jimmyjoe

So to save some cash after my precious Downtube was stolen, I end up flying through the air with a Dahon folding up on me while riding at highest possible speed in a dangerous situation in full traffic in Yosemite Valley! I limped away embarrassed, but also seriously frazzled by the experience, my faith in that bike gone gone. That's what you get for trying to save a few bucks! And I missed my ole Downtubes more than ever...

My first folder was also a Dahon without telescoping handlebars- seriously inadequate ergonomic-wise, and felt flimsy enough that I never really trusted it, and logged few miles before getting a Boardwalk. Again, wasn't enough bike for my needs. Some research lead me to a bright orange Downtube FS. This strange-looking beast sold me the second I rode her. After a couple great years I sold her and ponied up for a brand new FS, even brighter orange! She was super solid, comfortable, cushioning out those potholed marina roads so nicely, and she road like a dream. On the trails she performed like a solid mountain bike, in the city she was rock-solid. I put some Fat Apples on her once. She was a joy to ride and I went everywhere on that bike, I could trust that bike. The mechanisms worked so well they became second nature and effortless...but then one day she was gone..and cash was thin.

And so it is... that you get too familiar with a bike and maybe you are folding/unfolding lickity split and and you get careless... well, with the Downtube you simply can't really screw it up. I never had an issue with either DT and my last baby was my daily rider for over 3 years. But those similarly priced Dahons are a different story entirely- watch out! Those telescoping handlebars caved on me! Was it my fault, the Dahon's fault, I don't know but it would not have happened on my ole Downtubes. I remember reading way back, probably in this forum lol, Yan saying something about 'Downtube's don't have the safety issues that others report,' and I thought to myself- that was a clever sales pitch, and I found it to be true, I was then lapsed into security with those awesome bikes, lol. Only to meet my fate on a crumbling Dahon.

Be warned: all folders safety mechanisms are not created equal. I don't think I am ever getting on another Dahon. It's time for another Downtube!

1nterceptor

tds101 

I smell bs,...

andr0id

We have some kind of Dahon folding bike in the garage that my father in law gave us for my daughter.

While I can adjust it to fit, I wouldn't ride it more than about 10mph. It seems very sketchy.

I don't think it's meant to be ridden fast though, so you probably shouldn't have done that, right?

Joe Remi

What a bunch of bollocks. If the telescoping bar slipped down, the bike didn't "fold on you", you managed to be terrible at operating a quick-release lever and the bar slid down. Here's a thought: Buy the bike you like, and make sure you understand how to operate it before going top speed in Yosemite. And mods..ditch this BS thread.

shrooms

Can't say anything about FS. I started to ride Nova when my weight was 235lb and now I weigh 200lb still very heavy. Also, I ride every day as fast as I can in Brooklyn on very bad roads. Original wheels disintegrated everything else is still intact.
I like my Nova with new tough wheels and quality brake pads. I don't see any reason to replace the foulder unless I get a good deal on a titanium foulder with disk brakes.

tds101 

I believe the issue isn't that there's ANYTHING WRONG with a Downtube folding bike. It's the bs generalized blanket statement that a Dahon folding bike is dangerous. The poster is at fault if he/she didn't take the appropriate measures to make sure all latches were secure. Who's to blame? The careless rider,...if they didn't close all the latches.

As for a Downtube bike's quality? I've seen quite a few happy customers. Same as Dahon.

bhkyte

i agree .
i have owned about 20 folders and had issues with all of them that needed watcing.
mezzo,brompton,dahon,birdie, downtubes included.
downtube fs is one tough bike. i still had to adjust hingers, and play developed in handlebar stem.

Dahon latest stems look better than prvious efforts.

DLBroox

Ridiculous post. This thread needs to be deleted.

jimmyjoe

Sorry to ruffle some feathers, but my experience is valid.

I have owned 3 Dahons, and they all felt like toys (!), and I got hurt on one. A careful read would have discovered that I blame myself as much as the cheapo locking device, but the bottom line is, I got hurt on a Dahon. Never been hurt on a Downtube. My DTs had quality fail-safe mechanisms, and the Dahon had a flimsy plastic collar that couldn't hold its place to the cheap latch, really a trash system (think "Toy") bound for eventual failure.
After owning 3 Dahons and 2 Downtubes, 7 years of heavy folder use, I am entitled to an opinion.

And my opinion is the cheaper Dahon's quality doesn't hold a candle to similarly priced Downtubes. I can't speak for $1000 Dahons but that isn't the point.

smallwheeler

can't believe some of you people calling for a thread to be deleted because you disagree with the OP. wow.

the fact is, what he is describing is a fairly well-known problem with dahon bikes that i've also personally experienced with two bikes and was confirmed as "common" by my lbs.

if you ride a dahon everyday in urban commuting you will eventually (2-3 years?) wear the bike out. they are not durable machines. eventually, the seatube, the hinge bores, and the stem clamps, will get wallowed out under load and vibration. you will find yourself having to tighten or add shims to all of those connections until finally the bikes feels no longer safe to ride. remember, dahons are "not intended for hard use". sounds vague, right? the meaning of that phrase is no doubt determined by their lawyers on a "situational basis". have you ever bunnyhopped potholes or curbs? warranty = void.

Joe Remi

The specific issue is the OP went on a rant about how Downtubes are awesome and Dahons will try to kill you. Both claims are hyperbolic at best, and offer no actual real-world experience beyond that Mr. Ranty hopped on a bike he wasn't familiar with and didn't inspect it properly. If the bike is old and worn out, he shouldn't have been jamming around at speed on it. If it's new and defective; that's between him, the dealer and the manufacturer. This "Downtubes best, Dahons dangerous" thread is BS.

smallwheeler

talk about hyperbole... the OP didnt actually say anything you just ascribed to him. and even if he had said those things exactly as you described, so what? it's still just an opinion being expressed.

it's really interesting to see how societal norms shift. recently right across all forms of social media we've seen people being silenced, shouted down, blocked, deleted, banned, barred... all because they committed the grave sin of expressing opinions that some group or individual doesn't like. its almost as if social media has infantilized it's users. they're no longer adults capable of offering counter arguments to ideas they dislike or simply ignore things they find objectionable.

instead of calling for mods to delete the thread, why not post a cogent, well-written rebuttal to the OP's "hyperbolic rant" for others to read? maybe that's too difficult.

Joe Remi

No, I'm not going to be berated with bollocks about "free speech" as if I don't have the same right to call out what reads as an advertisement for Downtube bikes. I realize Yan had nothing to do with it, but it still reads as advertising copy promoting one brand by claiming that a competing one is dangerous. The OP should have inspected his bike before riding it. This isn't complicated.

smallwheeler

if yan had nothing to do with it, then how is it an advert for downtube? by that logic anyone who claims to like one brand over another, for whatever reason, is posting an advert. of course you have the right to say whatever you like and so does the OP.

you know quite well the stuff i wrote that you refer to as free speech bollocks was specifically in reference to you calling for this thread to be deleted simply because you don't like it. there's a big difference between presenting a opposing opinion and calling for someone else's opinion to be silenced.

DLBroox

I agree with Joe Remi. It is my opinion that the original post is not an authentic opinion. I believe it's a plant, the same way people go on Amazon and write fake reviews. I'm sorry I wasn't specific earlier about my reasoning for taking down the thread, but I thought it would be understood as someone ahead of me called bs. Nevertheless, I don't think my opinion will cause the downfall of civilization as we know it.

Cogent enough for you?

Joe Remi

I called for this thread to be deleted because it's hyperbolic, advertorial nonsense. The title says his Dahon "folded" on him, which is a potentially life-threatening failure of a hinge. It did not fold. He didn't secure his stem properly, and it slid down. The title is misleading..the thread should be deleted.

desastar

Dahons have adjustable clamps so I can't see how they can unhinge if they are tight. How a frame wears would depend on the riders weight, load carried, miles travelled, etc.
What happened to yours may have had a combination of factors. I love the Speed P8 frame and l'm on a third variant now, Speed TR, which is the touring version with racks. It is as capable as my Brompton (different way) and BF Tikit, actually more comfortable.

jur

He didn't say the telescoping thing went down, he did intimate that the hinge folded while riding. That is a valid complaint. That is something the Dahon handlepost became notorious for when they went with aluminium versions. The steel latch was a whole lot better but they abandoned careful safety-backed design in the aluminium versions which eventually led to a recall.

I had such a Dahon with early aluminium handlepost and got rid of it quickly. I also had an OEM Dahon-made folder which had the safe steel version. And I had a Downtube Mini and it was blazingly obvious that the Downtube hinges were designed with reliable inherently safety-backed latches. Of course they could still just break right off but the hinges just don't open when they are not meant to.

Nothing wrong with this thread except for the calling for it to be closed.

Joe Remi

I don't know how else to interpret "Those telescoping handlebars caved on me!" All I can do is read what the OP wrote, and try to visualize the incident. I stand by my statement that he doesn't seem to have adequately inspected and secured the clamping mechanisms on his folding bicycle, and is now claiming it's the bike's fault. It's crap like this that makes me wonder how anybody manages to sell folders in our litigious market. If you're counting on the thing to fail-safe you out of understanding how latches and quick-releases work, you need a different hobby.

jimmyjoe

Ooo this forum is giving me all kindsa warm fuzzy feelings of tender community
Thank you, those who listen with a little compassion.

I appreciate mindful banter also and feel the need to address a couple lil ole things:
DLBrooks, I assure you that I have no affiliation with Downtube other than owning two of them.
Perhaps my enthusiasm for getting ready to take the plunge, thus inspired to contribute here with my very real experience, was too enthusiastic for some but I am stoked to be on the edge of ownership of another. And glad to be saying goodbye to the bike that hurt me! I love consumer feedback, I value Free Speech, I am an avid Yelper, and I am going to speak my truth!

Joe, I'll bet you have the best of intentions but you have it all wrong bro!
Hmm lets see, I was totally and completely familiar with the bike and the mechanisms as a long-term owner, the bike did indeed fold right up in concert with the telescoping caving in as I crashed, I did in fact secure the stem, I've owned 3 of them Dahons... and funny how everything I have just corrected you on is me repeating myself for your benefit?
My guess is the public would appreciate if you took a moment to do a more careful read, thus comprehend, before peeing on a thread.

smallwheeler

frankly, no.

who writes those fake reviews you see on amazon? usually it's the seller using a fake second account, right? so, are you saying that yan of downtube is behind "jimmyjoe"? just how far does this conspiracy go? do tell.

since jimmyjoe doesn't have many posts on bikeforums it's quite easy to have a look at every post he's ever made here. let's see... his first ever post waay back in 07 was about expressing an interest in downtube bikes... hmm, looks incriminating.. then some stuff about suspension forks... then a couple of years later something about a different brand of bike... then in march of 2015 he posts about having his downtube bike stolen. and then now this thread. obviously his entire history in bikeforums was a cunning plan all leading up to this day when he would finally launch his big fake shill thread!

here's a an alternate theory:

a guy is interested in a particular bike and signs up to a discussion forum to ask a few questions about it. eventually, a couple of years later he finally buys said bike and really enjoys it. unfortunately a couple of years after that the bike is stolen and he buys a dahon bike that he doesn't enjoy and even has an accident on while riding. then he returns to the forum to share his opinions.

nah. it's too simple. hmm. i like your theory better actually.


hmm. i think you've actually won me over here.

a stem collapsing while going down hill isn't life threatening at all. well sussed, joe! the OP wrote "folded" instead of "collapsed". good point. no doubt a dastardly and intentional misrepresentation of the facts. clearly that alone is grounds for deletion! as if that weren't enough, the rampant use of hyperbole and poor grammar coupled with the fact that his entire post deviates markedly from the recommended prose format as outlined in the MLA style handbook.. it's all clearly grounds for immediate deletion!

delete! delete! delete!



i'm sure you get the point...

downtube

For the record I do not know who jimmyjoe is. The conspiracy theories should end....really.

Thanks,
Yan

smallwheeler

hahaha!

jimmyjoe

Thanks smallwheeler, I enjoyed that!

I've spent quite a bit of time through the years reading up on this forum, and unfort I haven't contributed much, so that is what it is. I enjoy and appreciate the info here, that's for sure.
I've read up on all kinds of stuff here, amazing vast resource that it is.
Sure didn't expect a fire storm saying what i said, lol.