Unless you are a competitive cyclist in very good shape you will be hard pressed to need over a 95 inch gear on a semi stock bike with 16" wheels.

On a downhill with virtually any bike you will "spin out". But usually we need the break from working so hard on the uphill.

Your 16" bike will not be able to keep up with a 700c wheeled group ride for a couple of reasons. 1. gearing --16" bikes are very limited as to the number and how close the gear ratios are. 700c road bikes have close ratios that allow the riders to stay at their most efficient cadence. Your 16" bike gearing will have huge jumps between gears so you will not always be in your efficient spin.

2. Bike development--Compared to the number of 700c bikes that have been built through the years there have only been a handful of 16" bikes made.

3. The folding mechanisms add significant weight to folding bikes and add to the flexibility.

I have learned a bunch about folders and gearing in the last year as I acquired both a Dahon MU D10 and a Zootr Swift.

I wondered before I owned one if a 52-11 high gear would be tall enough on a 20" (406) wheeled bike. I have always liked to push bigger gears. With close to 1000 miles under my little wheels I am perfectly happy with a 52-11 high gear.

Folding bikes are different but I love the difference.


Why bikes fold

well on my 2sp 69t chainwheel commuter brompton i have had great fun in 20+ mph club rides. its top gear is about 95, very usable in that respect. you really dont need more of a bike than that for such events.

of course in hilly areas some lower gears are handy.

and i reallly like my 2x10 tightly geared 30-120 touring brommie, its of course a lot more versatile, and slightly faster, mostly for shorter outbursts, apart from that the difference is smaller than you might think.

I think that going fast on a 16 or 20 inch folder is not really the point. I can go fast enough on either my brompton or swift to suit me, especially as I am usually going, stopping, hitting a bunch of bumpy road or going through tight turns. I think they are fun to ride and the brompton in particular excels at carrying a lot of stuff when I use it like a mini cargo bike. I enjoy my 700 c bikes as well but they are more suited to longer stretches of pedaling without stopping or slowing. After all, both the brompton and the swift were designed for the urban commuter in London and New York and I don't think they would be appreciably slower in that environment than their big wheel cousins.

It's nice having a big gear for long descents. Unfortunately, I am comfortable not having that on most of my folders.

Thanks
Yan

Cranked very hard on long downhill stretch on a Birdy before to try to achieve top speed. I felt the bike "floated" after hitting a small bump. Not a very pleasant feeling and I told myself never to do it again

I always hit top speed, sometimes it's not enough.

Thanks,
Yan

I agree 100%! I have no issues hitting 20+mph on a folder. My 20" folders handle it fantastic. When I tried out a 16' folder it was exhilarating. Too bad the 16" Dahon Curve wasn't​ worth repairing.