Folding bikes

[StuartsProjects]

It just depends if you're ever going to need to unfold them again.

Indeed so.

A Brompton can be unfolded ready to ride in about 10 seconds.

But how long to unfold the bike in the picture ?

 

[thelarkbox]

A Good ridding folding ebike that can be folded/unfolded stashed/ridden quickly and is a manageable mass when folded, is an ideal solution to joined up public transport exploitation. But is not a bargain basement option, so out of my range

 

[saneagle]

A Good ridding folding ebike that can be folded/unfolded stashed/ridden quickly and is a manageable mass when folded, is an ideal solution to joined up public transport exploitation. But is not a bargain basement option, so out of my range

Yes, I got rid of mine too. I'm now ridden with the desire to have another.

 

[guerney]

A Good ridding folding ebike that can be folded/unfolded stashed/ridden quickly and is a manageable mass when folded, is an ideal solution to joined up public transport exploitation. But is not a bargain basement option, so out of my range

Nowhere near as small folding, or as convenient to heave around via pubic transport as a Brompton, but 20" wheeled Dahons can be cheap - I bought mine from a friend for £100 years ago (ended up in the loft lol [the bike, not my friend]), and they do turn up for about that from the usual online souks. Here's a Helios like mine near Trump's golf course in Troon - it's been there months and may accept a low offer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364513076983

Here's a rear motored conversion of a Dahon Jetstream P8 by none other than @saneagle, if you're into that sort of thing:

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/electric2011-dahon-jetstream-p8.10584/

... Jetstreams are quite rare and pricey though, and often sans effective mudguards and rear rack.

With both those Dahons, you could maximise fun by adding a mid-drive motor - can't do that with a Brompton, making them less convenient for the maximisation of fun and heavy trailer hill hauling usefulociousness, as well as speed over the flats (by that I mean over flat roads, not the tops of blocks of flats - that's no currently viable in the short or medium term, I checked), without the need for a high continuous discharge current battery, or Xiongda two speed motor.

 

[AndyBike]

A Brompton can be unfolded ready to ride in about 10 seconds.

I've oft wondered about why the need for the likes of Brompton and others to unfold so fast. Maybe, I thought in case you suddenly come under fire from the Russians, and need to make a sharp getaway

 

[Bonzo Banana]

Nowhere near as small folding, or as convenient to heave around via pubic transport as a Brompton, but 20" wheeled Dahons can be cheap - I bought mine from a friend for £100 years ago (ended up in the loft lol [the bike, not my friend]), and they do turn up for about that from the usual online souks. Here's a Helios like mine near Trump's golf course in Troon - it's been there months and may accept a low offer:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364513076983

Here's a rear motored conversion of a Dahon Jetstream P8 by none other than @saneagle, if you're into that sort of thing:

https://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/electric2011-dahon-jetstream-p8.10584/

... Jetstreams are quite rare and pricey though, and often sans effective mudguards and rear rack.

With both those Dahons, you could maximise fun by adding a mid-drive motor - can't do that with a Brompton, making them less convenient for the maximisation of fun and heavy trailer hill hauling usefulociousness, as well as speed over the flats (by that I mean over flat roads, not the tops of blocks of flats - that's no currently viable in the short or medium term, I checked), without the need for a high continuous discharge current battery, or Xiongda two speed motor.

I've seen a Jetstream official style ebike. The Jetstream is a just a rebranded fujita bike which I think Dahon has or had the rights to sell in Europe and the US and possibly Japan.

Tianjinfujita » HANMA8

www.tianjinfujita.com

However I did see the Hanma8 rebranded and as a ebike and I think it had either a internal downtube battery or possibly seat post battery and the controller was in the rear section of the downtube or just below. I like looking at bikes in other countries of Asia like the Philippines etc on youtube so it could have been in one of those countries but I saw it as a factory built ebike and it looked pretty good. Some of those markets have poor safety certification and no brand protection. I remember seeing a video where someone walked around a bicycle dealership and showed all the fake bike brands which were completely unlicensed like Renault, Rover, Audi bikes, all mainly folding bikes. Struck me as so funny at the time. Total disregard for the rights of those brands. I found the video, surprisingly how many of the bikes in that shop are folding bikes, maybe it is a bike shop that mainly specialises in folders or maybe that is what the market dictates as people live in small homes or flats etc with limited space so they have a very high percentage of folding bikes.

 

[Woosh]

The more I ride my Brompton, the more I appreciate how hard it is to make a good folding bike.

 

[Bikes4two]

The more I ride my Brompton, the more I appreciate how hard it is to make a good folding bike.

..... as in the Brompton is not there yet?

A few years ago we (wife and self) contemplated buying two Bromptons and flying off to NZ for a drive/cycle/walking holiday. I borrowed a friend's Brompton to try one out and really could not adjust to the ride, so that was the end of that idea.

Obviously as can be seen from other posts in this thread, there are those who love them, and indeed there's a guy in my local club who can out cycle (as in speed and hill climbing) most of his peers, but I'm pleased I don't have to consider one.

Having said that if it meant that a folder was the only option for me to continue cycling, I'd get one in a flash.

 

[Woosh]

it takes a couple of hours to get used to the Brompton because it's so nimble but the extra weight of the kit steadies the bike a fair bit so it's much more like your normal bike.

 

[Tony1951]

I rode my Brompton as my main bike for years, and before that I had a fake copy of the Brompton which I rode for over 4000 miles. You soon get used to the frsky handling. I stopped riding mine soon after I moved to live mostly where I now live in the North Pennines, because the hills out here are too severe for its limited gearing options. I now ride a bafang, 250 watt crank motor conversion which climbs anything without much fuss as long as I put my part in.

I rode the Brompton yesterday in Newcastle, and it was great. I was instantly able to adapt to its quirks even though it has not been ridden in 2 years. I am tempted by the Woosh conversion, but I will wait and see and think about it a bit. I have too many 2 wheeled conveyances already.

 

[Grebacwhite]

I commute on my Brompton when the weather is nice, simple to fold away under my bench at work and with the basket bag on the front it carries an amazing amount of stuff so you don't need to use a rucksack.

 

[Jack01]

I have a Brompton which I bought some years ago when I went to buy a nut for the rear wheel of a sturmy archer equipped bike. I saw it in the bike shop window and bought it on the spot. It wasn't as much an impulse purchase as that sounds, because the bike I was fixing was a fake Brompton - a Merc, produced in China at first under some kind of license and then the parties fell out. I had originally wanted a Brompton before I bought the Merc, but when I went to the outlet near me who sold them he glibly informed me that I would have to wait about five months for him to be able to get his hands on one..... I suppose this would have been about 2004. I think they were struggling to keep up with demand at Brompton, and I saw this aluminium fake Brompton on Ebay at about half the price. I rode that fake about 4000 miles ( I had an odo on it) and then it was pretty worn out. The downtube broke at the top from hammering of the back subframe of the hinged rear end against the seat post clamp, and I resorted to drilling through the downtube and seat post and putting a bolt through because the clamp for the seat tube had broken off. This REALLY compromised the fold, but there was no other solution, given the alu construction. Can't really weld it as an amateur. I had hammered that bike mind. I went camping touring on it and rode it over speed bumps flat out on a regular basis (which was why the seat post clamp broke off).

The Brompton is a VASTLY better piece of engineering. Works better in every way than the fake, but I certainly got plenty of use out of the Chinese version.

I really like the Brompton folder, it is elegant, rides very well for a folder and it is incredibly versatile re storage, transport and functionality. I don't ride it where I am now living because of all the very steep hills in my current location, so I left it in storage in Newcastle. I tried riding it around here but I was mostly reduced to walking up hills with it. Plenty are 20%, so a three speed unless VERY much compromised by a low tooth count on the crank wheel is a no no for a man of my age and probably for most people really.

I have thought of converting it with a motor kit, but would not compromise the forks by grinding the dropouts which used to be needed when I was thinking about electrifying it. I think that there are other solutions now in front wheel motors with narrower axles. Not sure.

I am well pleased with my frog battery 3 speed Brompton conversion kit I bought from Woosh.

 

[Tony1951]

I am well pleased with my frog battery 3 speed Brompton conversion kit I bought from Woosh.

Thanks for the feedback Jack.

 

[guerney]

I rode over this and worse the other night on 20" wheels and 1.75" wide tyres at 24.8kph. I've never tried a Brompton, but the wheels seem too small and the standard tyres too thin to cope with potholes; the Brompton is more of a fair tarmac ride methinks, than my 20" wheeled Dahon Helios. This would have been quite a dodgy proposition for my bike with it's original 1.5" tyres. There were worse potholes the other night, but because half of the 35 mile journey was on unfamiliar roads, I cannot be bothered to pore through the videos to screengrab them. I can install wider tyres if necessary.






p.s. To 24.8kph from a standing start uphill at the lights, was very fast with the BBS01B controller at 18A, without a throttle, and it wasn't lurchy.

 

[WheezyRider]

I rode over this and worse the other night on 20" wheels and 1.75" wide tyres at 24.8kph. I've never tried a Brompton, but the wheels seem too small and the standard tyres too thin to cope with potholes; the Brompton is more of a fair tarmac ride methinks, than my 20" wheeled Dahon Helios. This would have been quite a dodgy proposition for my bike with it's original 1.5" tyres. There were worse potholes the other night, but because half of the 35 mile journey was on unfamiliar roads, I cannot be bothered to pore through the videos to screengrab them. I can install wider tyres if necessary.


View attachment 57336
View attachment 57337


p.s. To 24.8kph from a standing start uphill at the lights, was very fast with the BBS01B controller at 18A, without a throttle, and it wasn't lurchy.

Speaking of tyre widths, I'm experimenting with Continental's eContact Plus tyres. They seem to have a low rolling resistance, and good comfort, although the actual width on the wheel seems to be 5 mm or so less than the advertised width.

While I am running the 622 size, I see on their website that they also produce a 406 mm version (20 inch) up to 62 width:

https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/bicycle/tires/econtact-plus/?articleID=01019750000

Might be of interest to pot holing 20 inchers...

 

[WheezyRider]

The biggest complaint I would have about my folder, which is a Dahon clone, is the width of the handlebars. They are far to short and too straight, which does not give great control. Once I came off when I hit a pothole while indicating to turn left. It was in the dark and my pathetic front light did not reveal the pot hole in time.

 

[guerney]

Speaking of tyre widths, I'm experimenting with Continental's eContact Plus tyres. They seem to have a low rolling resistance, and good comfort, although the actual width on the wheel seems to be 5 mm or so less than the advertised width.

While I am running the 622 size, I see on their website that they also produce a 406 mm version (20 inch) up to 62 width:

https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/bicycle/tires/econtact-plus/?articleID=01019750000

Might be of interest to pot holing 20 inchers...

Wow, up to 2.5" wide! Anything to delay potholes forcing me to become a slow moving pavement cyclist.




I look forward to reading about the results of your experiments. It would take a very compelling argument for me to abandon Scwalbe Plus variants.

The biggest complaint I would have about my folder, which is a Dahon clone, is the width of the handlebars. They are far to short and too straight, which does not give great control. Once I came off when I hit a pothole while indicating to turn left. It was in the dark and my pathetic front light did not reveal the pot hole in time.

How wide is it? I've kept the original Helios: 580cm. Much wider than that would impede my bike's compact folding. I keep mulling over whether to replace it with titanium, to absorb pothole bumps a bit, but I think I've become used to bumpiness.

It was in the dark and my pathetic front light did not reveal the pot hole in time.

With my lights, I usually see them a long time before... unless they're the sneaky deep small ones. The <2A they draw from my 19.2Ah battery is well worth it.

 

[matthewslack]

Speaking of tyre widths, I'm experimenting with Continental's eContact Plus tyres. They seem to have a low rolling resistance, and good comfort, although the actual width on the wheel seems to be 5 mm or so less than the advertised width.

While I am running the 622 size, I see on their website that they also produce a 406 mm version (20 inch) up to 62 width:

https://www.continental-tires.com/products/b2c/bicycle/tires/econtact-plus/?articleID=01019750000

Might be of interest to pot holing 20 inchers...

Fitted width might be down to your rim width. My original rims, which came with 45mm tyres were only 19mm internal width, my old 26er mtb only 17mm. The Tern cargo bike is on 36mm, with 62mm tyres...

 

[guerney]

Fitted width might be down to your rim width. My original rims, which came with 45mm tyres were only 19mm internal width, my old 26er mtb only 17mm. The Tern cargo bike is on 36mm, with 62mm tyres...

Finding quality rims with 19mm inner rim width is increasingly a challenge in 20", but according to Schwalbe at least, up to 2.48" wide tyres will fit. Fortunately, there are 2.15" wide Plus tyres I can switch to, until every pothole becomes gargantuan sized. At some point, I might try to build a 20" 406 wheel using wide BMX rims. 1.75" Marathon Plus are coping ok at the moment.

 

[Sturmey]

Fitted width might be down to your rim width. My original rims, which came with 45mm tyres were only 19mm internal width, my old 26er mtb only 17mm. The Tern cargo bike is on 36mm, with 62mm tyres...

Also from Schwalbe below.

Why are tires often narrower than the stated tire size?

In order to ensure that tires have sufficient frame clearance, tire manufacturers generally prefer to keep production closer to the lower end of the permitted tolerance (+/- 3 mm). Carcass casing materials have become more and more sophisticated over time. That reduces the tire widening after the fitting. Furthermore, inflation pressure also plays a major role. With maximum inflation pressure the tire becomes wider than with low pressure. And a recently fitted tire still widens over time. This can make a difference of 1 to 2 mm. The tire width is measured at the widest point, i.e. outside the lug.

https://www.schwalbe.com/media/32/85/58/1694006374/Schwalbe-TechInfo-2015_GB.pdf