You've ignored my point that weight alone does not determine how easy or difficult it is to carry or maneuver a folding bike while on foot. The size/shape/weight distribution/method of carrying while folded are not to be overlooked.

Simple experiment: try holding a gallon of milk in two hands with your arms outstretched. Now bring it closer to your body.

I'll wager that a Mobiky despite its 30 pounds is a lot easier to maneuver in a subway or on an escalator than my relatively light Swift or a folded Dahon Mu.

Regards
T

Why scoot when you can run? Just as fast and you already have the equipment on your feet.

It's clear you haven't tried one. Just as fast? Try keeping up with me in Manhattan. I'll even be in a suit and tie and you can be in your running gear.

Maybe I'm lacking the proper technique, but I've tried one and I don't think I could go faster than running.

Wow - MU Sl is 8.8 kg, lose gears etc 8kg, but you're still at 10kg with butchered seatpost?

What was your base model - I note it is a middle fold rather than outside - was it the MU P8 you adapted rather than a MU Sl.

I started with a Mu P8. SL is 8.7kg without pedals. FWIW my 12+kg bike was listed as 11kg on the Dahon site. My heavy pedals (with power grips) should be just about equivalent to the stock folding pedals.

The important light bits on the SL vs P8 are:
- Kojak vs Marathon Racer (-200g) and lighter innertube
- FSA Gossamer crank vs Sugino XD - has anyone weighted their XD and BB?
- Kinetix Pro wheels vs Kinetix Comp - again, does anyone have stats on this?
- SRAM X9 vs Dahon Neos - should be substantially lighter.

This sounds like apologetics to me.

Sure, the torque involved in lifting a bike, and its unwieldiness, are all interesting issues. But at some point this becomes an excuse for a poorly designed bike. The Mobiky, notionally "aluminum", is thirty pounds before you even begin to add gizmos. I have hefted one before at College Park Bicycles. It is heavy. And not particularly convenient to carry about in the many situations where you can't roll it. For a bike in the (and I mean this with love) clown bike category, this is totally unacceptable.

This thread started with someone asking about 15 pound bikes: weight mattered to them. Folded rolling is not everything if you have (for example) three flights of stairs to walk. And this thread is now devolving into suggestions that they get just about the heaviest folding bike on the market (that I am aware of -- maybe a Montague is heavier, I dunno). I say they've not been well served.

I've ridden a Mobiky a short distance at a bike show, but didn't lift it as the booth selling it weren't too sure about folding etc., & I actually own & ride a Strida now & then.

The other day I carried a 26 pounds Brompton through an Ikea store, swapping hands about half way around. It didn't *feel* any heavier really than my 22 pounds Strida (although I'd usually stroll that) & yesterday I hooked the saddle of the same Brompton over my shoulder with the rear triangle just dropped down my back, so I could walk up & down a rail crossing type bridge. Again it felt ok, & didn't take up much space, even semi folded.

A Downtube FSIX however, by comparison, I find so awkward a fold that I hardly ever "folded" it & that does feel heavy (ICR what its weight is) so I agree to a large extent that weight distribution is important, both folded & unfolded, for carrying purposes. A bike's stability when folded or unfolded during carrying & or strolling is significant to the weight perception.

It's going to be very hard to find a folder anywhere near 15 pounds, so if the OP can find a store which allows lots of folders to be carted & strolled around the store, she may find one that she can lift more easily than the rest, in spite of its weight. Some in particular will actually be easier to carry unfolded, if say the back & shoulders can be used to carry some of the weight.

No, it's not apologetics. It is simply a statement that the ergonomics of toting a folding bike--the bike's (un)wieldiness when being rolled or carried--involves much more than its dead weight: how it is carried, one's posture when carrying it, its shape and size when folded, and whether it stays in that shape or you have to hold the parts in with your hands and arms, are all much more important than dead weight.

Of course the OP asked about weight. But sometimes one must question the assumptions in the question itself. The underlying question has to do with a search for a folding bike that's easy for a woman of average stature to carry. Before you pan a bike for being "poorly designed", and before you label a focus on ergonomics rather than gram-shaving as a "devolution", consider carefully whether removing several pounds from the bike will actually address the real question.

Typically women have more lower-body strength than upper-body strength, so bikes that must be lifted and held out beside the body with one arm, no matter how light they may get (within practical limits), are likely to be harder for a woman to lift and tote around than a bike with a carrying handle that can roll, or a bike that can be held high up on its narrow, vertically-oriented, stroller-like frame so there's minimal lifting off to the side to do.

In any case, I suggested to the OP that she actually carry some bikes (some she might not have been aware of) in their folded states rather than focusing abstractly on weight, and I stand by that advice. There I believe the OP was very well-served. Reality trumps everything. If they work out for her, they work out. If they don't, they don't. I have no vested interested in either Mobiky or Strida.

Regards
T

P.S. Your comparing the Mobiky to the Montague actually underscores my argument about the importance of ergonomics. Are you really suggesting these two extremely different designs would be equally difficult to carry given their closeness in weight?

I'm going to vote against the Mobiky on this one. The OP wants a light bike, and the Carryme is a much lighter and cheaper alternative to the Mobiky. Makeinu already pointed out he has a 15lbs Carryme.

i got the whole bike..dahon doesn't sell frame alone..do they..?

i upgraded every bit of the bike..that's why i stripped the bike to the frame before..

@foldie: could you be more specific about which parts totaled 2.4kg? Is that frame only, or with fork and handlepost? Clamps?

Cheers.

CarryMe versus Mobiky has clear weight/performance trade-offs. The CarryMe (8.5kg) is a single-speed with an 8" wheel (8 x 1.25" tires according to Pacific-Cycle) and the Mobiky is a 3-speed with a 12" wheel and 2.1" tire (and a model with a 16" wheel is on the way). Mobiky does much better on hills, and some reviews of the CarryMe say that cracks in the sidewalk can give its tiny wheels trouble. Braking on the CarryMe is not stellar. Mobiky offers disc-brakes for sure-stopping. The CarryMe is carried, the Mobiky can be rolled and carried. The extra weight does get you something.

They're in roughly the same street-price range.

Regards
T

Just a few points of contention:
1. In my opinion the 3-speed Mobiky is not better on hills than the Carryme due to being double the weight. While weight is normally not thought to be as important when riding, in this case the weight difference is so egregious that the extra gears aren't enough make up the difference.
2. I believe that the "review" (which is in reality just a two line rant from someone who obviously didn't even try to ride the bike for more than a block) using the phrase "cracks in the sidewalk" is quite disingenuous because sidewalk cracks can be found with all kinds of extreme characteristics. While I don't deny the Carryme's wheels would have trouble with literal walls of sidewalk lifted a foot or more into the air by tree roots just as 26" wheels would, the suggestion that gaps between slabs or even moderately broken up pieces would cause a problem is downright laughable. Some people just have an irrational hatred of small wheels.
3. The Carryme can also be rolled or carried.
4. The single speed Carryme is almost half the price of a Mobiky. Only the two speed Carryme is in roughly the same street-price range as the Mobiky.

You're right that the brakes on the Carryme are terrible. You do get more with the Mobiky for the extra weight, but I don't think it's nearly as much as you say it is. You get better braking and more comfort due to the wider/taller wheels and the longer wheelbase, but you can also get those from the Strida at around the same price and without all the extra weight.

I've ridden some pretty heavy vintage steel bikes that used the Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub. If downshifting made a significant difference on those bikes when climbing a hill, why wouldn't it make a similar difference on the Mobiky?

I would not ride 1.25" tires in the city no matter what the wheel diameter. We have some cracks in the sidewalk and streets that lead to other dimensions. I'd feel much safer on a wide 2" tire.

Regards
T

P.S. I've seen internet prices for the Mobiky as low as $599, though brick-and-mortar retail prices have been $150-$200 higher. But internet buying is messy -- you never know who is an authorized reseller able to pass on to the purchaser the mfgr's warranty.

It does make a significant difference compared to muscling up that heavy vintage bike in middle gear, but so does dropping 15 pounds off the bike. So the Mobiky with 3 speeds and the Carryme weighing 15 pounds less are even IMO.

Can't argue with that, but I don't think anyone's ever going to get a 15 pound bike with 2" wide tires.

You're right that ergonomics can make just as much of a difference as light weight, but I think any rideable folder not made of unobtanium has to have both to not be a total pain for a smaller person to lug around.

I'd only quibble with "total pain" If the bike has been optimized for rolling then there is less need to carry the bike, though that sometimes cannot be avoided. A bike optimized for rolling would have these features:

• it remains a compact folded package and doesn't come apart while being rolled
• its front wheel doesn't suddenly decide to point wherever it pleases while it's being rolled
• it can be guided by a raised seat-post or by the frame itself in a vertically oriented fold
• it has a carry-handle or is otherwise easy to hold when lifting is unavoidable

Your prediction that a woman of smaller stature will find the Mobiky difficult could be correct. But one ought to try the Mobiky and the Strida and the CarryMe (and whatever other bikes are very light and/or good rollers) and judge for oneself, and not exclude any bike from one's real-world testing because of its weight alone. Fair enough?

Regards
T

Just to address this point: I actually liked the extra weight of a Mobiky when climbing hills --- I tried a hill while trying out the bikes at Mt Airy cycles. The extra weight lowered the center of mass and made me feel more stable.

He does? Anyone ask how he trimmed 3lbs off of a CarryMe? I just got back from vacation and haven't read all the back posts, so might have missed this, but would like to hear from anyone on how this was accomplished.. pics??

A heavy bike actually reduces stability because it's harder to muscle it around with your body. Try doing a trackstand on a motorcycle. When I was learning to ride a motorcycle I tried that just out of habit as the motorcycle wobbled at low speed and quickly ended up on the ground.

makeinu posted, he thinks "around" 15lbs. I dare say it must be a little more. Its hard to trim off 2,9lbs, here I posted some weights for calculation and some ideas
:https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...77#post7555277

Yeah I'm rounding down, it's probably closer to 16 pounds (15.x) ...more info over in the Carryme thread.