Impossible to fold or unfold, big problem here - Solved
 

Hi, on Friday I downloaded my Dahon Speed TR from the car, as I do from Monday to Friday to cover the last part of route to work by bike and ... surprise!, it was almost impossible to unfold it. The hinge was almost stuck. When I came back to the car, it was worse. And when I arrive home and tried to unfold to take the bike home, it was completely stuck.
I called the bike shop and told me it could be a problem with the screw that tightens the lever. I took out the screw, the lever went free and loose... and the frame remained stucked!
Impossible to unfold, no cables tightened, nothing odd, nothing I can see is out of order, but it seems locked, moving it makes me feel I'm at the point of breaking something.

No falls, no hits, no shocks, I cannot imagine what happened.

So on Monday I'm going to take the bike to the workshop. Hope the frame hasn't suffered with my tryings to unfold and fold, but it seems very difficult me being stronger than this frame.

Any idea or suggestion will be appreciated.

PS: Edited due to many typos.

Rust. Roger

How could it be? The bike is almost new, only 2 years old, always kept indoors and has no sign of rust. I cannot see into the hinge, you think the solution is to dissassemble the hinge, clean and lubricate?

Hola desde Sevilla.

Good luck. I've found the hinges on Dahons to be very poorly designed and prone to malfunction. I had all kinds of problems with the hinge on my Dahon "Speed" and then a crack developed in one of the frame welds. What's left of that bike is now sitting in a heap in my garage. :(

I've got a Brompton now--much higher quality components and better customer service. :)

Hola Sevilla, aquí Madrid ;)

I needed a bike with enough gears to trek UP Madrid and my little mountain town hills and also strong and tall enough to carry the kids (not solved yet, one kid ok, two kids still working on it), this Dahon seemed the perfect bike for both. I'm scared something happened to the frame and astonished that so an strong bike could have this "achilles foot".

I also have a Flamingo modified (two plates) and will commute tomorrow with it, but it's a pain to go up with it.

How did your problems with the hinge started?

Is there a shop that sells folding bikes near by? I'd recommend having it looked at by somebody who knows folding bikes.

Not near, but I'll go to the shop which sold the bike to his first owner. Hope they recognize the frame warranty in case the problem is serious.

Well, it's kind of a long story. You can read about it in full detail here:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/376713-Dahon-s-Shabby-Customer-Treatment?highlight=dahon

My wife's Dahon Jack initially has a super tough hinge to move and rotate even though it was a new bike I needed to really wrench it to fold, this is with the latch completely unscrewed and flopping around! But a solution to this was since the bolt hole is open underneath this bike I flipped her bike over night added a few drops of synthetic motor oil and left it there for the next two days to let it seep in. After that the folding was much easier and after a few years it's still great. When I was looking for a daily commuter I knocked dahon off my list because of this and went to either the Brompton or Tern, Their hinges are like opening and closing a light room door! Totally different quality here on how hinge design goes such a long way!

M6L Brompton , 44t chainring, seems to be said to climb well..

My addition of a Schlumpf crank, turned my M3L into an Alpine Goat..

Numbers, 15t on the hub, 54t chainring acts like a 21.6t,
when I kick in the reduction planetary gear in the crankset.

I have a Flamingo, similar gears as a Brompton 3, and changed to double plate with 39 and 48 teeth. Believe me, it's impossible for me to commute with this gears, I have 6km climbing with 19% for 2km, 23% gradient for 1 km and 27% climbing as my gps says, what my legs say is that with the Dahon Speed I can climb, with the Flamingo no, unfortunately. The only good point is that when I come back from work, I don't touch the pedals, only the brakes. The town where I live is worse, to take the kids to school I have a hill of 1,6 km long wich is very hard to climb walking, and worse towing the bike and the kids.

In my first desesperate call to the workshop (imagine my situation, almost jumping on to the bike to fold it!) they said it was going to be lack of lubrication or the screw of the lever very tightened, the second was not.
I'll try to go tomorrow and will tell, hope is only lack of oil.

Mother of God, six months to get a screw! I read that and got so nervous couldnt read with attention. So what you get is buy a bike (not cheap for me, a lot of money) and pray nothing happens?

That's been my experience with Dahon here it Spain. I hope you have better luck than I've had.

I have a 2009 Dahon Speed TR and live in a high humidity coastal area with tends to rapidly corrode unprotected low quality metal. I ride around 4000 miles per year. I have had no issues with the Dahon hinge. I have not lubricated the hinge since I bought it. I have adjusted the tension, once.

Like you, I purchased my bike second hand.

I hope your hinge issue is not serious and is just a simple need of lubrication and adjustment.

Wow. I am very impressed. You are fit! :)

Thanks for your hope, today at the workshop they told me next monday I would have a diagnosis.

Did you do it yourself? How much money took the metamorphosis? I wonder if I could fit a dual drive and a cassette as I have in the Dahon.

Well, I checked the gps in my pocket when the climbing was hard, to check a number I don't understand very well (and just to have a number to justify my perception of effort), so may be the figures are not accurate. Anyway, it takes me about 45 minutes to cover 9 km so I'm something like a fit...tortoise.

Elvis S just linked to this page: http://www.evanscycles.com/categorie...pares/f?page=2 Maybe you could find the spares you need here?

If it's not a lack of lubrication or rust in the hinge... maybe I'd need a spare frame :(
Don't know yet, the bike is at the workshop.
But the one who waited six months for a screw was the guy from Seville, Ekdog I think.
Thanks for the linj, I'll keep it.

I know, but thinking you maybe wanted to open it up yourself. I tend to want to "take a look innside just to see what it looks like.." when something is not working, and thinking others would want to do the same.. :)

Yes, I should have to dismount the hinge myself, clean, dry and lubricate and see with my eyes what was happening there. But now is impossible for me to try mechanic so I took it to the workshop, they called me on tuesday to tell me that... it was lack of lubrication!!!!!!

On Saturday I will take the bike back, hopefully working.

Thanks for your help, It's nice to receive wise advice.

First up, Ekdog has a serial beef with Dahon ownership and his useless Spanish non-Dahon mechanic which six million others don't.

He now operates as the President of the European Anti-Dahon Front and takes every chance to diss Dahons to newbies. He can become aggressive when challenged.

Bear this in mind when you read his posts.

Second, frame-hinge parts, screws, pivots and latch parts are easily available in Europe from CH White at www.dahonspares.co.uk and have been for at least five years. They usually ship stuff next day. If they don't and anyone in Europe wants a part from them, mail me. (I'm not a dealer)

Thirdly, Dahon frame pivots and latches need regular lubrication, whether they are stored in dry room or not. It's a point emphasized in the owners manual. Tolerances are close, and precise. Lubricate or weep.

Fourthly, Dahon had a production issue with frame pivot tolerances on some bikes in 2007, notably some, not all- Matrix and Jack frames which were stiff to operate. They were rectified by 2008 and have not reappeared. Dealers are aware.

On a completely unrelated note:

So good to read you again - I wondered where you'd vanished to...