Folding Bikes - Dahon How Safe?

How safe is the Dahon frame? Will it break under stress at the hinge, say using a Matrix, or Zero G for trails and drops?

How long will the hinge stay stable? 5 years? 10 years?
Can it be taken at high speeds 35mph? Cadenza?

These are the 26" wheel bikes, and the Zero G is now discontinued. Is there a reason why the Zero G was discontinued? Too much breakage, or problems with its trail and freeride uses?

The Xero G got replaced by the matrix.. there is simply not enough room to sell three slightly different bikes in the same pricepoint...
nothing to do with breakage .... The Matrix Espresso Jack ( zero G ) are all the same frame ...

Warranty on the frame if so called ltd lifetime ( as long as you fill in the electronik warranty form on the dahon website, or send in the warranty card which comes with your nbike )

35 miles ? I dont understand... is that like looking death into its ugly eye ?
absolutely no big deal in my opinion

thor

So would you say an average speed of 25mph around 25 miles a day, five days a week, for 10 years be hard on the frame? Would you say there is a chance for hinge failure with this? Would you consider this level rough, or harsh for it?

The Dahon frames / bikes are perfectly safe, as long as you:

- Check the hinges for proper tension on a regular basis
- Do not pull back on the handlebars
- Perform regular bike maintenance.

Dahon changes its lineup once a year, with little rhyme or reason as far as I can tell. So it's highly unlikely any specific Dahon was discontinued due to safety reasons.

I seriously doubt most Dahons will ride at 25mph, though, due to design issues -- most are made for general use, not speed; and none of their folding bikes have drop bars. The Speed Pro TT might cut it, if you can deal with bullhorns, suspension and an internal hub on a road bike....

If you're planning to use your folding bike as your road bike, I'd highly recommend you consider a Bike Friday, or get a Xootr Swift and swap the flat bars for drops.

Baccia

should I go into every Swift thread and discuss the mood points and try to switch them over to a Dahon ? Its getting old ....

the Swift is a nice bike and will sell all by its own ....

coming back to the original question .... Is this a troll or a lawyer at work trying to make a product liability law suit.... ?

if you can keep 25 miles per hour on a 25 mile commute for the next ten ( or more ) years.... go for it... the Dahon bike, i.e. hinge will give you no more problems than any other regular bike ....
(As Baccia already rightly mentioned the regular upkeep and maintenance will be a must ..)

Thor

Is this a troll or a lawyer at work trying to make a product liability law suit.... ?


Thor

Ask a legitimate question of concern and be labelled a troll.

I never once said that I would attain those speeds by leg power alone.
And furthermore, the 26" Cadenza was built for speed, and the ZeroG was meant to be a trail/freeride bike, frame stability should definitely be a concern with that level of abuse. Safety is a concern.

Hey, I'm 65 in a couple of months and I hit 26.3 MPH Sunday before last on my Boardwalk D-7!

Looked DEATH right in the eye!!!

Going downhill, of course - but ran out of gears at that point.)

should I go into every Swift thread and discuss the mood points and try to switch them over to a Dahon ? Its getting old ....
You're more than welcome to express your opinions about the Swift or any other bike, positive or negative, anywhere and as often as you please. No bike is perfect, and if you genuinely believe a Dahon is an appropriate bike for a poster's needs, then I have no problems with that.

Otherwise, where's the problem? The guy asks if a Dahon is safe; I tell him "absolutely," and point out 3 simple and easy things to do -- at least 1 of which ("check the hinges") is right in the Dahon manual.

If you're tired of reading my posts, then put me on your ignore list.


Anyway... If you're looking to add a motor, Grun, I don't see any problems with using a Dahon. You can talk to these folks by the way:

http://nycewheels.com/electric-folding-bike.html

Looks like they do an aftermarket conversion on the Dahon Mu P8.

Ask a legitimate question of concern and be labelled a troll.

I never once said that I would attain those speeds by leg power alone.



I think what makes this a strange question is thatthere's no way of anyone being able to predict this. That's what the warranty is for. It's a new bike, noone can answer this. But the company apparently will stand behind this bike. What's written here is worthless in comparison.

I think what makes this a strange question is thatthere's no way of anyone being able to predict this. That's what the warranty is for. It's a new bike, noone can answer this. But the company apparently will stand behind this bike. What's written here is worthless in comparison.

Will the warranty really matter to me if the hinge fails and I have an accident? Maybe even a fatality? This is a concern to me. Maybe I should give up my Dahon for this reason.

I've broken a hinge pin by going off jumps on my Dahon framed Specialized, not just once but several times every weekend for about a year. That's going off the jumps every weekend, not breaking a pin every weekend.... :roll: And the hinge stayed together, i didn't notice that the pin had broken until i got home. I'm currently doing a 100 mile a week commute which includes some 30 + mph back road (ie rough and twisty) downhills. Speed record? 39.8mph. SO annoying but i couldn't tuck in anymore...:D

Will the warranty really matter to me if the hinge fails and I have an accident? Maybe even a fatality? This is a concern to me. Maybe I should give up my Dahon for this reason.

What's your research been of the subset of folding bikes failures whose failures occurred at a moment when considerable injury occurred to the rider? And how does this stack up to the odds of so many other failure points in a bicycle? Now, since we're talking about a new bike design, how is anyone going to know this? And if there were a significant design flaw, do you think there'd be a recall? That's why the question makes no sense.

Baccia
its ok... peace ...lol

Grun. I still dont know what the problem is .... Are you going to put an engine on your bike ? If thats what you want to do please go ahead and buy somebodies else bike as Dahons are built to be peddled by humans, It would most certainly negate any warranties on the whole bike.... which would include the hinge ...

its very difficult to help somebody when we all dont know what your plans are

thor