bmthom.gis

It came, it came! I finally own a folding bike! And the Better Half already made fun of it and me (that's to be expected). I ordered it for @ThorUSA...fast processing and shipping. Would definitely do business with him again (Cheers!!)





Putting it up in the bike stand, it went together fairly quick. Wasn't that much that needed to be done out of the box. The front wheel did have a bit of a hop to it, but I was able to fix it. Still needs some fine tuning though. I'll take it to a friends house later this week as he has a truing stand. There's just a slight rub on one of the brake pads now, just enough to make a noise but not really slow the wheel down from a free spin.

The shifter also needs to be messed with a bit. I think the body of it was a little loose when I had it in the stand and the numbers on the indicator are way off now. Might take some practice getting the rear wheel on and off with that rear der. I took it off and had a hell of a time getting it back on. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I do have the threading/placement for a regular RD if I ever feel the need to change.



Apart from some fine tuning I still need to do, I am really happy with this bike so far. I've only taken it around the neighborhood, and am going to use it to run some errands in a different part of the city today. The gearing is comfortable. High enough to really cruise along, and low enough where I shouldn't have any problems with hills.

It's a very fun ride and I definitely think I made the right choice for my budget and intended use. Plus, I think I can fit another 5 in the back of my car...

ThorUSA

awesome have fun with the bike :-)
Thanks Thor

badmother

Congrats and welcome to the fold! I always wanted a Dahoon Speed. Great looking bike.

Not sure what happened to your shifter, I guess Thor can give some advice on that.

About the rub on one brakepad: If the rubbing is constant on one side it could be the brake that needs adjusting and not the brake. Make sure the wheel is properly centered in the drop outs before you start adjusting anything.

You`ll soon see the advantages of a folder (like the space in your car..) and ride only this bike

bmthom.gis

There's a slight wobble still in the front wheel. I could just adjust the brakes and call it a day, but I like perfection. I trued the hop out of it. For the shifter, I think I just need to loosen the body again, and loosen the rear der cable, mess around enough to get the numbers lined up, tighten up the shifter and then the cable.

Also, watching some youtube vids, looks like if I drop the chain from the chainring getting rear wheel on and off is a lot easier.

edelay

I'm more of a fan of black bikes, but this is a great looking white colour scheme. Definitely let us know your impressions of the bike over the next days and months. I'd be interested to know if you chose right regarding having no suspension.

Is it just me or did Thor deliver that freakishly fast?

bmthom.gis

It was processed for shipping the next day, and was in my town Friday evening. Thor didn't pony up for Saturday delivery but that's ok. I'll take free shipping any day and have to wait out the weekend!

I also like the color scheme. The green is a lot lighter in person than on any of the pictures I had seen of it. Regarding suspension - just took a ~3 mi ride to run some errands over really crummy roads and a rr crossing - no problems or jolts felt. Just as smooth, if not smoother than other bikes taken on the same route.

badmother

Ok. I am beginning to understand what you did to the shifter. Youtube is your friend

I own a white folder with black trimming. Looks good but developed tiny scratches in the paint that was of course soon contaminated with something blackish so keeping it clean and polished from the start is important.

fourknees

Stay strong! With time they too may ride the small wheels...
Please keep the review going, short and long-term.

bmthom.gis

Most definitely. I mean, she gets it, but still can't get over how silly it looks. Joke's on her though - a 4'11 she would fit a folder really well.

I look forward to many, many happy miles.

Joe Remi

I've owned a bunch of 20-inch-wheel folders and mini velos, including a couple Dahon Speed models. You are correct, they don't need suspension. They ride great..you can even do some light trail riding as long as you remember it's a street folder and don't start jumping stuff and bashing into rocks ;-)

bmthom.gis

Took it over to my buddies house last night and we it's issues sorted out. Ended up replacing the OEM shifter with a SRAM one. It was very low quality. You could see where the shifter cable end was digging into the handlebar a bit.
So, the OEM shifter is my only complaint about the bike at the moment. She weighed in at 27.5 pounds - not too shabby!

About to give her a good shakedown ride on my ~11 mile commute

bmthom.gis

Post shakedown notes: first off it was a great ride! I pulled off to make some adjustments and already had someone comment on the bike.

New shifter works a lot better, but I find I have to overshift a bit in 6 and 7th gear. Not a big deal.

Gearing is a little easy. Someday I might go for a 54 tooth chainring. Overall it was a bit slower of a commute and I found myself cruising a lot in the highest gear, where as I usually like to cruise closer to mid cassette. Low gearing is more than enough

I need to make some fore/aft adjustments to the saddle. Was overall impressed that t wasn't a horrible OEM. One day she'll get a Brooks Cambium.

Overall I really liked the ride. The route takes me on smooth pavement, chipseal in various states of disrepair, and rr crossings. Not once did I wish I had suspension.

I don't anticipate this replacing my commuter but definitely will ride it from time to time on the full commute.