I have been looking around online for a small and lightweight folding bike. And, when I say small and lightweight, I really mean it! I am 5'4.5" and 115lbs. I just don't need a bike capable of supporting men over 200lbs. I don't care if the bike I ride breaks under such weight. I want something that is a joy and ease to carry. Specifically, I am looking for something I can bring on the train or a plane, so I can ride ~10 miles in a day when I travel. I'd also like to use it to get to work, which is 2 miles from home in Manhattan.

Does anybody have suggestions? I can't be the only person fitting this description...

Bike Friday has several options including the Tikit, Petite, and others.

Price range?

You're not. Lynette Chiang is Bike Friday's Customer Evangelist- I think you're about 6 inches taller than her.

They also make bikes for even smaller folks.

(FWIW: I'm the other end of the spectrum- 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. I think of myself as the large, economy size.)

The thing about Bike Fridays is that they don't really fold easily, do they? Except for the Tikit? I read that their fold is more for packing into suitcases than for every day commute. And given that, they're pretty expensive. Pricewise, I am flexible but for me to spend $1000 on a bike, it should really be perfect. All of the easily folding bikes I come across seem to be built for bigger people. Even the lightest models (which are always most expensive) are rated for 220lb riders. A bike built to carry half that has GOT to be lighter, no? And cheaper because it shouldn't take as much fine engineering to do its job well.

I'm thinking something with 16" wheels and proportionately sized. Ideally I'd like a bike with a Brompton fold or as small as that. If only Brompton made a bike for lighter people... Anybody ever seen anything like that? I read about the Dahon Sweet Pea, but with 14" wheels I'm not sure it would ride well...

You might look at the Kent. Nekohime rides one, PM her.

I have a feeling that most folding bikes will actually fit you OK. If you were 4' 10," it'd be a different story....

If you're planning to do fairly short distances when you travel, I recommend you go for a Brompton. You can get it onto a plane with almost no disassembly, it's got suspension, and is great for commuting. Check with your building to see if they will let you bring a folding bike into the building -- you don't want to leave a nice bike on the street in NYC if you can help it.

Bike Friday makes excellent bikes, and while the "quick fold" is just OK, it is made to pack efficiently into a suitcase. But the Brompton will still pack faster and easier. A BF may also be overkill for your uses.

Unfortunately there aren't many "ridiculously light" folders out there except for the really tiny ones, like the A-Bike -- and even that is 12 pounds. Most folders don't have a traditional diamond frame design, so they need heavier frames to compensate.

I suspect that the market for bikes designed for very small people isn't large enough to attract manufacturers and that's probably why you won't find many ultra-light designs. Also, since the manufacturers of bikes can't control who rides them once sold, there could easily be problems of bikes for lightweights collapsing when being ridden by other people. There might be unpleasant accidents and court writs.

The Brompton is extremely versatile in the range of people it will fit. LittleYip will easily 'fit' it. In fact at 5'4" she isn't that small for a lady. I have a friend who is 5'1" and she bought one the bikes IKEA gave their workers a couple of Christmases ago. There was a flood of them on ebay.co.uk at the time. It fits her well and she is easily strong enough to carry it a short distance, even though it weighs in at about 13KG. That was very cheap, but has an ungainly fold in comparison to the Brompton or its clones.

Most fit women could carry a Brompton. Women are adapted by nature to carrying armfulls of babies, shopping farming and gardening tools, and are pretty strong in my experience. (ducks for cover).

No need to duck, a valid point, but actually the baby sits on the hip and isn't often carried with the arms alone, and babies are a little softer than aluminum or steel. So as light as a bike might get, many women of average stature will have trouble carrying it [video] if the bike has to be held out away from the body, requiring upper-body strength. And it's for that reason that I come back to what might seem a counter-intuitive suggestion, a heavier bike but one that is designed to be rolled not carried, and with a handle for when it has to be lifted: the Mobiky Genius has ads showing a woman rolling the folded bike by its extended seat-tube (recognizing this strength issue). And the Strida or Strida Mini as well would be good to consider. Both Mobiky and Strida could be used for leisure rides too, terrain permitting.

Regards
T

I am a 5-3, 98 pound gal. I ride a Dahon Curve (16"wheels). I have no trouble folding it up, carrying it up or down the stairs of my apartment and getting it into the trunk of my car. I love the bike.

I actually have all but abandoned my beautiful Bianchi San Jose because the small wheel bikes are so much more comfortable for me to ride.

what about the mini downtube?

any1 here ever pack a mini downtube in a luggage case for air travel? what standard suitcase will fit it? does it requires any disassembly? if not, this would be an ideal bike for littleyip.

Economies of scale prevent mass produced bikes for really light people. And I suspect that thinner tubes would be harder to work with and therefore more, not less, expensive. More generally, since most of the bike's weight is from the components, you would save less than you think by purposely targeting light people. It sounds to me that a compact size is important which leads me to believe that 16" (or under) bikes are probably a better fit for you.

Let's forget about price for a moment.

Do you actually need to carry the bike or can a bike that rolls well while folded satisfy your needs? Because if you need a Bromopton sized fold your options are minimal. If we forget about price, you could get a Brompton (S Model) with the titanium options and either a simple two (derailer) or three (internal hub) speed drivetrain that should handle most short rides less than 10 miles. From memory, it would be a little more than 20 pounds but if you installed the roller wheels -- I would pass on the Brompton option and just get some quality roller blade wheels/ball bearings -- you could roll the bike while folded quite well. And when it comes to carrying stuff, I think that the Brompton excels at the task since its bags/rack are integrated with the fold.

If the 1500-2000 USD for a titanium Brompton is too much, then see whether rolling a standard chromoly Brompton mitigates its weight. That would bring the price much closer to your target range. Although, if my memory is correct, the addition of the front bag with some other options like fenders would take you a few hundred past $1 K.

If rolling a bike works well for you and you are willing to accept a somewhat bigger folding package, you might want to check out the Bike Friday tikit. I test rode one at a local dealer and I thought that it rode considerably better than my old Brompton (or Merc). Then again, I am particularly sensitive to ergonomics and the standard set up on the Brompton didn't give me enough leg extension nor reach. I thought it rolled well and the rolling wheel would be considerably bigger on the tikit relative to the Brompton and consequently better across different terrains. If you went with a Model-T with some nice options (racks and stealth bag) it would take you to approximately the same price as the chromoly Brompton with nice options. If you ever decided to invest more money in the bike, you could shed a few pounds by upgrading components.

In my experience, bikes that are good at carrying things are far more useful than the alternatives. For folding bikes, that means can you fold the bike with the racks on and can I leave a bag on the bike while folded. Since these two bikes roll well while folded. My wife who is 5'4" and proudly 115 after having a baby thinks that a well-rolling folding bike for commuting is much more important than a light bike.

Decent cheaper options are the Downtube Mini and Dahon Curve.

You can fit a small rack that mounts on the braze-ons on the Mini's front fork. It is large enough to hold more than a pretty large seat wedge and can remain on the bike while folded. The Mini rolls well if you have a fold where the handlebar is in the interior of the fold.

I have never ridden a Curve. But enough people have written about it such that it will be worthwhile to test ride one since there are so many Dahon dealers. From what I gather, the Curve is probably better at carrying stuff than the Mini. Moreover, I would be surprised if it rolled while folded worse than the Mini. There was a thread that compared the two as a consequence of two forum members meeting in NYC (Caah and RHM, I recall).

Either of these two options would keep you well under $1000 -- unless you decided to go for the 8-speed Curve.

A few people did this. Jur details it in one post.

yes i saw the jur's post about packing his mini. but he had to disassemble and reassemble it again. it would not be ideal for your less than average mechanical person. so does any know any1 suitcase out there where you can just fold your bike up w/o any disassembly and it would be good to go for air travel? or maybe it just a dream, and you definitely need disassembly for packing your folding bike in a suitcase?

Vincent, aren't you the same guy who recently didn't know what a gear was?

please elaborate...what do you mean i didn't know what a gear was? are u trying to stir some beef?

anyway...i found a suitcase by downtube:

https://www.downtube.com/Folding_Bike_Suitcase.html

does this look like no disassembly require to u fellas?

No, no. Don't mind me. Do carry on.

The Flamingo Brompton clone is for people up to 80 kg. But that does not mean the bike is lighter. Like others already said, I too think, you wont find a less priced but lighter bike that is so because it is extra for light people since all the bikes seem to have to cover the weight range of all average customer for business reasons and also technical. Weight derives only to a small percentage from the frame. To get the bike light factories would have to go for different and lighter tires, tubes, cables, saddle,...that would mean proprietary parts all over - expensive. Also child bikes are often as heavy as adult bikes. For example a puky meant for a 3 year child with 12" wheels will be about 19 lbs.

Dont hesitate to try small wheels. A lot of that is perception. I like my 18lbs Carryme with single speed and 8" wheels which is as stock too small for me (5'10'' upgraded it with longer seatpost, buttbuddy and will put a highriser-stem but for you it should fit very well. With Schlumpf Drive = 2 Spd version, I see it very capable to ride 10 miles as long as terrain is flat. That bike folds small, can be handluggage at some airlines and is easy in your budget.

Invisiblehand proposed the S-Model if going for a brommi, I do not agree: In the S-Model you have the bar about 6 cm more forward, a stretched position! The reach is larger on the S-Model (Invisible, which model did you try, which model had too short reach for you?). Better stay with the M-typ-steering-stem and swap the riser bar if too high for any moderate riser on the market. Also swap the seatpost for a model with off-sett to the front to narrow the reach further.

What an average mechanical person can do is unclear to me. But it is straightforward and some limited knowledge of the bike is useful for travel.

More generally, the answer will change according to suitcase. The two standard ones are the Samsonite Carlton and F'Light. The F'Light is marginally larger -- and technically 2" over the limit -- but apparently much easier to pack.

Did you want a hardcase? You might also want to ask about the dimensions before purchasing and check whether it is flight legal.

Somnatash, be very careful with your new toy .. as you move your center of gravity up on a short wheelbase bike with 8" wheels, the tendency to topple over the front increases if the front wheel stops short for any reason (curb, driveway lip, road irregularity, etc.).. it happens when you least expect it and quickly.. been there done that... I shuddered when I saw one pictured with drops as so much more upperbody weight could be on the front wheel.. I think the single speed version is optimal as the dual speed with it's 80" high gear would get the bike going too fast for normal roughish street riding.. the bike has it's purpose, but care should be observed more so than with something like your 16" Brommie..

it's not a hardcase...look at the pix...it just hard at the bottom, but the bag look like a duffel bag. obviously this is not a carry-on bag and thus need to be check-in. so it should be no problem bringing on to a plane. i've seen some suitcase bigger than show on the pix and was able to check into the airline.

That is a good point. I forgot that the bar reach varies across the models. I figured that the S would be optimal since it is lighter and the bar is lower than the M. Just goes to show that you should always make an effort to test ride a bike.

I had the traditional bar (now M-type). I test-rode the S and P type handlebars. The S was too low but I did think that the giant pretzel handlebar had its advantages. I also putzed with fore-aft adjustments of the saddle but never cared for the resulting weird relationship between the crank and saddle.

No kidding. The question is if you want to fly with a bike, don't you want a hardcase since you will have to check the bag?

i have no idea...never travel with a folded bike on a plane before. on downtube website it said this bag is designed for air travel. if the downtube is not hard cover, then what's the point of downtube designing this bag the way it is for flight travel?