chagzuki

I've had a Vitesse for a year now and have been customizing it a bit over that time to improve comfort and ride quality. I'm around average male height, 5' 11" and in order to get enough cockpit room I've had my saddle as far back as possible. I don't like a particularly upright position so my handlebars are low, and my legs are long, so my saddle is a fair bit higher than the handlebars. I'd noticed, when glancing my reflection in shop windows, that my riding position was a little odd, and decided I'd like to try shifting my weight forward somewhat. So I bought an Aberhallo stem adaptor which gives an extra 5 cm extension to the bars, and shifted the saddle forward a similar amount. After a 12 mile ride it was obvious that this was the correction to most of the dissatisfactions I've had with the bike since I've had it: I was able to put my weight into the pedal strokes, I no longer found myself edging forward on the saddle, and I also found I was able to absorb shocks far more easily, indeed naturally. On top of that, the longer stem made the ride far less twitchy and therefore comfortable at high speeds. Not quite a night and day difference, but a very significant improvement.

The problem I have now is that the Aberhallo stem interferes with the fold. In fact, the only possibility for stem extension on my Vitesse seems to be to buy the Mu SL type handlepost from Gaerlan which folds to the outside of the bike. Or to switch to a Downtube, and possible do the Jur Mini folding stem type of mod. If I switch to a different bike I'm going to understand the frame geometry properly.

I might be able to find a fold solution on the Vitesse that involves removing the magnets and using a bungee cord. . .

Bacciagalupe

I have to say, I wouldn't worry about how your riding position looks. Use the ride feel as your guide.

More importantly, it's a bad plan to modify the saddle position in order to get more or less room in the cockpit. The wrong saddle position can cause lots of knee issues. Start with the standard saddle positioning method, and only move it a little bit to adjust the feel / comfort.

Unfortunately, one of the compromises of many folding bikes, and Dahons in particular, is that the "one size fits all" model often reduces your options to tweak the fit. I do think that most people can use a mass-produced folding bike without too much trouble; a smaller percentage will get a good enough fit for fairly long rides. However, riders with unusual dimensions might have addition issues.

Talk to Gaerlan about the handlepost, if you haven't already. As to the Downtube, I happen to have mixed feelings about them. I believe the frame is sturdy, they're assembled fairly well, and most parts are standard; but they have a lot of no-name components. If you pick one up, just keep in mind that you might want (or need) to upgrade some components down the line.

chagzuki

Dahon could solve this by offering handleposts that have differently angled bends. The fold would remain intact.


As to whether you can judge a good riding position by how it looks, I think it is quite clear when someone's body weight is near the optimum position.

Did another 12 miles today (haven't taken the stem off yet) and once again the improvement in the ride really hit me. . . not sure what I'm going to do. I might get a cheap non-folding bike for longer rides.

faffer

I think it's possible to loosen the handlepost on the steerer and then rotate it so that the hinge is on the outside of the fold. If you get something like the cowhorn handlebars on the Speed TT Pro, you can put your hands forward on the extensions to accomplish something like having a longer stem, and then rotate the bar when folding so that the extensions are parallel to the bike.

chagzuki

Can't rotate the handlepost - there's only one position it can be in.

Something else: currently I'm using a handlebar with a 5 degree bend and it's angled towards me. If the bar hand no curvature or if I angled it downwards I'd gain an extra 2 cm of cockpit space, but times when I've had the bar at a different angle I wasn't convinced it was ergonomically sound. I'm still not sure about this: the natural angle ones hand/wrists should rest at.

A bullhorn bar might well suit me as I'm very much at ease on barends. Though I'd have to change brake and gear levers.

GTALuigi

that's not quite true.

well at least on my Mu SL i can rotate, and configure the handle bar anyway i want.

it can even be replaced with another kind.

pibach

This is an old post but still unsolved.

As far as I know:
yes, you can replace the post with other Dahon posts.
And you can rotate it. But then the bar is rotated as well. You cannot rotate the bar back, as the telescoping has this carved shape (the single piece one on the MU Sl doesn't allow rotation either). Could be possible if you file the little bolt off. Or, better, use an ahead stem (with reducer) and chop off the QR clamp.

But as far as I know, the Aberhallo still works with the inside fold. As does an <5cm ahead conversion. The ahead conversion is preferable, imho (stiffer).

GTALuigi

you don't need to use the original Dahon parts,
you can use 3rd party handle bars, and handle bar extensions.

but even using the original parts you can set it (rotate) it outside, upside, or inside.

if that is not enough, then you will need some special handle bars from 3rd party to fit your criteria.

check out Thors USA website, he carries some custom parts for that, he might have what you want.

pibach

I don't see how this could be done. Any details?

AEO

the stem is 25.4mm. you can use a 1-1/8" to 1" shim and slap on a regular threadless stem.

gaerlan sells a telescoping seatpost that allows you to use regular 27.2mm seatposts so you can get a seatpost that has more setback than the stock dahon one.

GTALuigi

or even better get a Thudbuster suspension seat post, it's Da' Bomb!

i've it on both of my Dahon bike now

20" Mu SL and 26" Matrix

operator

I've looked all over their site for this part but I cannot find it. Where?

brakemeister

there are sold out no longer made .......
I think I will have a handfull down the road ( old dahon extender Seatpost )
so far zero .... check webpage once in a while... they aint gonna be cheap

Thanks
thor