Folding Bikes - First Official Folding Bike Thread!! :) Name Your Bike!

My Swift, finished at last:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/juried/swift_sml.jpg

It weighs 9.0kg and is very fast.

A full photo album linkie is in my sig.

My Swift, finished at last:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/juried/swift_sml.jpg

It weighs 9.0kg and is very fast.

A full photo album linkie is in my sig.
Daayum! That's sweet. Looks fast just sitting there.

To add to my collection, I recently got 2 SA8 internal hub Downtube bikes:

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e157/sesamecrunch/IMG_1727.jpg

My Swift, finished at last:
It weighs 9.0kg and is very fast.

Sweet! What size chainring is that?

Sweet! What size chainring is that?Vuelta 58T, from Loosescrews or Gaerlan.

My Swift, finished at last:


That looks scary....

Nice work.

Speedo

My Swift, finished at last: (photo deleted)

It weighs 9.0kg and is very fast.

A full photo album linkie is in my sig.

Will you start doing your tours on the Swift instead of your R20?

My Swift, finished at last:

http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t188/juried/swift_sml.jpg

It weighs 9.0kg and is very fast.

A full photo album linkie is in my sig.

Beautiful. How do you like the seat?

Mean bike Jur - mean!

It looks fast sat still so be careful on it! No scraped chin please!
:)

@JosephLMonti: Probably no touring on the Swift; the R20 is more robust and I don't need the speed during touring, especially if touring with my wife.

@pm124: The saddle is surprisingly comfy, but it is not a Brooks... after several hours I begin to get the urge to lift myself off the saddle, which does not happen on a Brooks.

Picked this Citizen 20" on Craiglist for $100.00. rather nice folder, a little on the heavy side. I will be using it for my 3.5 mile commute.

Bike is in excellent shape .

Vuelta 58T, from Loosescrews or Gaerlan.

I don't think my Ultegra front derailleur can handle a 58T. Let me do a search, i may be lucky...

If your derailer can be adjusted up and down, ie a clamp-on version, then no problem.

My modified Brompton (still waiting for the green tyres, S-Bag and kickstand arriving next week)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1025/582335375_a4835a48a9_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1395/582335473_b4e8bf4360_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1032/582335517_50780dd5e8_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1408/582335551_ccc04049d5_b.jpg



British, odd skinny looking. More you look more you get used to it. Spoiled with toys, not really the best thing out there but I don't have a problem riding for hours non stop. I had no option but to name her Keira.:D

14R

Very nice work. I like the FSA chainring.

How do you find the Thudbuster and Brompton suspension? Do they work well in concert?

Are they stock calipers ? What cranks/bb are you using?

The dual suspension works fine but you need to "learn" how to ride to avoid the "pogo" effect. If you don't pay attention on your riding, you end up bouncing a little.

The calipers are the "DUAL PIVOT", standard on the S6L model that I got. Koolstop salmon pads were added and I have a very effective stopping power.

The bbs are originals, and the cranks are 170mm, but I just can't remember the brand (I actually covered their logo with a black reflective tape). Next time I ride I'll check it and come back.

14R.

14R: Very impressive! I like what I see. A bunch of questions, since I'm ignorant about the Bromptons:

What are all those levers on the handlebars - I presume for gears? But 3 levers for 6 - 6 is right? - gears?? How are 6 gears achieved - is there a 2-gear derailer system with a hub gearbox?

And why do you like the Brommie but not the Merc? (I don't know where to look for all your reasons - sorry.)

One thing I'm not crazy about, is the lazy arrangement of cables to the back. Cables are cluttery.

14R: Very impressive! I like what I see. A bunch of questions, since I'm ignorant about the Bromptons:

What are all those levers on the handlebars - I presume for gears? But 3 levers for 6 - 6 is right? - gears?? How are 6 gears achieved - is there a 2-gear derailer system with a hub gearbox?

And why do you like the Brommie but not the Merc? (I don't know where to look for all your reasons - sorry.)

One thing I'm not crazy about, is the lazy arrangement of cables to the back. Cables are cluttery.

Very good questions:

The levers on the handlebars are the gear shifters from Brompton. They are ugly, not really very ergonomic but after extensive review from Bromptontalk I decided just to get used to them instead of replacing them with grip shifters. 6 speeds are achieved by 3 internal from the hub (right hand shifter, it's a SINGLE shifter with 2 "wings", I guess you stick your finger in between, I don't really know why it's designed like that) and a Brompton derailer system that uses 2 cogs in the bag (13 and 15 teeth) (left hand shifter that also comes with a little bell inbedded). 3x2=6 (I may consider a smaller front chainring since my crankset left room for it. With or without front derailleur, I may add one if I end up needing one).

The reason why I ended up with a Brompton has to do with my ex-girlfriend (that we ended the relationship in very good terms) offering me the Brompton I gave her as a birthday gift after we splitted. Could be a Merc GT6 (not the Gt3 though) but it wasn't. I am kinda happy that I ended up with this bike for several reasons (including the fact that I paid for it)


Now the cables look cluttery, but they don't bother me while riding and this is the arrangement that allows a fold without any cable problems. I didn't even bother on changing them, but I'm sure they can be arranged in a better looking way. For me, they are fine since I spend more time riding than looking at the bike :rolleyes:

One thing I'm not crazy about, is the lazy arrangement of cables to the back. Cables are cluttery.
The cabling does look bad, but it's location and length are designed on purpose to accommodate folding so you can fold and go. The cabling on all other folders, I've experienced, are afterthoughts: that's why other folders can shift out of gear when folded if you don't put them into a specific gear first before folding. More impressively, the cables are arranged so they stay out of your way when folding unfolding; with some other folders, you have to watch the arrangement of your handlebars so nothing snags and you do a quick unfold. Jur, you really have to see one in person and mess around with it a lot to appreciate its design! I know Greenspeed imports them, if they're close to you.

It's cute

+1 on comments about the shifters. They look like classic UK engineer designs - ie durability and function eclipses all usability..

Engineer: "People will use these things? With their HANDS?"

Look at the dash of any 70s Rover/Mini/Triumph car and you'll see the same thing. UK Engineers never do life drawing, or think about tactile materials at college - instead they drink beer and dream of (one day) meeting girls so they don't really know what curves or ergonomics are. Hence blocky bakelite shifters. They'll last though. Oh yes. Or they'll crack and fall off. Oh noes!

The other thing that bugs me about the Brompton 'out of the box' is the way the rear mudguard (fender) doesn't really fit properly. Looking at the pics it has the classic 'doesn't quite fit under the brake bridge' syndrome that upsets the natural curve of the guard. A little nitpicky I know but you'd think that they'd have made it fit properly by now eh kids?

Sorry - don't mean to be trashing your bike - it looks sweet other than the bit's I've just been mashing ;)

Hence blocky bakelite shifters. They'll last though. Oh yes. Or they'll crack and fall off. Oh noes! ;)

It's a win-win situation. If they don't brake I'm ok with them. If they do, I may go for something fancy-looking.

I don't know any mudguards/fenders that look good. MAYBE the Curve D3 comes with a set. Maybe...

:D :D :D

http://www.pceo.org/S6300066.JPG
http://www.pceo.org/S6300067.JPG
http://www.pceo.org/S6300074.JPG
Notice the excellent cable routing on this bike. Unfortunately, the GF does not use cleats and likes gel seats. Or else I would sneak the bike out during the day.

EDIT: converted links to images.

And here are the updates to my rig. Now has a total of 2,500 miles. (About 550 miles per month, mostly commuting.)
http://www.pceo.org/S6300070.JPG
(Yes, those are black KoolStops. PricePoint sent me the wrong ones. That's what I get for not using my LBS.)

Just picked up this Eatons Road king "porta / iii" last week.

http://www.pbase.com/newbike/inbox

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/mpchi/Bike/IMG_1808.jpg

Already posted a more detailed thread on my Jetstream P8 and its upgrades. But just wanted to add it onto this thread to join the bike family. :D

Allow me to observe you have short legs...? :) If so, then it must be a pain to find something suitable to ride...

That is such a sweet-looking ride!

I'm 5'9". Not particularly short legged, but not particularly tall either. :p Just used to having both feet reaching the floor when I stand on my saddle at a stop. Bad habit I guess. Still manage to get a decently low riding position with my old mountain bike, but sits very upright now with the Dahon layout.

I have a red Captivante folding from 1968. But I don't know how much it is worth now. Can anybody help me out?

A picture certainly would help.

Hello,

I own the Dahon Piccolo D3 stock.

Hey. I just bought two Dahon's, a D7/Speed and a D3/Curve. Much thanks to this forum for the dialog and advice. I learned a lot. I got these bikes at Sunrise Cyclery in West Babylon, Long Island (NY State, USA). I read for two weeks here, tried out a Curve near where I live in Manhattan, and then discussed it with my wife. Our goals are light recreation, not for commuting, not for intense riding. We live in apt in the city, so a folding bike seems like a bullseye fit for our needs. There's a store only two blocks from my apt with many folders, but alas, only five different types of Dahons (and many Bromptons and the Birdy and Swift), but only one folder under $500 (the D3/Curve). I tried the Curve, but my wife did not want such a small looking bike (D3), so we were on our way to the beach anyway, and stopped off at Sunrise Cyclery cos they have a huge selection of Dahon's. A call in-advance ensured that they had both the D3 and the D7 in stock, and Frank was very kind to make sure they were assembled for us to try out. We also wanted to spend $800 or less, so these two bikes were in our budget. We tried 'em, liked 'em, and bought 'em! We made our budget, too, just barely. Pix of these bikes in Montauk just yesterday. Now they are home in NYC.

Me and the mrs used the bikes 2x, on two 7 miles rides, keeping up with our friends who were riding nice hybrid full-size rentals. We had a lot of fun. Folding seems easy enough. Our butts are a bit sore though, so I am interested in upgrading the seat or seat/post, but don't want to compromise any foldability. I will do a search here and on the Dahon forums for suggestions, but any replies here are also appreciated.

Thanks! - walkman

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v336/walkman666/Dahons-3.jpg

We just got Dahon Speed TR 2007..

We are taking it to France in a few days. Trying to figure out the best way to transport it..

I just spent some time on a few updates on my Raleigh Twenty and it was a nice enough day for a picture so I thought I'd share;

I've rebuilt the rear wheel with only 16 spokes, put on some lovely new bar tape, cleaned off other stickers and unimportant parts (computer sensor, reflectors) and re-fitted the speedy Mango Stelvios.

Sometime in the near-future I'm planning to lose the heavy suspension forks and go back to a pair of originals, as I have some now from the non-folding Twenty I got for £5 GBP, but in the meantime, I think she's looking pretty sweet considering she's 32 years old...

http://www.littlepixel.info/twenty/r20_180707.jpg

I have two folders - a Tank Micro 16, and a Sears Tote-Cycle.

Just seeing how the site handles attachments.

Well...that didn't go too well.

Haven't been able to find much in the way of adding images to posts instructions, so hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. the only thing I've found is the attachment management field.

Trying this again with a different tack. Can't tell in the preview what the final image will look like. If unsatisfactory, I'm hoping someone can give me some guidance as to how to place images within a post.

Helios XX #297. If this works I'll rattle on at length in a follow up.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1UnLm2l4LVNVSXfTPoWHK67NZvz6N61_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1UnLm2l4LVNVSXfTPoWHK67NZvz6N61)

Guess that went well enough.

Helios XX #297 purchased about a year ago. My understanding is that this was Dahon's demo unit and was the last sold as new.

When I received it, it had a silver handlepost and silver adjustable seat post. I tracked down the original CF seat post and had to modify a 1 1/8" black handlepost to fit as there were no 1" posts to be had. Due to the handlepost situation, it also had a Boardwalk fork on it and replaced it with the original.

Bolt on mods are as follows -

I always run fenders, so the stock brakes would not work due to being too short. The brakes were replaced with Avid Single Digit Mag magnesium units. Also installed the matching Mag levers as well. Original Continentals were replaced with Marathon Plus's. Sacrilege I know, but sitting and fixing flats is not my idea of a good time.

I had the FSA Pro Team Carbon Compact cranks and BB from another project, so figured I'd put them on to help make up for weight of the fenders and wheels. The chainwheel is a single speed 53 or 54 tooth, can't remember exactly.

While I was in the frenzy, the chain was replaced with an SRAM hollow pin and the cassette with a Shimano XTR Ti that's got a little more on the low end than the stock.

The pedals are Shimano PD-A550. Compact and light, they are the nicest clip pedals I've used.

I've got all the original bits, so it can be easily reverted back to stock configuration when it comes time to sell.

I don't name stuff, but when removing/installing tires, it is known by many names.

http://www.pixentral.com/hosted/1iQUqIvytd7E6Z10oY2YSo9af5dYC_thumb.jpg (http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1iQUqIvytd7E6Z10oY2YSo9af5dYC)

Hello everyone (I am new here). I just purchased a Brompton M6R Plus (black and silver). I am going to start commuting to work. It's raining today, so I am not comfortable riding in the rain. Perhaps, I will learn from you all on how to make the ride sweeter.

I live in a six-flight walk up, so I had no choice but to get a fold up. No where to safely lock up the bike.

Hello all,

I just purchased my first folder--a brand called Caddieup. Seems OK so far, except I'm having some trouble folding and unfolding it. The hinge is tough to work with.

Had to respond to this thread as my new folder arrived yesterday and I'm just back from my first ride. The bike rides like a road bike, quick and responsive. Triple chainset with 12-32 block as it will be used for light touring. Mine is black but until I can find my camera here is a stock photo. It's an Airnimal Performance Sport and uses 105 throughout apart from the chainset.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b332/onbike/ChameleonPerfSportMain.gif

I was searching tonight for UFB - to see what was out there on line and saw that there were several posts regarding the UFB on this forum - so I thought I would join the forum in case I could help answer any questions. This is the all titanium model of the Ultimate Folding Bicycle - 17 lbs - with the derailleur or 20 lb with the Rohloff - 27 gear range

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g254/mpchi/Bike/IMG_1808.jpg

Already posted a more detailed thread on my Jetstream P8 and its upgrades. But just wanted to add it onto this thread to join the bike family. :D

How much does this weigh?

And now I will give you all the pleasure of looking at my coat closet:

http://leroybrown.glassmelter.com/bikes/CIMG1825.jpghttp://leroybrown.glassmelter.com/bikes/CIMG1827.jpg

Downtube VIIIH on bottom. Carryme on top.

And now I will give you all the pleasure of looking at my coat closet:

Downtube VIIIH on bottom. Carryme on top.

Totally illustrates the beauty of folders! :beer:

http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/aa87/DVC45/IMG_0213.jpg

Latest mods. (http://www.pceo.org/Bigbirdsmall.jpg)

Major bling action: Campy super record chain (bought super cheap), Chris King front hub, Birdy frame.
Minor bling: XTR rear, XT cassette and derailleur, Velocity rims (bad seam on both front and rear...they don't live up to their rep, Sapim spokes, Greenspeed Scorchers, Cane Creek S6 headset, Nitto bars, Fly Ti seat, 105 cranks, Egg Beater pedals. Everything was bought at about half price from various sources over time. I'm a cheapskate.

I'm seriously procrastinating. Back to work!!!

Latest mods. (http://www.pceo.org/Bigbirdsmall.jpg)

Major bling action: Campy super record chain (bought super cheap), Chris King front hub, Birdy frame.
Minor bling: XTR rear, XT cassette and derailleur, Velocity rims (bad seam on both front and rear...they don't live up to their rep, Sapim spokes, Greenspeed Scorchers, Cane Creek S6 headset, Nitto bars, Fly Ti seat, 105 cranks, Egg Beater pedals. Everything was bought at about half price from various sources over time. I'm a cheapskate.Not half as cheap as I am. :D

How much smaller in practice are the 349 rims compared to 355? Is it actually only 3mm on a side, so barely noticable? Is the fold affected in any way?

Here's my "Silver Streak" before the Brooks. Shot beside my wife's flower forest.
Having a blast bombing around the neighborhood after dark with a lithium battery powered helmet spotlight. Way too hot to do this in the daytime down here south of the "Swamp" in Tampa.

caio

Not half as cheap as I am. :D

How much smaller in practice are the 349 rims compared to 355? Is it actually only 3mm on a side, so barely noticable? Is the fold affected in any way?

Hi Jur, sorry for taking so long to get back to you on that...working on a grant. The difference is so small that I barely moved the brake pads. That's 6mm on the *circumference.* The 355 tires fit loosely on the 349 rims. Seems very silly to have two wheel sizes so close together. The tire selection at the moment is slightly better for me at 355 as they have the Marathon Racer in folding Kevlar bead for the Birdy. So it was a silly migration.

I'm using Greenspeed Scorchers at the moment, so the circumference of the tire has increased significantly rather than decreased. I thought this tire would be a faster version of the Marathon Racer, but it has slowed me down with all the flats I've gotten. It should be called the Greenspeed Puncture. It's wide, so it picks up twice as much glass as my Stelvios did...lots of punctures off the center line.

You had asked about the slippery properties of the tire in a previous thread, and it hasn't thus far been any different from any other tire I've owned. It does Scorch when riding 20MPH+, but is sluggish on acceleration. I'm almost curious to try the Kevlar version, but think I'll go back to Stelvios once these wear out.

The only way that the fold is affected is that I had to adjust the tire retaining screw on the front. (This holds the bike closed when carrying it folded.)