In praise of Dahon

[Blue Hills]

And tange i inch ball bearing stainless steel headsets. Whereas the headset for my dahon is a consumable on a par with the bike's chain - exaggeration but only slight.

 

[TheDoctor]

And Marathon Plus tyres.
And also Andouiettes. Not even the cockroaches would eat Andouiettes.

 

[BalkanExpress]

I have two Dahon's, but can't really comment on this thread as neither of them fold

 

[MichaelW2]

And Ortliebs & Shimano XT pedals.....

Brooks saddles are just to tasty to survive a hungry cockroach.

 

[JaseO]

mm

I have a Dahon Speed Pro - foldable sports bike.

A joy when it works, great fun.

Maybe the lower end models are better made, but I wouldn't buy another Dahon.

Some of the design is not well thought out (headset arrangement for a start) and aspects of the build are seriously dodgy. Of all my six bikes it caused by far the most trouble. And that's despite the fact that it is by far my least used bike - I don't live with it.

Parts were often very hard to get hold of, even with the wonders of the internet.

I tend to hord spares for bikes but I buy minimal stuff for the Dahon since I have the impression that it could die any day and I will be left with a load of non standard unusable bits. Part of me wishes it would just hurry up and die so that I can remember the good times.

I've heard this comment before about the higher end models being more fragile, maybe something in it?

Thinking about it, higher end road bikes I've owned in the past have been far higher maintenance than my cheapie Dawes Chilliwack hybrid!

 

[Salar]

I really like my Dawes Jack, which is probably a rebadged Dahon.
Four years of use and no problems yet, and I'm 18 stone+
The gearing is a bit high, which I need to attend to , but it's great for our local coastal trails.

 

[steveindenmark]

And cycle helmets.

But nobody would mention them in fear of being banished from the new World order.