First post. (I currently don't ride)

The journey to work involves a walk of about 2 miles to the station and then a train about 15 miles, and then a short (about 2 miles) bus ride . If I commuted straight to the office it would be about 15-20 miles with roads all the way, heavy traffic and fairly flat!

I've had a look at a few bikes over the past week; Decathlon, Specialized Globe and Cirrus, Marin Novato, Carrera Subway (for Halfords). Some of them looked like they would fall to bits.

The problem I have is that I don't think I'd be able to ride 15 miles but leaving an expensive bike at the station all day would be asking for trouble. Not sure about folding bikes.

Which is the one to ride for a beginner ? (15 mile or the 4 mile or cheap hack bike on the 2 mile side)

Above was posted in the commuting forum and they referred me to here.

Any recommendations for the folder ?

Well we are in a fine mess! The rail network is up the spout(!) as a result of the floods and what is running is even more full. The Tube is packed with commuters and tourists and hot, humid and pungent.

In front of me is the Brompton Price List. Decisions, decisions.

As I'll be using Cyclescheme, many options are instantly ruled out as not stocked by UK LBS. So the short shortlist, which I think has to be 16" or less, looks like:

Brompton S2 - possibly L-X
Dahon Curve SL
Strida 5 - only because I can get one next week and it's way cheaper than the other two

Any final words of wisdom - for what UK LBS stock only - much appreciated.

Above was posted in the commuting forum and they referred me to here.

Any recommendations for the folder ?

You might want to move this to your own thread.

The following details would be helpful:

(1) What is your budget for the bike excluding accessories?

(2) Whether you plan on being a multi-model commuter or actually riding to work.

(3) Approximately where you live. Certain areas of the country seem to have shops that specialize in folding bikes.

(4) Whether you are going to use the bike for anything else other than commuting.

-G

Right oh. Offline for a bit - until I've tried the Strida 5. :)