secondhand in good nick, look after it and you'll sell it for pretty much the same price whenever you want to…

Dahons best for riding, poor at folding and putting on a train, sticking under the table at a pub.
Brompton best for folding, OK for riding.

Or you could listen to fred who blatantly has never even ridden one let alone owned one…

Alternatively…

Worked in shops selling them. Taken them to bits. 'Owned' one for a week. Was a promotional thing to get bike selling folk to get used to them, so they could dispense genuine knowledge and experience. I nearly killed the thing; gears gave up, rubber bumper split, h/bar q/r broke tightening it up, both wheels out of true and the brakes were useless. Anyone I know that's owned one for any length of time has spent loads on replacement parts. You can't really 'upgrade' a lot of them.

I can see their plus sides; very quick and easy to fold, reasonably lightweight.

Sadly, they're let down by poor quality components of the type you'd find on a sub-£200 bike. Replacement parts (you will need them) and accessories are silly expensive.

The whole point of a folding bike is as a cheap, convenient means of transport. Brompton's marketing has created the image of a trendy thing to have, for the iPhone generation…

Just my point of view. Stoner, I'm so flattered that you hold me in such high regard; unfortunately, I cannot recall anything of interest you've ever said… 🙁

I'll concede that RRP for a Brompton is quite high, but then they are made by hand right here in London (I think?), so that's a factor!

That is why they are so expensive. If they were made in Taiwan etc, they'd be half the price or less.

The higher end Dahons are much nicer to ride, imo. Better quality too. I've ridden loads of folding bikes in my time; have to say the Brompton isn't a fave. Does fold down really tiny though, which is a bonus on packed commuter trains coming in from some rural green-belt middle-class enclave, I suppose… 😉

Lots to think about there. Karin – that Chameleon looks good – bit out of my price range though 🙁 .

What about this one?

Yeah, I know it's dirt cheap (seen them even cheaper on the 'bay) but it does appear to have a replaceable chainring (or maybe they're just rivets) and micro-adjust post.

I've ridden Bromptons a few times and in the end decided to settle for a cheap Dahon just because it rides better. I bought my Speed 7 (not sure where they got the 'speed' part of the name from) cheap in the Evans sale a few years ago. It weighs a lot but came fully equipped with a rack, guards and even a stand, all things I would have to pay a fortune for on a Brompton. The Dahon is also proving pretty straight forward to upgrade.

One of the best things you can do if you buy a folder is ditch the standard folding pedals and get some quality MKS detachable pedals.

Having spent a few years working in London bike shops, I've worked on quite a lot of folding bikes.

I own a Brompton. Because they're well-designed and generally reliable – a lot of people treat like them like crap and ride them into the ground, but that's mostly because they can take the abuse for a long time. Most of the parts are well-made and pretty resilient. All components are designed to be retro-compatible where possible and all new ones come with a little plastic clip to hold the rear end in place. I disagree with Talkemada over his opinions on them, but they're his opinions and the above are mine. (As someone else has said, run Schwalbe Marathon Ultras, keep them at 100psi and you're incredibly unlikely to get a puncture)

I _really_ dislike Dahons. Over the years they've had so many horrible design flaws from stems that won't stay tight (or straight), hinges that break, cracking frames, silly wheel choices, poor braze-ons and bizarre gear arrangements, I will never own or recommend one. I had Fisher's warranty department on speed dial in one of my workshops because I had to call them so many times, and they were rarely speedy about sorting out the many warranties. (Although they've since either been dropped by Fisher or gone self-distributing, so I have no idea what that situation is like now).

Mezzo make quirky, expensive, but good quality bikes that fold almost as small as, and are lighter than, Bromptons. In various shop-floor-training-session races, I've seen people fold and unfold Mezzos faster than Bromptons, and most of the parts on a Mezzo are more generic than a Brompton so easier to replace.

Airnimal make some fantastically expensive, very light, very fast bikes (there was a TT record set on one) but also use some awkward wheel / tyre / tube combinations that aren't the easiest to get spares for. Also, I've seen a couple of cracked frames, although their warranty department are very helpful people.

Moultons are amusingly complicated and have an _incredibly_ devoted following, they've been making good quality British bikes for a lot of years and they're good at it. There are people who tour countries and continents on them.

I'm sure there are brands I haven't mentioned. A lot of lower-end folding bikes are fairly similar in style and build; like with many other things, you tend to get what you pay for. The best _cheap_ folding bike I rode was a Raleigh – I think it was around £130 worth, single speed, V-brakes, not light but simple and straightforward.

: P

Personally, I'd be looking to get one with standard sized parts that are easy to replace, as most cheaper folders have cheap bits. Thinks like seatposts; heavy steel jobbies.

I'm assuming some of the ones with cassettes on the rear wheel are at least 130mm hubs; upgrade possibilities.

I'm looking for one that I can 'bling'. For that, it needs to have a certain amount of standard fitting parts; seatpost, BB, hubs, etc.

I'll have a look at that Decathlon one if I'm down there in the next couple of days Mama, let you know what it's like. Might consider one for meself, actually…

I'd also point out that anything with a sliding stem that locks in place (like that Decathlon, most Dahons and most budget folders)is not going to stand up to daily folding and unfolding for very long. That's a problem I've seen with lots of other bikes. It's a common feature on a lot of folders because there are only so many easy-to-make folding bike designs and some of them are patented.

It's not a bad thing if you're not going to fold and unfold the bike a lot. But if you're folding and unfolding several times a day (cycle to train, fold, unfold to cycle through city, fold to store under desk, unfold to cycle to train, fold, unfold to cycle home, for example) that telescoping tube design is subjected to a lot of wear, particularly if it's a notched tube and a retaining stud design. Even when kept greased, I've seen lots of folding bikes get very sloppy in this area within their first year and all you can do is further tighten the quick release, which is often inadequate and made of cheap metal, which then over-stresses the clamp area.

The steerer/stem is not a part of the bike that you want to be loose, sloppy or un-straight IMO!

: P

Brompton price list

😯

Their cheapest model used to cost under £400. It's now twice that! WTF happened?

Seat pillar aluminium extended, 60mm longer £93.00
Brompton C Bag, c/w frame, strap & rain cover £80.00

😯

Pierre; do you work for Brompton? 😉

Wow, they have gone up in price. But they're worth it (IMO). They also hold their value incredibly well – look at the second-hand prices on eBay.

: P

P.S. no I don't work for Brompton, never have, but I've worked on probably hundreds of them…

Cheers both

I'm looking for one that I can 'bling'. For that, it needs to have a certain amount of standard fitting parts; seatpost, BB, hubs, etc.

Well according to this page you can get a ti post and pedals for your Brompton 😛

Yeah, I know- crazy! Few years ago, I turned one down for £120. I wanted to pay no more than £100 (they were about £375 new). Recently, I was offered a s/h one for £300! Silly me! Could have bought it and made a packet flogging it on to some young trendy! 😀

They are very convenient, but they are way overpriced, let's be honest. Many other designs have caught up, and some have even overtaken, in terms of ride.

Our experiences differ; when I worked in bike retail, the most common brand in with issues were Bromptons. And customers weren't happy when we told them that the repair bill for something seemingly simple was going to be well over £100.

I think they're poor value for money, and wouldn't buy one.

Mama; a bloke I worked with had a carbon seatpost for his Brompton. I shudder to think what that would have cost!!!

You can get Bromptons in custom colours though; that's a nice touch.

Yes, you could also get it resprayed yourself I suppose…

Personally, I'd be looking to get one with standard sized parts that are easy to replace, as most cheaper folders have cheap bits. Thinks like seatposts; heavy steel jobbies

Possibly too heavy for what you want, borderline for price , but have you considered a
Montague/Swissbike
The smallest frame size is 16" ( although the frame sizes seem to come up small and they claim that the 18" is suitable for people from 5'3" to 5'10")

Originally developed for a US Department of Defence contract it is a 26" wheel folding mountainbike which takes standard parts throughout. When my employer did cycle to work I was looking at a folder but none of the small wheel jobs were up to my size/weight. The company doing the scheme suggested one of these and when I researched it I remembered seeing a piece on the gadget show that compared them favourably with the other offerings. To be honest, when riding, it feels like a normal bike that happens to fold. It won't fold down to anywhere near the size of a Brompton, Birdy etc. but it's a lot less expensive than an Airnimal. They have also started doing a frameset so if you can source one in the right size you may be able to build it up.

If you google there are several stockists on the web who may have previous year's models floating around at a discount. They build up as anything from a hybrid to an XO equipped MTB.

Ratadog; ta, but I meant a small-wheeled thingy I can fold up and take into shops/pubs etc. Saves having to lug locks around, and come out to find some scrote has nicked your seat etc.

No, I'm looking for something I can use standard mtb parts on really. Use the frame as a basis to build a decent little bike up from.

How about a Mezzo, Talkemada? They're nice little bikes (designed by Jon Whyte), take standard kit and fold up small. Their frames are alu and I found the riding position easier than a Brompton (they didn't have as much of that Brompton twitchiness you have to get used to). And although they do have a sliding stem, it's for height adjustment rather than being an integral part of the folding mechanism so will last a lot longer.

There's an I-4 on eBay atm.

: P

I fancy owning a Brompton, because I think they look cute. However, I doubt I would ever ride it – why? Those tiny wheels! This winter produced/worsened a rash of potholes from hell. Those tiny wheels could pocket and you'd be straight over the top, ouch, nasty.

It happened to a man riding along next to me down the Camberwell Road a couple of months back (and he was riding 700c wheels). He escaped unhurt only due to an unbelievably balletic leap from his doomed mount followed by an athletic canter along the pavement, while his bike cartwheeled down the road.

Mr T, I do take your point about locking bikes up – you can't really leave anything half decent anywhere unless festooned with locks and set about with traps.

Selling my Dahon Cadenza Solo, was going to put it on fleabay next week.
Good bike, but one bike too many in the shed.
It's last year's model (they don't make them any more)and it's had the wheels rebuilt (the weak link, sorted).
£275 inc postage.