About Dahon folders?

[pete75]

Sometime ago I asked about Bromptons here as I'm after getting a folder. Have since tried one and thought the ride poor. No better than a Moulton in fact and I thought 16" wheeled bikes would have improved greatly in the 20 odd years between the two designs. From what I've heard the Raleigh Twenty was the pick of the small wheeled crop in their heyday so I'm wondering if a 20" wheeled Dahon is any good. Nothing fancy just something like the Vitesse or D7.

[geocycle]

I've got a Dahon mu P8. I tried a brompton and really didn't like it, although the fold is excellent and it is better to deal with when folded, it just didn't feel right to me. The Dahon is quick and responsive with 8 gears and relatively light. It folds easily and fits into a luggage rack (not overhead!) on trains. It has good components (avid brakes, sram gears). I don't like the standard saddle (too wide) and the standard rear rack is useless as anything that protrudes from it clips your heel, but both could be changed. Some folk ride folders all over the place on folders. For me 10-15 miles is enough and it works well when I have work meetings involving trains but I wouldn't view it as a full-sized replacement. This is partly the saddle and partly the fact that the position is so different you use slightly different muscle combinations so it may be that you could get used to it.

[softpedal]

I got a Dahon Mu P8 a few months ago and have done about 600 miles on it so far. Really like it, it handles well.
Used it on a tour recently where i got the train out and cycled back at about 50 miles a day and a nights camping.
Fully loaded with gear it was hard work on the hills but still handled well.
I would happily use it on solo tours, where you can poddle along at your own pace.

[Jonty]

Pete - can I ask what type of Moulton you tried?
jonty

[Tandem Man]

I have read somewhere recently that Zyro are to stop importing Dahon folders as the quality is not very good.

Ian

[pete75]

Pete - can I ask what type of Moulton you tried?
jonty

This sort - though it was on better nick....

[robgul]

Take a look at the Decathlon/Btwin folder - sub £300 and from what I have seen pretty much the same as a mid-range Dahon .. it's on my n+1 list when I achieve the next n-1

Rob

[Jonty]

Pete - can I ask what type of Moulton you tried?
jonty

This sort - though it was on better nick....

Pete
I'm not expert but it seems like a Kirby-built F frame Mark 2 Moulton possible circa 1965 or thereabouts. It's basically a shopper and it doesn't fold. Some people have the skills to strip them down, remove excess weight and fit lighter wheels, high-pressure tyres, modern brakes and a modern hub gear which, by all accounts, makes them a better, faster ride.
The frames however remain relatively heavy "gas-pipe".
Modern space frame Moultons in comparison are lighter and give a much more lively, fast and responsive ride. They are "separable" rather than "foldable".
jonty

[dubscratcher]

Try and get a ride on a Mezzo, I've got D9, and I'm really pleased with it, folds almost as small as a Brompton and rides really well. It's well equipped and has a good range of gears.You might get one quite cheap at the mo as they've been superceeded by the D10. Just don't expect any small wheeled bike to ride as smooth and fast as a big wheeler.

[MarkF]

I'd love a Moulton, a Brompton too, but with small pockets I ended up with a D7. It was bought unused off Ebay for £150 I am impressed with the build qaulity and it performed admirably on a tour of Holland earlier this year.

[Vorpal]

I have an older Dahon, and I like it. I haven't tried a Brompton, so I can't tell you how it compares.

But I can tell you that the Dahon, after years (10?) in a garage rusting and mouldering, still worked. I unfolded it, pumped the tyres up, and rode it, and everything worked =) I can't say that it worked like it had been looked after, but it was safe to ride.

[Robert]

....thought the ride poor. No better than a Moulton in fact and I thought 16" wheeled bikes would have improved greatly in the 20 odd years between the two designs.

There's nothing wrong with how an F frame Moulton rides. I've got a Mk3 and was really impressed with the ride from the moment I got on it. Perhaps I wanted to like it, but still it was a surprise. I was given 3 moultons and a box of bits over five years ago and tidying the shed crunch time came. It was either get them working, council dump or ebay. I got the best of them running in the spring, it's all original but at the moment it's not very pretty.

The bike in the picture looks as if it's had a front end crash.

I have an Airnimal, but I reckon the ride on the Mouleon is better. If I was in the market for another folder I'd get one of these

[speedsixdave]

Well I can't offer much germane to the Dahon discussion, but I will of course chip in to the Moulton ride debate!

I reckon the ride of a standard (or Standard) Mark 1 and Mark 2 Moulton - with the trailing arm rear suspension - to be about the most refined of any bicycle, and I'd open that up to a challenge. I'll give you that the front suspension may be better on a modern Moulton, and I'll give you that the ride is vastly better in the saddle than out of the saddle. But if it's a nimble, comfortable, cultured ride you're after, the zenith of cycling technology was between the years 1963-1967.

[Russcoles]

What exactly are you looking for in a folder? Folders by definition suffer from having to compromise ride quality for folding size.
Small wheels cause a bumpier ride so many folders have suspension to counter it.
Suspension reduces the efficiency sucking power up as you pedal, better quality suspension is going to have less effect but will still suck up your power.
Hinges and folding handlebar stems introduce flex into the frame. The best hinges are probably the V block hinges as used on the Brompton.
The brompton ride quality is probably better than any folder with 16 inch wheels but will not be as good as either a non folder with 16 inch wheels or a good quality folder with 20" wheels.
You need to decide the relative importance of efficiency, ride smoothness, folding size and price. Then test ride several bikes to see what suits you best.

[pete75]

I'm just after something to sling in a car boot and sometimes take on a bus or train. Dahons fold up small enough for that and I guess 20" wheels would be the way to go for me.
No real idea about Moultons just thought Brompton might have improved the ride being a somewhat newer design. Had a ride on a Moulton when I was at school many years ago and didn't like it at all compared to my own bike which at that time was an ancient Raleigh track machine I'd been given and probably dating from about the Reg Harris era and I don't mean his 1973 comeback. I suppose you can't more chalk and cheese than a shopper like the Moulton and a track bike so I suppose it's a bit unfair to compare them.