Folding Bikes - New Speed P8!

I've had the Speed P8 for a few weeks now. I bought it from ThorUSA.com (http://www.thorusa.com). I tried to buy from a LBS but nobody stocked Speed P8s and I even had a few of them look into ordering them for me but they never called me back about it.

I've been riding the bike a couple times a week to work right now. My ride to work has a lot of hills and I'm a beginning cyclist so its pretty tough. The 7 mile one way ride takes me an hour.

The bike rides great after the initial stretching out period of the cables and some adjustments. I love the big apple tires and they really feel like the suspension on my old mountain bike. The Speed P8 is a lot lighter than my mountain bike so its easier to go up hills.

The construction is not extremely solid but solid enough. I wouldn't expect the bike to last 20-30 years or anything like that. It'd probably last 5 years I would estimate.

The folding is pretty simple but there are a good number of moving parts. I can fold it in about 30 seconds now. My coworkers call it "go go gadget bike."

The handling with the small tires is really good and its fun to ride around. I don't feel like I'm going to fall off the bike because its so low to the ground. At high speeds the turning is kinda scary because I feel like one wobble of the handlebars and the bike will flip.

Here are some photos:

Hey, nice bike! I just bought the very same three days ago. So far, I love it. I just completed ride # 2 tonight, a little 5 miles or so around the city in the calm of the evening post rush hour. I can relate to your LBS struggles. I finally found a dealer in town who carried the bike, and that's where I bought it. He was nice enough to loan me a light so I could ride home from the LBS (I had taken the metro down to the store, about 4 miles from my house). Congrats on your new bike. It's sharp, and yeah, the tires are great. SO far I have switched out the saddle to a gel seat I had stuffed away, put on a cyclo-computer, water bottle cage, headlight (the borrowed one) and taillight. I also got the back rack like yours. Enjoy riding!

I have the same bike. I recommend installing a mini-stem, something like 45mm long, to stabilize the steering. After doing this I found the steering improved a lot.

@bokes: how do you fold it with the stem?

When I fold the bike, I don't collapse the handlebars so that they end up between the wheels, I fold the bars to the outside of the rear wheel. (Let me know if you need a pic) The folded size is probably a few inches wider, but that doesn't matter to me for my train commute.
I guess if I were to pack the bike in a suitcase, I'd have to remove the stem first. No biggie.

You turn the front wheel/handlebars 180 degrees before folding?

Ah, no, I get what you mean.

I just gave that a try and found it awkward. It is quite a compact fold - given that I don't normally fold or remove the pedals when I fold it actually doesn't take up much more space. But the seat seems to get in the way when folding like this. Hmmm, have to try again.

I agree with the stem thing. That's the only issue I really have with Dahons, there's not enough cockpit space and the steering is too twitchy.

I have the same bike. I recommend installing a mini-stem, something like 45mm long, to stabilize the steering. After doing this I found the steering improved a lot.

Can you install a regular stem on a Dahon?

I just gave that a try and found it awkward. It is quite a compact fold - given that I don't normally fold or remove the pedals when I fold it actually doesn't take up much more space. But the seat seems to get in the way when folding like this. Hmmm, have to try again.

I agree with the stem thing. That's the only issue I really have with Dahons, there's not enough cockpit space and the steering is too twitchy.

It just takes some practice; it gets easier. Important is to slide the seat down first so it doesn't get in the way of the bars.


Can you install a regular stem on a Dahon?
Yes the dahon 'steering tube' is 1" wide, so if you get a 1 1/8" you'll need a shim. I think they're pretty common. Of course you won't be using the handlebar clamp at the top of the 'steering tube' anymore, so you might want to cut it off. I've kept mine there because I think I'll sell the bike one day, I won't need to buy a new part.

Can you post a pic of your bike, bokes?

If, when folding that way, I put the seat down first it has to be sideways in order that the handlepost doesn't hit it. This might work quite well for me.

BTW, nice choice randplaty. The Speed P8 is well specced and needs no upgrading. It's more or less how my Vitesse has ended up after numerous upgrades.

Beautiful bike. I like the candy red finish. Off topic, are the vignetting in the photos inherent with the 5D/24mm1.4 combo, or introduced in PP? Interesting lens choice :)

The lens has a pretty strong vignette but PP we do bump the vignette up a bit. Love the 24L on the 5D... gives a very unique look :p.