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Old 07-17-07 | 10:02 PM
  #21  
Dahon.Steve
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,141
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From: New Jersey
Originally Posted by pm124
You might consider clip on pedals and biking shoes. Folders have extra long stems that shouldn't be stood and pulled on. I personally would not stand and pull on the stem of any bike--including the Swift, Birdy, Dahon, and Bike Friday--with small wheels. The stem is very long and puts tremendous force on bearings that were designed to take a much smaller load. While you are unlikely to snap the stem on a Swift, you may well damage the headset. The one small wheeled bike that allows you to pull is the Moulton. It has a head tube the size of a paper towel roll. But it's not a folding bike.

Bike Friday owners will here will tell you they stand and pull all the time. Birdy owners, too. But if you talk to mechanics, they'll tell you that they've seen quite a few ruined head tubes.
Agreed.

You need to be very careful with folding bikes because the stem was not made for standing. There is no shame in spinning up hills and quite a few hardcore cyclists have injured their knees (including myself) trying to muscle up hills. My 5 speed Dahon Vitesse has a very low gear now that I changed the rear sprocket. It's actually lower than my Jamis Touring bike! Who says you can't Tour on a Sprinter 5 speed??

1st ----- 30.4 inches
2nd ---- 36.5
3rd----- 45.6
4th ---- 57.8
5th ---- 68.4

I wonder if the SmoothHound has a flexy stem? It's a beautiful bike

http://www.dahon.com/us/smoothhound.htm

Last edited by Dahon.Steve; 07-17-07 at 10:09 PM.
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