I just took a look at the Dahon USA website. Under Bikes, I see 24 bikes, 19 of which are separately named models, with the remainder being variants of the named models. If I knew nothing about folders and was interested in one, my first thought is wow, all these bikes look eerily similar, where do I start? Choice overload...

I can understand having different models for different markets, you're selling what the locals need and can afford, and that changes by area, economics and local restrictions. But I've never understood Dahon's tendency toward choice overload vs. narrowing the field to maybe a half-dozen models at best. It's like throwing a bunch of bikes against a wall and then seeing what sticks, except it never ends. That effort could be so much better spent in defining why the sales leaders do well, why the sales slackers don't, and how could those same ideas be consolidated to make just a few core models instead of endless models with minor variations.

I, for one, would like to see a really streamlined Dahon product line. Better for the consumer, better for Dahon as far as consolidation, manufacturing, and marketing, and better for the dealers because they don't have to spend their time hashing out tiny differences between models for the consumer. Whether or not it happens, I wish Thor and the gang well, because I don't see the current product line as being sustainable in the long run unless upper management gets the idea that selling a bajillion different models restricts company growth and increases customer frustration. And that's for the world's market leader in folders if memory serves.