Bonzo Banana

Make sure the inner tubes aren't oversized for the tyres, just wondering if the inner tubes were pushing the tyres off. Sorry if stating an obvious check but sometimes the simple things can get overlooked or alternatively undersized for the tyre.

jur

Pics are essential at this stage. We can't proceed.

You seem like an experienced cycling nut; I know from experience that sometimes beads won't seat properly resulting in lopsided seating. What fixes it usually is to apply some talcum on the beads to promote low friction, and to over-inflate the tyres to pop the beads into place, then deflating it a bit. Or, make the tyre very soft by low pressure, then manhandling the tyre to encourage the bead to seat, then proceeding with full inflation.

But what you describe seems something different, so, pics please!

leoho5

Ok I mounted the 40-406 (1.5") Marathon Racers to the rims without the rim strips and the problem persisted so the rim strips are not the problem at the end. I took a picture of the rim with the Racers mounted. Notice the irregularity in distance between the white sidewall stripe and the edge of the rim sidewall. When I spun the tire, the tire was extremely lopsided with greater than 1cm deviation between high and low points. Almost unridable.

I then put the rims in my truing stand and there was no obvious irregularity of the rim floor or sides of the rim cavity.

Finally, I mounted the original 32-406 (1.35") Kendas (also without the rim strips) and low and behold, they mounted perfectly. 35-406 (also 1.35") Marathon Plus's & the slightly wider Marathon Racers both are not able to be mounted to the very thin 14.3mm internal diameter rim. The original dealer who sold my friend the Marathon Plus's, didn't check the tires after they mounted them, and then blamed her after they got sliced up by the rim edges.

I compared the beads of the Kendas to those of the Plus's and Racers and the wire bead is much thinner in the Kendas and the natural position of the beads is closed in the Kendas and open in both the Schwalbe's (see pic).

I must say I am completely surprised that Dahon chose such narrow rims for this model. I would have never recommended the Visc if I knew that one could only mount 32-406 or narrower tires. I must say this is pretty disappointing. I never heard of a Dahon rim that couldn't mount Big Apples and now these rims can't mount a 35-406 (1.35")? Wow. To make matters worse, the too wide rim strips initially interfered with the mounting of the narrow Kendas which was remedied after cutting and narrowing the strips.

And the final strange finding is that I looked at a Dahon Visc rim from another friend of mine that had a 47-406 tire successfully mounted on it. Don't know the exact model but it was definitely a Visc.

In summary, I feel really bad for recommending this bike to my friend not only because of the rim problems but also a completely uncaring Dahon Europe.

Final questions:

1) Is the narrow 14mm internal diameter a factory error since there is at least another Visc rim that is wider?
2) Should/would Dahon replace my friend's narrow rims for ones that can actually mount the tires she needs?
3) Should we go back to the original dealer to try and get a refund for the Plus's that they ruined due to them being improperly mounted?
4) Has anyone ever successfully contacted Dahon Europe for anything?

Thanks to everyone who has offered advice and I'm sorry that I was not able to respond to everyone.

Best wishes,

Leo

bargainguy

Ask your friend what she wants. She might be happy with a new set of rims that would actually accommodate the tires she needs, but at this point, she might also want absolutely nothing to do with Dahon based on the complete lack of dealer support.

Once she tells how you she wants to proceed, you have a bunch of different options. I would not go back to the original dealer under any circumstances, because if they didn't help you then, they will be clueless now, and the chances of getting good service are not good.

I don't think it's unreasonable for a different dealer to provide a set of rims which actually mount the tires she needs. That's probably the most cost effective option, and they should be willing to switch over the cassette and mount the tires at no cost.

But if your friend says enough, I don't want anything to do with Dahon anymore, then go back to that first link I posted and seek legal recourse under Austrian law, claiming the product is defective, the dealer provided no support, and you want your money back.

Sorry you both had to go through all this. A lot of this could have been taken care of if the original dealer had been more helpful. Now, we get the message all over the world that this dealer just plain doesn't care. Not good for the dealer, not good for Dahon.

leoho5

@bargainguy: thx for your input. agree it is sad that the original dealer is not helpful. will figure it out. thx for instructions on how to post a picture attachment.

@jur: you are right that pics are important. thanks also for your feedback.

@Bonzo Banana: i also was wondering if the tubes could be the culprit, at the end they weren't.

@Winfried: i live close to Bike Kitchen. they are a nice crew.

@thor: thanks for helping me with the rim strip issue. they are now laying flat.

MJBikes99

If Dahon EU does not response to your email , you can contact Dahon directly I think. I contacted Dahon for help on the magnetic lock several months ago and get quick response. BTW, I am living in Malaysia, so there is no time difference.

Bonzo Banana

I mentioned at the beginning that the problem may be non-standard rims that cause problems with tyres with limited compatibility. You can get some decent wheels from one of the big wheel builders directly, like Taylors wheels of germany.

https://www.taylor-wheels.com/bike-w...500-7-10-black



That gives you a range of 28-62mm tyres which should mean you are free to use any 20" tyre you want basically, correctly mounted and safe without problems. Then sell on the old wheels as high quality Dahon wheels although mention the limited tyre compatibility and may even get more than what you paid for the replacement wheels. This assumes the Dahon frame and forks will have sufficient clearance for wider tyres etc.

L Arnold

Are the tires in question Schwalbes? I recall something on Facebook where Schwalbe tires would not fit and Kenda tires would fit. Possibly all solved with the Rim Strips but I do think there could be issues in Wire sizing brand to brand as well on tires. Of course, rim sizing, rim to rim can be an issue.

I have Visc D18 w/ Dahon stock aero WTB rims on them and I can put anywhere from 1.35 Kenda up to 1.95 Kenda on them, no problem. I have not explored Schwalbes.

I expect I can put up to 2.125" Kenda on these rims. My issue is that it is a tight Fender fit at 1.95". I do put 2.125" on non-fendered Dahon Jetstream bikes. Expect 2.2 and 2.3" would also work. Different Rims however than the Visc.