reviews on the Dahon Matrix?

[Xanti Andia]

In an earlier thread I posted questions regarding a new bicycle selection:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=376213

Answers to that thread led me to looking at the Dahon Matrix. Any owners of this bike care to coment?

If you missed my thread here is the requiered bike:

I'm thinking a mid level mountain and touring bike, rim brakes, maybe with front suspension fork, and keeping a spare non-suspended fork around for touring. Aluminium frame, Simano XT group I suppose, or some SRAM configuration.

As a mountain bike it will see everything from good pavement to bad gravel roads, no real technical rides. As a touring bike it would see more of the same, self supported with front and rear panniers. In both cases it should be ready to climb and descend decent mountain passes. I do not expect to do extended tours, more like a week or two at a time.

Since the logistics of getting to the ride are half of the problem something foldable makes sense. I have an S&S coupled Co-Motion Mocha tandem which does go on trips. Only problem with this bike (besides convincing the stoker to go) is that it takes over an hour to pack and unpack, for a week of dedicated tandem travel it is great, but if cycling is not the only pupose for the trip, for just a few rides it is too much trouble to take along. So I would not look for an S&S cupled bike in this case.

[tulip]

I have a Matrix. I use it for commuting. It's a few years old (maybe a 2005). It has disk brakes, which makes adding fenders and/or racks challenging. I ended up putting a seat-post rear rack on, but it's limited by the weight it can hold. I replaced the pedals with clipless, but that's the only change I made. It folds in half, but it's still pretty big, not like the smaller-wheeled folding bikes. Have you considered some of the 20"-wheeled folders? Many take racks for touring. Some have suspension. All fold smaller than the Matrix.

I enjoy riding my Matrix, except for the fact that it's aluminum. I prefer steel. It's also pretty heavy. But for riding around, it's fine.