Hello all. I’m changing jobs and may need to get a folding bike due to lack of somewhere decent to keep my current commuter. I thinking of a 20″ dahon 7 speed or similar. I will be commuting 9-10 miles each way and was wondering if this would be viable or if it will be a nightmare? Any personal experiences welcome. The ride is relatively flat on smooth roads and cycle paths. The small amount of kit I will carry will be in a rucksack / commuter bag.
Thanks in advance.

hmmmm.. 7-10 miles…

I’ve the dahon vitesse 7sp and wouldn’t really want to go further than the 2miles to the train station and back, sorry. I have ridden it around that London a few times and it’s coped admirably.
It’s a cracker of a bike mind, stable, foldie, nippy enough and rolls along well even loaded up with a lappy and some other guff on the panier rack.
But 7 miles? hmmmm…

Should be fine, i did a similar length rides on a Dahon Speed Pro with no problems. You have to adapt your riding style a bit, standing up on the pedals isn’t a good idea, but hey are quite quick.

I’d buy new rather than 2nd hand, its not unheard of for there to be problems with frames and they do have a 100kg weight limit i think. Try and get a Mu, they are stiffer than the steel ones.

I found it a lot better to just get a cheap commuter bike that can be locked up though.

Mate of mine has a brompton and is happy to ride ten miles or more on it.

I’ve a 20″ wheel dahon and that would be doable. The problem with small wheels is they dont roll so easily if the surface is poor and you really notice all the bumps.

I notice dahon have started producing some 24″ wheel bike recently which would probably be perfect for this sort of thing.

I ride my Brompton 5 miles in the morning and 18 miles home in the evening.
It’s not the most efficient cycling machine ever made, but it goes on rush hour trains, under my desk and into the pub.

i’ve borrowed my dads 20″ dahon a few times and ridden 7 miles to work. It’s not a bad bike to ride but i find it a little slow and flexy – compared to my normal commuter (pompino).

However if i relax and pedal at a gentler rate – less acceleration is key – it is a pleasure to ride, and it does get to work fine.

my mum has a nexus hab version and whilst being the weight of a sherman tank is v. nice to ride. I think i would go for a hub gear one myself – if i had to have one.

I sometimes pass a chap in the mornings on his. I presume he’s riding to the train station. He’s a plucky bugger, every time I pass him he winds it up to attack speed and I slow down a bit to let him catch my wind. Furthest I’ve towed him is about 3 miles.

He looks properly broken though once he peels off.

Thanks all. Food for thought, much appreciated.

If the bike’s a good fit for you (which can be hit and miss as most folders are a one-size fits all design) then its not all that long a ride if the gearing is good. A thing to consider with frequent longer rides is little wheels turn faster -tyre, brake and rim wear can all be surprisingly rapid if you are out in all weathers. Some bikes like the Birdy have rims/tyre sizes that are unique to them and spares availability from Reise and Muller can sometimes be a bit patchy with some very long waits for parts.

I rode home 32 miles on my Birdy last Monday (Waterloo to Woking) with no problem – in fact I might do it on a more regular basis.

The Birdy has some suspension at the back and on the front fork, so the ride quality is probably better than the Dahons.

With the sport (forward facing) stem it is a fast bike and the ride position is not dissimilair to my mtb.

I am using Big Apple tyres but it is easier going on the Marathon plus skinnies.

Met a guy at Cape Wrath a few years back. He’d just cycled from Lands End on his Brompton.

There are bike lockers in Smalls Wynd, outside the old medical school and also in the art college carpark … both within 200yds of your new place. Contact Estates for keys.

20-odd miles a day, 5 days a week. Brompton 3-speed. Only less efficient up the occasional steep slope but then, I look on it as keep-fit excercise as well as commuting.

“Train hard, fight easy.”

Birky – i did but there is apparently a waiting list of over 50 🙁

I’m in the 3 Peaks again this year and I thought that riding a 2 spd Brompton with a bag filled with laptop and things from Canary Wharf to Twickenham into a headwind should be pretty handy at developing a certain mentality which might be useful on the 25th September.

Riding my brompton any distance on a regular basis destroys my knees but then I’m super tall. Great bike but not for long distances IMO

simons_nicolai-uk – have you tried the extending or telescoping seat post?

I occasionally ride about 10 miles home on my 2-speed brompton when the trains are broken, it’s tedious but doable.

Saddle heights not the problem – I suspect it’s short cranks and knee position (I’ve actually got a standard, layback, post as the top of my extending seat post.

10 miles is easily doable – it often gets ridden 20+ miles in a day – but I’d not want it as my daily commute bike at that distance. No way I’d be without it either.

Rode the Dunwich Dynamo on my Brompton 6 speed. The only changes I made were clipless pedals and rotated the bars forward 2″. As said already, 10 miles each way is doable, but sedately, provided the fit is right.

I’d ride my bickerton that far! 😯