Brompton equivalent

General cycling advice ( NOT technical ! )
Brucey
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Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by Brucey »

to be a Brompton-beater a folding bike needs to be

- better in some way
- fold smaller
- have lower costs of ownership

etc. Even one significant difference will be compelling for some folk.

However I don't see that the Dahon is any of these things.

cheers
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Sid Aluminium
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Joined: 26 Feb 2019, 7:38pm
Location: Beyond the edge of the wild

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by Sid Aluminium »

Dahon has been offering their Curl model for about two years now. It's currently sold in 4, 7 and 8-speed IGH models.

Dahon is technically a US company but their manufacturing base and the preponderance of their world-wide sales are in East Asia. They played around with Andrew Ritchie-inspired prototypes for almost ten years, teasing at numerous international bike shows. Dahon never seemed to be serious about actually bringing the Curl to market until after WB-A announced Brompton was headed to the Chinese market in a big way, planning to double production and export some 50,000 bikes/year into China.
igauk
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Location: Glasgow

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by igauk »

These have had a protracted gestation but now seem to be shipping: https://www.helix.ca/ Quality and innovation, but at about £1700 I don't think Brompton will be losing much sleep.
Moulton TSR 30
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freiston
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by freiston »

igauk wrote:These have had a protracted gestation but now seem to be shipping: https://www.helix.ca/ Quality and innovation, but at about £1700 I don't think Brompton will be losing much sleep.

According to https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bike ... te-80.html - they've shipped five bikes, are currently aiming at shipping 5 bikes a month and have orders for over 1700 from the Kickstarter.

Edit: The last post on their facebook page was 04/02/2017 and still no announcement that they are actually shipping them.
Disclaimer: Treat what I say with caution and if possible, wait for someone with more knowledge and experience to contribute. ;)
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Sweep
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by Sweep »

freiston wrote:
igauk wrote:These have had a protracted gestation but now seem to be shipping: https://www.helix.ca/ Quality and innovation, but at about £1700 I don't think Brompton will be losing much sleep.

According to https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bike ... te-80.html - they've shipped five bikes, are currently aiming at shipping 5 bikes a month and have orders for over 1700 from the Kickstarter.

Edit: The last post on their facebook page was 04/02/2017 and still no announcement that they are actually shipping them.

It does look interesting, though I could live without the titanium.
Sweep
igauk
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Location: Glasgow

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by igauk »

freiston wrote:
igauk wrote:These have had a protracted gestation but now seem to be shipping: https://www.helix.ca/ Quality and innovation, but at about £1700 I don't think Brompton will be losing much sleep.

According to https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bike ... te-80.html - they've shipped five bikes, are currently aiming at shipping 5 bikes a month and have orders for over 1700 from the Kickstarter.

Edit: The last post on their facebook page was 04/02/2017 and still no announcement that they are actually shipping them.


Yeah, I've dipped into that thread a few times over the years, although the quality of the trolling and bickering has declined. At that rate they'll have fulfilled the Kickstarter orders in a little over 28 years...
Moulton TSR 30
Sid Aluminium
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by Sid Aluminium »

If the Helix doesn't quite suit, there's the Burke 20.
http://www.seattle-cycles.com/products

Exchange rates and shipping will vary, but back-of-envelope arithmetic indicates most world citizens could purchase a top spec Brompton with all the factory titanium bits, a carbon fiber Chedech and two chrome plated 3Sixties for the cost of the Burke 20.
Brucey
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Joined: 4 Jan 2012, 6:25pm

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by Brucey »

well this thread has gone a bit weird; it presently looks as if I started this thread, which I didn't. I posted a reply to a query (from Hondated?) about buying an equivalent to a Brompton, but that initial question has seemingly been deleted. Very odd.

cheers
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gaz
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by gaz »

High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
UpWrong
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by UpWrong »

gaz wrote: 1 Aug 2022, 6:10pm A Bromptonesque fold: https://panlova.com/shop/folding-bikes/ ... isc-black/
13.5 kgs for a single speed!
fastpedaller
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Joined: 10 Jul 2014, 1:12pm
Location: Norfolk

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by fastpedaller »

"If you are not skilled in doing this yourself, we advise you to get it done by a skilled bike mechanic at your cost for your safety" = We have very poor quality control, so on your head be it - we accept no liability! :( Or something like that.
I'll stick with the real thing.
intothefold1985
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Joined: 27 Jul 2022, 10:46am

Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by intothefold1985 »

I know plenty of Brompton knockoffs and fakes. This one here was very well broken-in. So well that it.....broke.Image :D

They sell several Chinese knockoff brands in Taipei shops. All pretty crappy. Seat post stuck. Horrible suspension etc. All can be had for under 800 USD. One model throws in a 1200 USD set of carbon wheels and costs 1400 USD. The bike without the wheels costs $200. I saw it near the rubbish bin at a mechanic shop. Without the wheels of course. They got what they paid for buying from sleazy thieves in China.
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simonineaston
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by simonineaston »

Yikes!

We must hope that the busy folk in the People's Republic do not turn their attention next to Dr Moulton's bikes... ;-)
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
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geomannie
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Re: Brompton equivalent

Post by geomannie »

Anent Brompton equivalents, I came across the Vello folder today. If I didn't already own a Brompton I would tempted, in the main as it uses off-the-shelf components which would make for easy & cheap maintenance.

Nice design too, though the fold isn't perhaps quite as near as the Brompton.

https://road.cc/content/feature/reinven ... ike-294935
geomannie
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