Hi everyone:

First i´d like to introduce myself.I´m a spanish flight attendant that really loves bikes and everything related to it, and i´m a keen mountain biker and roadie.
Because of my job i go to some really esciting places that would be great to check around by bike and specially been able to train in those places so i can bring a good shape home after my trips.I´ve realised that my best option would be a folding bike and my main priorities would be adjustability,decent speed,not too heavy and beeing able to fit it in a suitcase.The ease to be folded is not that important as i´ll not mind taking 10 dissasembling as long as it fits in a suitcase.The brand i thought about are Dahon Speed pro,Airnimal chamaleon and bike friday.Thank you so much and any help would be very appeciated.

Dahons also incorporate Ritchey's Break Away system: full-sized road bikes and mountain bikes which fit in suitcases.

Fuego
Tournado

If you buy directly from Ritchey, you can get a Break Away in Ti.

You might also consider the Pacific Reach road bikes.. my impressions of my personal bike can be read Here... I also have a Chameleon and a SpeedPro with drops/STI setup .. the Reach and the Airnimal will give you a ride comparable to your road bike.. the SpeedPro (with 406 wheels) will pack smaller but will have more flex due in part to the longer seatpost, handlepost, and mainframe hinge, but will be considerably less money.. certainly a BikeFriday would be an excellent choice and could be built to your liking... as a flight attendant, I'm assuming (though could be all wet) that your suitcase doesn't need to adhere to the strictest restrictions, in which case, the Airnimal and the Airnimal Delsey suitcase might be an option.

BruceMetras

I live in the S F area also. Where did you purchase your Reach? Were you able to test ride one?

I bought it from the US distributor and did not test one before buying... I was hoping I'd like it.. I wasn't disappointed..

Saha, someone mentioned last week that there is a place opening up in the Mission (near the Caltrain stop).

Titus, I think Bruce hit it on the head; as the wheels shrink in size they are easier to pack but the stem and seat tube grow, so you have to learn to sit and spin. Otherwise, it's just a question of finding a bike that you feel rides well.

Aunque es limitado, hay informacion en Espanol aqui: https://bicicritica.ourproject.org/web/node/23.

Thank you very much guys.What i´m thinking is that the ritchey break away is one of the best options because it takes a while to assemble but the ride is quite similar to a proper bike wich is what i´m looking for.If anybody knows of anywhere i could find the dahon break away frame because i think they dont sell it.

Hey! Exactly why is a small-wheeled bike not a proper bike???

A proper bike is the one that doesn't need to be assembled at all. My brompton is a proper bike.

Thor at thorusa.com put on his web site that he can get Break Away frames only. You can find him in these forums or email him to ask in particular.

nope .. sorry I have tried very hard..... no extra frames were available this year ...I will again push next year ( meaning this year ) of course

Thanks Thor

I would also consider a Birdy. They are fun to ride, responsive, reasonably light, comfortable, durable, and will fit into a 29" suitcase that meets airline regs.

I would expect that you would be able to pack the Birdy in under 10 minutes but apparently many of the other bikes take quite a bit longer.

Birdys appear to be less costly in the US than in Europe and less costly still in Japan under the Bianchi Fretta name.

David

Hi sorry for what i said.I didnt mean it wasn´t a proper bike but a conventional ride a nothing i´m used to.Thank you so much for the help.I will consider any of the options mentioned before and take a look at that birdy in japan.

By the way thor i was wondering about the dahon tournado frame that you have.Any chance i could get the price on that?

Another thing that i forgot to mention is that i´d rather had big range of gears because i like climbing and will need the low gears as well as the high ones too.Also i´d like to limit my budget to no more than 2000 bucks or something around that.Thank you again everyone for the help.

as I said no frames right now .. I will keep trying very hard to offer them but right now its only full sized bikes.... you can contact me offline.. maybe we can find a good deal on a complete bike for you ( need to know the frame size ) I know that there is a handfull left over in the CA DAhon warehouse

Thor