Commuting - The Montague Boston 8 might be the perfect commuting bike

700c tires, IGH hub, folding for carrying on public transport.

Anyone used one? Also, anyone used the Nexus 8 hub? Everything I've goggled says great things about it.

Price is also fairly decent, about 1k.

I've owned a Montague Boston 8 for about a month and I've been very happy with it so far. I use it to commute to my office and I can fold the bike and store it under my desk. If the weather turns foul unexpectedly I also have the option of catching a ride with a friend / coworker / taxi and carrying the folded bike in the trunk. I am in the process of putting together a rack & pannier system that won't interfere with the folding feature.

I also do longer weekender rides (~30-60km) and the bike is equally capable here as well. I do wish that the bike was available with drop bars and I may try to convert it at some point, as my only riding discomfort after a long ride is isolated to my hands/wrists.

The Nexus 8 IGH is very nice. It shifts quickly & quietly, and is very low maintenance. It really shines when you are in an area with lots of stops, as you can change gears while stationary. The gear range is fine, although perhaps a touch low for my tastes as I don't recall ever using the 1st or 2nd gears (granny gears) and sometimes wish I had something higher than the 8th gear for downhill / tailwind situations.

The fenders are a little flimsy and tend to flap in the wind. Not a big deal, but just something I noticed.

All-in-all a great bike imo.

Be careful with changing the handlebars on the Montague. I have one of their folding mountain bikes & I went from a flat bar with a slight rise to a truly flat bar & I had trouble with the new bars hitting something on the frame when I went to fold it (I forget what). All in all a great bike, but with folding, the handlebars can be an issue.

The Montague Boston 8 might be the perfect commuting bike

Usually the perfect commuting bike is the one you don't have ;). Well at least that's been my experience :D.

this thread is useless without pics/links.

I am in the process of putting together a rack & pannier system that won't interfere with the folding feature.

im having similar folding issues (rack interference) on my Monty Paratrooper build. A regular rack makes the fold too wide. Have you considered the XootrCrossRack? it allows you to hang one pannier. http://www.xootr.com/crossrack-bike-rack.html Looks like it wood fit Montague folders but i have no measurements

this thread is useless without pics/links.
Yes.

http://www.montaguebikes.com/boston-folding-single-speed-bike.html

I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't that!

im having similar folding issues (rack interference) on my Monty Paratrooper build. A regular rack makes the fold too wide. Have you considered the XootrCrossRack? it allows you to hang one pannier. http://www.xootr.com/crossrack-bike-rack.html Looks like it wood fit Montague folders but i have no measurements

That could work, as long as your seatpost is raised up high enough. I ordered a Tortec Velocity (http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/racks/product/review-tortec-velocity-slimline-pannier-rack-09-34542/) slimline rack from the UK which looked to be about the narrowest rack available. It's only suitable for panniers it seems, and not top-loaded gear. I will reply to this thread with my results.

That could work, as long as your seatpost is raised up high enough. I ordered a Tortec Velocity (http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/racks/product/review-tortec-velocity-slimline-pannier-rack-09-34542/) slimline rack from the UK which looked to be about the narrowest rack available. It's only suitable for panniers it seems, and not top-loaded gear. I will reply to this thread with my results.

Yep, good idea, a narrow rack should make the Boston 8 fold more compact...another plus is that narrow racks keep the weight towards the center and allow to squeeze into tight spots without clipping a pannier bag.
Cant wait to see your pics. BTW another plus to the Boston 8 is that it folds more compactly than a Paratrooper/Swissbike because of its narrow roadie tires.

I'm actually looking into picking up a Montague Swissbike mountain bike at the moment. And this is pretty much my biggest reason for doing so:

If the weather turns foul unexpectedly I also have the option of catching a ride with a friend / coworker / taxi and carrying the folded bike in the trunk.
I also live in an apartment and already have a mountain bike in there so it'll help that it can fold.
I'm also kind of worried about mounting a pannier rack onto the bike. It looks like any rack will have to be specially mounted to the rear folding section of the bike so that it can still fold. Has anyone ended up doing this?