Tomorrow I start my search to see if buying a very portable bicycle is any easier/cheaper in Ho Chi Minh City than Taipei.

My preliminary observation is as follows...

There is no (or a very small) market for folding Bicycles in Vietnam

High school girls and old men might ride a bicycle, Older teens to twenties mid class men ride fancy ($) bicycles. Occasionally I see folding bikes ridden by girls, but the fold looks incidental to two-wheeled transportation.

The folding bicycle ad image of a trendy counter culture executive with his helmet and office rucksack seems to be fantasy here. From casual conversations with locals here it sounds like there are several categories of bike users...

$30-100 functional non-folders (cheaper used)
$300+ young men's fancy bikes

Curiously, it is MUCH. cheaper ($200-250 used) to buy a motorcycle here than equivalent bicycle.

Clearly, except for cheapo heavy and not truly portable Chinese (?) bicycles there ARE NO FOLDING BIKES IN VIETNAM, premium ones locally made I mean. Even imported no? Brompton and Flamingo - no local distributors come up.

A Vietnamese inventor supposedly has designed a foldable e-bike (Corneto?). Will see.

Where: The 'Tan Dinh bike strip' I call it. There must be others in this metropolis
District: 3
Landmark: Go to pink church (Tan Dinh Catholic), across from Tan Dinh Market. If standing facing the church walk however many blocks (1?) it is left, then right at Vo Thi Sau and within the blocks are all the bikes shops mentioned below
Crossroads: The two blcks after a block NE (right) from Pasteur (N-S) and Vo Thi Sau ((E-W) when coming from Pham Ngu Lao tourist ghetto.
Time: I shopped 18:00-> 18:30 / 19:30-20:00 (too late really, some shops closing at 18:30)
How many shops: About 8 within 10 minute walk from each other, more on north side but one of the rwo biggest '107' on south side. JETT shop opposite 107
Number of foldables: THREE and all in one shop (see below).
Best shop for: XE DAP 152 (Bicycle Shop 152, as in they presumably moved from a few shops down) Pleasant family shop though language will be a problem if the daughter is not in. Three types of adult folding bikes. For some reason I did not like...

1. GIANT AIRY 4.0; steel frame; 6 gears; VND 3,100,000
2. JAVA SPORT FIT (Italy-Taiwan she claimed) aluminum frame, 8 gears; VND 7,200,000

Address is... 148B Vo Thi Sau, P. (ward) 8, Q. (District) 3, TP. HCM

Phone: 08-3823-1580

Email: xedap152@yahoo.com.vn

Bike I liked: NAIKXUS 20F039; 6-gears, folds into a slightly obnoxious pie shape, not truly compact like a Brompton, Flamingo etc. But it was *much* lighter than the Giant or Java. Also a sleeker design. Felt comfortable to sit on. But I immediately noticed a wonky post (whatever you call where the handlebars attach to). It felt flexible. Not a good sign. Daughter called the worker over to start to unfold it, letting the handlebars down. Took him five minutes of two adjustments to get it solid. Not confidence inspiring. But out of under ten shops this was the only bike that was anything close to what I saw in Taipei (Terns, Dahons, Oris, Flamingos etc). The good news is the price - VND 5,600,000 ticket/asking price. USD 263. That's a sixth (16%) the price of the premium bikes I really want. I'd guess it's half as good. Damn, perfection doesn't cost 50% more, it costs 600% more!
Maybes: JETT shop says that in May they will be fetting Terns, unknown models. 'Many people are asking for them' I wonder if this is a business strategy - wait until enough peopke ask for/order a type of bike and only then order any to keep in stock? 168 CDE Vo Thi Sau, Phuong 8, Quan 3. Open 9:00 - 21:00, tel: (84) 8 3820-9108, if calling locally 08-3820 etc, jett-cycles.com
Foreigners welcome: At JETT SHOWROOM, yes. At 107 shop much less so, but they seemed to want to close early
English spoken: By manager at JETT, yes
Sample prices for context: The following are NON-folding bikes and I did not note details... JETT SHOWROOM - Canondale MTB bicycles 2.5 million VND to 18/20 million. Canondale helmets range from VND1,149,000 to 2,699,000. FOLDING E-bikes (made by Kouan and Midata) 5 million at THANH TUNG 164B Vo Thi Sau. She said they were made in Taiwan. At another shop shown bikes for 11 million - did not note what I was looking at! VND21,000 = USD1
Editorial: Future days could change my opinion, but tonight did not change my initial impression - the shops only confirmed what I saw on the streets, viz. Aside from kids bikes (tots really, like five year-olds) Vo Thi Sau shops bikes are either racing bikes (who buys these and where they are ridden I do not know), sturdy classic looking bikes (favoured by girls?) and especially MTBs (mountain trail bikes?) targeted to high school to university aged Vietnamese young males. It's like a marketing advisor did a survey and came to the profitable conclusion that the buyer is a 20 year-old upper middle class male who is not quite dating, has not begun his career and spends his time in a gender-identical peer group. The bicycle's colour, design and features should convey ruggedness, power, samesness to his peers, adventure and speed (but not like he's in a hurry or needs to lose weight - this is a status symbol and a tool of personal mobility/sovereignty *not* because you can't afford a motirbike, because your dad already gave him one for his sixteenth bithday. This one he paid for himself, a stepping stone in responsibility). Under no circumstances should the bicycle look effeminate or androgynous, too intellectual/artistic or suggest Chinese manufacture. It should like as if it made in the USA and is used on mountain trails (actually HCMC roads can be rough). Absolutely no baskets that might suggest it is a work vehicle or used by girl students. No lights otherwide it insinuates rider is interested in safety and thus is immasculated.

Or I'm just an old fart in a foreign culture and mileu.

Xe Dap 152 bike shop welcomed me, albeit somewhat cautiously. I had to *ask* for her to pull the bike out so I could try it on for size and examine it. I don't know if it's Asia or me and Asia, but I'm not having very good luck with sellers saying 'give us your passport and take it around the block'. You know, like trying on a pair of shoes?

The problem in Saigon is horrendous rush hour traffic. But there is the sidewalk...

Can't get this slow wifi connection and Samsung tablet to work well on this website! So having problems editing post.

Zero internal hub bicycles seen on streets or on the 8-10 bike shops.

Not sure if this is the same bike...

https://touch.trademe.co.nz/listing/view/697548803

More importantly - is it worth $263 US dollars? Not 'is it as good as a Flamingo?. My only hesitation is it is going to be a hassle to ship *unless* there is a workaround to disassemble.

Frankly I don't understand how you can patent an idea. If I design a good balcony and my neighbour copies me, how can I cry foul? The whole history of the human race is people copying each other! Why doesn't somebody in China just buy the three best bicycles in the world, examine them, reproduce them and sell them at a tenth of the cost? I buy Colombia brand shorts for $40 in Canada. I also buy $5 copies in Cambodia. Are they the same? Of course not. But the genuine ones bought in the developed world don't last ten times longer.Faking the labels is cheating. I would just copy and sell lookalikes. You want to copy a Mona Lisa? All power to you as long as you don't sign 'Michaelangelo' (unless of course your name *is* Michael Angelo).

I googled the model number and I found the manufacturer with a hard to read spec sheet...

NAKXUS
Made in Guangdong, PRC
180 workers in factory in Guangzhou province
Claims making 30,000 pieces per month (maybe non-folders as well?)
This suggests to me that I had it backwards, that in reality the world market in folders does NOT consist of premium bikes made in a cottage industry in UK or quality controlled factories owned by elite manufacturers like Dahon and Tern. Just like the Taipei Bike Show showed, IT IS OVERWHELMINGLY CHINA COMPANIES selling zillions of low to mid-range (or undiscovered out of mainland China?) bicycles that just don't get exported to USA. This company claims to sell to Europe, Middle East and southeast asia.

In next post I'll post the specs. The technical stuff is meaningless to me.

Nakxus folding bike (1 of 2 models)

Frame: alloy folding frame
Fork: alloy fork
Stem: alloy stem
Rim: alloy rims
Hubs: alloy hubs
Gear System: Shimano SL-RS41-8 / RD-M316 / HG20-8 gear system
Tyre: Chaoyang 20" 1.35
Brake: alloy disk brake and ZOOM alloy brake lever
Other: alloy handle bar / seat post: KMC variable chain / NECO onevpc. Waterproof 8.8 party (88-910) / folding petals / CNC chain wheel and crank

Darn. Just took a closer look at the Nakxus. It doesn't have fenders and maybe it is impossible to easily attach storage pockets amd baskets. Come to think of it it looks more like it is designed for speed and style than durability and portability. For me at least FAIL.

Thing is I don't want to spend six billion dollars on my first folder. Just the minimum to test out the concept. Problem is if I don't get one that accomplishes the bare minimum my impression of folders will be ibaccurate because I will have boughten the wrong bike to start with. Argh...

Better as a blog...

hehe...

you answered your own question, bro.

and that's the problem..

consider this process an education.
knowledge is it's own reward...

if i recall correctly, you are ultimately going to land in thailand, right? my advice would be to continue shopping and learning, but hold off on purchasing a bike until you reach the "land of smile". you will be able to find examples of every bike on the planet in bangkok.

Who knows where I end up?

Yes, I see that the Nakxus and many other folders are sold in Bangkok. Nakxus is see is also being sold in Australia (for AUS 400) and Russia.

Ah, it gets better (and worse)... Nakxus makes an internal gear version, which is really what I prefer. And it comes with a bag. Online is illustrated info how to fold. Supposedly involving a velcro strap. Perhaps the one I saw in HCM is an old model or a 'second'. And there is no rush. GW bicycles in Malaysia sells a 7-speed Nakxus for RMY690 = USD214. I soend more time in Malaysia anyway. Pantip Market advertises a new one in Thailand for THB5900 ($200). The race to the bottom!

Actually this would make a great sticky - Where to buy (or where to start looking) in various countries based on member's experiences. This would be quite helpful indeed for those travellers who are also considering purchasing local to the country.
Very useful, Hermespan! Keep us updated with your quest!

People in China are better off on the average than in Vietnam, but still in the streets you see practically only basic bikes. Well, for that matter if you checked my US area you might have to wait weeks in the street to see any folder. Better bikes are bought in China a bit like trophies, if at all, rewards for financial well being, but nobody in their right mind would park one in the street. There are few shops with better bikes because they serve a rather narrow fraction of the market. There is also a factor that bikes are considered a cheap form of transportation, so those whose economic status just went up might be looking down at bikes in general.