to repair or replace?

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.

al78

Guru
Location
Horsham
I've recently taken my Birdy folder in to my LBS for a service, to replace the jockey wheels and to look at the play in the rear pivots where the rear rack is connected and what allows the rear to fold. I had a message from them yesterday saying that it looks like the pivots, or the bearings in the pivots are worn and possibly will eventually wear out to failure. It is difficult to optain spare parts, and it was suggested that replacing the pivots might be a time consuming and difficult job, and thus expensive. I'm not sure what magnitude of expensive they are talking about but I am wondering in this case if it is worth just carrying on using it until the pivots do fail and it becomes unrideable, and then replace with another folder. I have had a quick look at Dahon and Dawes folders in the sub £500 price range and there look to be a couple of models which would suit my requirements on paper at least (for example), but does anyone know what the quality of these folders is like? I don't use my current folder much, only when I am planning to use another mode of transport, or as a backup if my road bike develops a fault, but I don't want to spend mega bucks on a bike that will only be used very occasionally.
 
Top Bottom