Plushie

Hello everyone, I've been riding 20" folders from Dahon mostly for about 5 years now, tried many kinds, started with a Dahon Speed D7, cycled through many Mu frames, and lately it's been the Vector X27H, but I never even thought of a 16 inch bike. Is the Dahon curve D3 Faster than the Jifo in their stock form? (2015 USA) I know they have roughly the same wheel size and it looks like the same size chainring and crankset, but if the curve is faster due to bigger tires, would putting in a bigger chainring on the jifo equalise them? It seems the Jifo comes with a chainring I can change without replacing the crank arms, though that might also make sense? A little lost here because there seem to be almost no options in the US other than those two, and no way to source a bike from Asia as a customer. The Jifo seems lighter but maybe it's too slow compared to the Curve if it only has one speed? Any thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

HGR3inOK

Where are you located? My understanding is that the JIFO is not currently available in the USA, so you would need to find one in a Dahon dealer's inventory or find a used one somewhere.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Azreal911

The Jifo will be the lower ride no matter how you look at it because it is only 53 gear inches while the curve d3 ranges from 43 to 80 which is a pretty fast cruise in the mid to high 20's depending on your comfort zone.

with the Jifo and it's extremely tight fold i'm not sure if it'll be easy to simply add a bigger chainring without impeding the fold. From how i look at it if you want a small fold and very light bike to swing around the Jifo would be it at under 19.7lbs. BUT if you want something with more gear range and much faster at only around 5.7lbs more then the curve D3 would be the choice.

Edit: If you are in the states then it doesn't matter where you live cause Thor sells both models anyways and it's free shipping. I doubt you'll have an easy time finding either bike in a local bike store.

Plushie

Great info, thanks, I think I'll try for the Jifo if I can find one, looks like they're hard to find

Plushie

It seems I would have to buy the curve then if there are no more Jifos, though I wish someone would sell me a Jifo. Maybe I'll post on marketplace about wanting to buy one amd see if anyone turns up. Thanks!

tds101 

It was mentioned that ThorUSA carries these bikes. Contact them and see what they can do to help you. Great customer service,...I would know.
https://thorusa.com/dahon/current.htm

Plushie

Thanks, Thor is amazing, he said that there are no Jifos anywhere in the USA anymore, oh well, I'll get a Curve D3 from him as soon as I can sell my Dahon Vector X27

HGR3inOK

+1

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Plushie

By the way, I guess I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about Dahon's so very limited inventory of 16" bikes in the US, it seems you can't buy any of the higher range bikes here but Asia has so many kinds. I guess it's a market thing? Perhaps we Americans haven't got enough demand for folding bikes yet? Interesting to see the difference. There is a Dahon "Dove" and a Dahon "Arc" and a Curve D6, and more and I don't know if spending a couple of thousand dollars to visit Singapore, for instance, just to get a bike, makes any sense. Oh well.

Azreal911

it's worth it if you can make a trip of it
else there's a very very small market for folding bikes in north america. from my city of 5-6 million people there's only 2-3 stores that i know of that would specially deal with folders and the 3rd store is only selling off brand stuff and not the major manufacturers.

the asian countries do get the cooler stuff, and since you like the lightness and compact jifo that much but wanted more gear range like the curve. Then 3 speed eezz would have been PERFECT for your needs, it weights just 21lbs and has three gears! But here's the catch...... it's doesn't exist in north america:

EEZZ 3D | DAHON OFFICIAL SITE - ??? **********

Plushie

Good point! Aould love to visit Singapore or Taiwan sometime, that 3 speed EEZZ looks like a unicorn, would love to find one