Any experiences or recommendations related to folding bikes used for touring?

Check out The Path Less Pedaled they toured on Bromptons. I used a Bike Friday New World Tourist for a few years, not really a folder but a compact bike.

I plan on a Brompton eventually.

Aaron

I have a 2003 Dahon Boardwalk D6 I would love to set up for touring myself. With the limited gearing I do not think it may not be up for the challenge.

I have no experience with higher end folders, but I wouldn't want to tour with my Dahon Helios in anything but the most casual of riding conditions. The long stem is way too flexy and the bars don't go quite low enough or nearly far enough forward to suit me. It might be OK for a casual ride along a flat riverside or towpath, but I find it suitable for casual rides of only a few miles around town.

I have toyed with the idea of modifying it for a better position, but decided not to bother because it would probably be even more noodley.

Lots of people ride Bike Fridays (20" wheels) on tours,
see their reports on the company Site and CGOAB.

I had toured on both the Bike Friday New World Tourist as well as on my current Dahon Mu SL towing a Burley trailer. My experience with touring on a folder is that you are going to get a lot of looks. The key to choosing a brand is fit and then purpose. Bike Friday is the best in terms of fitting. Others aren't as bad. Also, you neglected to tell us why you want a folding bike?

Thanks. I'll have to see how Russ and Laura are liking the Bromptons.

Just wondering how you liked the NWT, and whether the ride is as satisfactory over the long days, compared with more conventional touring bikes you might have tried.

Would also be interested to hear any comparisons between the NWTs and Bromptons, and why people seem to move from the NWTs to the Bromptons.

Would it be too involved to change the gearing? I've heard that some folders use standard components, while others do not.

Thanks for that. It's good to hear the detaíls of where these Dahons fall short. It has made me move up a notch in narrowing it down.

Bike Fridays can definitely work well for multiple day trips and long days. That said...

Pros - folders/20" wheels
• handle a little better when loaded than 700c/26"
• easier to transport on a bus, train or car
• fully usable / good for commuting when not on tour
• wheels are stronger -- IF properly built
• Bike Friday: Fully customizable from the company, if you prefer specific parts; can build the bike much faster than most custom shops


Cons
• If you transport the bike in a hard case, you have to do something with the case / might limit you to loops
• price premium for the fold
• baggage and drivetrain is lower to the ground, can catch stuff / not as good for off-road
• people will constantly ask you about your bike
• potholes, bumps, curbs and cobblestones are worse with small wheels


IMO it's worth it if you fly constantly and/or were considering getting a custom frame and build anyway. Otherwise, it's just a question of preference.

Good idea. I'll see if I can find some equipment evaluations in the folder journals.

Thanks for that. How díd you like touríng with these bíkes? Any further suggestions on selecting a folder?

Why a folder? One aspect is multi-modal travel. They make it easier to bring the bike on a plane, train, car, etc.

Another is security. What jogged my interest was reading a post by a guy in SF who had left his bike locked in a seemingly safe and guarded indoor parking garage, only to return soon afterwards to find nothing left but a cut lock.

The idea of being able to bring it wíth you inside is very appealíng. Whether it is shoping, a movie, a museum, a líbrary, a gallery, it's so much better to have it with you. Plus you can relax and enjoy what you are doing more.

(The guy in SF mentioned above swítched to a folder, and was very happy with it. Folders really seem to work well for solving this.)

Another Bike Friday NWT rider here. Great bike, toured on it at home and aboad. Took it on a plane, train, ferry and in the trunk of a cab. I also managed to smuggle it to a few hotel rooms
The bike rides like a charm, very stable fully loaded, standard components, great gearing, good customer service...can't say enough good things about it, really.

Thanks for that. Good ínfo.

Thanks, it's good to know. It helps sometimes to have a good company behind the bike. I've heard others give them high marks as well.

Can you describe the riding experience (loaded and unloaded) in comparison to other (touring or non-touring) bikes you've ridden? Is it the sort of bike you would pick out from a stable of bikes if you were choosing one for an enjoyable recreational day ride?

(One thing I'm wondering specifically is whether it is simply stable and satisfactory, or whether the ride has that joyride wow factor.)

I have a Surly Long Haul Trucker and a Bike Friday New World Tourist that was built using measurements from the Surly LHT. With that said, there are a lot of differences between the two bikes, despite using the same measurements to create the same fit (riding position) between them.

My views are based on my own personal riding experiences, so others' views may be different. Compared to the Surly LHT, the BF NWT is:
-More agile. Way easier to dodge around obstacles and squeeze through tight spaces.
-Able to accelerate faster. A roadie that I passed told me that I should remove my rear safety triangle because I was going so fast.
-Less stable. The full-size touring bike tracks straight. The 20" wheel bike's zippy-ness means that I can easily ride no-handed on the Surly, and not so easily on the Bike Friday
-Less comfortable when going through potholes, gravel, cobblestoned roads, etc. It's a given with a smaller wheel size and narrower tires.

This is comparing them when unloaded. I have yet to do a loaded tour on my Bike Friday, but here's to hoping that it will be more stable than I am expecting it to be. Basically, I'd take the Bike Friday if I had to go through an obstacle course or a sprint, and the Surly if I had to do a longer ride through rougher terrain. I alternate between them. When I get bored of riding one, I switch over to the other one since they ride so differently.

My stable has only two bikes at the moment, a hybrid which is my commuter and around city bike and the NWT. I choose a bike depending on if I will be locking the bike up and leaving it (never my NWT), where I'm going to be riding and how I'm getting there, and which bike is easier to grab.
I think NWT is more stable loaded, but I've ridden it plenty of times unloaded with no problems.


NWT is not really bike for this though. It does fold, but not as easily as Tikit or Brompton and it's heavy to carry around. You also have to keep in mind that just because you have a folding bike, not everybody will allow you to take it inside, it depends on a place and person.
And if you're thinking about touring with it and taking it into museums and galleries, that won't really work either with bike and luggage in tow. Just something to keep in mind.

There's a folding bike subforum here on Bike Forums, have a look through some threads there. https://www.bikeforums.net/forumdispl...-Folding-Bikes

Niles, I rode a NWT with a Llama fork making it possible to ride w a 2.0 Fat Apple on the front and a 1.6 Schwalbe Supreme on the rear. For touring it's worth being able to put on a Fat Apple. Lots of cushion but still fast riding.

Hi,

I like both bikes actually. I used to tour with 700c and 26" bikes, but because what I do now touring wise, I use the folder exclusively to tour loaded and my carbon bike as a light tourer.

Rather than repeating the pros and cons of the Bike Friday, I like to highlight some differences. There are differences between a Bike Friday and my Dahon. First of all, a Bike Friday is not a true multi-modal folding bike. It does not quick fold like a Dahon or a Brompton. It does however travel fold. The advantage to this is that it does ride better like a normal bike and the top tube is a solid piece of metal. It helps stabilize the bike under a full load. This was somewhat true in the past. However, the latest Dahons and Terns plus the Bromptons have now erased that disadvantage.
Secondly, if you prefer attacking hills standing on the pedals, you need to sit and spin.
You can really torque the handlebar on the Bike Friday and you will feel very uncomfortable with the flex. My Dahon Mu SL has a stiffer handlepost than my old Bike Friday and that was the reason the Dahon sold me on this. Some budget Dahons do not possess the same technology as a Mu SL (it was one of their top of the line bike). It's fine touring a few hundred miles, but when I did 5 Western States and over 10,000 miles, I so hated the stem of the Bike Friday. Nothing would make it stiff and non-flexy. I tested the newer version of the NWT and it still flex under load. The Tern bikes are much stiffer than my Dahon under load. So this is it. If you prefer sitting on hills and spin your way up, then this is really not a concern.
Other than this, both bikes tour almost alike. I now tour with a Burley Travoy because when I'm going to take the train, I don't need to unclip any panniers aside from my front bar bag. The Travoy acts like a luggage carrier with wheels and the Dahon folded and stored nicely tuck near the seat. Off the train, unfold the bike and clip the trailer back to the bike and off I go. If you have to do this more than once, you will appreciate the convenience rather than fold the bike but it's still somewhat big with the chain dangling from the drive train, carry panniers with you -- very clumsy. Also, towing a 2 wheel trailer does not compromise handling performance of my bike unlike when it's loaded with 4 panniers where it is heavy, sluggish and somewhat tippy.

Has anyone used an Airnimal for touring?

although not a tour in the usual sense, i am taking my Dahon Speed P8 to Ride the Rockies this year--I will let you know how it goes.

train safe=

I loved my NWT it rode as well as my large framed bikes with very rough roads being the exception. I sold it because I needed money at the time and someone offered me what I has purchased it for. My main reason for going with the Brompton is 1) compact, fast fold and 2) It is one of the few folders that I can ride comfortably. I am 6'-2" with long arms and legs. My normal road frame is a 64cm, most folders with 16" wheels are just to short for me. I may buy another NWT too, I loved the suitcase/trailer concept and used it a fair bit. My current needs are something that will collapse quickly and as small as possible. I am not a high daily mileage rider, 60 miles is a long day for me.

Aaron

There aren`t many of those floating around, unfortunately. Crazyguy does have a few tour logs though, and I`m pretty sure there`s a Youtube video featuring a short tour on a Joey. That`s about it as far as I know.

Buy one, tour on it, and report back, please