dvandusen

I'm looking to purchase 2 folding bicycles for my wife and I soon. We're not sure that we will use the bicycle very much, but believe that we will. It's been a long time since we've ridden any bicycle and we don't want to spend a lot of money and have them sit and rust away. We have a travel trailer and lugging a pair full sized non-folding bicycle is a problem. We have decided that a folding bicycle would be the best for us. We have been looking at the Citizen Miami looks like a fair quality product at $295 each including shipping. It has Shimano gears (I realize at this price it's not the top of the line gears, but it's a well known name brand). It weighs 32 pounds (I know that's about 10 pounds more than some of the top of the line Dahon and others). We were looking at a full sized Trek that was 30 pounds and this doesn't seem to be too much more than that.

So, is this a reasonable path to take or have I gone wrong somewhere?

Doug

gringo_gus

Hi Doug, welcome. People here will be willing to help, and some with closer experience of the terrain that you interested in than me, who is in the UK. A lot of people here recommend the downtube series of bikes as good value for money.

But generally, how tall/heavy are you and your wife, what kind of cycling did you have in mind - tell us a little more and folks will be keen to help out.

TrekJapan

Sounds like a plan to me. Kids for sure don't need a high end group on their bikes.

I want to say that Citizen Miami IS a Dahon frame. Somebody will correct me if I'm wrong.

Lalato

Citizen Miami is not a Dahon frame. That said, it is a low end bike that should do in a pinch. If you just want the bike for a bit of casual riding, it should work out fine.

If you're looking for a commuter bike, it might do, but there are probably better options.

--sam

KitN

Hi Doug and welcome to the forums!

I recently purchased a Citizen folding bike. I needed to replace my folding bike that was stolen the day after Xmas. I needed something inexpensive but reliable. Something with small wheels (16") but with as many gears as possible for the money. I narrowed it down to the Citizen Tokyo and the Citizen Gotham (20" wheels). I choose the Tokyo over the Gotham only because the Tokyo has smaller (16") wheels and I needed as small a folding bike with gears as possible. Otherwise, I would have gone with the Gotham: it's lighter and has better components.

The Citizen Miami is kind of stuck in the middle. It's the heaviest of all the Citizen bikes. I would suggest you pay a few dollars more and get the better Gotham bike. Again, you'd getting a much lighter bike than the Miami (almost 10 lbs lighter!!) with better components.

I researched a lot of folding bikes and found the Citizen Tokyo to be the best bang for my bucks.

Buying a bike is very personal. What type of terrain will you be riding over? Are there lots of hills? Will you need to take the bike onto trains/buses/etc? Does weight and folding size matter a lot? How many miles do you plan on riding on the folder? How tall are you and how much do you weigh?

All of the above are huge factors in choosing a bike that suits your needs the best. So please let us know the answers to the above questions and we can further assist you in your purchase.

dvandusen

First, let me thank you all for your input. I'm 6' tall and around 240 (I hope I'll correct that after I start riding more) and my wife is 5' 8" and about 220 (yes, we both need the exercise). It's kind of flat here in Eastern NC and that's where most of our riding will be done.

Having said that, I've been looking at the Downtube product line. The capabilities look much better than the Citizen and the price is not much more than the Citizen. I'm now leaning to the Downtube, but I still want your input. You are the ones that know more about this than I do.

Doug

bhkyte

I know nothing about the Citizen range, but my 8NF downtube was a great bike for the money. If you are concerned about the maxium rider weight the bike is very strong also, ( I used to gives lifts to my daughter on the luggage rack!), and plenty tall enought for a six foot rider. I sold mine with added dropped handlebars to a man 6foot 2 and he is very pleased with it.

jur

The Downtubes are certainly great value for money and some on this forum have done some special things to theirs. As far as I know, the full suspension model has the biggest rider weight spec.

makeinu

The 20" Downtubes are very sturdy. Not sure about the Citizen because I haven't tried one, but perhaps someone else could tell.

JCFlack

trider and his wife have two Citizen Miami bikes and like them very much. They use them as you want to use them - from an RV. Have a look here: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...23#post8370023 for some of his comments. Further down in the same thread, you will find links to pictures of several Miami bikes.

vmaniqui

citizen bikes are cheap but fun to ride. that i can tell as i have one, too.

dvandusen

I'm on a forum for RV's and there are the same type of people there. They herald the virtues of a high cost high quality item like a generator for $1900 and put down the value of a less expensive generator for $298. I'm sure it's everywhere.

I have just ordered the Citizen Miami bicycle (times 2) and even though the Downtube is a very fine product, I think that the Citizen will give us good service. Thank you all for your help with this decision.

Doug

jur

Yes I would agree. An entry-level bike is a great idea for occasional riding especially if you're not a seasoned rider. And even if one is a seasoned rider, an entry-level bike could be a great asset if one kept in mind to use it like it was intended - occasional riding. It's no use trying to go to a hammerfest on an entry-level bike (unless you want to specifically humiliate some posers by beating them ), and no use looking for quality where it wasn't intended to be.

And if you never go beyond the occasional ride well that's money well spent and not some shiny bit of expensive bling gathering dust for 50 weeks every year.

vmaniqui

dvandusen,

welcome to the folders world and congrats on your purchase. i am pretty sure you will have fun with your miami bikes. if you encounter any problem with your bike just post and people in the forum will help you out.

9ijnbhu8

If just ride for few time, every bike is ok for you don't use it every day, I think single gear bikes could also be a good choice.

havm66z

Just wondering if there is a reason for buying 2 of the same bike for 2 individuals? Especially sight unseen. You could be better off buying one, and trying out first.

dvandusen

I'm doing it this way because Citizen has a 30 day money back thing that I can invoke if they don't work out.