Anyone have experience with the Dahon Speed Pro?
 

Not the TT, the regular Speed Pro. Just looking for a bit of feedback.

I had the version of the Speed Pro before the came out with Speed Pro TT. One of my happiest bike days was when I bought. Another happy day was when I sold it. I grew to hate the front suspension hub and I had issues with the spokes loosening on every ride. I got to the point I always carried a spoke wrench with me. The bike was fast but I wouldn't recommend it if you are toward the upper end of the suggested weight range.

The SDG I-beam saddle had only one option when I bought the bike and there are not that many more choices now. If you don't like the saddle, you'd have to change the entire seat post if memory serves me correctly to go to the normal style saddle. I am sure someone will correct me if this isn't still accurate.

Ultimately I got tired of the compromises I had to make for the limited speed benefit I got. I ended up buying a Swift to replace it and I've never looked back. I haven't missed it a single day since I sold it.

Maybe if I was 170-180lbs, I might have enjoyed it more. It always felt fragile to me thought I never busted anything but spokes. I thought that once the spokes bedded in that issue would go away. For me it never did. The Pantour hub on my never provided me any benefit and I had to watch the brake adjustment so that under full compression they pads wouldn't hit the tires.

If you want a really fast folder and you aren't big, this might be a good option.

Hmmm. Not very encouraging.

Brian you lazy bum, have you done anything with your Twenty yet, except stare at it and imagine what it might be like? I am sooooooo impressed with mine. I think it might be my best bike ride-quality-wise, although after installing everything for touring, not the lightest. I certainly enjoy riding it the most of all my current bikes.

Say g'day mate to your good lady from me.

Hmm. I put some new wheels on it, and repacked the crank bearings. And put some brakes on it too. Once I started adding up the cost of all the mods, I realized it would just be cheaper to get a Dahon.

Ouch, don't mention cost ICW R20s, please.

A Dahon may be less expensive, but "getting there is half the fun!" (Plus you spend the money over an extended period, so the missus may be none the wiser about the total...)

I told her up front what the Dahon will cost, and she's ok with that. But any free time I have is more likely to be spent on the house, rather than tinkering with bikes. I haven't given up on the Twenty, just setting it aside and rethinking my options.

I own a 2005 Speedpro and am at the upper end of the weight range also. I have not had any problems with broken spokes; I am aware that some others have but given my experience would speculate that this may have been a problem with a particular production run or runs. Re the suspension hub: Even with the stiffer rubber thingies I am not sure how much good it does, as at my weight it stays mostly compressed. But it _is_ possible to adjust the brake pads so there is no rubbing on the tire, at least on my bike (whether Dahon used less tall rims for some earlier models I don't know.) So, I consider the Pantour hub to be kind of a no-downside thing; I am not sure if I would have spent big $$ to get it but it hasn't caused me any problems either.

I did find the SDG I-beam saddle and post to give a too-stiff ride, and replaced them with a Thudbuster and Avocet seat, both of which I love. The above poster is correct that to replace the SDG seat one needs to also replace the seatpost, but a standard Dahon seatpost can be had for not much more than $20, so I do not consider this to be a big issue.

Lastly, while the supplied Schwalbe Stelvio tires are great, at my weight and given where I ride I find them to be a bit too small, and will probably replace them at some point.

All in all, though, I am very happy with the Speedpro. It is fast, convenient, the Dual Drive works beautifully, and I have had no real problems with it. And I love the color. :)

If you want bigger tires and softer ride, the SpeedTR may be the ticket for you instead.

Thanks for that input. I looked at the SpeedTR, and thought that if it just had some skinnier tires, was available in mango, and didn't have the racks and fenders, it would be perfect. Other than the front hub, there's nothing on the SpeedPro that I don't like.

I have more thinking to do now.

Brian,

The reasons you cited above are precisely why I bought the Speedpro instead of the SpeedTR. :)

About the hub again, I did find that at my weight I clearly needed the heavy-duty elastomer, even though I was 30 pounds or so less than the weight Pantour specifies as the max for the regular elastomer. Dahon shipped my bike with just the standard elastomer, and it is a royal pain in the butt to change it, and I am still not 100% convinced that the one I have in there is really stiff enough. But a) it would actually be very easy, once you have the hub apart, to double the stiffness by putting in two elastomers side by side, and b) as I said above, it doesn't really cause any problems to ride it even if the hub is just about always compressed. You do have to make sure the brake shoes are adjusted just right, but it can be done.

Good luck with whatever you choose!

Brian,

Another vote here for fixing up the twenty. It's a perfect upgrade platform and you can do it for less than a speed pro, even if you have a bike store do all the more time consuming mods. The original conversion for me was new cranks and bottom bracket and a SRAM dual drive rear hub. The whole thing, including the rear wheel build done at the shop, was about $425.00 .

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2253/r20bwy5.th.jpg

I have obviously done more upgrading, however the first ones were the most important, IMHO. If I had it to do over, I probably would have kept the original fork. I'd put it back on, but have moved and can no longer find it. :(

Juan

"...Maybe if I was 170-180lbs, I might have enjoyed it more. It always felt fragile to me thought I never busted anything but spokes. I thought that once the spokes bedded in that issue would go away. For me it never did. The Pantour hub on my never provided me any benefit and I had to watch the brake adjustment so that under full compression they pads wouldn't hit the tires.

If you want a really fast folder and you aren't big, this might be a good option." -Wavshrdr

I don't think your weight played any part in your old bike's perfomance, Wavshrdr. I am far more lighter and smaller than you are and also test rode a similar model to yours during the last Southern California Bike Expo a couple of years ago. The bike suffered a flat tire even over perfect riding conditions as an indoor test rink could provide. I think that the bike must be able to be to fully ride before it's abilty to be fast could be appreciated.

Greetings everyone,

I have a 2003 or 04 Speed pro, this was just before the suspension front hub. It has a 3x8 sram dualdrive. The front wheel has been rock solid. I started experiencing spokes breaking and went ahead and replaced all of the rear spoke (the stock ones must have been flawed or very low quality). I had no problems with spokes after that. Eventually the brakes, I believe wore the rear wheel and it cracked. I called Velocity (the make of the wheel). They told me to send them my hub and they built be a beautiful new wheel free-of-charge.

I ride this baby to work everyday in the summer and have taken it on the plane a couple times to conventions. I've also taken it for several 50 mile rides.

Apart from the rear wheel and spokes, I have had no problems, it is very comfortable and I absolutely prefer it for city riding because of the quick handling and being able to shift while stopped.

So take it for what it's worth, there is a relatively positive review of the speed pro.

I'm 5'11" and 200lbs.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8.../dahon002s.jpg

Loch, what tires do you have on there?

Schwalbe Marathons 1.75 inch.

I'm switching to the 1.50 s cause they are easier to pack a little lighter and a little faster. I love the Marathons.

This is not an easy decision.

Brian, my sister has the 2005 or 2006 speed pro, I can't remember the year, but it's orange and has the small road tires on it. She rides it a ton and is very happy with it, she also uses it to commute to work, hasn't had any problems with it and enjoy's riding it on longer rides as well.

Benjamin

Try the Schwalbe Marathon Racers. I had a lot of flats on my Selvios in that tiny size on the SpeedPro. Again if you are a big person or ride in areas that you are more likely to get flats, you might want to consider the Speed TR. A lot of the basic goodness and more of the SpeedPro but not quite as fast. Sadly Dahon pulled the wonderful Magura hydraulic brakes they had on it and went with something I feel is definitely inferior.

Think of the SpeedPro as a high maintenance woman. I am sure you know the type. They can offer a lot but are they really worth the effort when you can find something as good with less hassle? If you want the equivalent of almost a "folder" race bike and all that entails, then maybe the SpeedPro is a great choice for you. Then again you get stuck with the losses of the internal hub so when you are in the highes range of gears, you have lost mechanical efficiency to the internal hub.

Don't get me wrong, I like the dual drive (DD) a lot. I've had it on several bikes. It would not be my pick though to go on an all out speed oriented bike. Sure you can advertise a great gear rang but the 1:1 ratio on the DD is the middle range. So where your powere losses mean the most is going to be when you are in the top gear range and really trying to go fast. It is a great hub for touring but is the SpeedPro really a touring bike?

Regardless of what I say, ride and see what you think. I found it fragile and required a lot of upkeep. The eslatomers in the front hub were a PITA. Break adjustment was critical because of the floating wheel. Mine had the clickbox on the back for the DD, not exactly a bulletproof item. It is a good bike but if fold isn't quite a critical, I'd buy a Swift(Xootr) and build it exactly as I wanted. My Swift cost about the same as a SpeedPro but I have never had any issues with it and it is about as fast for me. Keep in mind I have a full internal hub but it has been awesome. I can also get out of the saddle and pump hard with no flex. If I did that on my SpeedPro it felt light spaghetti to me. Keep in mind I am at the upper weight limit for the SpeedPro so if you are in the light weight range that I think they were actually targeting the bike at, then your experience may differ. It does illustrate the relative stiffness of the frames though and appendages. The SpeedPro's frame may be fairly stiff but I could flex everything attached to it with ease. Not so on my Swift.

If you could describe the type of riding you are going to do, we might be able to give you better feedback on other options that you might want to test ride if you can.

If the Speed Pro's front hub is the primary concern, you can always buy an upgraded Speed P8 from Gaerlan (gaerlan.com). They essentially take the P8 and add a SRAM dual drive hub. The other bonus you get is that it is a bit easier to pack in a standard luggage suitcase than the Speed Pro. Hope this is of some help,

Juan

Well, it looks like I'm leaning towards the Speed P8 now. I'm thinking 8 gears should be sufficient on our flat roads here, but I really was looking forward to the DualDrive and mango paint.

What's a tire that's a good compromise between the low pressure Big Apple and high pressure Stelvio?

Marathon Racer, Marathon Slick, Greenspeed Scorcher, Primo Comet (wider version)...etc

Brian,

I had a 2004 Speed P8 (now have the swift). I think you'll like it. It has the telescoping stem/riser that allows it to be packed in a suitcase/folded better. I also put some trekking bars on it. I like to stand up and mash, and I wanted drop bars. That's what pushed me over to the swift. What's even better, they listened to users and put a normal seatpost mount back on the 2007 models.

Good Luck.

Just out of curiosity.... can anyone say from experience if the Speed Pro is slower, equal to or faster than bikes like a Swift or a Bike Friday?

+1 Primo Comet Kevlar, Continental GP

I can guarantee that whatever one I'm riding will be slower.

Speedo