Hello.
Some time ago I decided I should buy a touring bike. I want
to ride more than I do now. I started looking for carriers
for my car... After some search I concluded it'd be much
cheaper and practical to buy a folding bike than to buy a
nice touring bike plus the car carriers. And I could easily
take a folding bike in a train, bus or plane and ride the
bike (almost) anywhere!
At first time I only found the Brompton bikes. They are nice
and beautiful but... for city, not for touring. I think my
choice would be a 26" wheel bike.
For long time I thought there wasn't such a bike like the
one I wanted until... I found "Dahon Matrix".
I found a dealer and tried the bike in a 5 minutes test.
Although the drive test was so short I was marvelled with
the bike. The only problem is that, here in Portugal, the
price is more than twice the web price!
A friend of mine told me that wouldn't be a problem because
her father, who is also (in a social accepted way) bike
addicted, flies regularly to the US and he could bring me
the bike!!! More, in the US he buys tons of stuff (to his
remote controlled cars and helis shop) which are shipped
later, so, the bike would come with his order so... no
shipping costs to me!
Do you think Dahon Matrix is a good choice? I'm particularly
interested in long bike rides and will probably adapt
panniers to the bike. The local dealer told me they do not
give technical assistance to Dahon bikes which are not
bought through them, should I be worried?
Is Dahon "Airporter Suitcase" a good option to ship my bike
home? I could also use it to transport the bike in my car
trunk whenever I went out for weekend. Is it really worth?
I'd like, also, to read some experienced Matrix users
opinion about the bike.
Thanks. -Z-