Yet unknown folder brand?

[v1nce]

Is this one on the radar/chops' list already? Cheap in any case:

http://www.goods-2-go.com/index.html

[James H Haury]

It looks a lot like the Z bike I once had, but with better gearing and 20 inch wheels.I have checked the specs if you are interested in a good multispeed folder get a Dahon boardwalk 7 or a downtube bike. If you want a cheap multigeared folder which will be sturdy but heavy go ahead and get the T bike. Be advised though to upgrade the 44t chainring, change out the steel wheels for alloy and possibly upgrade to a 6 speed freewheel 13-30 will cost in my estimation more than the original purchase price also you will have to change the shifter . If the seatpost is long enough for and you make all these changes you will still have in my estimation a sows ear and not a silk purse. A Boardwalk 7 or a downtube bike is better and if you modify the T bike it will cost more than the boardwalk and not be as good . i am not so sure if it will cost more than the downtube but it will not be as good definitely.

[v1nce]

@ H. I agree fully with everything you wrote, i wasn't ever at all considering buying that folder. :) I Just thought i'd be good to mention if so more people are aware/for thoroughness on Chops' list.

In fact i consider spending any money on any folder cheaper than a Downtube a total waste of both my cash and finite resources/embodied energy. That is more or less what i tell every foldie newbie that is considering a cheapy folder: Skip it an save a little more for some decent or good. In the long run the cheapies are just never worth it plus i believe that you do mostly do get what you pay for.

[bangkok]

A new one from Germany ... nothing special, but the enclosed crank/chain in combination with hub gear is not a bad idea for a commuter.

http://www.utopia-fahrrad.de/2_Fahrrad_Html/Kapitel_Html/143_Neuheiten_18.html

[Chop!]

Thanks to V1nce & Bangkok! All new additions to my list are very welcome, regardless of their quality or 'bang for buck' rating!

[v1nce]

Hmm i actually kindoff like that gecko with the enclosed chain and decent fold (trying to go slightly Brompton style)...! Interesting. Nice wheels, tires and handlebars too.Not too sure about the chainstay though. I couldn't quite figure out the price,.. how much is it?

[bangkok]

There is a choice pf 3 hub gears, including the Rohloff. Cost for the Gecko with Shimano Nexus Inter 8 is EUR 1400 ... USD 1650 .... ouch!

[v1nce]

Thanks for that info. Hmm at that price it holds little appeal to me personally, it is a nice and pretty innovative machine for sure, but for that one could buy a pretty top of the line Brompton or a good Bike Fridar, or a Swift with a crazy amount of nice upgrades or a lot of other things. Still, nice to see more companies coming up with rather unusual and high quality folders.

[DaFriMon]

Here (http://www.mobikyusa.com/genius/index.html) is a link for yet another brand, which was mentioned on the Folding Society (http://foldsoc.blogspot.com/) page. It's interesting, certainly, but I'd take a lot of convincing that it's worth $995.00.

[Chop!]

Mobiky is a French folder, not exactly practical with such small wheels, just came back from a ride with Jane riding my Brompton & me on the Strida, then I decided to take the Brompton across town to my workshop, everytime I start riding the Brompton it feels wrong, 16" wheels, Yuk! I can't wait to get my GoBike back & even that has serious handling problems. Trying to figure a way to stop the rear swinging arm from 'swinging' sideways! Off to a party! yeeHah! :beer:

[af895]

Mobiky is a French folder, not exactly practical with such small wheels, just came back from a ride with Jane riding my Brompton & me on the Strida, then I decided to take the Brompton across town to my workshop, everytime I start riding the Brompton it feels wrong, 16" wheels, Yuk! I can't wait to get my GoBike back & even that has serious handling problems. Trying to figure a way to stop the rear swinging arm from 'swinging' sideways! Off to a party! yeeHah! :beer:

HA! Enjoy the beer Chop. ;)

I was looking at the Mobiky during my "tiny folder" search.
I was more inclined toward it than the Handybike or Strida but... $1,000+?!
Maybe for $300 or $400...but not at over a grand.

I'm using the KHS in it's travel case for multimode transportation - still dreaming of a 20" wheeled Brompton though. ;)

[bangkok]

A new micro bike destined for Japan

http://www.daka.com.hk/press/content.php?action=print&printtitle=1&page=173

http://www.daka.com.hk/images/products/full/ZB01-0.jpg

[bangkok]

A brand from Sweden, looks like a Dahon OEM

http://www.urbanista.se/default.asp

The bikes are nice too ...

[Chop!]

A new micro bike destined for Japan

http://www.daka.com.hk/press/content.php?action=print&printtitle=1&page=173

http://www.daka.com.hk/images/products/full/ZB01-0.jpg

Hmmmm! I smell a rat..................

Sinclair A-bike (http://www.gizmodo.com/archives/sinclairs-folding-abike-017388.php)

This is an old clip from 2004, it's exactly the same bike! :eek:

[Chop!]

A brand from Sweden, looks like a Dahon OEM

http://www.urbanista.se/default.asp

The bikes are nice too ...

Sweden also has the Biltema (http://www.biltema.se/products/product.asp?iSecId=760&iItemId=93869)

[caotropheus]

A brand from Sweden, looks like a Dahon OEM

http://www.urbanista.se/default.asp

The bikes are nice too ...

No dought, the 2 pictures from the left are interesting indeed. By the way, the bicycles seem ok also.

[James H Haury]

In reference to the A bike , it has small hard wheels and tires. I doubt it is any better functionaly than my hotwheels branded scooter or a RAZOR . :(

[James H Haury]

No dought, the 2 pictures from the left are interesting indeed. By the way, the bicycles seem ok also.The Dark Klown color should be referred to as simply"Pagliacci.The bicycles look good and doubtless are licensed Dahons. Having dark Klown renamed Pagliacci leaves a natural spot in the lineup for a model named Nedda. :p

[bangkok]

This is a snap from a Hong Kong bike shop of a folder model from Inclide ... the shaft-drive manufacturer.

http://www.flyingball.com/foldingbike.html

There is no folder model at the manufactures site ... thought they have a shaft-drive recumbent!

http://www.sussex.com.tw/se5.htm

Or at US/EU dealer sites.

Looks like a Sturmery hub, and fulll front suspension, but unfortunately no rear suspension.

Shaft + hubgear is appealing for a workhorse commuter bike.

[Chop!]

Thanks again for the valued new links. There are now over 320 links to folding bikes + numerous links to other resources on my AtoZ page.

[Tomaso]

Hi everyone,

What about this bike? Looks great to me !


http://www.ingear.be/gobike/en/indexgb.asp


By the way, the building you see in the background is the new Antwerp courthouse.

[af895]

Chop owns one of those Tomaso. :D

http://www.long-john.com/pagegobike.htm

[Tomaso]

Oops! Of course, what was I thinking....

[Chop!]

Oops! Of course, what was I thinking....

We forgive you! With the strength of Belgian beer you are bound to come out with some wierd stuff! :beer: :roflmao:

[Tomaso]

Hey Chop!

Hmmm, CHOP!: 1, Tomaso: O ;)

Yeah, we Belgians love beer, we're good in brewing & drinking it, if only we were as good in football (soccer, for the Americans) :(
The In-gear distributor is actually here in Antwerp, but I only discovered it ater I had already purchased my Dahon Jetstream. Not that I would have bought the Gobike (too expensive) but I do want to testdrive it in the near future.

Tomaso (sober at the moment) :D :D

[af895]

LOL. Belgian Trappist beer is the best beer in the world. Period.
Fan of "Chimay (http://www.chimay.be/)" myself. Only one pub in town has it and it occassionally shows up at the liquor store.

[Tomaso]

Cool! We have about 100 different beers, here in Belgium. Did you try unfolding your bike after lets say, 3 glasses of Trappist? I bet it'll take you a little more time...... :D :D :D

[Chop!]

Hey Chop!

Hmmm, CHOP!: 1, Tomaso: O ;)

Yeah, we Belgians love beer, we're good in brewing & drinking it, if only we were as good in football (soccer, for the Americans) :(
The In-gear distributor is actually here in Antwerp, but I only discovered it ater I had already purchased my Dahon Jetstream. Not that I would have bought the Gobike (too expensive) but I do want to testdrive it in the near future.

Tomaso (sober at the moment) :D :D
Hey Tomaso

I will certainly be in the Antwerpen area sometime this year, you'd be welcome to try my Rohloff GoBike, or just pop into InGear, Seppe is a cool dude, I'm sure it would be no problem to get a test ride there. (Say Hi from me if you do!)
Still haven't got the GoBike back off Kinetics, my winter break is ticking away, just when I could be riding it, it seems to be taking forever to do my modifications, Dropped it off in November for 2 weeks that have stretched to nearly 2 months GGGRRR!
Thanks for your guestbook comments by the way.

[Tomaso]

Thanks CHOP!
When you are in Antwerp, let me know, and we can go for a beer! :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: :beer: : (there's more than only Trappist, you know...)
I really think I should pay this Seppe a visit.

[goods-2-go]

Perhaps you will consider checking out the Lite Ride Bike. 12.8kgs. retail $299.00 CND
If there is a better deal/value out their I'd like to see it!

Regards

D

[v1nce]

Ehmm,... yes i would love to check that one out but various search terms yielded nothing,.. a link would be nice!.......... :|

[goods-2-go]

hello V1NCE

Hee is the link http://www.goods-2-go.com/products.html#literide

[v1nce]

Aha, thx for the link, i didn't realize it was this bike, since i think we discussed/linked to it before.

Where did you find the weight, i couldn't. I would have to disagree about it being better value than the Downtube though. Well,.. i am not too sure but the frame design of the Downtube seems better and stronger and the components as well. Better wheels, 8 speed instead of 5 etc. But this is a little hard to say for sure as i could find no clear close up pictures of literide and the specsheet seemed a bit uninformative as well.. Still, i would love to read a review on it and the monoschock at that price is potentially good value.

[goods-2-go]

Hello Vince

The weight of the Lite ride is 12.8 kgs. I know this because I procured this item myself.
I am surprised you found the the spec sheet for the Lite Ride uninformative. Besides weight what else
would you reccommed as an addition to accurately describe the bike?
This bike will have six gears as opposed to only five.

Check out the quick releasaes on this bike. Although you can't see from the picture. The bike actually rolls in its folded position. This is the only bike I know that can do this.

You will notice on the spec sheet all components are from well known factories( shimano, zoom etc..)
I have never heard of sunrace for a derailer, cassette for a bike as the Downtube purports.

In any case, the only true way of getting a feel for the quality of bike is to Ride/Fold one.

I hope I was able to clarify....your opinions will be highly appreciated!

[v1nce]

Ah,. very sorry i seem to be a little slow today,.. i only just now caught your Forum Name. So do you run the company that sells the Literider..? Or..? Either way very welcome!

EDIT!

Everything below applies to the T Bike mode not the Literide model!

---------------
As for your questions:

The spec sheet: Things that may be obvious but are not necessarily so could be added, for example, are the cranks cotterless? I am assuming so but it isn't made clear.

Other: Brand and model names of all components, wheel, hub, brake levers, etc etc. If they have a brand of course.

Bottom Bracket Clearance. Type of Bottom Bracket. Max. rider weight and height. etc.

Headset type, brand and model.

Next to the specs the site really needs lots of decent quality pictures detailing the whole bike! Hinge, Chainstay (i am little worried about the back "triangle" design, curving and low angles, theoretically weaker than the Downtubes').

I do love the two smaller tubes right behind the hinge for strengthening/carrying purposes.

As for the rolling capability of the bike, it is a nice feature but to my knowledge Bromptons, Strida's, Xootr Swift certain Dahons and some others (GoBike?) also do this.

Hmm i find it a little odd you have never heard of Sunrace...!

http://www.sunrace.com/company.asp

The History at the site speaks for itself.. most cyclists owe a lot to Sunrace even though they often do not know it.

IMO Sunrace is a company that deserves support in that they make quite a lot of good products and pionered many of the great advances in Derallieur and Drivetrain technology which Shimano then later "appropiated". Shimano simply has the name and hence the market, Sunrace has the innovation and also sells quality (with less build in obsolesence IMO).

The Downtube weighs 12.7 Kilos (EDIT. Correction) BTW, and that includes bar ends and rack
But just to be clear, the price of the Lite Ride Bike in question is Excellent!

The Holiday special price translates to 162 US, the Downtube is 289 US... Quite a difference! However i do equate value with durability a lot, and that is where the Lite Ride has me a little concerned.

Also how is the distance between the Handlebars and saddle, seems sortoff small but it is hard to see on picture. Another good spec for the table i think.

I find it an intriguing machine and would love some more info so i can properly asses it.

The more affordable decent or good folders there are the better!

[BruceMetras]

The Downtube weighs 12.7 LBS BTW, and that includes bar ends and rack
But just to be clear,


Man, that is flat awesome!!.. I've got to get back to Yan and moan about my overweight VIIIFS..

Bruce

[downtube]

Man, that is flat awesome!!.. I've got to get back to Yan and moan about my overweight VIIIFS..

Bruce

I think he means kg's...no 12lb bikes in our lineup yet.

By the way our bikes also roll when folded at the frame. Many folding bikes share this feature.

Thanks,
Yan

[v1nce]

Ah, yes ehm my apologies all around, it was very late at night when i wrote the bit above. I did mean Kilo's of course! also everything i wrote applied to the wrong model! so your absolutely right in your PM 'Goods 2 Go' i was looking at the wrong bike.

Having checked out the correct spec sheet i must now conclude that the LiteRide (the bike in question) is at 257 US, a viable alternative to the Downtube and hence a contender to the 'Bang for Buck' throne in my opinion. This is a great thing i think for both consumers as possibly the two brands as some healthy competition (or even co operation?) can be a good thing for everyone. The folder market seems to be far from satiated and i think there is definately space for a few more great bikes, partcularly affordable ones.

I was also wondering Goods to Go,.. how do you manage such a low price, Yan has explained that by keeping his bike work of love not commerce and cutting out the middle men he succeeds in the low price. Is that the same with the Literide?

Now even more than before i'd love to see more pictures of the bike!

These are truly good and exciting times for folder lovers ha ha.

[goods-2-go]

Hello V1nce

As with Yan this project is a work of passion for the product.

As well we have also illiminated the middleman. Therefore we can be more competitive.

For the question how did we acquire such a competitive price?

I origionally prurchased a Dahon and felt that I spent too much money on it!

So I went to work to see if I can create a product reflecting simular quality at a lower price.
I beleive I was successful in doing so.

If you have a true sincere passion for anything and apply yourself than you will get results.
This project required alot of time and effort on my part and I believe the final result is reflective of that effort. Many contacts and relationships were and are being created; much time and money spent, an ability to impress a vision upon poeple and share that vision. And a host of other unquantifyable chararctistics enabled me top get to this point. But I am just beginning our marketting aspect of this business. We have a long way to go!

I truely appreciate your enthusiam for folding bikes V1NCE. For me it has become an obsession to create and maintain true value in our products.

Best Regards

D

[v1nce]

Inspiring stuff, i can only begin to imagine how much time and energy must be invested for designing, building and marketing a folder from scratch!

I think once the page has been updated this new folder and q & a pertaining to it definately deserve a thread of their own.

BTW does Goods-to go also intend to try for the 'holy grail' of folders in the future... that is, an affordable, durable 20 inch folder that rides and tours very well and folds (almost) as well as Brompton? This is really the one i am holding out for.

[Wavshrdr]

One thing between the Downtube and the Literider is as near as I can tell only the Downtube comes with a carry bag which is a BIG plus to me. So are the extra gears AND Yan's EXCELLENT customer service. The customer service from Yan is already proven and Goods-2-Go's is untested. As many have stated it is good to have other competitors in this market segment. I think there is room for both of them but G2G would have to work really hard to woo me away from Downtube in the affordable folder segment. For me the Downtube still wins the bang for the buck award at this point in time but who knows where it'll be next year...

[v1nce]

Agreed, i am looking forward to see both companies develop. I am still somewhat more sold on the Downtube because of the many positive experiences by riders here and the feedback from Yan. Ideally i hope that in time the Literide will prove to be just as good and the both products will very similairly priced and that a choice for one or the other will be a matter of small personal preference rather than a big difference between them. I am very excited by both companies and wish them both the best.

[downtube]

Agreed, i am looking forward to see both companies develop. I am still somewhat more sold on the Downtube because of the many positive experiences by riders here and the feedback from Yan. Ideally i hope that in time the Literide will prove to be just as good and the both products will very similairly priced and that a choice for one or the other will be a matter of small personal preference rather than a big difference between them. I am very excited by both companies and wish them both the best.

Thanks for the words on encouragement....we plan to continue supplying great bikes at great prices.


Thanks,
Yan

[goods-2-go]

I appreciate your open mind with regards to our products V1NCE. Rest assured this project is taken very seriuosly and in that regard I will keep working as hard as I can to maintain true value. We are still in our infancy, however if you wish check out our testimonials section once our new site has been completed. You will notice that our customer service to date has been very strong.

Thanks again

Dean

[cbbiker]

Does anyone know anything about these two folding bikes?

http://www.raylight.ca/folding_bikes.htm