Originally Posted by
itzme
My bf is having a hard time digesting the fact that his bike is going to cost more than $400. He is considering the Downtube 9FS. How does that compare to 8H? How doesn the 9FS and the 8H compare to Dahon's Speed and Vitesse?
Wow, I sound like I actually know something
Well, I don't know the specific specs of all the bikes discussed. But before that, ask yourself if you plan on maintaining the bike yourself or plan on taking it to the local bike shop or doing any serious modifications to the bike. If you plan on taking it to the local shop then I would probably get the bike there which means a Dahon. If you believe that you are just going to use the bike as is and have fun, perhaps buying some accessories, then I would stick with the Dahon. If you enjoy tinkering, I would get the Downtube.
I think that the Vitesse has a 7 or 8 speed internal hub in the rear. There have been several discussions on the merits of an internal hub versus a derailer drivetrain. I won't bore you with the details here, but you can find these discussions on the forum with the search tool --
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...r+internal+hub. For a 20" bike, I personally go with derailer drivetrains. For a 16" bike, I go for internal hubs.