Folding-bike test-ride

Mike <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I took a test ride on the new Giant Halfway folding bike, a 7-speed, 20" model.

The comfort and handling with 20" wheels was surprisingly good. Good enough for getting into and
around town, or to and from the train. Those people laughing at me had no idea.

But whats with the gearing? I was spinning fast in top gear and still going dead slow. (No cleats
or toestraps of course.) Putting an 11-28 cassette on it would have given a better gear, but no
chance. It uses a freewheel cluster - not something you expect on a $1000 bike!

Maybe the laughers did know something.

Try the Dahon folders (dahon.comdahon.comOpen ↗) - 20" wheels, good gearing. I ride the Broadwalk 6
which sells for about $500. Available at: cheekymonkey.com.aucheekymonkey.com.auOpen ↗ if your in Sydney, else
call advancetraders.com.auadvancetraders.com.auOpen ↗ for local distributers in your state.

You might also consider the Birdy. It's expensive, but you get full suspension and a very large (56)
chaiwheel to compensate for the smaller wheel. It's available in 8 and 24 speeds. We have two of the
8 speeds and we find them about 2 kph slower on average compared to our uprights. We've toured
extensively and can't fault them. Only 11 kgs (YES 11 kgs FULL SUSPENSION!) and superbly
comfortable. www.birdy.com.au The local agents Elke and Paul are nice people too. We bought ours
from Borsari in Melbourne.

Paul and Val

Megan Webb said:

Try the Dahon folders (dahon.comdahon.comOpen ↗) - 20" wheels, good gearing. I ride the Broadwalk 6
which sells for about $500.

Thanks. Looking at the website, its a 74" top gear (5.9m travel per pedal rev), which is still
very low for a fit rider on level ground, even sitting up straight. Its probably a bit better gear
than the Giant though, and a MUCH better price. Worth considering. If only it had a cassette you
could swap.

Paul Worden wrote about the birdy. Looks very nice, but a bit pricy for my purposes. I may just make
do with QR wheels, and some extra hassle and baggage fees.

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In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

The comfort and handling with 20" wheels was surprisingly good. Good enough for getting into and
around town, or to and from the train. Those people laughing at me had no idea.

Nothing wrong with folding bikes, we have two Bike Fridays and they are very good, but they are
expensive.

bikefriday.combikefriday.comOpen ↗

SR

I bought the Half Way in July 2003, I ride to work daily (12km roundtrip), I do light grocery, shopping with it.

What I like is the bike comes complete turn key: mud fenders, useable rack (10-11kg) and a bag.

2 folding points + 2 pedal to fold. pretty fast

My co-worker after riding it were all very impress with the ride. Beside looking fancy.

I strongly recommend this bike for commuting to work when you don't want to lock it downstair.

Did look at KHS cappucino but it can't hold my weight. Was 235lbs when purchase.

Now with my riding, I do 1h of biking = 1 h of cardio so I don't go to the gym anymore.

Dahon are nice but fenders and bag are extra. Love the V-brake on those.

Oyster said:

Dahon are nice but fenders and bag are extra. Love the V-brake on those.

At least some of the dahon's have mud-guards as standard.

The ones down at Cheeky MOnkey (where I bought my Dahon Boardwalk) certainly have them.

-kt