I'M IN!!!!! New Dahon Helios SL (17 pounds)

[Tony N.]

I just purchased my new Dahon.:love: Unbeliveably light and responsive. I am a bike commuter and will ride it to work Monday. Can't wait to see the looks on my staff's faces. They've gotten use to seeing me riding my 1982 Trek 614 Tourer to work and as fuel prices sky rocket they are getting more interested. I of course ride for many other reasons rather than fuel prices. Whatever gets them on bikes:thumb:
I will put it in the trunk when I need to drive my city provided vehicle home for work purposes which is almost never. Mostly during storms as I am a Pub. Wks. Dir.
Pictures, when I get to tweek it to my personal needs and I figure out how.
Tony

[SesameCrunch]

Congrats! :thumb: And welcome to the Forums.

[Dynocoaster]

Congrats and welcome. Have you been thinking about your next folder? :)

[4cmd3]

Where on earth did you get a Helios SL?
The most recent years that those were sold in North America was 2004 & 2005.
eBay, Craigslist?

Unless you managed to get one of those fabled Asian beasts.
http://www.dahon.jp/products/compact/helios_sl/index.html

Congratulations regardless!
And definitely looking forward to pictures. :)

[Tony N.]

[QUOTE=4cmd3;6963625]Where on earth did you get a Helios SL?
The most recent years that those were sold in North America was 2004 & 2005.
eBay, Craigslist?

Unless you managed to get one of those fabled Asian beasts.
http://www.dahon.jp/products/compact/helios_sl/index.html

I purchased it from a bike shop. It had set in the showroom for a long time and recently was stolen. :mad: After about 2 months a bike savy police officer spotted it and arrested the thief and returned the bike to the dealer. It looks a few scratches from the ordeal but is otherwise in new condition. This is my first folder. She is very fast and responsive. I got it for what I believe is a very good deal. This years version of it list for around $1200.

Tony

[BB49]

The weight on the Dahon JP site is 8.8 kg, w/o pedals. That makes it about 20 pounds with pedals.
Excellent light weight, but not 17 pounds.
Every pound below 20 on a 16 or 20" multispeed bike will be very difficult and expensive to achieve.

[Loch]

The 2005 Helios SL was 16.7 lbs.

7.6 kg. (16.7 lbs) base model w/o options and pedals. If that is accurate you could get to 17lbs with pedals.

Nice. Love to see pictures.

[BB49]

Dahon has become a little better a stating weight, but in 2005 they were still wildly optimistic.
They also seem to have some trouble calculating gear-inches, as in a 307% hub, but a range of 38-85.

I would believe 17 pounds if I saw it on a scale, even saying 20 pounds is being generous toward Dahon.

BTW, I have one Dahon folder, with a 2008 Dahon on the way, but take them with a grain of salt.

[4cmd3]

Is it the 2004 or the 2005?

I believe the most obvious visible difference is the handlepost hinge.
Compare:
http://www.dahon.com/archive/2004/heliossl.htm
http://www.dahon.com/archive/2005/heliossl.htm

Either way that is some first folder! Nice find! Congratuations again. :)

[makeinu]

I purchased it from a bike shop. It had set in the showroom for a long time and recently was stolen. :mad: After about 2 months a bike savy police officer spotted it and arrested the thief and returned the bike to the dealer. It looks a few scratches from the ordeal but is otherwise in new condition. This is my first folder. She is very fast and responsive. I got it for what I believe is a very good deal. This years version of it list for around $1200.

Tony

So how much did you pay?

[Tony N.]

4cmd3,
http://www.dahon.com/archive/2005/heliossl.htm
This is it. 2005. She has just a few scratches on her which are hardly noticeable. The lbs had it stored in a Lowes type building in the back of his shop and it was only gone about 2 months. The lbs had started handling Tandem, Touring, And Recumbents and did not have the floor space to put out his entire inventory and this was just setting in the back storage. With the high gas prices, he has started moving Dahons quite well. By the way, I will not weigh her but can tell all that she is very light and is a joy to ride. Will be commuting with her quite often so I can see racks, fenders, and panniers in her future. I hope as others see her on the road, they will be more likely to consider commuting also. I even named her! Took the Lios form Helios and reversed the "io" to get Lois as in Superman's Lois Lane. :lol:
Tony