Originally Posted by
tds101
The entire ONE PIECE handlepost was replaced at my expense. The bike shop should have replaced ALL of your handlepost. That means removing off the handlebars and replacing the entire thing. Your bike would be ridable right now.
Now, you mentioned the Origami Bull. I like it, it's got a really nice weight limit (360 lbs max) that allows the carrying of a lot of gear, but I do understand your preference for steel. It tends to bend before it breaks. Also easier to repay.
Which model of yours had the one-piece handlepost? I thought all those ones recalled were two-piece telescoping, HOWEVER, the T-top one-piece post (with the double-clamp swing handlebars) on the Speed TR (and I think some of the sportier Speed models) may also have been aluminum and from the same era, so might have had the same lower latch.
The one-piece stem on my early Speed is 100% steel with a much different lower latch (similar to the frame hinge, thus also greater hand force to unlatch, the later designs are much easier to work), and that steel post is holding up great; Fortunately I don't need to fold it often. However, it has a longer clamp around the steer tube than the later posts, so when I swapped my frame after it cracked, I had to keep the old fork in order to use the old post.
Aluminum frames, the key is the welds. After seeing cracks at the edges of prominent (convex) welds, but no cracks ever on my Cannondale which has wonderfully dressed welds, sanded to a very smooth blend with the tubes, I think that is critical to prevent stress risers there. Which is why I was excited to see the thread showing, what the OP thought might be a replacement for the current Launch, but was actually labeled Archer; Not only did it have a 2x(10/11?) drivetrain, but I could clearly see that all the welds were dressed very smooth. Tern has recovered by upping their game considerably, going for the higher end of the market and not trying to compete at the lower end; So Dahon might be trying for a similar strategy. We'll be lucky if that model makes it here, but watch out for the price. I'd like it if Bike Friday updated their design, at the very least with a folding (not removeable) handlepost (though mine can also be removed in a minute, just the clamp bolt and then the 10mm headset tension bolt), and also improving the design of the rear triangle, I think the current design is for minimal tooling cost when they started out, but it's not optimum in terms of weight. Given the same price and features, I'd go Bike Friday in a heartbeat.
Oh and also, Ron Damon has said he feels more comfortable on a bi-fold, with a steel frame, and based on him and others' experiences, I think a bi-fold when folded, the hinge is more vulnerable to break on aluminum versus steel.