Folding Bikes - Do others have prob's with smooth shifting in all gears on Dahons

I guess the problem seems to be that my speed 8 is good for 3-4 gears depending on adjustment, and there's considerable grinding in the other gears, though they function. Doesn't seem like the gear spacing or chain width is right.

Also-does your chain fall off the front? It's not that often, but usually after taking it out of the bag, so I jump on the pedal and nearly kill myself. Is this a chain tension thing (as I recall, somebody at LBS said that Dahons are often mistensioned).

Anybody have similar experiences/solutions?

Oh yes, I read about the chain popping off the chainwheel on Dahons for a long time. My own solution was 1. Purchasing the Boardwalk S1 with rear horozontal dropouts on the frame and 2. Having a three speed rear hub installed. Never had that experience on mine so far!

yes - this happened on my dahon 2005 speed8 too. I took it to lbs and they fixed it but a friend picked it up for me so I didn't get an explanation-so far it has been okay for about month. Another place to check on this complaint is on the Dahon website - there have been a cople of discussions on the forum there about this problem.

I get the chain on my Boardwalk6 to fall off when I shift into first at a fast rate. If I am slow and gentile it does not fall off. I've used a device called the N-stop on other bikes and I'm going to order it for the boardwalk. It is a delrin clamp with an adjustable stainless steel plate. You adjust the plate to within about 1/8 inch of the chain. It works. You will never have to deal with it again:

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/chains.html

I guess the problem seems to be that my speed 8 is good for 3-4 gears depending on adjustment, and there's considerable grinding in the other gears, though they function. Doesn't seem like the gear spacing or chain width is right.
Anybody have similar experiences/solutions?

OH MY! I could have written the same thing. My bicycle shifted perfectly when new but now some gears grind and I suspect it's due the to the horizontal dropouts. The wheel has to be put perfectly inside the dropout or the gears will start grinding. I don't know how to fix mine yet but it makes me wish the bike had verticle droupouts.

It sounds like you guys just need to adjust the shift cables. Cables stretch with use so periodic adjustment is always necessary.

OH MY! I could have written the same thing. My bicycle shifted perfectly when new but now some gears grind and I suspect it's due the to the horizontal dropouts. The wheel has to be put perfectly inside the dropout or the gears will start grinding. I don't know how to fix mine yet but it makes me wish the bike had verticle droupouts.

Just as an update to these problems--I ditched the gripshift and just went with a bar end shifter in friction mode. I'm much happier now.

Also, about the chain thing: It looked like the culprit was the chainguard, which was bending further and further *away* from the chainring, allowing the chain to move off it and eventually fall one way or another. I unbolted the chainring and reversed it, so that it was tight against the chainring. I have not had a problem since.