Folding Bikes, options?

[Yellow Ballad]

I quite fancy the idea of a folding bike to keep on the boat, I'm lucky enough to have a shed full of bikes for every occasion but not a compact bike I could justify keeping on the boat and the N +1 rule means I this is possible.

I know Brompton is the way to go they genuinly look well built and thought gone into the design but I can't help but feel there's a bit of a Hunter Wellie/Barbour, London scene tax attached to them which isn't really me. Can anyone recommend a well made brand that's built as well but without the tag, brand and price? I'll be buying second hand as well lets face it lots of people buy bikes, ride them a dozen times during the summer and they get put away and sold 12 months later.

Are there any decent aluminium bikes or are they not "strong" enough? How about belt or shaft drive? I know having a chain means spares should be easily found but it also means grease getting on things.

I do like the qwerkyness of the Strida but I think it'll be too long to store well.

The Dahon range seems like a good shout but has anyone had one?

Thanks in advance

Tom

 

[fredrussell]

In a nutshell:

Brompton = best folder, ride ok, expensive

Dahon = don’t fold as small/cleverly as Brompton, cheaper, nicer ride due to 20” wheels

Birdy = don’t fold as small..., amazing ride quality, expensive

All the others = much of a muchness really.

Unless your boat has masses of locker space, and you’re not restricted by budget, get a Brompton. The fold is pure engineering magic, and they take up the least room folded.

 

[bedouin]

I have a Tern - which is pretty much identical to the Dahon. It is very good to ride particularly around town. Be aware though that when folded it remains fairly bulky - not as compact as a Brompton.

 

[pandroid]

I know everyone raves about the Brompton, and its certainly the smallest when folded up, but we spent an entire day at a Southampton boat show riding them all, and we found the Di Blasi was the most comfortable for us.
My advice is actually ride them before buying.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

Thanks, that's not a bad idea to have a ride on a few, I'm just assuming they are all fairly alike.

The Hummingbird looks fantastic but so eye-wateringly expensive!

 

[Martin_J]

As the others have said, the Dahons don't fold as small as the Bromptons.

They are however great to ride longer distances with more comfort. I used a Dahon D7HG to work every day for about five years.

The Dahon carry bag is a great addition because it is so well padded.

As to oil getting everywhere, I have a couple of the Dahon D7HG bikes... They have a 7 speed (Shimano Nexus 7) gear built into the rear hub so no oily derailleur hanging around.

I also have Ridgeback Attaché... it's pretty much the same bike as the Dahon D7HG in all but name...

 

[cpedw]

We have had 2 Dahons (Boardwalk, near the bottom of their range) for about 6 years. WIth a bit of TLC they seem to be lasting well. They are reasonable to ride. Quite bulky and unwieldy when folded. We keep them in their custom bags which protects them from salty air and protects around them from oily chains.

Derek

 

[Martin_J]

My bikes also all came with the rear carrier... Worth thinking about.

 

[johnalison]

I'd go with pandroid and say try some before buying. We started with early Dahons in 1988, in the days when people stared at you if you rode one. They were satisfactory but were getting wonky when someone relieved us of them in Amsterdam in 2002. Not wishing to fork out for Bromptons, we then bought DiBlasis. They had five gears, which was an important advantage and are fine to ride for about 10k. Ours have a short wheel base, and it is easy to do an inadvertent wheelie on a slope in low gear. This may apply to some others as well. It's all a matter of compromise, between almost full sized bikes which do no more than fold in half, to the clever ones, some of which don't ride as well. I think that good gears are important.

 

[Red Panda]

Ignore the perceived image, a Brompton is the right choice, unless you can justify getting a Birdy.
When folded, a Brompton will also fit nicely in an Ikea zip-up bedding storage bag (I can't remember the name, sorry), which will keep grease off your berth cushions and is strong enough to carry the bike in.

 

[alant]

I quite fancy the idea of a folding bike to keep on the boat, I'm lucky enough to have a shed full of bikes for every occasion but not a compact bike I could justify keeping on the boat and the N +1 rule means I this is possible.

I know Brompton is the way to go they genuinly look well built and thought gone into the design but I can't help but feel there's a bit of a Hunter Wellie/Barbour, London scene tax attached to them which isn't really me. Can anyone recommend a well made brand that's built as well but without the tag, brand and price? I'll be buying second hand as well lets face it lots of people buy bikes, ride them a dozen times during the summer and they get put away and sold 12 months later.

Are there any decent aluminium bikes or are they not "strong" enough? How about belt or shaft drive? I know having a chain means spares should be easily found but it also means grease getting on things.

I do like the qwerkyness of the Strida but I think it'll be too long to store well.

The Dahon range seems like a good shout but has anyone had one?

Thanks in advance

Tom

Have a look at a Dahon Jack, 26" wheels.

 

[Quandary]

My wife's is branded 'Dawes' but is made by Dahon, has the advantage that it is polished alloy and stainless so nothing to rust or scratch.
There are quite a few S. Korean brands made by offshoots of the Dahon family who seem to have an unusual penchant for falling out with their relations. Mine is one such, a Oyama, though more of a road bike(7 gears) than the cross country needed to suit our cruising destinations, 20" wheels are definitely an advantage on rough island tracks as is light weight and a decent range of gears.
Unfortunately the current boat does not have the big cockpit lockers to stow them and they are not used enough to put up with the hassle of lashing them to the pushpit.

 

[MoodySabre]

Our experience when we borrowed some for a trip to Holland was that the pedals didn't fold so it was still bulky to put down below. So that would a key factor for me.

 

[bedouin]

Our experience when we borrowed some for a trip to Holland was that the pedals didn't fold so it was still bulky to put down below. So that would a key factor for me.

Those supplied on the Tern and I assume on the Dahon do fold - but may well have been replaced.

I replaced those on the Tern with cleated pedals (that would not fold) and it makes very little difference in most circumstances but might when trying to stow on a small boat.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

All good info, thanks, it does sound like the Brompton is the way forward but even secondhand the price puts other things above it on the bits to buy for the boat list.

The Dahon Jack 26 looks a good "full size" folder and the Ballad cockpit lockers are pretty big but those 26" wheels might just take up too much room. I might have to try and view one before bidding though. Luckly the Ballad (well my layout) has two decent sized pilot berths that are used to store things so I was hoping to get something in one of those.

 

[Daydream believer]

In 2003 I bought 4 fold up bikes from Mailspeed. They have 3 speed gears & are basic. Do not fold up particularly small . I take one pedal off & that makes a big difference for long term storage. Includes a padded bag. I am 6ft 6ins tall so bought a longer seat post . However, the cost - £ 120-00 each. At that price included luggage rack, lights etc one cannot complain. I have pedaled from Ostend to Blakenburge several times & that is a fair old trip, especially against the wind. For use on a boat if Mailspeed still do them then I would go for those & forget the expensive ones

 

[westhinder]

We wanted to avoid the expense of two Bromptons, so we did some research. Plenty of possibilities, which were narrowed down dramatically by our wish to stow them in the cockpit locker. We did not want to clutter up the aft cabin or the pushpit. The Bromptons were the only ones that would fit the locker opening, so we did end up acquiring two.
Having used them for a first season I can say we are very satisfied with them. We have made several 40-45 km trips without any problems (we are not hardened cyclists) and even did some rougher tracks, although they are not meant for off-road work.
If you have the space to stow bulkier items, the choice is there, but you won't beat Brompton for compactness.

 

[kacecar]

FWIW, I chose the Strida, although it was some time ago and the spec has probably changed by now. A Strida is indeed a bit long when folded but it is also narrow. On my boat it drops nicely into a deepish rope locker and lies comfortably against the hull.

Having looked at quite a few alternatives, particularly the Brompton, I chose the Strida because: relatively clean (plastic drive belt with no need for grease, enclosed/protected bearings, hub brakes) and low maintenance; light weight (from memory as light or lighter than the lightest Brompton), so easy to lift and move about on board as well as while riding; largely plastic and aluminium construction so not many parts to rust; quirky style tends to deters thieves; came with a carrier; it was in my view, a better quality product than the cheaper alternatives and was about a quarter of the price of a suitably specced Brompton.

After having had it for about 10 years I can tell you that, in my opinion, the downsides are as follows: initially, the riding position takes a little getting used to, as does the sensitivity of the steering (it's a light bike with small wheels so no real surprise); low gearing and, on my model at least, only the one gear - so OK pedalling uphill but sometimes a bit frenetic on the flat - in general the low gearing deters me from wanting to ride it very far (the most I've done at a time is about 15 miles); with me on it (I'm about 185lbs), my example becomes a bit unstable above about 20mph, so I'm careful on long downhill sections.

I've kept it on my boat for about 10 years now. There is no significant sign of corrosion and it remains fully operational. I don't use it for long distance rides, but for provisioning trips and for exploring the town around the port, for me it does the job.

 

[Irish Rover]

I've been thinking about getting a folding bike for the boat as well. Not a huge range of choice here in Turkey but I saw these at less than €200 in Decathlon last week
http://bcove.me/nopjp1pw
I imagine corosion would be an issue and obviously the probably don't fold as small as the more expensive ones but for the price look OK.

 

[Yngmar]

If you come from a cycling background, tiny wheels will be frustrating you quickly. Big wheels are annoying to store though. Get as big as you can fit in a locker - outside, lashed to the rails, etc, bikes won't last long and/or need a lot of maintenance. Inside the cabin they take up too much space and you'll bang up your varnish moving them in and out. For our boat (40 footer with good size lazarettes), 20" wheels seem to be the right size. We have one 20" Dahon Vitesse D7HG and one Tern Eclipse S11i with 24" wheels. The Tern I bought first, and it fit the locker well on its own, but when the gf moved aboard I wished I had a 20" instead as they do not fit into the space together without serious swearing.

The Tern design and build quality seems an improvement over the (newer) Dahon, but it's also a higher spec bike. The Dahon folding stem joint was wobbly and needed shimming with a coke can, which is just poor design. I also had to make a bungee cord to hold it closed, else it would unfold partially in the locker and jam itself in there. Beware the location - the Tern uses strong magnets to hold the rear wheels together when folded. Otherwise they both are holding up very well, and only the odd steel bolt is corroding, which is easily treated with rust converter. Both have internal gear hubs, which I strongly recommend, not just due to the superior functioning but mostly because they're enclosed and oil-filled instead of exposed. 7 gears seems to be the right choice here unless you plan to ride in very mountainous terrain. The Dahon has a traditional chain guard which often gets bent in the locker, while the Tern has a piece of flexi-conduit over the chain, which works very well.

Disc brakes were a bad choice. They brake extremely well but are a pain in the ass to service, have broken down once (twisted o-ring) and keep needing bleeding of brake fluid whenever we got to hotter weather, else the brakes would drag, heat up evenmore and then seize completely. A good set of V-brakes would've been smarter.

Happy riding. We're glad we have the bikes aboard, as they greatly extend our range of exploring and it's worth giving up most of one lazarette for them.