Im saving a lady friend from costco. She lives in a flat so needs a folder but has a £200 budget.

Its for commuting about 20mins each way in London with occasional tow path rides. She a non cyclist at the moment.

?

Thanks

At that price – none of them – ultra-heavy, piece of shit death-traps IME.

Splash the cash (Brompton or similar) or jog to work

As much as I originally hated it, I’ve come to like my Brompton. Gumtree for one as there are loads around London

Used Dahon mu uno. £200 is not a lot of money for a folding bike of any description, to be honest.

this will be a great way to put her off cycling.

why do folk take this approach? seems only to happen to bikes.

If it’s a flat route then decathlon do a single speed folder that is fine it’s not fast and it won’t win any prizes at the artisnal bike awards but it handled half decent for a folder and didn’t fall apart for the year I rode it across town to work in Holland.

The half-priced, barely used one on ebay/gumtree….

Find a decent Dawes Kingpin if it doesn’t need to fold super small.

Second dawes kingpin.

Even an non folder is fairly small.

I saw a single speed folder in Decathlon, looked ok, think it had that weird dutch rear brake though..

Turn uno or Dahon uno. Both are pretty good and can be found for less than £200.
I’m looking for another one at the moment

Kansi 2twenty is what I have, its light enough to carry and sturdy.

More comfortable than a Brompton to ride as the tyres are 20″

That is a low budget. If lucky you might get a v good condition (make sure it is) Dahon. I’d go for a decent steel one, maybe a Dahon Speed D7. I’ve had both steel and alloy Dahons (Speed D7 and Mu P8 respectively) and much preferred the steel one it felt sturdier, safer and a smoother ride. Not a bad folder actually.

If buying used insist she budget for a service/checkup at a Dahon dealer so you can be sure all the folding gubbins are adjusted correctly and in good safe order

Halfords at Lakeside have a Dahon Speed Uno…it’s the one with the coaster brake..

Ive got a raleigh airlite, nice thing to ride, also have a look at Dahon similar looking bikes, try halfords and local raleigh shop.

To many pivots and expensive repairs on s/h bromptons.

All good advice, thanks.

There’s a Raleigh Evo 2 at Halfords, its alu and if I buy it for her via BC I can get it for £225 – any views on one of those?

Impossible to comment unless you’ve ridden it. Folding mechanism likely to be disposable, once it’s loose, nothing to be done.

“At that price – none of them – ultra-heavy, piece of shit death-traps IME.

Splash the cash (Brompton or similar) or jog to work”

Not particularly helpful, if all you can afford is £200. 🙁

A good s/h folder would be the best bet for that sort of money. You won’t find a good working s/h Brompton for anything much below £400, in my experience. And Bromptons are very expensive to maintain. A 20″ wheel folder may well be a better bet for someone not used to cycling.

A folding bike is all about convenience of storage. It should not be seen as something that will be an amazing bike or last forever.

The evo 2 is allright..heavy though. If she wants light and cheap then look at the Dahon uno or the Decathlon one.

Thanks all for the contributions.

Looks like it the Decathlon one. This isn’t Mrs K so I can’t contribute to the funds, so I do feel the pain on that angle!

clodhopper – Member
Not particularly helpful, if all you can afford is £200

I know how it comes across, but I was serious about the “death-trap” bit. The ones my folks bought where so twitchy & hard to control they were genuinely dangerous without even taking them on the road.

what about this, looks like my raleigh airlite

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Raleigh-Stowaway-7-2016-Folding-Bike_66243.htm?sku=197317&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=CNygyN36888CFdXGGwoddAcKxQ#

200 quids

Clubmate used to commute on the decathlon folder, about six miles through town, she said it was ok and good value.

Having had a Brompton, a Dahon and an Airnimal.

I’d have:

The Airnimal (in the right spec) first,
The Dahon (I had a speed P8) second,
The Brompton last.

Thanks project, linked referred.

Bromptons are very expensive to maintain

Mine has cost zero pounds in maintenance over the last three years or so. Apart from upgrading brake blocks. Swiss Stop, obviously. Replaced the grips, as I wanted red ones to match the ti railed Fizik I put on it. 😉

Cheap folders are, as previously mentioned, enough to put you off riding. Far better to buy a beater hybrid and a decent lock.

That Raleigh looks ideal if you’re going for a new bike. Will need careful maintenance, and the parts aren’t amazing, but should be ok.

“I’d have:

The Airnimal (in the right spec) first,
The Dahon (I had a speed P8) second,
The Brompton last.”

Did you read the bit about the £200 budget? 🙂

Cheap folders are, as previously mentioned, enough to put you off riding. Far better to buy a beater hybrid and a decent lock.

She lives in a flat, 3rd floor.

CaptainFlashheart – Member

Bromptons

The collective image of those trousers and a Brompton has put a smile on my face.

Did you read the bit about the £200 budget?

I did; three’s two Airnimals on ebay for less than £200 and several Dahon folders.

My point was more that I find Bromptons to be rubbish as a bike, but good as a piece of luggage for the train. I’d rather have a slightly less convenient piece of luggage and better bike than visa versa.

two Airnimals on ebay for less than £200

Blimey! One of those would be worth waiting for it to pop up

Edit: Actually, it might not take long: http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=airnimal&ssPageName=GSTL

Wow, Airnimals BIN for <£200?

Oh no, just sitting at <£200. Totally different, and meaningless, and stupid. Sold ones are £400+

The whole point of a Brompton is the fold. To judge it without taking that into account is equally meaningless.

I WAS taking that into account. They’re still heavy, expensive, and have tiddly wheels.

Also, a Brompton broke my leg, so I’m holding a grudge.

A cheap proper bike and one of these

Someone wanting to spend £200 folding bike won’t really care about how good the ride is. They just want a bike. To unfold and take them from A to B.

Budget comes first, which is why you see so many BSOs around

I don’t have anything to add on the choice front, as I have a Brompton. But I do love it and would definitely recommend it. The fold on it is very impressive!

I would recommend looking 2nd hand though

^No good if you live in a flat with very limited space.

In what world do Airnimal bikes sell for £200? 😯 Let’s see what they actually sell for.

“Mine has cost zero pounds in maintenance over the last three years or so. “

But if anything needs replacing, the proprietary parts are very expensive. New cranks; £70?! New brake callipers, £35 an end! I wouldn’t mind if this stuff was decent quality, but it’s not. Granted, a well looked after Brompton needs very little major maintenance though. But other folders with standard components would be quite a bit cheaper to replace parts on.

My Tern B7 is used every day 20″ wheels, 7 speed, absolutely brilliant. Theres a P9 on ebay with a £230 BIN price

New Bromptons have separate chainrings. Old ones used to be £45. Replace a calliper? Very rare. Pivots do wear out.

Daffy – Member
I WAS taking that into account. They’re still heavy, expensive, and have tiddly wheels.
Also, a Brompton broke my leg, so I’m holding a grudge.

User error? Fair enough.

I had a 200 pound 2nd-hand Dahon 7 speed thing for a year or so that was fine.

I bought a Brompton once i started commuting via train into London, mainly for the smaller size.

cynic-al – Member

User error? Fair enough.

Perhaps. I was commuting into London, the roads were wet, but it wasn’t raining, the spray from the road (the bike had guards) kept getting onto my shoes. As I cornered left, the front wheel started to slip, I managed to get the bike upright by pushing down on the right pedal whereupon my foot slipped from the pedal, went under the frame, hitting the road; I’m not 100% on what happened next, but my leg became lodged between the frame and the front wheel and the bike rolled/fell snapping my leg in two places as i slid down the road on my face.

Transverse fracture of the tibia and a compound, spiral fracture of the fibula.

Unlucky