Folding Bikes
 

I'm reposting this from my Speed TR thread::

I finished a tour in China and S.E Asia last year and am thinking of crossing America this summer. My LHT cracked, so I left it in Beijing, so now I'm looking for a new bike. I was thinking of hitchbiking actually, so I am tending towards a folder, and Speed TR seems the most economical around (677$ on amazon 2008 model). But for folding bikes a few things seem troublesome for me: weight limits, durability, and the ease of repair.

Additionally, I'm going to be self-supported, camping and cooking all the way (I managed to find crappy hostels all the way to Beijing on my last trip, so this will be a new challenge for me)--can the bike take such a load?

After I graduate, I feel like crossing Europe and cycling across Asia, could the Speed TR take that?

Or should I give up biking and hitchhike all the way? Hm..

And...can a Tubus Carge 26" and a Tubus Tara fit on the Dahon Speed TR?

I don't know anything about the Speed TR, but I've had a Bike Friday New World Tourist for 10 years and it hasn't cracked yet, including during a couple of trips to SE Asia, among other places. They're very well made.

I would not use a Dahon for heavily loaded touring. I think they're useful bikes, but they are not designed for cargo hauling. So if you're the sort of rider who is going to want 40lbs/18kg of gear and food (or more!)... you'd be better off with a different bike. If you're more like Nun or Bekologist in terms of load, a Dahon might work quite well.

It looks like Bike Friday's Tikit can handle more aggressive load and more aggressive riding. Some of the stock models are around $1000, which is the same as a current Dahon Speed TR. Their more serious touring bikes run higher, and get excellent reviews even when the owner rides them quite heavily loaded.

I own a Dahon (Helios P8) and I personally wouldn't use it for touring with much weight. I find it to be OK at what it does well, but for me that is casual riding around town for short distances.

If I was riding longer distances or carrying much and wanted a folder, I'd spring for a Bike Friday.

Where did the LHT crack? What size is it? What kind of load were you hauling and what kind of roads did it live it's life on? How much do you weigh and how many miles were on the frame? Sorry for all the probing questions - but just like I hear someone my age (40) has had a heart attack, I get real curious with regards to their history and how that relates to my own life. I also have a LHT - 54cm

Perhaps get some weight off the frame by using a trailer?

I'd be sure to try it with a load before buying. I can easily imagine the tail wagging the dog with a trailer on a Dahon, but I haven't tried it so I could be wrong.

Try the folding bikes forum here at BF for *lots* more experience with folding bikes, including the Speed TR.

BTW, people have ridden Bike Friday folding bikes everywhere, they're extremely tour-worthy. Bike Friday now sells a "value" version of the Bike Friday New World Tourist for $995.

I have been looking into touring on a dahon recently. I really like the idea of having a small folding bike to make taking it on planes/trains/buses easier. The speed tr is very expensive here so I was thinking of getting a 2nd hand standard speed or similar and modding it for touring.

I did find this account of someone who used one for a long Europe tour

http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/Mike/dahon_touring.html

One thing I don't understand is you asking about racks. All the info I have seen on the tr shows it to come with front and rear racks. If it doesn't I would have thought it would be easiest to get the dahon racks rather than trying to get standard ones to fit. I wouldn't think the a standard front rack would fit anyway.

They have been producing them for a while now and they are supplied as standard to take front and rear full size panniers. Hence I suspect that they will be fine with a sensible full load. They probably aren't suited for carrying 3 weeks of water across the Sahara though.

Thanks guys! Hi Freebooter...well I have my tubus racks already from my last tour and they are pretty awesome so I hope I can reuse them.

At zoovergroover: Check out my last thread
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=528463 :) I miss my LHT