Folding Bikes - Reviiew: My new 2008 Dahon Speed TR

Bought myself a new 2008 Dahon Speed TR for Christmas after suggestions from some of you in reply to my original post:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?500703-spec-out-a-folding-bike&highlight=

Found it for its original price ($ 711) at:

http://www.thorusa.com/ and was well served by Thor himself. I think he has more.

Not bad since a 2009 Speed TR lists for almost $1100.

My second folder, but my first was in the '60's as a child in Spain. Joins three other bikes in the garage (2006 Co-motion Mocha tandem, 2001 Specialized Stumpjumper mountain, 2003 Schwinn Fastback Comp road).

Here is a review:
* What I liked: Excellent look and finish (it turns heads), wide gearing, fully appointed for touring/commuting (racks, fenders, pump, right tires, nice grips and handlebar extensions, generator hub and headlight, pump built into the seat post).

What I did not like:
* It sells itself as fully adjustable for people of all heights: 142 - 193 cm (4'8"- 6'4"), I am 180 cm but I find the bike small for me. The stem, Syntace VRO, adjustable, does not adjust sufficiently for my preferred riding position. It is OK, but not ideal, if I where 190 cm I don't see how I could ride it comfortably.
* It does not have quick release hubs, and does not come with a wrench to pop off the wheel.
* I was disappointed the generator does not run the back light, only the front light, back light runs on batteries.
* I expected the folded bike to be smaller, it still a fairly large contraption, and I paid airline overcharges. I guess you need to go to a 16" wheel to get small enough to walk it into a bank or a doctor's office. It is transportable but not as practical as I might have hoped. Like I said, my first real folder, I have to understand its limitations.

All in all I am happy, and can't beat the price, but I wonder how much I will ride it with respect to the other bikes in the garage, and how much travel it will see. If it does not get ridden enough my wife, who thinks I have too many bikes, will say "I told you so". On the other hand she might take to ridding it.

But don't get me wrong, I love the bike, it rides well, it is very pretty, and it is very well built.

Thanks for the Kudos
as for the bike... surely the TR is loaded with fenders carriers and and and henceforth doesnt fold as small as a "naked" bike ..... still its not that bad ..

as for riding position.... well there is a little learning curve involved maybe ...( mostly in once head not so much in actual mesarements)...
First you sit more oftern and spin the cranks with a higher cadence, than to pull on the handlebar and mesh the pedals in a low revolution....

Actually that makes you a better rider down the road... :-) its a small added benefit ...

But of course you are right, when first riding a folder you will feel cramped and feel the bike is nervous almost...
Later you going to think that the bike feels great and very flickable through traffic and ultra responsive ... ( and if you go back to your other bikes you going to think,,, : what a tank , unresponsive , lame and heavy ...lol )

of course this is from somebody who has a perfect titanium 3000 dlr MTB in his garage, but prefers his trusty helios sl to ride ..lol
my thoughts might be a little influenced cause I sell them things ...

or was it that I sell them cause I like them ???

In other words dont worry, get a few miles on it and you will never look back
( and eventually replacing every full size bike with one of them folders.... its a disease ya kno )

Thor

In what did you pack the bike such that you paid oversize charges? I think that you can get a 20" wheel Dahon into a Samsonite Flight (http://morastore.com/product/Samsonite-FLight-31-in-Hardside-411xxx414-in-Sky-Blue.html). Technically, it isn't flight legal but it is close enough that no one has ever reported getting caught with the extra 2". You could get caught with something overweight if you are not careful.

I get my both of my Dahon Helii into standard "big" airline suitcases (*all* of which are bigger than flight standard). Here's how (http://www.gaerlan.com/dahon/pack.htm). The F'Lite will handle a 20" Dahon fine.

I know of no airlines which charge for suitcases that are one or two inches larger than they should be. One or two *pounds* more than they should be, yes. Inches, no.

I too find the one-size-fits-all reach for a Dahon (my experience is with the P8 series: Helios P8, Speed P8, Mu P8) to be short. Not as stunted as a Brompton, but still too short to allow for a comfortable, efficient riding position for someone over, say, 5'10". Last I measured (a year ago), I found the handlebar-to-seatpost distance on a Helios is about 3.5 inches shorter than a stock size-Large Tikit and about 1 inch shorter than a stock size-Medium. I still go moderate distances on the Helios: two hours of straight riding recently.

The bike made its first flight in the original shipping box and paid $150 for oversize, my daughter brought it down and did not have the patience or time to deal with it to pack is smaller, I think I should be able to pack it into one of my tandem S&S cases and have not paid overcharge when flying with those.

Dear Argentinian,
The front hub is a Biologic Dyno Hub & the rear is a SRAM Dual Drive hub. Both hubs have nutted axles and both SHOULD NOT be QR equipped.
Just carry a 15mm spanner wrench as it will fit F&R.

On my spanish folding bike in the 60's the pin that secured the frame hinge was also the wrench.

Do you remember the make of that old folder? BH, Orbea, Torrot, Derbi....?

Do you remember the make of that old folder? BH, Orbea, Torrot, Derbi....?

No clue on the brand, bike was stolen during shipping and storage on our move from Spain to Buenos Aires in 1970. It had a three speed hub with a grip shifter, white with red trim, white tires.

this is a good and honest report Xanti. Folding the TR is not brilliant, but for a tourer it folds well enough. I found the riding positions odd, and moved saddles and bars and height back and forth (I am 190 cm) but eventually found it great. I also had powergrips already attached to the model I bought on ebay which are tricky, but make for a great ride. Overall I love the TR, but have bough a brompton too...

Just a follow-up note.

I packed my Dahon Speed TR in an S&S travel case designed for packing my tandem (S&S couplings allow the frame of a tandem to be split into pieces and the whole bike fits in two large suitcases). Flew to Santiago de Chile on a business trip. Bike packs fine after some thought, with the rear wheel mounted, front wheel off, racks and front fender off. A 26 kg package with the case and some cycling incidentals (tools, shoes, helmet..) but without the racks which I left at home. Airline took the case no problem, but I had to hand carry my other piece of luggage to not pay overweight. I was happy to have a steel bike once I had it in the suitcase, though it is protected enough, I would wonder about an aluminum bike going through airline baggage handling.

In Santiago I spent Sunday on a climb up to Farellones, a ski resort. 85 km round trip, with 1700 mt of elevation gain, on the Dahon. People did not expect a folder up there, but I went up fine and descended well, the gearing is excellent, brakes well, handles well at speed on the descent, though I was careful on the sharp turns, not quite confident yet. Fender was noisy at over 25 km/hr.

I still would prefer a different riding position than what I can manage to adjust on the bike, but it does the job, and I was comfortable. No complaints, nice bike.