don't be afraid
 

carbon fiber is so far one of the best materials for bikes.
there is no reason to be afraid of new technology. (carbon fiber is not new at all but still being improved)

even my grandma has a carbon fiber wheelchair, actually. :-)

the fold
 

see how the fold looks like~~

Obvious that you have no issues with carbon fiber, otherwise you would not have bought this bike. ;) To me carbon fiber and folders do not play well together as folders (at least mine) get banged around quite a bit and that is what carbon fiber does not like too much. This has nothing to do with voting agains new technology but with understanding of materials and choosing the right one for a given purpose.

I didn't even realise elderly people were so competitive when it comes to who can wheel themselves about the fastest. Does she wear lycra too? Maybe you are implying I am a dinosaur who doesn't move with the times and trends and you are probably right I just sort of like what I like even if that isn't what is popular with the majority. I guess I'm a little afraid of carbon fibre due to the way it fails and the only thing it seems to bring to the table is competitive advantage and low weight. On the way to the beach the other day I passed many cyclists in some sort of race or event and the only thing consistent about the race was the young cyclists were at the front and the elderly cyclists were at the end pretty much. Didn't seem to matter what the bike was cheap or expensive, aluminium or carbon. Plenty of seriously expensive carbon bikes at the back.

No offense.
I do have a BROMPTON (steel), a DAHON Speed (steel), a TERN Verge (aluminum) and a PACIFIC CarryMe (aluminum) as daily commuters and I love them, too.
But this CHEDECH is better than the BROMY. Lighter, faster, cheaper (I got a big discount, BTW), nicer parts and more sophisticated design......
Obviouslly I am not taking it to a road race or a downhill game.
Thanks for sharing your opinion on carbon fiber, but it is not my concern. :-)

I cannot care less about sophisticated design when there is no straightforward option of mounting real fenders, a sturdy rack unlike they offer, luggage mount etc. Still I can see there a role for such a bike in the market as for commuting where you can ensure relatively cozy conditions for the bike and can absorb consequences of carbon cracking, both in terms of consequences and financially if a mishap were to occur.

I've never ridden a Chedech but on face value looking at the design and features it doesn't exude a feeling of quality, it looks a bit crude with poorly designed paintwork and missing features. Carbon fibre should be your concern if you are riding it, I'm pretty sure many brands of carbon fibre bikes recommend frequent visual checks of the frame to make sure cracks aren't present, these checks are more designed for lightweight road bikes I'm sure but you have to be a little more careful with carbon fibre due to its more brittle nature.

Even the best carbon frame manufacturer in the world (Giant bikes) writes this in their manual;

After any crash, take your bike to your dealer for a thorough check. Carbon composite components, including frames, wheels, handlebars, stems, cranksets, brakes, etc. which have sustained an impact must not be ridden until they have been disassembled and thoroughly inspected by a qualified mechanic.

That's any crash not severe crash and notice they don't even mention steel or aluminium but the first part of the text implies you can still ride them but they should be inspected by a dealer. So many more things you have to be careful about with carbon, bolt torque levels, not clamping the bike in a bike workstand and many other issues caused by a material that has little strength when pressure is applied in the wrong places on the bike. I've seen it written in a few places that you need a different mindset when riding a carbon bike to a aluminium or steel bike because the components can fail catastrophically without warning and this could be in the middle of busy traffic. I've certainly read of people hitting a pot hole with their carbon forks and instantly the forks failing and the rider plummeting to the ground at high speed and sustaining injuries. Lets not forget carbon fibre manufacturing is a manual process building up layer by layer of carbon fibre matting etc, it is much more likely to have a flaw due to this manual labour intensive process. It is low paid work where as an aluminium frame welder is much higher skilled and rewarded financially and many steel frames are robot welded at the big factories like fuji-ta. A steel frame can be welded in seconds, an aluminium frame welded in minutes and a carbon frame manufactured in hours and that's why carbon frames are currently the most inconsistent quality of any frame material.

This is quest composites that make Trek and Canyon carbon frames amongst others. Notice the working conditions, seats they are sitting on and the poor fitting of the hat of the woman closest to the camera meant to protect the forks from stray hairs and dust which can cause the carbon to de-laminate and crack. This is not a good environment for quality or consistency.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...e0eb2099b2.jpg

Carbon smashing
 

I'm glad to see someone bought one of these. I think it looks great and wouldn't mind not having a rack or fenders since overall weight is what I want out of a portable bike. Carbon has come along. It really depends if the manufacturer is doing a good job, but there are probably just as many videos showing the crazy testing these frames have to pass vs frames that failed. In theory only carbon fiber has an infinite fatigue life. Some destruction tests; very convincing. I don't even have a carbon bike but will get one someday.
https://youtu.be/w5eMMf11uhM
https://youtu.be/20AG7tLxNto

Hi all, i'm testing the Chedech Land Mark 5Speed. Very good impressions from the first ride, I will update you on my experience.

BFold of New York City was nice enough to let me take their demo on an extended test ride.
I like it. It's very quick handling. Maybe the agressive handlebar position contributes to this.
Note, only 1 bar type. Versus Brompton's 4 choices. Single 5 speed shifter will be loved by the
folks that hate Brompton's 6 speed dual shifters.

Do I like it over my 6 year old titanium/superlight 2013 S6L-X? No. Still prefer the Brompton
with it's luggage system and available accessories; lights(rechargeable & dynamo), various bags,
carbon and titanium parts, etc. But there are a lot to like with the Chedech:

Do you still have your Pakit that you did the 5 boroughs on?

Yes.
https://live.staticflickr.com/1901/4...6244fce827.jpg
The Unisphere, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

I follow your YouTube, do you have Instagram? Also do you still prefer the packit to the brompton?

Don't have an Instagram account; just Youtube & Flickr.
I still have both my 2013 Brompton and 2017 Bike Friday pakiT. For longer rides(over 50/60 miles); I'm preferring the pakiT.
For commuting, shopping, travelling - Brompton w/ the smaller/quick fold & front luggage wins.

I have the Chedech. If luggage and lights are what you're looking for, this bike is not for you. It is a sporty, very light carbon folder. It's great for traveling (20 lbs), carrying up and downstairs or in and out of trains, taking onto a plane. It is not an errand bike with baskets and luggage options. For that I have a Brompton. Both bikes are great for their function and I would recommend either depending on what you're looking for.

If it's not every thing you want? change a few parts..
 

Want a dynamo hub based light scheme?, there are about as nice as any made .. this a 28,
there is a 20 spoke hub & rim, too, built & shipped from Germany ..

https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/ima...l_43140_50.jpg

Link, if you have one..

Wilfried Schmidt , in USA distributed , through Peter White Cycles

I have being catching up with all these answers from last... almost two years.

The thing is I made a bet on a crowdfunding of the following bike:

https://www.vika.bike/

And, well, I lost my bet as the bike is eventually not being produced (they cannot accomplish the time to market, competition is strong, bla, bla, bla...). Now, they say I will be refunded (and I'm crossing my fingers under the table).

So now it's time to re-evaluate, basically my dilemma is: Chedech or Brompton?

Yes, I need to carry some luggage and would use it for some shopping, but at the same time I am becoming a commuter and will need to do some 20 minutes ride from home to the train station, both ways...

So, it's not easy to make up my mind.

The community would presumably benefit more if you went with Chedech. You might burn yourself or not and we would learn about getting the bike over and and about testing out in which way it is good or not.

With yourself primarily in mind, you should presumably get a Brompton. Given your jumping on Vika and trusting that it can succeed, you really need to concentrate on the side of walking on the ground, if I may say so.

Chedech is light, * Brompton much more durable and offers a front bag mount..

USA made Bike Friday , the 349 wheel PakIt is a 3rd option...

* to carry stuff it would go on your back , using a back pack/messenger bag ..





..

https://live.staticflickr.com/8897/2...e2511b8630.jpg
https://live.staticflickr.com/539/19...88751d509d.jpgNY-NJ Pathtrain by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
Large pizza; tiny bike - challenge accepted by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
https://live.staticflickr.com/7458/2...03ac29d758.jpg
Going Green at the Grocery by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

:)

Curl. Word.

Chedech
 

I've owned both Chedech and Brompton. Heres my humble comparison.

Comfort:
Chedech - slightly larger wheels and carbon frame is pure smoothness

Weight:
Chedech

Price to weight ratio:
Chedech

Size:
Brompton

Versatility:
Brompton

Parts support availability/Customization:
Brompton

Resale Value:
Brompton

It really depends on your explicit needs. Neither of them is inferior in all ways.

Cheers and happy riding.

Dahon Curl?

Really interesting comparative... I am now considering not only Brompton and Chedech but also Dahon Curl :-)

chedech have major drawnback of beem carbon frame and parts.
in real life with a folder it will get betten, mistreated and suffer from transportation inside other vehicles.
carbon is like an eggshell and even a small dent can lead a cathastrofic fail.

It’s time to update this post to explain that I am nowadays a happy user of Chedech :-)

It was not easy to purchase it though. I got it via a friendly Spanish guy who is a contributor to Chedech as designer. This bike of mine is a Chedech Drogon, which I believe never went into the stores, so this is more like a prototype. And I got a good price for it, to be honest.

Of course, there are pros and cons with this bike, I will give you my insights here after. I will also try to link you to some pictures.

The bike is super light, 8,4 Kg. including a couple of Reelight ligths and a rear rack for panniers that I appended. As we all know, most of it is made of carbon, even the rims of the wheels. All in this bike is about lightness and speed, even the tyres, Schwalbe Kojak with no treads at all.

In a way, when I ride this bike I feel this is a toy, but this is no different from riding a Brompton, in my opinion (I have tested the B only occasionally). At the same time, you do not feel it might break easily or that it flexes a lot. Yes, it flexes a bit because this is carbon made, but the sense is of solidity. And the rear elastomer gives you extra comfort.

The internal hub gear is a Sturmey Archer 5v. This is a bit noisy and it does not really cover my needs (I come from a Tern Link P9, i.e. with 9 gears). When I received the bike and tried it for the first time, I had the feeling I could not use the full range of 5 speeds. Fortunately, I have found a mechanic which seems to have made a good work on it and now the full range is working as normal, even though he believes this hub could not ever work perfectly well due to the geometry of the frame, as the cable needs to have more span in the final part (he mentioned 5 inches needed at the last part as per the vendor requirements, which is not accomplished).

Anyway, in the near future I would try to replace this hub with a Shimano Alfine 8s. This would add some extra weight and it would be hard work as the whole wheel (spokes and all) should have to be rebuilt, but it would be worth the change I guess.

The folding is just amazing although I probably miss the safety catch Brompton added to avoid folding the rear wheel by just lifting the saddle. The hinges are quicker to close and release than those of the B, so Chedech is superior in this matter in my humble opinion.

The rear rack deserves a special comment. The Chedech comes with a rear mudguard but I chose to replace it by a rear rack (sadly, the two cannot coexist). I should remind you the reason why I did not purchase a Chedech initially several years ago (by the time I initiated this thread) was the lack of this rear rack. As soon as I discovered there was one available, I went for this bike.

I agree that, as previously discussed, this bike is not intended to be used as a cargo. Still, I believed I could use my Ortlieb panniers (officially the front panniers, smaller than the rear ones) just the way I used them with my nice old Tern. My weight is 70 Kg, let’s say I add up to 5-10 Kg in one or two panniers. This should be good, do you agree?

The problem is the geometry of the rear rack. This is too short so even if you place the panniers all the way back you cannot pedal normally as your heels hit the pannier. This is really annoying and there is more: by mounting this rack you get four small wheels for transportation when folded (which works like a charm on the other hand) but I also tend to hit the front two wheels with the inner part of my heels when pedalling (what I also experience when riding a Brompton, one of the reasons why I do not like B so much).

All in all, I’m happy with this beautiful bike and I hope I will eventually solve the problems with the gear hub (change to Alfine?) and with the rear rack (I will talk to Chedech guys for them to try to improve its design).

Ah, there are nice pictures of this particular bike in the Instagram of Chedech Europe:

Instagram

You could even find a picture of mine with my bike if you search carefully ;-)

pericleto, I am curious, how tall are you?