Folding bike owners?

[Rosie8]

Would love to hear from any owners of folding bikes about their experiences. I've been looking at Dahons (Ciao and Glide P8) and Citizen folders (Barcelona or Miami). The Citizens are more my price range. Thought about having one to be able to put in the car when our roads are too muddy for riding since we have the kind of clay that can suck the shoes off your feet (ask me how that felt ). Within a mile I can drive to a park and unload my bike to get rides in when the roads get bad. I do that now anyway with my Giant Suede, but it's a hassle. Weight isn't that much of an issue since we have no public transit to speak of here in rural AZ.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[uforgot]

I had a downtube and sold it to Knottedyet. I liked it, just didn't use it much. Her mother took it over. They're pretty good bikes for the price. Check them out at: www.downtube.com

[kmehrzad]

Hi Rosie8,
I have several folders ... two are Bike Fridays (one I bought new and the other was used), also have a 'used' Dahon Jetstream (about 5 yrs. old) which actually now belongs to my daughter. The Dahon is a much quicker, neater fold than the BF, but not a bike I'd ride for more than 10-15 miles and not in very hilly conditions. The Bike Fridays are built for your specs and are very comfortable ... equivalent to riding your road bike. The stock bikes (not custom built) are around $800 but also very nice. Look for a used BF, if possible, and it'd be best if the seller was around your size.
I love the fact you can just easily put the folders in your trunk and go. Good luck finding the right folder.

[ny biker]

I know 3 people who have Bike Fridays and they love them.

[Rosie8]

Thanks for responding.

Did you ride your folder before purchasing? I've never seen any folders in our area except for a Giant Halfway. What features do you feel are most important in terms of quality?

I'm average height (5'5") and weight (142), so don't need to worry about being too big, tall, tiny, etc.

We have gentle hills where we live, but nothing too extreme.

[papaver]

I have one folder: a Brompton. I absolutely adore it.

[shootingstar]

Thanks for responding.

Did you ride your folder before purchasing? I've never seen any folders in our area except for a Giant Halfway. What features do you feel are most important in terms of quality?

I'm average height (5'5") and weight (142), so don't need to worry about being too big, tall, tiny, etc.

We have gentle hills where we live, but nothing too extreme.

Sounds like you are doing primarily recreational cycling, maybe couple times per week or month?

Regardless of your height, the best fitted bike is customized to your body measurements. Otherwise you may be unhappy once you do alot more cycling. You may never know...you might fall in love with cycling alot.

My partner has 3 bikes and one of them is a Dahonfolding bike. We don't have a car so his folding bike had to have features which included more gearing (ie. 24 speed, not 8 speed or whatever for tooling around town). He probably has over 5,000 kms. on the bike which includes 2 European trips, Quebec, 2 Toronto trips and he has used a few times at home as a substitute bike whenever one of his bikes is in for repair. We live in an area with sufficient hills within the city.

You might also want to think about the weight of bike when it folds and how you can lift/transport it around...not just into your car but if you should ever want to take a part biking trip overseas or elsewhere in the U.S.

A friend has a 24-speed Bike Friday and she loves it....now bikes it ...as her commuting and touring bike. She was a regular cyclist (was a bike courier, also did lots of bike touring and commuting) with a road bike but she lost her enthusiasm for cycling for about 5 yrs.

Her cycling love was revived when she abandoned her road bike in favour of her Bike Friday. She doesn't have a car. She also does multi-day bike tours on her own with it. So manageable, light portability of folded bike is important for her to get onto trains, buses, etc.

I visited Bike Friday's factory outlet just 1 month ago when we were vacationing in Eugene, Oregon. They are nice bikes, if you can afford it. I got my specs. after cycling a Bike Friday that fitted closest to me .....when I feel comfortable later to plunk down money.

Brompton's design was out on the market for many years before Bike Friday started up. I understand they are also excellent bikes but can be expensive.

[kmehrzad]

Thanks for responding.

Did you ride your folder before purchasing? I've never seen any folders in our area except for a Giant Halfway. What features do you feel are most important in terms of quality?

I'm average height (5'5") and weight (142), so don't need to worry about being too big, tall, tiny, etc.

We have gentle hills where we live, but nothing too extreme.

Actually I went to my local recumbent bike shop and rode a stock built Bike Friday there. Also rode several Dahon models, ones on the higher end, but went back to the BF because of how it rode, shifted, etc. Decided to pay a little extra and get a more customized bike and have been happy with it ever since. The Bike Fridays are great touring bikes and are comfortable ridden many, many miles. The Dahon, on the other hand, is good for recreational riding. I love the easier fold of the Dahon, but my Jetstream is not comfortable (for me) on long rides. So it depends on how many miles you plan to ride and since you only have gentle hills then the Dahon shouldn't be a problem. One other thing about the BF, oftentimes when I fold the bike the chain will come off so when it's time to put it back together, I just quickly put the chain back on the rear cassette, no biggie, but I always carry a rag with me. I've never had that problem folding/reassembling the Dahon. I understand it's common with the BF's. So that's something to think about, too.
The Dahon recently had a recall: Dahon is recalling stems on a number of their 16" and 20" wheel models from 2008. So if you're buying a used one, make sure the stem has been changed. Hopefully this information is helpful.