Small wheeled road bikes

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StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
Well, I'd be chuffed with any of those....the Dahon's probably going to be best for folding speed, and possibly size too, frame probably less stiff (though my Jetstream is great). Drivetrain's pretty good- I have a DualDrive setup on my Jetstream. BFs are a bit rare over here, and pricier (even with the way Dahon prices have gone) but they'll build it however you'd like. Airnimal's probably going to be the nearest to a regular road bike in ride feel, but the biggest folded package. And the Moulton: I'd love one, but on the train? Hmmm....You'd need to separate it & have the sections bagged, I think.
Try before you bike, I think....
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
I've only got experience with Airnimals. I think they ride great. They fold well enough to put on the train for day rides and touring but, depending on route, may be a bit bulky for mixed-mode commuting.
 

zigzag

Veteran
i have my eyes on dahon dash - looks like a quick, sturdy, light and fairly portable bike. it has not been released yet, but if it costs less than a grand i might be tempted to get it via cyclescheme.
 
OP
OP
Yellow Fang

Yellow Fang

Legendary Member
Location
Reading
The Dahon Dash looks fab, but I wonder how much suspension matters with small wheeled bikes, especially those with high tyre pressures. That was a concern with the Bike Friday Pocket Rocket. Their attempt at providing suspension is the weird looking Air Friday.
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
I would love the chance to ride a good 'small wheeled' bike. So far my only experiance of folding bikes has been an Apollo, which was unfortunately unbelivably bad.
 

zigzag

Veteran
well designed suspension may add some comfort to the ride, but to me there are more negatives (added weight, hinges, bouncing under acceleration, additional point of maintenance and failure) than positives. i use 20"x1.35" tyres pumped to 90psi on my non-suspended folder and the comfort level is very acceptable. there are other ways to increase comfort without affecting performance (carbon seatpost, comfy saddle, gel under handlebar tape). i would not use a small wheeled bike to cover vast distances anyway*, and for shorter rides it is light, responsive and fun**.

*my friend did easter arrow ride 400km/day on a dahon vitesse hub-geared folder when he could not arrange a bike place on a train
** when overtaking roadies and listening to their comments
 

iendicott

Well-Known Member
Location
Peterborough
My vote is for the Airnimal Chameleon but only because it looks sexy and have seen these in the flesh :thumbsup:
 

zigzag

Veteran
So the DualDrive's pretty good? I was wondering what the efficiency of a hub would be.


dual drive is:
*heavy
*inefficient
*noisy

but:
*quick accelerating
*quick shifting (also at standstill) - best feature for me, which makes riding in city traffic very dynamic
*has wide gear range (mine was 23"-107"), like a mountain triple

i was riding dual drive bike for nearly a year, now swapped with a wheel without hub gear and can't decide which setup i like better. you should try it out yourself and see if you like it or not.
 

Norm

Guest
These have been covered in the past few months' issues of Cycling Active.

Dahon Mu Uno £480
Single speed, coaster brake, looks good, nice price. 80%

Brompton M3L £700
Steel, fold is "like a magic trick", looks great, geek chic, sophisticated ride, expensive. 90%

Strida SX £515
Not for shrinking violets, easy to manage folded, rides like "sitting astride a gigantic coat hanger", completely unlike a normal bike, belt drive is good but you can't ride out of the saddle, so no hill starts allowed, front wheel has a tendency to lift even when in the saddle on the flat, bulletproof and bonkers. 78%.

Giant Halfway 2 £400
Good price, good ride but disliked everything else (flimsy seat post, saddle was a horror, geared too low, no clip to hold it folded... and more). 77%

Mezzo I-4 £625
Clever, harder fold ("involves moving front to back to front to back..."), everything uses standard bits so no special tools needed for maintenance, anodised frame is resistant to damage, no breaking adjustment period unlike all of those above, confident and stable to ride, but why fit a chain tensioner on a hug-geared bike but still, potentially, the Brompton-killer. 92%

They also test the Airnimal Joey Sport £819 in a subsequent test. Love the way it rides, very sporty and a definite road bike with small wheelers rather than something which can unfold to make a bicycle. The only downside appears to be that it's a very distinctive bike, so not suitable for quiet types. 85%

Not exactly the models you were looking at but I hope it gives you a clue about what they liked and disliked and what you might look out for when making your own choice.
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
dual drive is:
*heavy
*inefficient
*noisy

but:
*quick accelerating
*quick shifting (also at standstill) - best feature for me, which makes riding in city traffic very dynamic
*has wide gear range (mine was 23"-107"), like a mountain triple

i was riding dual drive bike for nearly a year, now swapped with a wheel without hub gear and can't decide which setup i like better. you should try it out yourself and see if you like it or not.

Not sure about the efficiency, Rimas (SRAM might disagree with you! ;) ) but I can only agree with the weight. I love the extra gear range on the Jetstream, just wish it was still 9.0 kg!
 

StuAff

Silencing his legs regularly
Location
Portsmouth
i have my eyes on dahon dash - looks like a quick, sturdy, light and fairly portable bike. it has not been released yet, but if it costs less than a grand i might be tempted to get it via cyclescheme.

No way is the Dash going to be less than a grand. If it's not part of the official UK range (the current minibike models aren't) you'd have to import it yourself, or get one care of Mark Bickerton (Dahon's UK agent) who might be able to get one in for you.
 
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