Dahon Jack
 

Just ordered my first folding bike.. 2009 Dahon Jack..

congrats, post pictures when it arrives.

Will do once it arrives.. Supposed to be drop shipped direct to nearby store by fedex.. I have a feeling its already there, they just have not made the notification to me yet.

I have one of these and a Brompton.I like it very much..its a supersmooth ride cos of its slicklike big apple tyres and although just 7 gears they good enough to conquer any hill and cover a lot of daily milage..You need to take the handle bars off to make it really small when folding.but it stills remains fairly sizable.Also maybe replace the pedals with folding ones..For the road/cyclepath it is an urban conquer anything bike but not an offroad mountain bike.The bag I have is a Dahon EL Bolso but it doesnt zip seal and that aint good enough for air travel.Maybe someone else can recommed a bike bag for it.

we have a pair of 2007 jacks and have been doing short commutes for the past few years. just recently upgraded to the MuSL, but the jacks still are great comfortable bikes.
ditto on the minor upgrades on the jacks, and very surprised dahon did not include those with the bike. i found a shop that sold folding pedals for $7 a pair, fitted on a QR for the handlebar, a nice set of thinner slicks and fenders set. and replace the seatpump post with a seat suspension post (no could not afford the thudbuster). the near perfect commuter.

Well got him home tonight, add a rear rack and vdo cyclecomputer, will look into some of the ideas. The folding pedals sound interesting.

It is a little bigger than expected so hope the place in the motorhome I was going to put it works if not will just lay it on the bed.

Careful with the hinge tension. I had 2 that I got rid of because the plates began making noise. I really hope that it was an anomaly for [both of] mine. I had ridden one about 500 miles and it started the play. It is not possible to measure the closing tension as they ask in the manual for adjustment. I liked everything else about the bike and had high hopes for it.. especially the warranty part, until I was told that I was at fault for not maintaining proper hinge tension, making me wonder if the warranty would even be honored.

Guys I've been looking at this Dahon jack for the wife for awhile (she only likes full size bikes and finds small wheels twitchy). And I was wondering if you guys know what would be the equivalent price for a fixed frame bike? Like is this $500 something dahon jack equal to a $400 something non folding bike with similar components? I'm trying to cost compare to see if it'll be worth it to get a folding bike this size.

[QUOTE=Azreal911;10622538I'm trying to cost compare to see if it'll be worth it to get a folding bike this size.[/QUOTE]


That may be the wrong way of doing it. You either want a folding bike for ease of storage and portability, or looks or some other features, BUT - they have more compromises than fixed frame bikes. There's more parts to wear, lubricate and adjust, and more to go wrong. On the upside there's more pleasure to be had with a bike you can just chuck on the bus or in the back of the car as you'll probably use it more. And you can usually store a folder indoors easily if space is a problem. That stops them corroding and keeps their re-sale value up.

If it's never going to get folded, there's little point in buying the extra complexity, unless you like some other feature of the bike.

The usual way is to decide on wheel size, 16", 20", 26", and then start surfing for bikes. 26" bikes like the Jack are great if you don't need a small fold, say for commuting. They will fit in the back of small car too but at 13Kg or so, you won't want to carry it too far. The Jack is a tough bike and they get used in urban and off-road trail environments. If price is a concern, and you like the bike, shop around for a last years' model, they're often discounted.

The component spec on all of the Dahons is way above that of the cheapest imported brands, and they all come with a lifetime frame warranty. The Jack alloy MTB inspired frame is a great design (I had the similar Matrix) and they handle well on fire-trails and hardpack with a set of mild knobbly tyres. ( Current ones (UK) have Big Apples for urban use) In town they are fast and nimble. The 2010 D24 Jacks have 24 gears and a frame re-design for the front d�railleur, the 2009 D7 seven gears. 2010 D7's may still be available, too, I'm told.

They don't have the front suspension of the Matrix, which is probably a bonus on tarmac, and it keeps the weight down for portability. Budget choice: 2008/2009 D7 Jack/Matrix. Top choice for hilly-ville: 2010 D24 Jack or a 2009 Matrix.

Over to you. Or rather, your wife. Sign her up to the forum.

http://static.dahon.com//sites/defau...old_jackd7.jpg

we went through that exact process several years ago when we bought our pair of jacks. our first venture into folding bikes were unfortunately with a cheap walmart folder, with the small wheel and was simply a mess. my wife was petrified of the bike because the brakes were mushy, and the wheels were twitchy. when we bought the jacks, the bigger wheels and the better fit and finish gained her confidence and she enjoyed riding. when we bought the jacks, we did know that in general folder prices were higher for similar components, but we wanted the convenience of the fold.

fast forward a couple years, and several months ago we dropped by our lbs, and although i was only intending to buy a smaller folder for myself (the MuSL) my wife tagged along, and she fell in love with the Ciao P8. although the Ciao had a smaller 20 inch wheel which was her complaint in the past, the Ciao's styling, the low step and the precise shifting with the internal hub was something that really caught her attention. so times change and so did her requirements. she absolutely adores her bike.
oh well, it's only money...

My folder (Downtube) rarely gets folded. I have enjoyed the low center of gravity from an early Dahon I used to own. Thus, I’m hooked! I realize that things could go awry with the folded parts, though. I would go with a minvelo, but there is not the market penetration to get them at a low price in the US.
It is good to have the option to fold the bike. Yesterday, I went out to dinner and it could have come in handy. After dinner, we went to my office to pick up the bike. I ended up riding home as it was nice and I wanted to work off the big dinner I just had. But if it would have been raining heavily or it was too dark, it would have been nice to have folded the bike and gotten a ride home. I am thinking of ditching my 2 other full sized bikes for folders .

You guys offer a very interesting perspective I'll look into this namely cause the 2009 jack is only going for $500 Cdn here and they only have small frames left (perfect for her). I'd really like that Ciao but it's twice the price and not really sold here. we'll see what we get :).

except for the stock seat...
 

just remembered - the first summer we got the jacks, my wife had a lot of soreness from riding. we rode a lot before the jacks, she had a mongoose so she was used to thinner seats, but it got to a point several rides with the jack that she had to quit halfway, and i rode back myself and got the car to pick her up. she did not look forward to riding because she would take several days to recover.

i tried replacing several seats for her, but not until i got the Bell big air gel seat from Wallyworld all her soreness dissappeared. so i just call it her big-a**ed seat. it looks huge and comfy, and she can ride as long as she want without any soreness whatsoever.

I ahve sold Jacks to a couple Airstreamers and they like theirs a lot..... Its a good bike. As far as price comparison to regular bikes concerned... I find that most Dahons can hold their value compared to a non folding competitor as long as you really compare apples with oranges ( did I say that right ?)

Dahon has one big advantage pricewise and thats the simple fact that they get good deals on the components off all bikes ( if you make 300000 plus bikes you get better deals ) And that makes especially the closeout models extremely good value.

Take last years Cadenza with Alfine 9 speed, Avid disc brakes and and and ... and the whole bike sold for under 700 bucks .... any other bike with those components out there ? Or the Speed TR with Sram Dualdrive, front generator, led front light, two carriers ...for 650.00
they are bargains .....

of course I am a little biased ( just alittle )
thor