My father has messaged asking me what folding bike he should get. He doesn’t have room in the house to keep a normal sized bike, and wants to throw the folder in boot of the car, drive to the countryside and do 5 or 6 miles to start with. He’s 67, slightly disabled and hasn’t been able to get to the gym cos of the ‘rona. The most exercise he’s been getting recently is walking a few miles so this sounds like a good idea & I’m secretly hoping it’ll be a gateway bike and that he’ll make room in the house once he gets in to it.

Budget 500-700, which means not a Brompton, and I don’t want him to go second hand as I’m on the other side of the world so can’t do the maintenance. Oh and it needs to be ‘sturdy’. Was thinking perhaps Decathlon?

Decathlon good on a budget , Dahon have options – Hemingway at top of budget but looks good .
20″ wheels much better than smaller when not needed for train folding.

When I was not allowed to drive after a TIA I was lent a Dahon Vitesse with a 7-speed Nexus hub. It rode brilliantly, better than a Brompton, and folded reasonably well – not as small or a quick as a Brompton but not bad. It looks like they no longer have a Nexus bike in their range, which is a shame, because it was cleaner and neater than a derailleur and the ratios were good. Still seem to be a few about secondhand – and the Ridgeback Attache was exactly the same bike.