Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - A folder for a clyde??

I am looking at a honking 24km journey each way to work. A full sized bike is ideal for this but I may be limited to a folder as there is nowhere to park and I need to throw it under my desk. I am looking at Airnimals at the moment as they seem to have decent sized folders which handle like normal sized bikes. But, they seem to top out at 225lbs for weight limits on the riders.

Any clydes out there using a folder that they are happy with? What are you using?

Many thanks,

I don't own one but a guy that showed up at a club ride had a Swift. He's a Clyde at about 240 but dropping at the time. Haven't seen him since but I did talk to him about the weight issue. Ha said he had no problems. The model he had was the steel version that has the reinforcing fillet. Very cool bike, if I may say. He had it setup with some type of drop bar and a Brooks Flyer.

http://downtube.com

I've been riding one - it's great! I'm 265 (bike's rated for 225 or 235) and carry a ton of stuff (the other day I easily put over 300 pounds on it) I would reinforce the seatpost which bent (it has to be high like all folders) - I had a thread on that but it got lost. I'll write it up again in more detail but in my sig under seatposts is a reader's digest version :)

All the folders I rode felt very bendy except for Downtube. Big long thread in the Folding forum if you want to read people's impressions. The best part is that most of the parts will except 'standard' replacements, very easy to modify.

I'm 6-1 and ride the IXNS

Bike Friday will build up a bike to support clyde's. They may be a little more than you're looking to spend, and they don't fold up super small. However, they ride like a dream.

I'm 10 pounds from a Dahon Speed 7 myself. I slacked on my riding and discipline last summer and got up to about 250, then rode a friend's Dahon folder around the block and decided I wanted one (like I need another bike). Max weight on that is 225, and I promised myself I could have one when I'd stayed at 220 or below for a month. Probably would have been there by Thanksgiving if I hadn't had to take three weeks off for gall bladder surgery. No matter how little you eat, it's hard to lose weight when you're shambling from the couch to the bathroom in a Vicodin haze....

Any steel frame bike should work. As to parking if it is a an office park you work at I bet if you got a cheaper regular bike and just U locked the wheel to the frame, took the seat post with you and left the rest near the rear entrance (so as not to cause any complaints from building management), it would not be stolen.

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I will hold off on a folder now until I get back down to 225ish. On a good note. I managed to find a private cycle parking company about 5 mins walk from my new job. So, I can now go and buy a nice touring machine and use that to commute.

Thanks again,

I'm 240 and I've been riding a Dahon for over a year. I recently switched from a Boardwalk D7 to a Speed TR because I wanted some wider gearing. I routinely ride 40-mile rides without any problems.

This past summer I rode Ragbrai and met a fellow and his daughter who rode a break-away tandem. It features a coupling which can be retro fitted to other bikes. The systems looks good and I would like to hear from anyone with experience in using it. Their site is: http://www.sandsmachine.com and the following is from that page... An S and S Coupling™ also known as a Bicycle Torque Coupling™ or BTC™, is a precision lug that is installed in a bicycle frame when it's manufactured to allow it to separate (http://www.sandsmachine.com/a_wat_r3.htm) and pack for easy transportation. Some builders will even install or retrofit BTCs™ into an existing frame. With this system, a full size road or mountain bike will fit completely inside a single 26" x 26" x 10" case that travels as regular airline luggage (http://www.sandsmachine.com/regs.htm). Some framebuilders (http://www.sandsmachine.com/fbplist.htm) manufacture full size tandems that will fit complete, including the wheels, in the same case!