I've been wanting a Mu Uno due to its sleek and simplicity of a single speed. Now I found there will be a Dahon Speed Uno which is very similar, but much cheaper. Do any of you have any opinions on the two in comparison? Thanks

Dahon Mu Uno


Dahon Speed Uno

For one thing, it would be easier to U-lock the Speed through the rear triangle: Not easy with the Mu frame. For times when I don't want to bring it into a building.

The Speed at least, looks like it has that plastic chainguard that is attached to the chainring—breakable. Mu picture not big enough to tell (assuming the pictures are accurate representations of the bicycles).

Used to be that the Speed series was made of steel too, not sure about now. The frame is only a small part of the Dahon bicycles though.

Bummer not available till spring/summer.

I like the look of the Mu better but I may be biased because of the higher price (ya know the thought of higher cost = better bike). The Mu is $599 whereas the Speed is $379.

Whether it is made of steel of not, is one more durable than the other? Is there a benefit with having a steel frame or is it the other way around?

fixed

If you were ever contemplating converting to belt drive, you could with the Mu, but not with the Speed as there would be no way to get the belt on and off of the Speed.. If you want to spend $400 on a Mu Uno, I've got one to sell. PM if interested..

The Speed looks similar to my Downtube Nova in that the chainring is integrated to the crankarm, so if you want a bigger chainring you'll have to get a whole new crankset, whereas the Uno is swappable. Not too big of a deal, though, since I got a basically new Gossamer road crankset with external bottom bracket and 53t large chainring for $25 on ebay.

Even with that big of a chainring its hard to get a decent ratio if you want a freewheel, since most only go down to 16t. I got one of the crappy 15t BMX freewheels that are still around NOS but its not good quality, which puts the gear inches in the mid to upper 60's, which works pretty good. If you want any smaller than that, Nashbar has a single-speed cassette hub, which would take smaller cogs or else you can go fixed. I think the Sturmey-Archer 2-speed hub is a good alternative for these bikes to get a better crusing gear and separate startup gear, but that's another thread...

I am a newbie to this forum so I don't have the required 50 posts to send you a PM. If you'd like, shoot that information here.

How would you do a belt drive? What are the pros and cons of using a belt drive vs a typical change? I know grease is one of them.

Also, the Mu Uno is 22 lbs and the Speed Uno is 24 lbs.

Ooo! Nice to see the Speed Uno. Like the Mu quite a bit, but too rich for a ss folder. Either is begging for a S/A S2C hub...

I agree the price of the Mu Uno is quite steep. For $600 range, there are so many choices out there that might steer me to go with "geared" bike. I wish it was priced at $399, and the speed at $299.

me too ...lol

for me the mu uno does it with that nice curvy frame. Plus the mu is using the newer clamp technology while the speed is using the old vice grip tech that's on most of their frames.

Heheh. This question not asked enough really.

By the way, look at the specs
https://www.nycewheels.com/dahon-fold...speed-uno.html
https://us.dahon.com/bikes/1646/mu-uno

The Speed has no seatpost pump. And has Dahon tyres c.f. Shwalbe. Different grips, and different saddle.

Single speed/fixed is not my thing, so no recommendation.

i like both models.
as i said i would love to be able to seel them cheaper, but thats life I guess...

I love the ss bikes as there is a sense of simplicity and clean lines which is striking. Having said that the mu is much sexier than the speed.. but the speed is a good platform to mod later on ( you simply have more money to mod from the get go ..lol )
steel or alloy is NOT an issue since about 20 years ago.... but choices are good
what i wished for is a real ss flip flop hub on the mu and the coaster brake hub only on the speed...maybe next year.
maybe an automatik or 2 speed coaster hub as an option for both....

ss with folders ( which have long handleposts and seatposts) is somewhat a oxymoron as you now have to pull and push like crazy on the handlepost to keep momentum up .... while I usually suggest to sit down and spin on a regular folder ....keeping the cadence higher than usual ( in order not to experience some ofthe flex ) now with a single speed you are forced to mash the one gear to come up to speed...

its not a big problem as the speed frame and the mu especially is a pretty stiff platform .... but there are some newbie folder folks with a singlespeeds, which wish for gears and a more relaxed spinning bike later on.... a few .... actually not many at all, which let Dahon to offer a second ss bike after all...

thor

Personal experience: U-locking no problem with the Mu.

Flash! This just in! They've invented a way to fix that.

Step 1: wait patiently until such time - if ever - Gates makes a drive belt short enough to fit.

now comes the speed uno...

when the mu uno was about to appear, my friends and I were already fantasizing.
1. to fit a 3 speed IG coaster brake hub.
2. to make it fixed gear.
3. to fit a nexus/alfine 8 speed hub
4. to fit a rohloff hub.... just kidding...

now that the speed is also uno...

well.... simply one more option.
at a lower price....

What's the OLD on these bikes?

The Mu Uno is 120mm .. you can also run a Gates belt on the Mu Uno if you wanted, but you would have to pay special attention to available sprockets to get acceptable ratios for a conversion.

Which is much easier when you convert the UNO to a DUE with 451 wheels

Greetings

So would like to build up an Uno with a S2C + Gates Centerline...

Interesting, I was told from a reliable source that the Mu Uno is too narrow to fit a Gates Belt drive. Are you confident that the Gates Belt drive will fit?

Checked Thors site and the Speed Uno is in.