I need a folding bike but I can’t stretch to a Brompton. It’ll be in the back of my car so I can park for free outside Leeds centre and ride into my office, so it won’t be folded again at my work but put in a bike rack and I’ll only need to use the fold for getting it in and out of the car. Don’t want to use a full size bike as I want to leave it in the car.

So is there any half decent cheap folding bikes? Size of fold doesn’t have to be tiny but small wheels necessary. I think a couple of gears would be be nice and mudguards and hopefully not a wobbly piece of crap as I’m not light weight!!

Any ideas? Don’t mind secondhand.

Any decent folding bike is not ‘cheap’. They need to be pretty good to not handle like they’ve got a hinge in the middle of them….. Which they do have, so it’s tricky.
Dahons don’t fold quite as small or as quickly, but are a nicer ride than a Brompton as they have bigger wheels, you should be able to get one used for a reasonable price.

I played on one of these a while back, as it couldn’t believe how cheap it was:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/hoptown-300-folding-bike-grey-id_8352595.html

Theres a whole range that are pretty good but not light:
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/C-847975-folding-bikes

Dahons don’t fold quite as small or as quickly, but are a nicer ride than a Brompton as they have bigger wheels, you should be able to get one used for a reasonable price.

Dahon are crap. i wouldnt buy a used one. semi regular use just **** them.

the best of a bad bunch imo are actually the really cheap ones decathlon do.

i had one of their 99 quid singlespeeds for a year in holland riding back and forth to the office.- 15 miles a day – never missed a beat – although at 6 ft 2 i was right on the limit of height for it , could have done with a little more bar and saddle height.

At varying times Dahon seems to be the answer to both “what folder if not Brompton” and “least likely to last very long”, so I’d be giving the Decathlon a try..

dahon are full of good ideas but are pretty much disposable while not being cheap enough to throw away when they expire.

I’ve had thoughts about getting a BMX again instead too but they just aren’t small enough to fit in the boot of the car easily with my other stuff.

Might see if I can get to a Decathlon to check those cheap ones out.

Kansi 3 Twenty etc, they are brilliant.

The fold is better than a dahon and they are a 1/4 of the price of a brompton.

They do a special BMX edition too with mag wheels