I am fascinated by them, but do not own one. I think they would be great in some applications. They will fit great in the seat locker of my sailboat. My Helios P8 fits there too if NOT folded and the front wheel is removed. The fold makes it harder to store in such situations where thickness is a limiting factor, so the fold is not an advantage in that particular application.
The difference that is important to me is that I cannot achieve the riding position I want with the Helios and think I could with the Masi mini-velo. The bars do not go low enough or far enough forward. It also is pretty flexy if you stand and pull on the bars. The Masi mini-velo looks like it would address all of these concerns while still being much easier to store than a full sized bike.
The dahon mini-velos do not look like they address my ridng position complaints. I don't get why they put such a long head tube on them bringing the bars up so high.
The Masi mini-velo also has a normal road bike drive train, a big plus.
The mini-velo is much shorter in length than a "normal bike" making it easier to carry through doors and up or down stairs. It also fits in vehicles better than a full sized bike and in the case of some spaces just as well as a folder.
Some of those advantages could be had with a folder, but only in a pretty high priced one. Depending on how you use it the fold may be a big advantage or not.
Last edited by staehpj1; 08-21-08 at 06:48 AM.