Folding bikes

tennisgirl1

tennisgirl1

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UK & Greece
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We are thinking of buying two folding bikes to send out to Greece for the next season. I have been keeping an eye on ebay, but am not really sure what sort of bike it's best to look for - type of bike, wheel size, number/types of gears, ease of folding. We want them for the trips between harbour and town, not long distance exploring. Boat is a Sun Odyssey 35 so we have a bit of spare space but not loads. Any tips on keeping bikes on board welcome.
Elaine
 
bickerton

Steel bikes are horrible in my opinion so I have a single speed strida works fine. slightly unusual seat position I would only want to do 10miles on it max. http://www.strida.co.uk/

However I also like the look of the bickerton (Go for about £70-£100 on ebay eg http://bit.ly/bickerton) not made for several years but have a good reputation and alloy frame
 
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Hi.
we too are looking at purchasing a couple of folding bikes, I am a keen cyclist and have been for years. my advice for what its worth is to go for the best quality you can afford / justify to yourself spending.. just like alot of things in life you get what you pay for and this is never truer than with bikes especially folding bikes.

if a creaky uncomfortable, old clunker is folded up in the cabin or bungeed to the rail, you will end up leaving it there. just ballast. the £99 specials will invariably go that way.

if you enjoy riding it of course the opposite applies and those trips to town could well become days out exploring.

on a more specific level
having ridden many I can say that the smaller the wheels the less ridable they are, and those ones with tiny scateboard wheels may well fold up tiny but believe me thay are more a piece of engineering theory not to be confused with something you can actually ride! (one tiny stone or pot hole and its all over)
and the 'A' frame ones may look cool but no gears! to be avoided.

a good quality folder with a bag to store it in, with plenty of gears and at least 16" wheels is the way to go (20" wheels are noticeably better still)

and weight the lighter the bike the easyer to get up hills, simple as..

invest in a good quality gel saddle.

hope this helps your thought process

kind regards
 
We have a folding bike purchased second hand with the important ""20inch"" wheels the smaller wheels are not very efficient. We only buy second hand as the ones that we buy are usually expensive new.It has six gears with a twist handle to change gears.

Good luck

Peter
 
sam_uk said:
Steel bikes are horrible in my opinion so I have a single speed strida works fine. slightly unusual seat position I would only want to do 10miles on it max. http://www.strida.co.uk/

However I also like the look of the bickerton (Go for about £70-£100 on ebay eg http://bit.ly/bickerton) not made for several years but have a good reputation and alloy frame
Click to expand...

i have 2 Bickertons that might be for sale. under offer at the Mo
Mine have 6 gears via the Sturmey Hub
 
Bickertons

We have a couple of Bickertons which we have had from new in 1980. One is called Anna and the other Condor. Why, well annacondor is a snake and riding a bickerton is a bit like that! The frames are not exactly rigid so as you go over the bumps they flex a lot. The wheels are quite small and have a inbuilt magnetic attraction for gaps in drains, I have had a spectacular over the handlebars front wheel down the drain twice now! We use them quite a bit, abuse them a lot and they have survived. On any of the fold ups you really need gears, a gel saddle helps and the bigger the wheels the better.
The bicerton bag that they stow away in also fits on the handlebars and is really handy for getting stores in, swallows a case of beer no problem. If you want them for around the marina and short hops then go for it. Any distance and you need to think bigger wheels and lots of gears. You can still get spares for them, a place down the S Coast, found it on the net. Poole Bay Folders.
 
abandond bikes

foldingbikes002.jpg


If you find yourself in Nidri here are a couple that you can have for free, well you will need a pair of bolt croppers to cut the chain that secured them to the end of the jetty near to Neilsons at the end of last season about early October apart from the chains that are now solid rust they look fine.
Its quite amazing just how much good kit dinghy’s/ mountain bikes/ cars etc are just abandoned here it’s a total mystery.
 
tennisgirl1 said:
We are thinking of buying two folding bikes to send out to Greece for the next season. I have been keeping an eye on ebay, but am not really sure what sort of bike it's best to look for - type of bike, wheel size, number/types of gears, ease of folding. We want them for the trips between harbour and town, not long distance exploring. Boat is a Sun Odyssey 35 so we have a bit of spare space but not loads. Any tips on keeping bikes on board welcome.
Elaine
Click to expand...

Brompton are the rolls royce of folding bikes, but not cheap. I've got a Dahon which has done ok though many years since the brakes worked and needs a new front wheel. Great thing to have onboard.
 
ukmctc said:
just pick up two old bikes any bikes will do, don't waste money on a folding bike, it aint worth it.
Click to expand...
I have a lot of sympathy with this last comment.

I've had a number of folding bikes - now use a very elderly carbon-fibre Trek.

Really a racing bike, it weighs about 35% of a folding bike, is a delight to ride and folds into a small bag which used to contain an inflatable.
I, personally, wouldn't waste any money on a folding bike (even a Brompton).

The wheels and saddle come out, it takes about 100 seconds to pack and unpack and a 35km trip is an easy undertaking. It stows in my aft cabin.
 
lefkasman said:
foldingbikes002.jpg


If you find yourself in Nidri here are a couple that you can have for free, well you will need a pair of bolt croppers to cut the chain that secured them to the end of the jetty near to Neilsons at the end of last season about early October apart from the chains that are now solid rust they look fine.
Its quite amazing just how much good kit dinghy’s/ mountain bikes/ cars etc are just abandoned here it’s a total mystery.
Click to expand...

Hi Lefkasman

If I was you I would have that Dahon away... one sold on Ebay in the same condition for about £150 just recently...

WD40 - forsale sign - £100 easy ;)
 
charles_reed said:
I have a lot of sympathy with this last comment.

I've had a number of folding bikes - now use a very elderly carbon-fibre Trek.

Really a racing bike, it weighs about 35% of a folding bike, is a delight to ride and folds into a small bag which used to contain an inflatable.
I, personally, wouldn't waste any money on a folding bike (even a Brompton).

The wheels and saddle come out, it takes about 100 seconds to pack and unpack and a 35km trip is an easy undertaking. It stows in my aft cabin.
Click to expand...

One thing is certainly true. I have a pair of Dawes folder 16 inch wheels. I was bicycling last autumn in Messolonghi with Charles. I had to expend probably double the energy to keep up with him. There really is a huge difference in efficiency (or my unfitness). Once wheels and saddles have been removed they do pack up quite small so it is worth think big bike.
 
We have one of these (Daewoo Shuttle):- http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~talizmar/xntrick/daewoo.htm

which is now 15years old and still as good as new. We also have one of these (which is actually a Dahon):- http://www.compass24.com/web/catalog/shop/technics_comfort_bicycles/4852564 but we have the earlier hub gear version. In fact both bikes are hub geared. The ratios are sufficient for most journeys in Greece and there is no derailleur to seize up and soil the aft cabin bunk we keep them both on. Incidentally, I notice that one of the bikes in the picture some are showing has knobbly tyres. Yes these are OK for rough terrain but they don't 'arf increase the pedalling effort needed. Also keep the pressures as hard as you can get them and keep the sun off them. Some people amaze me with the abuse they seem to think is appropriate for a boat bike (often a sort of snobbish "Bohemian" abhorrence for anything mechanical).

Something large that needs to be kept on deck will soon annoy and getting two large bikes down below will take it's toll on your woodwork

Chas
 
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charles_reed said:
I have a lot of sympathy with this last comment.

I've had a number of folding bikes - now use a very elderly carbon-fibre Trek.

Really a racing bike, it weighs about 35% of a folding bike, is a delight to ride and folds into a small bag which used to contain an inflatable.
I, personally, wouldn't waste any money on a folding bike (even a Brompton).

The wheels and saddle come out, it takes about 100 seconds to pack and unpack and a 35km trip is an easy undertaking. It stows in my aft cabin.
Click to expand...
Given that the lightest serious folding bike on the market weighs only 7.9kg your's must be something rather special - I make it about 3kg :)

If you want a light, seemingly well made bike then the Urban Lite looks like a good choice (although I've not seen one in the flesh).

Otherwise, as another poster has pointed out, the Compass24 bikes are regarded as good value. They are made by Dahon but much cheaper.
 
My wife and I used Bromptons when cruising Greece, Turkey and France. Yes, they are expensive, but they are worth every penny! Easy to transport (we took ours on a flight to Turkey). They are light and fold into a very neat suitcase size in a matter of seconds (literally). Very easy to store on board. Ours had 6 gears and were very reliable. With luck, you may find some on ebay.
(you can see ours transporting fenders on our website: www.yachtvalhalla.wordpress.com )
 
Have Bromptons if you can afford them, avoid anything cheap. I did a lot of research on what was available a year or so ago, decided I didn't want to spend Brompton money (you'll pay £500 plus on ebay). Ended up buying a Giant Halfway and it's fantastic, tough (can almost ride it like a BMX), 6 gears, almost all aluminium, 20" wheels and it doesn't look like a little shopper bike. Only downside is it could do with an extra gear to go a bit faster. Could easily cover 10 or 20 miles on it though. They're about £350...

P4230001.JPG
 
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We use a Giant Halfway (about £400) and a Dahon Speed P8 (ebay, £250). They are both great to ride for fairly long distances, and both resist corrosion well. (The Giant spent 30 mins submerged in a tidal river, and after a thorough oiling has continued without problems.)

We used to have Bickertons, but they were only suitable for short distances, and were rather fragile.

We have just bought 2 Birdy Blues for £300 each - they originally cost over £1000. They are also a great ride, and fold almost as well as Bromptons.

So, I reckon quality bikes are worth having, and can be bought for reasonable money if you are prepared to wait a while until they come up.

Tony
 
peterN said:
My wife and I used Bromptons when cruising Greece, Turkey and France. Yes, they are expensive, but they are worth every penny! Easy to transport (we took ours on a flight to Turkey). They are light and fold into a very neat suitcase size in a matter of seconds (literally). Very easy to store on board. Ours had 6 gears and were very reliable. With luck, you may find some on ebay.
(you can see ours transporting fenders on our website: www.yachtvalhalla.wordpress.com )
Click to expand...

Did you have any problems importing them into Turkey by air . Thought Turkish customs were strict
 
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