Its $269.

I think the Nova is the lightest in their line up as the Mini is no longer offered. And no, 3lbs is not a lot of difference, IMO. But of course, every bit helps.
As you might know, the Nova just came out, so no none can really comment about its durability as of yet. We are all in the fence here.

Depends on the person.

I agree that weight is subjective. I'm asian, 5'5", 140lbs and fairly fit since I work out or doing sports almost daily.

How's downtube's quality in general? I just temporarily bought a lightly used Citizen Tokyo to use for a week or so, and to get a feel of a folding bike before deciding on which folder to buy. there're couple of things that bother me on the Citizen bike: weight(slightly too heavy), filmsy handlebar stem(it flexes), and gearing is too low even on the highest, I like high gears and don't climb much.

If my top priority for a bike is built quality & weight, and then high gears, are there any other folders I should consider besides Downtube Nova(under $500 preferably)? Sorry for being slightly off topic.

You can improve the flexing on the handlebar stem on your Tokyo by tightening the nut on the end of the clasp. Not too tight, obviously, or you won't be able to close it. Nothing you can do about the weight - it may be small, but it is steel, and therefore heavy. But hopefully, that also makes it strong. It isn't easy to improve the gearing, but Ed Wong just directed me to a gear set with an 11 tooth small cog, which should help. I've ordered one, and will let you all know how it works.

thanks for the suggestions JCFlack.

I don't think that I want to spend much effort on the Tokyo. There're too many little things that bother me with the bike: gearing, weight, and because of the stem flexes, it doesn't give me a sense of construction quality I'm looking for. And because of the low gearing on Tokyo, I dropped the Gotham from my list as well since I expect them to be similar in terms of gearing. The Tokyo I bought was barely used at all and I got it really cheap, I'll have no problem selling it for the price I've paid for after using it for few weeks as my temp bike and get my feet wet in the folder territory.

I tried a Dahon D3 at a local bike shop yesterday, it was the only folder available there but it felt so much more solid and well made than the Tokyo(price is very different too of course), also the gearing was much higher than the Tokyo which I liked quite a bit. If it weren't for the color(red), I would seriously consider it. I probably also prefer a 20" wheel, but I'm somewhat flexible on that.

Looks to me like a rebranding of the Dahon Speed 7 - with a tweak here and a tweak there. I think the Nova looks fantastic, especially the green model. I'm just not sure I want a Dahon. It's noted that this model uses Dahon's hinge mechanism, but it seems to be using a lot more than that from the brand. The price is unbeatable insofar as I can tell, but I'm still not sure what to do. I emailed Yan about the bike, but didn't get quite the informative response I was hoping for. Hopefully someone will review the Nova soon enough. Though, at its price there's not much to lose - expect maybe for s/h fees. What to do, oh what to do...

That "horrible weld" as you say is the front derailleur mount. See here.

http://downtube.com/images/2010_Bike...s/IMG_1279.JPG

Edward Wong III
Qile Duo 5 Speed 20" Folder

Front derailleur mount makes this even more attractive. Great mod-ing potential!

Nice. I take back my comment. This bike would be even better with an extra $200. I like how the wheels look.

I've been looking for a low-end folder also.

The Dahon is chro-moly, so that's one big difference. Lots of little ones.

Performance has the Dahon on sale for $375 (with 20% discount in their online closeout section). The Downtube is very tempting, but I can go try a Dahon out at Performance, and get their life-time service. So that swings things in their favor a bit.

Oops, forget that. I just decided to call them. My local Perf store is completely out of Dahons. No new ones 'til next year. I can still buy it online however.

+1

Should be standard practice I say.

It reminds me of my Dahon Speed I purchased 5 years ago. That was not a bad bicycle at all but I sold it because the ride was too harsh. At the time, I didn't know that a non-suspended bike like this really needs a Thudbuser or Brooks Champion Flyer with springs. I prefer this option over the fram suspended Bikes by Downtube. Man it is so tempting!

"As is", the bike looks great, but it is nice to know that there's a lot of upgrade potential.:thumb:

Edward Wong III
Qile Duo 5 Speed 20" Folder

I'm probably a bit over the weight limit, or I would definitely get one...I'm trying to lose weight, so maybe I'll get one for myself if I can get to a certain weight!!! I haven't done any serious folder mod'ing in 2-3 years...it'd be fun to throw a double front chainring on, and some drops,

Juan

Yan finally put up some pics.
http://downtube.com/images/2010_Bikes/Nova/high_res/

looks like a great bike.

Hi-Res pictures look great. I really like the green color.

I'm hoping Yan will post some folded dimension for the Nova. I'm also hoping he will post dimensions with the wheels removed, as size is big concern for me.

So, has anyone ordered one yet?
--
Michael

Nowhere near enough angle in the handlepost for me, same problem as with most Dahons.

It looks like the Downtube Nova uses an integrated headset. I've heard the pros/cons of this system and was wondering what people in this forum thought...well?

I wonder why Yan choose the name Nova? Doesn't he know this means "Dosen't move" in spanish? LOL! I remember hearing the Chevy Nova didn't sell well in latin America because no one wanted to buy a car that didn't start!

Because this isn't Spain or Latin America? :rolleyes:

There is a bunch of high quality high resolution images here:

http://downtube.com/images/2010_Bikes/Nova/high_res/

Kam

Read the description here and check out this picture of the "horrible weld".

The "horrible weld" is a derailleur hanger! Holy crap! It's set up from the get-go to accommodate a front derailleur.

(edit Sorry, I didn't get to the second page to see that this was covered already. /edit)

The frame hinge is licensed from Dahon.

Speedo

That's an urban myth.

Speedo

What is that supposed to mean? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asia

Asia's pretty big.. If you're using the term to mean that you're from China, Japan, Korea or other countries of the Orient then please do us non-oriental Asians a favor and quit using the word Asian to mean only yourselves as you're creating a misnomer and stripping us non-oriental Asians of our identity. :love: