ttakata73

Hey guys, other than Liquidsky7777's cool Smooth Hound, there are no threads on modding these types of bikes. Now that I have a medium Silvertip I thought I'd share info and hopefully this can become a mods thread for all the Midtown framed Dash, Smooth Hound, Silvertip, Mako, Hammerhead, and Voll model bikes.

Some history: Years ago, I had the Dahon Curve D3 and the Curve SL. I didn't like how the stem flexed so much under my 185lbs so I needed a midtown. I had this one sent to Los Angeles where a friend broke it down to the folded frame, wheels, fork, seatpost, and rear derailler. Then it was all packed into a Samsonite Oyster and flown over to Bangkok on Cathay Pacific. No extra fees.

After tuning it all up, I took it out for a quick 5 mile ride. It's a great bike! Unlike the Curve which I recall feeling slow and flexy, this bike feels fast and confidence inspiring. I rode off a few curbs and felt no flex or slop (this behavior will probably destroy the lockjaw joints so I'll relax). The bike feels as stiff as a regular full size bike for sure. I love the Kinetix Comp wheelset; they allow the bike to accelerate faster and be nimbler than any bike I've owned. I can't wait to get some Kinetix Pro wheels one day. For riding in a very congested city, I now believe a minivelo is the best way to go.

I never weighed the bike stock but the claimed 10.8kg seems accurate to me.
Here are my mods so far....

Removed parts: -1284g
FSA 44T chainring 54g
Double chainring bolts (FSA steel) 25g
Front derailler 93g
F. Derailler cable guide 5g
Frame stand 59g
Front frame magnet plate 36g
Kickstand 170g
Pedals folding 562g!
Reflectors 98g
Shifter front w/cable (Microshift) 182g
Extra cable housing length ?g

Added parts: +679g
Single chainring bolts (alloy) 14g
Mirrycle Bellini 17g
Cateye Velo8 cpu 47g
Light F: Knog frog 19g
Light R: Owl solar 15g
Dahon Frame Truss 250g
Front frame magnet bolt 8g
Cable sheath ?g
Visibility/ghetto stickers ?g
Pedals: Wellgo QRD119 lightened 289g (stock 307g)


Bike today with above added parts: ~10.18kg on my cheap ebay luggage scale.
I'll hopefully get it down to 7.5kg but I know this will cost about $2000 to do.

Optional parts when needed
Dahon Truss Bag (awesome: waterproof with shoulder strap) 927g
Solar LED light/USB charger 124g
Hex wrenches 2.5,4,5,6mm 43g
12" Master Cuffs Lock 1492g

I wish the Dahon truss wasn't so heavy but the bag is very useful and waterproof. You don't want to wear any backpack or even clothing in hot and humid Bangkok.

Why the ugly stickers? Thieves in Thailand don't steal ugly/cheap looking things. Covering up all indication that this bike is a Dahon and worth anything makes me feel a little safer about leaving it locked up alone, plus I remove the pedals.


FYI, I got some alleged 24 hour glow in the dark tape off ebay. Not sure if it really glows for 24 hours but when I roll under a bridge during the day this stuff glows like Tron. I'm sure cars must notice it on my wheels more than the red blinker I run on the seatpost. Maybe when I get sick of the ghetto sticker setup, I'll get more and make a Tron bicycle.

If anyone else loves their Midtown framed Dahon please share your experiences.
I'd love to see pictures of racks and fenders that work well on these bikes.

Cheers, Tak

Joe Loco

Awesome! I'd admired those minis for too long as well, and then when I finally was ready to go for one found that they've pretty much disappeared from the US market (was there even close-out pricing on these 6 months ago?!?) Anyhow, was about to go in on another mini (the Big Shot polo) when I found the close-out clone seller on eBay. For $200, not too shabby (I gutted it immediately and rebuilt entirely from the stash) ...


I have yet to run into the one other Smooth Hound rider in my area, I am looking forward to going toe-to-toe and seeing how closely related these frames are...

Joe Loco

p.s. I would have been unable to resist tinkering anyway, so getting a deal on "frame with junk parts bolted to it" was a-okay. I am not too hung up on the lack of fold, but do wish it had perhaps the track ends a la the Bullhead. Wish it had the cool mounting bracket on the headtube, but I am looking into hacking something together using "4x4 rollbar" clamps - just need to find the right rack-like object to bolt on. Also keeping an eye out for a nice pair of 20" wheels / rubber.

These little things are so fun, and great for urban commuting...

Joe Loco

p.p.s. one advantage of the clone is that it doesn't have the Dahon keyed steerer, so stem replacement was easy...

jur

Wow, very sharp looking bike!

Joe Loco

I've started a flickr group for Midtown-series bikes - there are a couple of particularly nicely modded ones there:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/1930277@N25/

alexaschwanden

Nice dahon.

ttakata73

Cool, I checked out the Flikr link and the minivelo group pics there too.
Great pics there.

Vampy

Sounds like a great idea, let me post here my last purchase. Still not on the bike, but pictures will come as soon as do it.

It is a second hand but in awesome condition ITM Millennium White Carbon handlebar and stem. I know this may not be the lightest, but I love the look of white carbon on the Smooth Hound. As I said, more pictures will come in short order.

thugpipe

So I have been doing a few upgrades to my Silvertip and I have run into a couple of issues and I wanted to share my experiences and maybe see if anyone has some info that might save me some aggravation.

so first I was thinking of changing my stock V Brakes, I picked up a set of Shimano Deore BR-M590 V Brakes and when I removed the Speedstop Brakes and went to install the shimanos they didn't fit. the Cantilever studs are different but thankfully the bike is aluminum and the studs are replaceable so I ordered some Problem Solvers Replacement M10 x 1.25 studs and I am waiting to see if they work. Does anyone have experience with this.

next I was looking to replace the headset and I can't find any information about the sizing. I think I need a 44mm Zero Stack headset but I don't really want to take my bike off the road for a week to knock out the headset cups to measure it before ordering the part. has anyone here done this?

I appreciate any healp you guys might be able to offer.

Peter

thugpipe

Well in response to my own question, the headset on a midtown mini is a 44mm Zerostack I just changed out my standard fusion headset for a Cane Creek 40 Series with sealed cartridge bearings and it made a big difference on my bike. I used a BAA0075K but any ZS44 headset will work.

also the deore brakes apparently just sit on the shoulder of the cantilever post and leave a 1/16th of an inch between the back of the brake pivot and the fork. Seems weird to me but it works and it doesn't look too bad when it is all tightened up, it also stops real nice

Vampy

Hello guys, here you can see my Smooth Hound with road handlebars. I went for white carbon finally since I found it second hand at a great price, and loved the looks. The tape should be Brooks honey at some point, but I needed the bike right away and I didn´t want to spend the money on it until I swap the brake levers for a set of brifters. Meanwhile that silver works ok.

DVC45

Awesomely nice!

Can I see it folded please!

ratdog

Only way that's folding is if he rides into the side of a bus....

DVC45

Oh, okay. Never mind then.

Vampy

Well that's not entirely true. While the bike doesn't fold, it does break away, following moulton or bike friday's idea. So I don't get why laugh that loud

rain13

Just finished building this 2008 Smooth Hound (separable frame).
Using Sora 3500 for the cassette, RD and brifter, Tiagra 4600 crank, Novatec hubs, ceramic bottom bracket and pulleys, Kore seatpost and saddle, Race Face stem and handlebar, also Problem Solver's Travel Agent on the Deore v-brakes (will be replaced with cantilever soon).

smallwheeler

wow.. sweet build, rain13! deserves more detailed pics please!

thugpipe

Wait Novatec makes a 74mm front hub? where did you get that? nice bike by the way!

rain13

Thanks smallwheeler, here are some of the detail. I am still looking for red seatpost clamp too

rain13

Hi thugpipe, yes Novatec make 74mm 20H front hub for Dahon and Bike Friday Tikit, the price down here around US$80 (front and rear).



Do you think the headset is the same size between Silvertip and Smooth Hound?
I've been looking all over for the proper headset size, couldn't find any information until I saw your post, so thanks

smallwheeler

what's the diameter for that seatpost clamp?

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rain13

smallwheeler: sweet! Regarding the diameter, how to measure? The seatpost size is 27.2mm, so the clamp would be, what, 31.8?

smallwheeler

31.8 is a legit size... i would take it off and measure it just to be sure. Mowa, KCNC, gub, litepro, they all make very cool accessories..

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rain13

smallwheeler: cool, I really like those clamps, I will check my LBS this weekend! Not the quick release one though, 2008 Smooth Hound requires two bolts to adjust the seatpost height, one in the clamp and one further down the tube where the frame separates.