Hi,
I was just wondering if there is anyone out there in the Toronto area that has bought a Downtube and what are their impressions.

I am interested in getting one but
a) would like to see one in "real life" if at all possible and
b) wondered what duties etc were paid if any (what a dreamer!)?

good question. i haven't seen any downtubes but i see the occasional brommy and many dahons around downtown toronto..

the uptown and scarbie area are mainly cheaper chinese folders, and everywhere inbetween i see roadies, hybrids and quite a few downhillers.

I just got my downtube this week and I like it alot. It's my first folding bike so I don't have anything to compare with. I live in Mississauga but bike often in Toronto.

unicalex, pls post up some pics, some details on how long the shipping took, and how much duty you had to pay, if any.

cheers!

trueno92,

Not in Toronto but in Montreal, I boght 1 month ago, (by friday) they shipped by monday and arrived by wednesday or something like that via UPS, I wasn't at home so I redirected to my job and took another two or three days, normally should be less than 1 week.

I paid customs to UPS they charged around $46 so total cost was $299US + $80US for shipping + customs.


The only problem I saw was how badly UPS manage packages :(



Regards

The only problem I saw was how badly UPS manage packages :(

Weird, that, when you consider that's what they do.

My Downtube Mini's box looked like it was crapped out by an elephant. And that was from Philly to Philly.

I had to pay 54 dollars or so for duty. So it was 369USD (bike) + 80USD (shipping) + 54CDN (duty). I didn't have any problem with the package. It took less than a week to get it. I'll take pics soon :)

gday: I live in Toronto... I have a 2007 FS IV (now heavily modded)... and my buddy has the 2008 version... PM your email, I may be able to help you out...

Hey GDAY!

Got my Downtube 9 Speed last year by courier in 3 days. Can't remember what taxes were, probably around $70.

Great bike to ride and was a great project to mod.

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/5993/dsc03892ux9.jpg

Wish I had more time to ride it tho... :(

Thank you all for your comments. I got mine today!

I am now having great fun fitting it to me. Duty was the same as unicalex and I ordered it on Sunday and it was delivered on the Wednesday. Box damaged and some minor damage to the bike but it does not look like the box damage was related. Right front fork in the Swift sticker area. Left side was fine.

Has anyone seen pictures of how you get the bike in the bag? I saw some negative comments about the bag but I think they were a while ago - the bag seems substantial but fitting the bike in is not obvious to me.

Then I just need a day below 30 degrees to try it out.

Has anyone seen pictures of how you get the bike in the bag? I saw some negative comments about the bag but I think they were a while ago - the bag seems substantial but fitting the bike in is not obvious to me.


Fitting the bike into the bag could be time consuming. I tried once and never bothered doing it again. I use it as a duffy bag for camping stuffs now.

Fitting the bike into the bag could be time consuming. I tried once and never bothered doing it again. I use it as a duffy bag for camping stuffs now.

I wrote to Yan and he explained it. You fold the bike then "drop" the bag on it - almost like covering it - then you tip the bag with the bike in it on one side and finally turn it to to the normal way of looking at a bag to zip it up.

I did find that it seems you must remove the handlebars or it won't work. I could be wrong about that but it seemed too wide. It only took a few minutes and getting it out was even quicker. I will try to photograph the stages and post.

The bag I got seems reasonably heavy duty but I extended the shoulder strap to the max because that can get in the way. Folding the bag into "itself" took almost as long as than putting the bike into it!

I also got my bag from downtube. I think you have to remove the handlebar.. I just got it today so I only tried a couple of times though.