Folding Bikes - 100 miles of commuting on my folder...

...and I like it! City streets, trunks of cars, commuter trains.

My Dahon doesn't seem a squirrely as it did when I first started riding. And it's getting easier to power up Main Street on the way home.

Still don't like the brake thump, though.

I know, not much of a post, but it's been a rough day and I needed to give myself a pat on the back.

Tomorrow I'll take my bike out and get it something nice.

:D

Wow. That title grabs attention. I hope that's not one-way!

Is the thump coming from the weld on the rim? My Dahon had a big problem with that. I used emery cloth to smooth it out. It can take a while but it was worth it.

Is the thump coming from the weld on the rim? My Dahon had a big problem with that. I used emery cloth to smooth it out. It can take a while but it was worth it.

Same here...the first Dahon I owned had a sloppy joint on the rim. The second Dahon (returned for the same model) had the same problem. Fine-grit sandpaper did the trick.

Back to the subject at hand: I'm fast approaching 2000 (two thousand) commuting miles on my Swift! Gonna buy her a new pair of shoes to celebrate. :D

Congrats!!

I need to get a reliable computer. My current one is really just a clock at this point. That said, I think I'm approaching 1200 on my Speed TR and still loving it!!

The first 100 were the hardest for me, I hadn't ridden a bike in 20-25 years before I got it.

James_Swift - what kinda shoes? I'm thinking of trying clipless. I need something I can walk in if I use it for the commute but if I just use it on the "road" bike, anything will work....

Is the thump coming from the weld on the rim? My Dahon had a big problem with that. I used emery cloth to smooth it out. It can take a while but it was worth it.

Yes. Thanks for the tip.

We already discussed this ad nauseum earlier on this forum and on the Dahon forum. LBS tried to fix..it is better than it was originally...but nowhere as smooth as my MTB.

Clarification: My present commute is only about 5 miles a day. But that's 5 miles a day I don't drive my SUV!

...and I like it! City streets, trunks of cars, commuter trains.

My Dahon doesn't seem a squirrely as it did when I first started riding. And it's getting easier to power up Main Street on the way home.

Still don't like the brake thump, though.

I know, not much of a post, but it's been a rough day and I needed to give myself a pat on the back.

Tomorrow I'll take my bike out and get it something nice.

:D

I too just logged 100 miles on my folding Commute

I purchased a Dahon Speed Pro. It is a nice bike, but I think I over purchased for what I am using it for. I take the train Down Town and ride the last 6 miles to work. I could have gotten by with a bike that was much less expensive; between stoplights you cannot gain much speed. I did not need a bike with that many gears, but when I test road the bikes this one had the one with closest feel to my road bike, and that is why I purchased it.

Last week was a week from hell for me. I got flats 3 out of the 4 days I road to work. If it was not for the folding bike I could not commute to work. I learned that on the Monday when I got the first flat. I took public transit back to the train. That part of the commute takes ½ an hour on the bike and took an hour and 20 minutes on the bus. The different bus routs do not meet up and buses get stuck in traffic too.

This last Wednesday I cut the half hour to 20 minutes. I had a Customer visit me at the end of the day and left work late. I did not like how sweaty I was when I got to the train. The half hour pace is much nicer.

The real problem I had with the flats was because I got behind a street sweeper on Monday. When they go over and sweep up a pile of glass all that they really do is turn it into a carpet of glass that you cannot avoid. Now I do not ride a close to the curb where the glass ends up and I am getting use to the cars and traffic.

I bought my steel framed Swift the end of March. Although, I no longer commute to work (retired), most of my riding has been in NYC streets and I have already clocked over 1200 miles since May. I'm very pleased with my folder. It is a fairly fast and great riding bike, considering that I am riding on slow Marathon Plus', with fenders, and lugging an additional 10lbs of stuff.