A Little Unsteady

[iSee]

Hello, Everyone. I'm new to the forum, and look forward to my stay here. I would like to start things off with a question/concern please.

I recently purchased a new folding bike, a Dahon Vitesse i7. Considering this COVID situation is still with us, I thought it would be nice to have a bike that I can fold up and put in the trunk of my car and head off where the populace is a little less. The issue I'm having with the bike is in regards to stability. While riding, it feels a bit squirrelly. I'm thinking that perhaps it might have something to do with a smaller wheel size (20"). I'm used to riding bikes with 26" wheels, but this smaller wheel is new to me. I don't want to ride a bike that is unsteady while in traffic. I've tweaked the set up by raising and lowering both the seat post and handlebar post, but to no avail. Would installing wider tires make an improvement? The widest I've seen so far that will work with the bike is 20x2.15 (Schwalbe Big Ben). Any thoughts in regards to a wider tire improving ride stability, or perhaps other suggestions? Or is it a sort of learning curve where time is needed to get used to the bike?

Thank you.

 

[byegad]

I don't know the Vitesse, but have owned, Boardwalks and a Speed-Pro. The Boardwalks had wide tyres the Speed-Pro really very narrow ones. The latter I could ride no hands but the Boardwalk always needed at least one hand on the bars.

 

[fossyant]

Just get used to the bike

 

[Schwinnsta]

Smaller wheels ride more "squirrelly", however, you get used to them. Wider tires do help. I put Big Apples on my 20-inch, and it transformed the ride.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

It’ll be the smaller wheels which take an adjustment period before your riding smooths out again.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I have 2 bikes (OK ebikes) one is a normal sized - 700C - wheels and the other is a folder with 20inch wheels.
The folder also has far narrower bars
the 2 combines - plus the very different geometry - does make the folder feel squirraly at times
However, once I started riding the folder around a lot more I just got used to it
Now even bumpy canal paths feel OK on it

I would suggest that you just make sure every thing that is supposed to be tight it tight and try getting used to it.

 

[TheDoctor]

Smaller wheeled bikes do take some getting used to, so I'm sure it's nothing wrong with you or the bike.

 

[shingwell]

There's a good article at https://www.cyclingabout.com/understanding-bicycle-frame-geometry/ about how various aspects of the frame geometry affect the steering. In short: if you are designing a compact bike, such as a folder, you reduce things such as the steering tube angle as much as you can get away with - for size reasons - but that has a hit on the steering sensitivity.

As others have said, you do get used to it, and might even come to prefer it for being "nimble".

 

[annedonnelly]

You'll get used to and after a while you'll switch between bikes without even noticing the difference

 

[cougie uk]

Just find somewhere quiet for a bit of practice. You'll soon get the hang though.

 

[iSee]

You guys are great. Thank you for your help. Well, I will give it time to get used to, and perhaps put the wider tires on it.

 

[KnittyNorah]

Hello, Everyone. I'm new to the forum, and look forward to my stay here. I would like to start things off with a question/concern please.

I recently purchased a new folding bike, a Dahon Vitesse i7. Considering this COVID situation is still with us, I thought it would be nice to have a bike that I can fold up and put in the trunk of my car and head off where the populace is a little less. The issue I'm having with the bike is in regards to stability. While riding, it feels a bit squirrelly. I'm thinking that perhaps it might have something to do with a smaller wheel size (20"). I'm used to riding bikes with 26" wheels, but this smaller wheel is new to me. I don't want to ride a bike that is unsteady while in traffic. I've tweaked the set up by raising and lowering both the seat post and handlebar post, but to no avail. Would installing wider tires make an improvement? The widest I've seen so far that will work with the bike is 20x2.15 (Schwalbe Big Ben). Any thoughts in regards to a wider tire improving ride stability, or perhaps other suggestions? Or is it a sort of learning curve where time is needed to get used to the bike?

Thank you.

I have a Dahon iCiao 7 folder - a low step-thru with 20" wheels - bought in July 2021 largely because I no longer drive and wanted something that I can take around on buses (free) as well as on trains.
I'd never had a 20" wheel folding bike before, and found it massively unstable the first few times I rode it, to the extent that I was thinking what have I done in spending all this money and ended up putting the seat down, folding the pedals up and using it as a balance bike, like a child, on a very slight downhill slope!
I soon overcame that reaction, but even after riding it for three months, it still felt very twitchy if I needed to take a hand off the bars to give a signal. I was out on it the other day and realised that I was now just glancing behind then signalling, almost automatically, because I felt stable.
I don't think a small-wheeled folding bike with a hinge in the frame can really ever feel as solid as 26"+ wheels without a hinge in the frame, but you just need to accept the fact that they're a bit different, if you want to benefit from their advantages.

 

[Tenkaykev]

You guys are great. Thank you for your help. Well, I will give it time to get used to, and perhaps put the wider tires on it.

A friend of mine can sit on the handlebars of his Brompton facing the saddle and cycle around the park pretty well. ( don't try this yourself, he does it in the park ) He's in his early 60's 😎

 

[steveindenmark]

You just need to keep riding. Its just the same on a Brompton. But you get used to it in time

 

[midlife]

Back in history the Raleigh RSW had 16" wheels and rode OK, saved Raleigh as well lol. The 20" wheel Raleigh Twenty and the Dawes Kingpin were nice rides too