The documentation available on the website is less than thorough. They don't really go into details about what components are used, and some of the details about how specifics work are not outlined in detail. Most of the reviews I've found for Montague bikes seem to be just regurgitations of specs and praise for the wonders of a full-size folding bike with minimal, if any, critique. I wanted to give an honest assessment for those of you considering the tough decisions between either folding-or-not, or full-size-vs-small-wheels.
To start with some background... I am north of 200lbs (for the time being, knock on wood). I typically average about 15mph whether I'm riding an 80 mile group tour of the Hudson Valley, or a 10 mile loop around the house to get the blood flowing. I have a few bikes to choose from. I have a Nashbar X Aluminum cyclocross frame built up as a touring/endurance bike around a Rohloff hub, a Ti Sport built up as a lightweight 19lb racer.
I also am a recent owner of a Dahon Vitesse i7. This is a 20" folder with the Simano Nexus 7-speed IGH. This is relevant as I have been riding this bike almost daily since October of last year and have gotten a good feel for what my commute is like on that bike. Additionally, I bought both the Dahon and the Montague online from the same retailer. I expect both of them came in the box untouched by human hands since they were assembled by their respective factories in China.
I know most folks who ride folders do so because it may be part of a bigger mindset of small, minimal, utilitarian transportation which is unobtrusive when not rolling. I do not fall into this category. The only reason I have a folder is because that is the only way I am able to carry a bicycle on the MetroNorth commuter train into Manhattan. I do thi because I enjoy riding a bike to work. This may be part of the reason I came to dislike my Dahon. While the Dahon is a quality bike and came out of the box almost perfectly set up, it is not for me. I commute about 15 to 18 miles per day with two Ortleib bags. I haven't weighed them packed, but my daily load includes a Macbook Pro and ancillaries, coffee, food for the day, a complete change of clothes, and the usual bike needs. It's not light.
After the IGH bearings worked themselves loose a few times (which an LBS was able to fix), I decided to sell before I ruined the hub.
I could have gone to a Dahon with traditional drivetrain, but I decided to forego any pretense of portability and just meet the minumal qualification of foldability in order to commute with the bike on MetroNorth.
The next decision was which Montague to purchase. Ideally, I had a lot of ideas in my head, most involving the Montague Boston converted to use the Rohloff. But that would take a fair investment in parts. I opted for the Navigator as it had the most full-featured frame. In the end, I knew that is basically what I was buying, but I needed the bike to be ride-able as I tweaked and modified.
Unpacking and First Impressions
Pulling it out of the box, there's quite a bit to set up. It's a lot more like a traditional bike setup than the Dahon. This isn't a problem, but it's worth noting for those with less experience setting up bikes.
My initial thoughts are that the component levels are surprisingly low-level for a $1000 bike. Perhaps I'm getting old, but my first real bike was less than $1000 and came with Shimano 105s. It was a Specialized Epic from about 1995. The drivetrain literally cannot be any cheaper and still be called Shimano. They use Acera/Altus when they bother using anything name brand. Everything else generally doesn't have a brand or is from another group that you can assume is the bottom of the line.
Looking around at similarly priced mass-market bikes, I guess I can assume that these days you have to pay upwards of $1500 before you get anything around 105-level groups and decent wheels. Perhaps this bike isn't too far off-base and I just have unrealistic expectations?
A few of the other particularly disappointing small pieces are the pedals and the saddle. The pedals are small rubber coated pieces that seem pretty useless aside from the fact that they can say they gave you somewhere to put your feet. I will be switching to SPDs, but I can't even imagine using these in the mean time. Luckily, I have some old school cage pedals with clips that will get me by for a while.
I'm not sure what to say about the saddle. It's another component that I know I'll be changing out. In this case for a Brooks B17, but I would have expected the one that ships with it to at least get me by. Sadly it's extremely uncomfortable. Again, I have some that I can swap from other bikes while I get the orders sorted, but it's worth noting.
To be fair, the Dahon saddle and pedals came off before I even tried them. I'm just picky that way.
The rims are basically no-name ("Shining" brand), but at least they are double wall. The hubs are Formula, but I'm not sure which model - likely the cheapest they make. What's worse is that the wheels were shipped with literally the worst build quality I have ever seen. They are out of true and the spokes are clearly of drastically differing tensions. Opportunity? I'm going to buy a tension meter and if I can true them up, then I'll likely be able to build any replacement wheel from scratch!
Since this is my first bike with disc brakes, I'm going to reserve judgement for a hundred miles or so. I'm pretty sure I'll be upgrading to BB7 roads (when I move over to drop-bars). I will say that I'm not impressed after only riding around the block compared even to the cantilevers on my X frame.
The bottom line is that for the price, I would have appreciated at least slightly higher quality components. Will I be happy with it? Yes, but it's going to take some work. I knew this was going to be the case, so I don't want to sound surprised. I think the Dahon is a better-built bike at a better price, but personally, I prefer the feel of a full-size bike for my fully-loaded commute.
In case anyone's interested, I'll keep the thread up to date with mods I've made and further observations as I put more miles on it. First commute will be tomorrow morning!