Originally Posted by
Ron Damon
There's a plethora of compact 16" bi-folds that are a credible alternatives, take a RD and:
- offer a greater gearing range than a Brompton,
- are lighter,
- much less expensive,
- carry zero proprietary parts and
- take the cushier, more comfortable ETRTO305 wheel size.
I myself have even toured on such rigs. No, you don't need a BF or Brompton to tour long distance on a folding bike.
FSIR Spin 3
FnHon Gust 16"
https://youtu.be/n1Hu-AF-bJ4?si=cIKne6SL5pLOr_iF
You just have to take off your own blinders (and stop taking advice from the unimaginative, parochial, two-trick Brompton & BF pony channel gurus here) to see that there are actually a lot of credible, competent alternatives to a Brompton. Here's another example:
Litepro Spyder, build-in-progress with an 11-40T dish in the back
SF hills and climbing? No sweat. These rigs can be set up for very steep climbs indeed.
3000masl+ volcano in the background
I
In the clouds at 1,300masl
Origami sells something similar in the U.S.
Gotta say, I'm impressed with those cassettes. Definitely not planning on touring on a Brompton or BF, or anything else (I coincidentally picked up a Trek touring bike yesterday). Just want to putt around Santa Cruz or San Francisco or wherever I'm visiting. When I look at Marketplace I mainly see Dahon, and rarely, Brompton or BF.
.
I will expand my search. I was looking at Brompton because I had heard it was the best folder. The only time I've been on one was a bike show and it felt twitcher than my NWT, but don't know what model I was on. I don't need the best, just need it to fit in a trunk. This will be a low mileage bike for me.