My experience of brompton owners is that they don't usually respond when I am on my mezzo or any other folder.
This experience reminds me of rowers. I used to speedskate rollerblade around the national rowing lake in notts. Staff knew me well and looked after my keys while I skated. In several years, one rower responded when I said hello, and that was begrudgingly. No problems with other pathway/water sport users.
Don't ride the brompton enough to meet many bromptonaughts, so not sure what efect being in the club makes. Dahon owners tend to respond fine ime.
Maybe a lot of rowers own bromptons!!?!

Where do I say that Brompton has to die ? Why should they ? To make room for expansion in a folding bike market share of 0.01 percent. ? Brompton is a good company with their own ( ideas or is it ) ideals what their customers want. :-)

Fenders. the fenders on the Jifo are outrageous hideous .... I go as far as say, that they dont work at all. If I live in a more rainy enviroment and the Jiffo would be my only bike, than of course I would replace them with correct and good quality fenders. But this cheap plasti crap needed to go on my bike for sure. Its embarrasing.

The Jiffo or any other bike by that matter from Dahon or anybody else will not kill the Brompton. Even blatant Brommy copies would not kill it, the only think it does, make our British friends take notice and a little more enthusiastic to make their own product better. Which is a good thing ..

Now if we ever could see the real Brommy Killer.... Len's Bike which got stolen and returned and where he has 20000 ??? or was it more ??? invested and still after years and years and decades of labouring around, hasnt seen any production ....
:-(

best Thor

p.s. was in Germany couple years back, picking somebody up at a train station, it was snowing .... here comes this Brommy guy with all the goodies a real expensive Brommy should have , like titanium here and there ... I smiled and said hello and super nice bike you have there.... he grunted at me, unfriendly as heck .... was it the bike fault that this guy was a ..hole ? Maybe he had a payment coming up for said bike, but thats not the bike fault either.
While all Dahon folks seem to be happy go lucky fellas .... ( at least the ones I met )
:-) :innocent:

Maybe it's because Brompton owners are all business whereas Dahon owners tend to be out for fun? I mean, let's face it that's what most people want from a bike and that's why Dahon sells more bikes because they try to cater more to that market than Brompton.

I think people in suits and ties are mean too...because they're usually going to/from work or court or something else that's formal and unpleasant. For example, I went to a funeral where I said "hi" to the guy in the casket he just laid there in his suit and tie saying nothing just like a guy I saw on a Brompton! :p

... said the man with the Guillotine avatar.

A new Jifo can be turned up online in Europe for less than EUR 500 now, pretty much what you might expect to pay for any adequate bike. Goes without saying that that seems a rather good deal considering the competition.

Anyone actually have a Jifo and care to share how it's been over the long haul?

Around here peopel on bikes do not say "hello" unless they know eachother. Especially if you are on an oldish bike or one with rack and fenders, do`nt even try!

First time we went to the big city to ride our B`s we were not prepaired for the "puppy effect". Walking up a really steep hill suddenly there was a man on a B in front of us. He was wery suprised (just like us) and with one big smile said "Bromptons!!" We said nothing, just " uh, yes.." or something like that.

Now we sppeak with peopel all the time (but newer peopel on bikes). They say "what a smart bike" and ask where you can buy one.

I think that for the man on the black B (sounded British by the way) we are two of those in suits..

Newer met a B after that apart from two in Copenhagen this May.

I'm far from being a typical Brompton owner then... I don't own a suit, I only have one tie, (its black and it is only worn for funerals). I don't work in an office and there are only around 30 people world-wide who share my line of work (doing venom extractions from snakes). Suits might be de ri·gueur in the city of London but not around here :)

I'm sorry if I offend your sensibilities..... but the title of this thread "Dahon finally releases a Brompton Killer" does refer to Bromptons so it shouldn't be surprising to read comments from Brompton owners :)

The "Puppy effect" is certainly very noticeable when owning a Brompton :thumb: The Brompton is a good looking bike and the transition from ready-to-ride to folded is quick, fluid and your left with a compact package the is almost a work of art in itself. That can also easily fit between the back-to-back seats on train carriages. Can any other folding bike match that !?!?!

The Dahon Jiffo might look "cute" but the folded package seems a little ungainly... which is a reoccurring theme with a lot of folding bikes:

Most of the Dahon range look good in the unfolded state... but I found that they are slower to fold than a Brompton... especially if you don't want to bash the paint on the front forks (MU SL) with the handle bars (which can happen if you aren't very careful).

The R+M Birdy is a nice bike (I've ridden several) and the fold looks good but having to detach the front suspension doesn't make it as quick to fold.

Bike Friday, I really like these and the Tikit has a really impressive fast fold... so gets the "cool" factor in public... but it is still quite a large folded package.

IF Mode, WOW, what a fantastic looking machine with a super cool fold.... but still rather large folded.

MeSSo is the ugly ducking of the folding bike world... folded it is quite a neat package but unfolded :twitchy: what a MESS :eek:

Moulton, Pashley (TSR), Airnimal and Bike Friday all make great "travel" bikes but you can't really consider them folders per se.... I'd like an Airnimal Rhino to take off road and maybe a BF Pocket Rocket as a fast road bike.

Back in 2008 I road tested a lot of folding bikes, watched 100's of videos and read countless reviews ...one dealer in Manchester... (They sell Bromptons, Airnamal and Moultons) pointed to a folding bike in the corner and said "that is the best folding bike you can buy, it is the "shop bike", the one we all nip out on to run errands".... it was a 2-speed S-Type Titanium Brompton..... and (after wasting time + money on Dahon MU SL's), that is exactly what I bought it the end... four years on and I know that dealer was right :thumb:

I actually quite like the 'high-tech' look of the Jifo/MINT fold.

A black or grey frame would keep the folded bike looking a little more homogenous and simple.

The Jiffo folds MUCH smaller than the Curve and it folds in a jiffy ... well lol
here a comparison with a Curve and a Brommy to get you an idea ...
http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/technical/brommy.htm
The Jiffo is way smaller package when folded than the Curve even


I had a couple pics where the jiffo was stowed under the seats on my boat in a lazarette .... but cant seem to find them ... ( the pictures that is , I found the bike under some lines and a sailbag ...lol )

Anyhow, its a cool bike, but I wish for some changes to make it more viable for longer distance riding, and being able to upgrade more stuff on it, less propieraty parts ( there ..I said it ...lol )

best Thor

On paper it folds considerably smaller than 'the British bicycle', maybe any measurements should be taken with a pinch of salt.

Not that I'm in the market for one, but if I were the combination of current price and size/weight would be most interesting. I assume most everyone with that kind of money went for the better equipped Curve models at the time.

Must be tough to get round the 'proprietary parts' thing on a sub-compact folder though. I hear even Brompton have a couple.

Late props to Stomatch.
She was informative and supportive in her posts. I too hope she is doing well.

I saw the Jifo yesterday when I went to the workshop to pick up my bike. Didn't like the fold: bulky. It was displayed along a brompton and the brompton looked neat and easy and the Jifo cluttered and complex. Didn't like it.

how can something be bulky when its "competitor" looks neat and easy but is 20 % bigger ?
Its fine if somebody doesnt like one bike over some other bike, no problem .. but bulky ?

what's the wheelbase length on the jifo?

Because the Brompton is a work of art in its folded form... it just looks "right"! It is a neat and fairly symmetrical shape.
My Sister owned a Dahon Curve (before she bought her first Brompton) and I saw both bikes together. From the side they look as though they take up similar space, but from above there is no comparison the Dahon is much wider and awkward looking than the Brompton.

The Jifo looks like a piece of crap to me.
However, Dahons are quicker to fold than a Brompton. Depending on how a Dahon is set up it's either a 3 or 2 part fold. With mine I only need to operate two latches and the process is almost instant whereas the Brompton is a fair amount more fiddly and time-consuming. It's still only a matter of seconds so not of great significance, but it's nonsense to claim that a Brompton folds faster.

its all in the eyes of the beholder
here is a comparison between a Brommy and a Curve ... take the pedals off and it would look even better
http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/technical/brommy.htm
Now the Jiffo is MUCH smaller see some pics here
http://www.thorusa.com/dahon/current/jifo.htm
keep in mind that they are not available at this time and totally sold out ...

how fast a Jifo folds...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=...k&feature=fvwp
I am not so super concerned with a few secunds more or less .... but it is impressive to say the least

wheelbase... i measured that before and posted it somewhere.... 100 mm ? I have no idea, just that it was about 10 % less than a Curve ....

Again and again ...
Jifo has a few things I dont like ..... ( price, one speed, to many proprietary parts )
Jifo is really really sold out
Jifo aint and will never be a Brommy Killer
Jifo rides MUCH better than expected, even for larger persons
Jifo folds real quick and very very small

[QUOTE=chagzuki;15758694]...Dahons are quicker to fold than a Brompton./QUOTE]

???

Here is a scientific experiment with two equality skilled bike owners that proves the oposite

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kuy9DUH5NP0


Edit: fold like a champ! http://youtu.be/uz6rjbw0ZA0

chagzuki, kamtsa.. haha. you guys are both trolling.

I am not sure about the Jifo or the Curve, but I do know from personal experince of owning Dahon MU SL that you had to be very careful in lowering the handlebar stem otherwise the top brace could slam into the front fork and chip the paintwork. whereas you can drop the handlebars on the Brompton and they fall into that speacal bracket in complete safety. Oh and the paint finish on Bromptona seems altogether much tougher than that on Dahons.... wonder if Terns are any better?

Yep, that's the messy bit due to an absence of design, it's luck whether a handlebar configuration that fits your riding position will fold easily. In my case it does. Of course the Brompton fold is far more sophisticated and elegant.

Looking at pics of a Tern recently I saw that the cables protrude from the folded package due to the handlepost folding to the outside. Looks as though they'd snag on stuff to me. . . not impressed.

you guys crack me up ...... are you folding and unfolding all day ...... OR are you rather riding the bike ....OUCH

Said "looks" not "was", it's a perception.
Once unfolded all the bikes are nice, are just bikes, the point is if you're paying the price for the small size, at least something clean. I couldn't imagine me taking the metro (underground) with that complex mass of pieces around, or taking it into the office.
The same happens with my Dahon Speed TR, when folded looks like a sherman tank half assembled. I don't care because I only fold and unfold once a day and I want a bold bike for the job, but nobody told me it was going to be neat nor easy to handle, it's fair play.