Folding Bikes - Im a newbie, help please

I want to get a small folder but being a student at 14 i don't have enough money for a $1000 brompton in Toronto. I am only going to use it as an alternative to walking, so no distance over 300 meters... I would rather have something i can buy in a retailer, but buying online at a great price is always an option.


I was thinking of the A-bike, but i want to see what else i can look out for... thanks!
http://www.a-bike.co.uk/store/home.php

Hi Henry welcome to the forums. The A-bike is pretty close to your needs but I'd recommend the Pacific Carryme as a superior version in this genre of folding bike. Their isn't a lot of difference in price but there is ride quality and handling. See:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190263029860&fromMakeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:middle:us

Another excellent and well regarded folder on this forum is the Strida 3. See:

http://cgi.ebay.com/599-NEW-STRIDA-3-FOLDING-BIKE-WITH-PERFORMANCE-KIT_W0QQitemZ160293794146QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRoad_Bikes?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

You might enjoy this video:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kVVgsQt1DK4

For just 300 meters, I'd suggest a Strida or even just a normal kick scooter. Xootr makes some nice over-engineered kick scooters in the $200 neighborhood that may suit your needs really well.

Hi Henry welcome to the forums. The A-bike is pretty close to your needs but I'd recommend the Pacific Carryme as a superior version in this genre of folding bike. Their isn't a lot of difference in price but there is ride quality and handling....

+1 on the CarryMe.

I have one myself and for me its perfect for anything up to 3km on flat surface (it can handle more of course) - I use it mainly as an alternative to walking eg. to the bakery and such. Its tiny, hides in any corner of the room, is lightweight, sturdy and fun to ride and it can take luggage. Check out the threads here.

+1 on the CarryMe.

I have one myself and for me its perfect for anything up to 3km on flat surface (it can handle more of course) - I use it mainly as an alternative to walking eg. to the bakery and such. Its tiny, hides in any corner of the room, is lightweight, sturdy and fun to ride and it can take luggage. Check out the threads here.

Wow you can't get a better recommendation than that and from a Brompton owner too! ;)

I just bought a strida knock off on ebay.co.uk. £110 + post.

I don't think this guy exports, but it is made in China and must be on sale all over the planet. His most recent feedback says its a very good copy, so I have hopes it will be useful.



Ebay pictures. This seller needs to decorate his house!!! :eek:

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/aum_samir/S7300664.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn102/aum_samir/S7300668.jpg

I just bought a strida knock off on ebay.co.uk. £110 + post.

I don't think this guy exports, but it is made in China and must be on sale all over the planet. His most recent feedback says its a very good copy, so I have hopes it will be useful.

Off to test it on the black ice now? :lol:

You love your clones! You Evil man! :D

Off to test it on the black ice now? :lol:

You love your clones! You Evil man! :D

I know. I have no shame....

Except to doubly point out that those are the ebay pictures and THAT IS NOT MY HOUSE!!!


LOL

LOL!

Yes even your shed is nicer than that :D

...You love your clones! You Evil man! :D

Does Evil love them cause he´s not the real thing, also???
Uops running for cover...


@HenryLuis: You really never want to ride a longer distance than 300 meters? I guess most here would not bother with a bike then and IMO the Strida is much too big for that. (And does not stand so neat like the CarryMe). Somewhere here you find a thread where A-Bike and CarryMe are compared - with pics. You might also check out the A-Bike Forums for info on the CarryMe and A-Bike:
http://www.abikecentral.com/forum/

Does Evil love them cause he´s not the real thing, also???
Uops running for cover...


Yes - you have spotted that I am a fake. You are a very perceptive lady. I am actually an alien lizard life form that has taken over a short middle aged half dead human.

http://kindertrauma.com/images/tizers/valien.jpg

Yeha, thx for the compliment for being perceptive...well, actually it is quite easily to be detected from your air...but now I want to see some pic of "The Real alien Evil on Strida"

@Henry: people (me included) here sometimes like to wander off topic and to kid around, dont take it personally. Another very small folder is the "Handybike" but I can nothing say about it, never saw it in person:
http://www.handybike.com/uk/index_netscape.html

@Henry: people (me included) here sometimes like to wander off topic and to kid around, dont take it personally. Another very small folder is the "Handybike" but I can nothing say about it, never saw it in person:
http://www.handybike.com/uk/index_netscape.html

Yes, especially Brompton and Brompton clone owners lol

Coming back to this post for Henry; he needs the bike for short rides around the campus; he needs a cheap bike; it needs to fold up neatly and easily and to maybe roll about like a golf bag - I say, buy a strida knock off. They are amazingly cheap and the one I just got is really nice. It's a hell of a laugh to ride and they are on sale at really low prices. I got mine for £110 on Ebay, but I have traced the manufacturer and they are selling them in China to the west at $94 sending even as few as 20 of them to buyers. This would suit our new member I think.

If he likes to live dangerously, the OP can also try... The A-Bike Knockoff! Can be bought at our Giant supermarket for S$50! LOL

I actually rode that knockoff all the way down the Bund in Shanghai actually......was very......erhm. invigorating.

By the time you fold/unfold your bike for a 300m ride I'm almost positive you'd be faster walking/jogging.

Or maybe a kick scooter would be good:
www.xootr.com

By the time you fold/unfold your bike for a 300m ride I'm almost positive you'd be faster walking/jogging.

Or maybe a kick scooter would be good:
www.xootr.com

yes - I wondered that myself. I walk about four or five miles most days aside from riding my bike.

I believe I read somewhere (maybe the Xtoor site) that says if your distance is less than 1km, the kick scooter is faster than the bike. Too lazy to google that claim. Thus your 300m distance, forget the bike.

Now, the question you should be asking is, which scooter should I be getting? Fake ones can be considered too :) Cheaper and lighter than any bikes!

300m? Maybe you don't need a bike but just a single bike wheel combined with a small xootr wheel and a skateboard platform- something like this. (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=v96i8ldtdbE)

When I was your age (and until age 25), I used a skate board. They were cheap, very portable, could slip into a bag, and light. And folding bikes like they are now did not even exist (except for some rather clumsy heavy types). Try skate boards first and then take the plunge into folders if that does not work where you live.

^ What's the story about your avatar, folderfanatic? I'm trying not to look at it, just in case it hypnotizes me... :twitchy:


:) :)

I want to get a small folder but being a student at 14 i don't have enough money for a $1000 brompton in Toronto. I am only going to use it as an alternative to walking, so no distance over 300 meters... I would rather have something i can buy in a retailer, but buying online at a great price is always an option.


I'm guessing you can't pay more than $500. But I'm recommending you don't pay for a bike under $300, they're mostly trash.

My top suggestion: a Dahon Speed D7, which runs around $400. See here (http://www.dahon.ca/dh/where_to_buy.htm) for a list of dahon dealers in Toronto.

My second suggestion, depending on your height: a 2007 Dahon Curve, straight from Dahon (http://www.shopatron.com/product/part_number=PA632-07/412.0), for $400 plus shipping. This is a small, cute 16" wheel bike but it fits people in the low 5' range.

My third suggestion: one of various bikes by Downtube (http://www.downtube.com/ss-index.html). I would pick a Dahon first though, as you have local Dahon dealers who can repair it.

^ What's the story about your avatar, folderfanatic? I'm trying not to look at it, just in case it hypnotizes me... :twitchy:


:) :)

Well, the avatar is in reality a Illustrator assignment for a class that I took last year. The full icon originally drawn in and native to Illustrator file type (what you see after my user name here at the left is a compressed version of it in JPEG) was designed to be my own "logo" or "brand" icon to quickly identify and tie together my various Websites and other activities spanning across the Internet as a abstract bike wheel. In the real world, I have been considering placing it on a coffee mug, tee shirt, tote bag, and maybe a blanket/duvet in the future. This image always appear on my title pages on all my Websites for the World Of Folding Bicycles series listed below. For right now here it is as it supposed to really be like viewed for full JPEG effect on a Web page: