Dahon K3
 

Just received my Dahon K3 (see my post in the EEZZ discussion : www.bikeforums.net/21358661-post94.html ) so I thought I could share some info and pictures ;)
(link to the Dahon K3 Plus discussion : https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-b...isc-brake.html )

wiki page : https://cycling.fandom.com/wiki/Dahon_K3


pictures :


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ec87270c7c.jpg

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...0e038a617e.jpg

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...cfeb7ac6ad.jpg

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...13d627c136.jpg

Looks very classy:) I wish you safe and smooth rides. Thank you for sharing!

Wow! Get some lights for those dark Paris streets now that excersize is only allowed after dark. Another sweet looking Dahon on here!

Thankfully, bikes are allowed to go to work, food shopping, etc.

With much fewer cars in the streets, now is a great time to get around by bike.

here in Paris you can use bicycles to go to work or run some vital errands but not to exercize as you are supposed to exercize not further away than 1km from your home ...

mo

What exactly does mo mean? Is it one of the 3 stooges? Roger

took it out for a ride in the city/subway the other day ...
... it s so light and small it s easy to carry in the subway :) (luckily there are less people in the subway due to the epidemy ...)


And I've just ordered these fenders/mudguard : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...35b44c4dt8flC1 ( 9E shipping included to France )

do you think they ll be OK ??

(this morning I had the back of my trousers wet due to light rain and wet roads ...)

Do you know if it can be retrofitted to use a Nexus/Sturmey-Archer internal gear hub, which would 1) provide a wider gear range and 2) allow for a chain guard (pretty useful, considering the chain isn't sandwiched between the two wheels when folded)?

sorry I don't know

by the way I find that the gear range is quite good for the city with its 9/13/17T rear cog ... but it seems to me there is a kind of "hole" between the longest and medium gear ... if they could add a 4th sprocket so we could have sthg like 9/12/16/21 and a slightly bigger chainring it would be perfect to me !

oh and I know it s not what you are looking for but the K3 Plus has 9 speeds : https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-b...isc-brake.html ;)

I chanced upon a Japanese biker with a Dahon K3 who is constantly posting about his upgrades/progress. I'm also following his footsteps when I get my Dahon K3 too.
You can try upgrading your wheels with Shwalbe Big Apple 14 inch tires to cusion your ride. I believe Bike24 has them and can deliver in France, but they're a bit hectic lately due to the pandemic.

search: jikoman-life dahon k3

here is a link : https://translate.google.com/transla...1/&prev=search

If I understand right he made some modifications to its K3 so that it's more compact in the subway ?? :) :thumb:
could be very useful to me ;)

Yes, for bike to work and traveling purpose. He already replaced so much, from bottom bracket and crack set. Even added a front hub dynamo to power the headlamp!

I was inspired so much that I added racks to my current bridgestone folding bike.

Interesting link! His goal was to make the bike smaller to take on regular trains when doing "rinko" and the picture of him seated with the bike in front of him was taken on the bullet train (shinkansen). From April this year you need to make a reservation for large luggage when riding the shinkansen, but he didn't have to because his bike package was under the limit. I'm not sure where he's located in Japan, but if he's in Tokyo or Osaka the subways are sometimes so packed with people that there's no way he would be able to to take his K3 onto the train with him regardless of how small he makes it.

For those who want to upscale the speed of Dahon K3, try installing a Schulpf onto it. I was reading crank reviews and found a bike shop who installed a Schlumpf Speed drive on a K3
search ' cycle house Shibuya Dahon K3'. The price for it is pretty steep, perhaps even more expensive than the bike itself

Schlumpf Drive
 

Interesting, very interesting way to overcome certain limitations.

I realize that there is a certain penalty, HIGH PRICE.

However, at least there are options, pricey, but they do exist!

I wonder what the life expectancy of such a device is?

Considering a Dahon K3 costs ~$700 and a Haberstock/Schlumpf gearbox about the same, it makes more sense to just buy a Brompton, which is more compact to carry on public transit anyways.

Someone here https://www.facebook.com/groups/daho...29757034362591 says his K3 is more compact than his brompton ( 24x24x12” v 26x24x12” ), he even shot a picture :




https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...ae0ddef52f.jpg
source : Nasir Malik https://www.facebook.com/groups/daho...29757034362591

But look how much smaller the wheels of the Dahon appear.

But also less practical (no front bag, no rear rack, no mudguards, chain on the outside, only three gears), and probably less comfy (aluminum and even smaller wheels).

The Brompton can't be 26" X 24" X 12". The box that it ships in is 24" X 24" X 12".
https://live.staticflickr.com/1625/2...e9dc34da_c.jpgNagoya Station by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

K3 plus 16 is 16" with standard hub, 9 speed cassette with disc brakes.

discussion : https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-b...isc-brake.html

Does anyone know the rear dropout width. I'm wondering if it can fit the sturmey Archer rf3 hub with 1 nut removed to get it down from 135mm to 130mm. Otherwise I'd want the k3 plus 16 but it doesn't seem available except maybe in Singapore. I see an aliexpress page selling the frame only for $200. But the seller has no reviews.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001586045692.html

seems to be about 84mm if I got what you mean ;)

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...88d2a6c54f.jpg

I've just checked aliexpress today and it's only 387E + 83 Euros shipping to France !

I paid around 700E + 20E shipping to France on bikepro.de and had a good contact with the seller (he said he tested the K3, etc ...)

Too bad its OLD isn't 135mm and won't take a Shimano Nexus/Alfine gear hub.

That derailleur so close to the ground is a disaster waiting to happen.

The 2021 edition has a welcome welded baggage lug:
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...daaa3c0b75.png

yeah I noticed it can touch the ground when the rear tire is not correctly inflated ...
I suppose the issue can be "lessened" if I take a 14x1.50 tire instead of the original 14x1.35 ...

I'm thinking about getting the K3 locally, or possibly finding a shop that would ship a K3 Plus overseas.
I saw a few blogs attempting to convert the cogs from 9-13-17 to 9-11-1X, but the 9T has a chamfered ring that presses flush inside the 2nd position 12T or 13T cog and so won't fit inside the smaller 11T cog. These blogs settle for 12T instead.

Since this ring behind the 9T cog needs a surface to press against, simply cutting off 2mm all around the ring would not work because then it would just slip through the hole of the 11T cog. What about cutting off 1mm and chamfering the edge? Then it will have approximately 1mm overlapping the 11T cog, although it would push the 9T cog approximately 1mm outwards?

https://jikoman-life.com/dahon-k3-sprocket/
The markups to the images are my hypothesis. Not confirmed whether or not it will work.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...50dd4f9851.jpg

https://jitensha.net/k3-change-sprocket
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c2cfa3e4b7.png
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...34caab53ac.png

Owners seem to enjoy them.