Folding bicycle? for Questionland Seattle

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Folding bicycle?

Starting in the fall, I will be living in a place where I'll have to ride the commuter train to school, and it would be nice to have a bike I can bring on the train. So I'm considering getting a folding bike.

Does anyone have advice? Are folding bikes worth the effort? Is there anything I should look for when buying one?

(I'm in Taiwan for the summer, where the bikes are fairly cheap, if that changes anything.)

Kitts asked in Bicycles 11 months ago | Report

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elbie

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Dahons are wonderful... be sure, as they are smaller, that it is comfortable to ride. For some, they are simply too small. Very long legs are tricky. While you "can" take them on a plane, both the case for them and the cost for their oversized, overweight cargo space would really make it a waste unless you love it enough to literally spend a couple hundred MORE bringing it back (domestic flights=an extra $85 for my roommie's Dahon each way then you have to get its case, which is a lot like a musical instrument type--rugged textured heavy plastic with metal closures)!

For trains, though, they are fantastic. Same with OFFICE jobs--they just tuck under a normal (US normal at least) size desk and are out of sight for the most part. Here, they get a lot of positive attention; there it may be far more everyday with the density of the urban dwellings. Taking them into work with you also means they are far less likely to get stolen--some people steal bike seats, some cut the whole thing loose. With folding ones, that's not so easy to manage. The market would be the only place you'd probably have to lock it down outside and take your seat inside with you (and at least in Hsinchu, it's still common to steal bikes or even just the seats--no idea why unless they rebuild and resell from stolen parts--just the seat here, just the seatless bike elsewhere? Maybe where you shop they're okay with bringing the bike inside; have a pack for the seat or leave it at home to hit the market in case).

I can't say much for other brands, but Dahon would likely be there--you may need to search to find out how to acquire it or the equivalent there (it may be sold under another name in parts of Asia).

elbie answered in Bicycles 11 months ago | Report

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Boaters often carry floating bikes onboard. They're great for getting around when you pull into port, and don't take up too much space when they're stowed at sea.

It sounds like Adam Washington knows what he's talking about as far as the right brand to buy. If you have difficulty tracking down a folding bike, check marine stores. I don't know what the boating community is like in Taiwan, but most cities with a port have a marine consignment shop or some such used equipment exchange. Also, West Marine sells them online, but it looks like their brand is one of the "everyone else" that Adam described, not a Brompton.

soundslikepuget answered in Bicycles 11 months ago | Report

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Folding bikes are very nice for a multi-modal commute, aka bike to train, train to another place, and bike to your final destination.

You will inevitably be weighing price against your ability to acquire said bike in Taiwan, and the convenience of the fold.

The gold standard for a folding bicycle is a Brompton. The fold is amazing, the build quality is top-notch, and everything is very well thought through.

If you have little money, but lots of time and North American connections, you can look for a Raleigh Twenty
http://sheldonbrown.com/raleigh-twenty.html
which is fairly rare. I saw one for sale once for less than $200 and regret not buying it on the spot.

Basically, there are lots of folding bikes, and as far as quality goes, there's Brompton and everybody else. In Taiwan, you should be able to find some low price and okay quality bikes made in Taiwan or China.

Adam Washington answered in Bicycles 11 months ago | Report

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Davey Oil, of Bike Works and the Bikery

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I love folding bikes, but the range of quality is pretty huge.

I've owned a couple of folding bikes and my favorite is a Raleigh 20. It is a very heavy bike though and it required a LOT of modifications to make it practical and useful for me.

I'd add the Bike Friday Tikit to the top of the class, both in price and in quality.

I have no sense of what is available in Taiwan, but I bet the fine folding bikes from Dahon are available there.

My friend Kent has written a great deal about his Dahon Curve, a bike he loves:
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/2010/12/my-dahon-curve-d3.html

I'd say that the thing to look out for is that you give yourself a good test ride and test fold and try several bikes before settling on one. The experience of riding on small wheeled bikes can be pretty strange at first and that may make first impressions a little confusing.

Good luck! Small wheeled bikes are really fun and folding bikes are super convenient for the kind of multi-modal commute you are describing. Have fun In Taiwan!

Davey Oil, of Bike Works and the Bikery answered in Bicycles 11 months ago | Report

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