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Originally Posted by
Bonzo Banana
Another one here.
This one does look very VERY tempting.... only thing I'm not liking is the weight, but you get more speeds and disc brakes...how much "better" is that than the Mariner, or any 7 or 8 speeder for that matter?
Better is a difficult term. Dahon go towards lower weight performance folding bikes and are more of a premium brand where the components you get for your money can be a bit basic for their lower end models. When I've been looking around various cycling sites around the world there seems many issues with Dahon frame quality and the video on youtube of their factory looks a poor manufacturing facility compared to the big manufacturers like fuji-ta who supply many US, European and shop brands. I tend to look at individual components more wondering if there are any parts on the bike that are low end and will cause trouble or wear quickly. You can have 2 folding bikes both aluminium frames but one is over-engineered to be strong and last a long time and another is designed to be lighter weight at the expense of strength and so there is weight variation. Aluminium does suffer from fatigue and benefits from robot welding to ensure maximum strength which not all manufacturers use.
The other issue is some bike brands do a wide range of bikes so a company like Schwinn would be criticised by serious cyclists because of its poor entry level bikes as a brand but sometimes their higher range models often based on better components than some premium brands at similar prices offer the best value.
Disc brakes do add weight but they add additional safety in all weather conditions and you can see its a strong trend in normal size road bikes to feature them both mechanical and hydraulic.
Just by making a bike 16 speed over 8 speed you have added some weight with the front derailleur, double chainset, extra gear selector, longer chain etc. The increased gear ratio range means you can tackle hills a bit easier and be faster on the flats and downhill but its extra complexity. Personally I prefer the 2 Schwinn models which offer a good well-chosen spec and long warranty for a reasonable price. Being a mainstream brand it will be easier to find the best price to as I assume many retailers in the states will stock Schwinn.
Many Schwinn bikes come from this facility which is known for producing many excellent bikes under many brands. I don't know if the Schwinn folders come from this facility but there is a strong chance. I'd personally put their frame manufacturing quality well above Dahon or Tern. They use state of the art robots and many modern processes. This is meant to be the best bicycle manufacturing facility in mainland China and it's also the largest cycle factory in the world. However some factories in Taiwan may beat it for quality typically those of Giant and Merida. If you can find the manufacturing country and it is China then a very strong chance. Many bikes are being made now in Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh etc to slightly lower standards because its more expensive to make in China now. Third party component quality is likely the same but frame manufacturing and wheel assembly/truing quality and overall assembly likely not quite as good.
Fuji-ta