Why folding pedals?

[Bill]

Hello, I was out cycling on my Dahon Vitesse on Wednesday over by Kenilworth as often happens I was pondering things! This time I was wondering why there are folding pedals on my bike?? On my other Dahon, a 26" wheel 'Tailwind'...from the 1990's, there are ordinary pedals. Are the folding pedals a gimmick or what is their purpose?

 

[Drago]

To make the bike slimmer once folded.

 

[welsh dragon]

If you have a folding bike, folding pedals make it easier to store the bike in your car, or to take it on a train, or to put into a cupboard. Not a gimmick. I have folding pedals on my bike and they are very handy in certain situations.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Folding pedals are the new 'aero wheels'.

 

[IBarrett]

I have folding pedals on both sides of my Brompton - and I had to buy a pair to get the left one.
I needed both to fold so the bike would fit in the boot of my Merc CLK with the roof separator down so I could fold down the roof.
With the fixed left pedal the bike touched the separator and the car wouldn't fold down the roof.

1st world problems eh. ;-)

 

[Jason]

On a commuter train, the footprint of the bike is that much smaller

 

[Kell]

As it's designed for stowage or transporting/carrying having the pedal fold in makes it much smaller. This can be useful if you're transporting it (in the example above in the Merc) or for putting in some type of bag to take abroad. It's especially handy when carrying it as otherwise the pedal bashes your leg.

Due to the way the Brompton folds, only the left one needs to fold as the other one doesn't stick out as it sits flush with the front wheel.