geronimemo

hi there i need some help in choosing a bike i was looking at the citizen gotham at 23 lbs or a downtube or a dahon mu p8 or p24 ? must be light and reliable and pretty much trouble free nothing over a thousand to spend . which of this bikes would be a better buy citizen looks like the dahon?

GTALuigi

hmmm........ not sure
I ride a Mu SL, and it's super good
but all the "inferior" Dahons are not as good, from what people claims.

I can vouche for perfect satisfaction on the Mu SL, but without personal experience on the mid / low end models, i can't say the same.

Tommy C

My wife and I got 2 Dahons, Mu P8 to be more specific, one was great and the other one was nothing but trouble. We have tried to fix it and the dealer actually gave up and suggested us to return the bike. I tried to give it a shot but could not find a cure to the seatpost slippage. I have not tried the Liquid Torque that Jur suggested because I could not find it in Toronto but I a have tried every solution you can think of. We planned to return the bike and by that time I had put 200km on my bike and the same problems started to hit my Mu... Seatpost slippage and gears had to be adjusted often...The main issue is the seatpost slippage and the handle post latch and the handlepost mechanism that for somereason need to be adjusted too often. Our handle posts developed all kind of clicks and creaks over time and some oil cured the problem for a few weeks.
Overall the ride quality is great... Mind you that all Mus share the same frame. My model was 2007 and basically today I gave it the last chance but the seatpost still slips and tomorrow the bike will be shipped back to the store.

It was a great ride but too many problems took all the fun from our rides. we are not commuters and ride only a few times a week. We are both lightweight so I really think we just had a bad luck with this model.... My next folder might be another Dahon.... After all they have good bikes.

feijai

Some of the bikes you've listed are not particularly reliable. Some are not particularly light.

You didn't list "efficient" or "not squirelly" or "folds well", which are other things to consider. If it's "nothing over a thousand", you should also be examining a Tikit Model-T, a Swift, and a higher-end Mu.

geronimemo

right now i ride a kent stowaway 20" wheels with rear shock but the bike is heavy maybe 30 + lbs and i need something with no more than 25 lbs and that is with rack and mud gaurds etcc .. but the gotham looks like a dahon and claim 23 lbs then their is the downtube or what about a xootr swift . as long as they fold decently compact the weight is my main concern.

p.s some one is selling me a kent ultralite for 50 dollars it has 16" wheels and weighs 23 lbs is this a good buy? comes with a rack

invisiblehand

Personally, I think you save your money and get the bike you really want. Go out there and test ride those Dahons!

GTALuigi

true, the best way to bike a bike, is to take it for a spin

most bike shops will not have a problem with that.

not sure where you are located, but if you are in TO

you can check out Cycle Solutions, they are very reliables and knowledgeable on folding bikes.

geronimemo

the problem is that all the bike shops here in bakersfield do not carry any folders

somnatash

Here are some threads about the kent which will tell you about the ultralite, just do a forum search. As far as I recall the opinions were not that enthusiastic.

GTALuigi

probably same reason why they are selling it