Originally Posted by Abu Mahendra

Novara, Kent and Raleigh. Not exactly the paragons of or the makes that come to mind in popular, contemporary folding bikes. If we talk mainstream modern, we'll be talking about Dahon, Tern, Brompton, Bike Friday, Pacific Cycles, Tyrell, FSIR, Crius, FnHon, etc. Let's talk mainstream, let's talk modern.

In public and in private Yann has never characterized himself as a bike designer. Chess champion, math professor, bike brand owner, delivery boy, yogi, yes. Bike designer, no. Downtube seeks to fill a particular niche and price point in the market. That price point and the likely volume he moves probably means that he does not design the bikes from scratch. Most likely, as I said before, he picks from a long catalog of existing designs held by large bike manufacturing companies in China. No need to re-invent the wheel, really. That would drive up cost, and he prides himself in keeping costs low. So, it is neither first-hand information, nor speculation, but rather a thoughtful analysis.