Best Folder for touring?
 

I've never owned a folder, but I have several trips coming up where I'd like to fly with a bike and then hit the ground riding from the airport. Any opinions on what brand/model would be best for this kind of riding?

Or am I way off-base on what a folder should be used for?

Thanks!

Tom

Welcome to the Fold. Bike Friday build bikes for traveling and to fit into a suitcase. www.bikefriday.com there are other brands, Dahon, Birdy, Airnimal and other that would work also. Do you have a budget? How much riding will you do in a day?

I don't really have a budget... Used is OK - though I like good gear. On these kind of trips, I'm guessing I'd like to ride up to 50 miles, though most rides would be much shorter. I'm pretty ignorant re folding bikes - can they handle that kind of riding? Slow is OK, regular breakdowns not so much.

Thanks for the help!

definitely a folding bike with work for you. i would say brompton has the smallest fold but maybe not geared for touring. i agree with the previous poster that bike friday may be best suited for your ridings. you can check them out and if budget is not an issue call them and they will be more than happy to assist you and build you the kind of bike that you like.

The Dahon Speed TR is a touring bike and might be a good place to start for the price. http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/2009/speedtr.htm

Folders can indeed be used for touring. I've used my Bike Friday Tikit for light touring (i.e., no camping). The Bike Friday New World Tourist is built for full touring, although it's not a quick fold. All BFs are on the expensive side, so look elsewhere if you don't have a respectable budget.

In terms of a comfortable bike that can haul a lit of stuff, you'll get an equivalent non-folding bike for a bit less. The advantages to folding touring are many, though - shipping your bike to the starting point is greatly simplified. No more minivan rentals!

I've used my Bike Friday 'Pocket Rocket' for lots of bicycle camping trips with some days being over 100 miles but averaging under that. Having it fit into a completely normal suitcase is a big plus with the airlines starting to charge exorbitant fees for anything that's oversize or even hints that there's a bicycle inside. I also have the optional trailer frame that lets you tow the suitcase with all your other luggage inside once you've assembled the bike at the airport. [But note that some airport exit roads are decidedly not bike-friendly - at those I just hop on the first hotel courtesy bus I see and then put the bike together after arriving at the hotel.]

I agree with some of the other comments that Bike Friday bikes are a little pricey, but they are a good choice for touring - especially if you want to be able to ride directly to and from the airport.

I'm Bike Friday shopping and the Pocket Rocket Pro is one model I'm looking at (the Tikit, Crusoe and NWT being the others) and would love to hear how you set yours up for camping trips.

As for the OP, check out Jur's trip blogs for a great example of what you can do with folders: http://members.iinet.net.au/~jdekter...in%20page.html I've read everyone of them and learned a ton about bike touring with folders.

Regards, Jim

If you want to actually ride out of the airport then you'll want something that won't take an hour to assemble from the suitcase.

Bike Friday tikit I say.

Thanks for all the great info, guys! Will be checking out your advice and making decisions...

Regards,

Tom

And what do you do with the suitcase it came in ?

If you have a Bike Friday you slap wheels on it and use to haul your luggage:D

Aaron:)

http://community.bikefriday.com/site...ss.preview.JPG

Cool solution, Aaron!

That's been a standard bike friday accessory for ages:
http://community.bikefriday.com/travelsystem

A folder for touring? For me, that's the Airnimal (Joey). It might be worth to take a look at them . . .

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3161/...d6f604b9_b.jpg

The Bike Friday New World Tourist would be my first choice. Your NWT will be built to fit your body rather than being one size fits all and it can be ordered in numerous different specifications depending on the type of touring you'll be doing and your personal preferences.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3166/...2243be8c_b.jpg

The Bike Fridays shown here belong to some Korean friends of mine...they are some pimped out touring rigs! I need some black and white Ortliebs.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/...b664780f_b.jpg

The Dahon Speed TR was mentioned above and it's the Dahon I liked the most of those I've test ridden. Biggest cockpit and I liked the Schwalbe Big Apples a lot.

Dahon Speed P8 and Mu P8

Wow, these bikes have exactly the setup I want to implement on some of my bikes - barend shifters with cross-top levers. Got any pics zooming in on that? I am interested in the brand and size.

I think i'd go with the Dahon Speed TR for a great budget choice, the New World Tourist for normal-ish touring, and the Pocket Llama for heavy / expedition touring.

All 3 are great bikes in their own right, and have something to offer as a touring bike for sure.

go for the NWT and if you have some extra money with Rohloff

For touring? As an owner of two P8s: no way. A higher end Dahon perhaps. But I'd suggest a Bike Friday NWT as well.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3163/...201b1500ac.jpg

Sorry I don't have any detailed pics....if you are asking about the bar end shifters I'm pretty sure they are Shimano Dura Ace units...not sure about the brake levers.

I'll try and dig up their email addy...Bike Friday may also have current contact info for them [Eddy & Mirye] as they just bought a new tandem BF.

If I find their email I'll PM it to you.

If you have some Korean language skills you might be able to contact Eddy from this article he wrote for a Korean bike magazine.

One last thing I would add to respond to the OP's question...for a bike tour the most important thing is you fit well on the bike. The best touring bike in the world is no good to you if it's too big or too small. After fit I'd rank strength and reliability next most important....so a bike built to carry significant cargo and equipped with quality components.

Don't you have the aluminum Helios P8(s) .. the Speed P8 is steel and a completely different, much stiffer frame..

It's not the metal: it's the lack of handlebar options, gearing choices, seat options, sizing choices, etc. I own aluminum, but ride a Speed P8 all the time. I wouldn't tour on any P8. Tool around town, yes and happily. Tour, no.

Please don't laugh, but......

A properly modded and fitted R20 would have to be one of the strongest frames ever made, and it can handle anything you throw at it.
Not everyone's cup of tea, but they're still going strong after 40+ yrs.... just ask Jur

the only thing that concerns me about R20 is the amount of modding required to make it modern (tour gearing) and decently serviceable when things break. To make it really touring worthy, we're looking at spreading the rear to 130 or 135mm, adding a derailer hanger, adding canti bosses for modern 406mm wheels, swapping the fork and chasing and facing the BB to 68mm or 73mm and english threaded.
otherwise, yeah, it's a nice frame to build around.

I would have to agree. New bikes from BF, Brompton, Dahon, etc., etc. are nice, but an R20 is still the standard they should all be judged by.

I'm just talking about the overall durability. Plenty of threads here about other frames cracking, my Dahon makes creaking noises I can't ID, SA8 hub on my DT is unreliable, Strida 3 had is own unique problems....R20 platform is still the standard. Certainly, brakes and whatnot need to be upgraded, but still...

Been contemplating a Rohloff hub for my R20 tourer rebuild...... now that would give me enough range when touring.
But as I am SO poor, I will try to make my SA 8 spd work with a chain tensioner and 2 chainrings.

My three R20s are non folding, I can't fault them for carrying heavy loads, there's no flexing.
I admit they are finnicky little so and so's at times with the BB and fork steerer, but that's half the fun of doing it.
Once that's sorted out, they may be a bit heavy, (but a tourer isn't meant to be a light weight bike), they will still outlast all of the modern folders so far mentioned.