Thank you for the clarifications of the AW forward freewheeling and SA8's quasi-forward-freewheeling (any higher gear suddenly down to 1st). I stand corrected on the internal differences. But the outward symptoms, as far as the rider pedaling the bike is concerned, are very much the same.

I must disagree with you when you opine that it is a very minor problem. The quasi-forward-freewheeling did happen to me on an SA8 this past summer, before I had ever heard anything about it, and I almost tumbled off the bike into traffic. The loss of resistance occurs suddenly without warning.

Jobst Brandt viewed the sudden forward freewheeling problem as a safety concern too, and I'm relatively certain he would feel the same about the SA8's slipping into 1st, since the symptoms for the rider are virtually identical. Brandt, BTW, for those who are unfamiliar with his name, was an engineer at Porsche and Avocet and has written the definitive text on spoked bicycle wheels.

If cable-adjustment is the problem ... (I say "if" because SA blamed the AW's issues on cable adjustment too, which Brandt showed to be wrong) then all I can say is that the shop tech where I tried several bikes with SA8s could not get the cable adjusted properly after repeated attempts. But let's stipulate that cable adjustment is the problem. If the cable should fall out of adjustment when you fold the bike, and the result of that mis-adjustment is the possibility of tumbling over the bars or slipping off the pedal because of the sudden loss of resistance, then in my opinion the currently stocked version of the SA8 is unsuitable for folding bikes; SA should release into circulation the new SA8 that is said to fix the problem, and take back from distributors all old stock.

Regards
T

P.S. This isn't a "hot cup of coffee" issue where a slightly more careful and slightly less stupid consumer could have prevented relatively minor injury; it involves unsuspecting consumers who would be victims of a design flaw.