Folding Bikes - Experiences..

[RobLyon]

Hi All,

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on folding bikes. I think i'd like one but don't really need one. Would be nice to take on holidays and I could take it on public transport etc but I WFH so don't commute. Mixed thoughts on wheel sizes, the smaller wheels tend to be city bikes with minimal gearing so i'm tending to look at 20" and up but then do you lose the point of it folding? Only looking to spend <£300 on a used bike for occasional use.

TIA,

Rob

[benp1]

Brompton. Smallest, most compact and best fold. Perfect if you want a folder

Not the best riding, but it's still fun to ride and I do quite a few miles on mine.

Might be over budget though...

[Hyppy]

+1 for a Brompton. Perhaps top of my list of bikes I regret getting rid of, and can be found cheap if you get lucky. IIRC, I bought mine for £250, had it a few years then sold for £350.

Plenty of folk do plenty of distance on them and they're surprisingly capable: I saw a pair of tourers on loaded Brommies heading up the Coal Road from Dentdale the other day.

[Bearlegged]

Very much like my Brommie too, which I got for an absolute bargain price courtesy of FLV on here.

[yourguitarhero]

I have a Tern 20" one that I got from FB Marketplace for £100 in very good condition.
It's one of the more basic models - rim brakes and 8 bottom spec Shimano gears etc .

I use to go in the boot of the car or to leave in the back of my campervan in case I want to cycle to a pub or toilet that's further than easy walking distance.

It's a nice bike. The folding mechanisms are good and it rides well. Steering angle is a bit twitchy and you're better off spinning up a hill than standing up and pushing hard.

Happy enough to do 10 miles or so, but I'd likely take a bigger wheeled bike for anything longer.

[Specialist Hoprocker]

I've got a Carrera Intercity with hydraulic disc brakes. It flies!!

I wanted Brompton but had problems buying the one I wanted so went for the Carrera. I would like it to fold smaller but for the money it is faster and lighter and I don't mind locking it places. It also folds quicker!

[fatbikephil]

Lost the front wheel of a brompton in a Glasgow pothole many years ago and went face first with 4 lanes of traffic bearing down on me.... never quite had the nerve to try one since

[ton]

Bike Friday would be my choice. ride like a normal bike.

bargain one on CTC forum sales.

[ton]

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?t=160249

[thenorthwind]

I bought a second hand Bike Friday last year. I thought it would be good to have to extend very occasional work trips with some cycling, mix rides up a bit using buses/trains hassle-free/cadged lifts, and take on non-cycling trips as a just-in-case. In reality I haven't used it much because, well, winter mainly , and I was sitting between drop bar and flat bar setups.

It rides quite nicely, presumably a bit nicer than a Brompton (I've never ridden one) with it's 20" wheels, but it definitely feels different to a full size bike. The steering is very twitchy (it came with a 720mm flat bar which didn't help). To be honest, I'm not sure if I'll end up using it much, I fear it might be more of a compromise over a "proper" bike than the convenience makes up for. It's also not as easy to fold as a Brompton, not as compact, and heavier.

But I'm not giving up on the idea, and I might grow to love it. I put a narrower flat bar on it and am planning to ride it to the pub tomorrow, because my mate wants to see it. May or may not get the bus home, that's in my gift

[Dyffers]

1000008595-01.jpeg (203.28 KiB) Viewed 223 times

Here's my current suitcase bike, a custom-beyond-recognition Dahon, singlespeed in this pic but I also have mech hanger for it and run 8 sprockets of an 11spd cassette and a Di2 barend shifter; Di2 is brilliant for travel bikes because you can just unplug it and remove the mech.

It rides really nicely and I'm happy trucking along at 20mph, although it's twitchy on fast descents. I also worry about the frame hinge. Consequently I've been searching for a Bike Friday in a larger size for about a year, but they are both rare and expensive.

Worth noting 20" wheels come in two sizes: 406 and 451. My Dahon is 406 for which there are more tyres and fits in your case easier. That Bike Friday Ton linked to has 451 wheels which tend to be narrower road tyres only (if that makes a difference).

[josh]

Would be nice to take on holidays and I could take it on public transport etc but I WFH so don't commute.

Based on my experience of commuting (I know you say you don’t need it for commuting) on the train and seeing people attempt to lug around various folding bikes along platforms and onto trains, I can only really recommend a Brompton. Expensive, yes; very small wheels, yes; a bit too ‘obvious’, yes.

Also, based on a few attempts at putting it in the boot of my car, not even packed for a holiday I doubt I’d be fitting any other stuff in with another, less neatly folding bike.

I have no direct experience of anything other than a Brompton so obviously my thoughts are heavily biased. But after seeing so many people wrestle with the folding, carrying and attempting to stand up right of any other folding bike I can see why Bromptons are generally considered the yardstick.

I guess it depends what you want from it. If you expect to do a lot of folding, unfolding and ‘multi mode transport’ a Brompton is hard to beat. If you want something that’s a better bike, for while you’re riding it, then I’d assume a larger wheeled bike would do that, that said, I’ve been surprised at how good a Brompton feels to ride.

[thenorthwind]

I guess it depends what you want from it. If you expect to do a lot of folding, unfolding and ‘multi mode transport’ a Brompton is hard to beat

I think that's probably bang on.

Di2 is brilliant for travel bikes because you can just unplug it and remove the mech.

Funnily enough I was just musing about that. Not really interested in wireless shifting otherwise, but would be great for the folder.

Worth noting 20" wheels come in two sizes: 406 and 451. My Dahon is 406 for which there are more tyres and fits in your case easier. That Bike Friday Ton linked to has 451 wheels which tend to be narrower road tyres only (if that makes a difference).

Good point. Worth pointing out that not all Bike Fridays are 451 though - mine's 406.

[Dyffers]

Worth pointing out that not all Bike Fridays are 451 though - mine's 406.

Indeed. I think in general if a Bike Friday has V brakes it'll be a New World Tourist and 406 wheels, if road calipers probably a Pocket Rocket and 451.

[thenorthwind]

Worth pointing out that not all Bike Fridays are 451 though - mine's 406.

Indeed. I think in general if a Bike Friday has V brakes it'll be a New World Tourist and 406 wheels, if road calipers probably a Pocket Rocket and 451.

Mine is labelled Pocket Tourist which doesn't seem to exist anymore

[jameso]

I have2 folders, a Brompton 2SL with SON lighting and a 20" Tern/Dahon that's Ridgeback branded, it has a Nexus 7 hub which is really good on a bike like this. Despite not folding down as small as the Brompton the Tern design is a much better bike for any distance, my pick when I used to ride about 7 miles to a station here. The Brompton folds better and it's great on the flat or for short rides so I used that for train commutes around London in the past where I rarely had more than a couple of miles to ride at each end. The Brompton's probably my least favourite bike ever when it comes to hills at any speed, it has too-light steering imo but it's calmer with a bag on the carry block. It's a nicer product overall.