Quote Originally Posted by Rosie8 View Post
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.