Folding Bikes

[DELUSIONAL]

Folding Bikes are great -- I've had mine, a Dahon, for about a year. They do fold up as quickly as advertised. They do better on gentle hill -- steep hills -- not that great. But then I don't do well on steep hills either.

Monday, January 24, 2005

Unfolding pedals: Bikes let travelers and commuters carry on with ease

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

What Walkmans did for music and laptops have done for computers, folding bicycles may be poised to do for cycling.

That is, if they can shed their ill-deserved image as novelty items.

The bikes, which look like BMX bikes with extra-tall handlebars and seats, collapse into a bundle small enough to be carried on a bus, stowed under a desk or packed into a suitcase.

They are common in Europe, Japan and China, but have been slow to catch on in this country, despite design advances that have made them lighter, more compact and easier to ride.

snip

The latest models, which sell for about the same price as regular bikes, come with multispeed transmissions, aluminum frames and quick-release clamps that allow the bikes to be folded or extended in under a minute, without tools. It's usually a two- or three-step process.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/208909_foldingbikes.html

[McKenzie]

1. nice link here. Moultons rock apparently

I don't have one but friends of mine do.

http://www.foldsoc.co.uk/home.html

[dutchdemocrat]

2. A lot of them used in Holland

If you take a folded bike on the train it is free - a normal one is not. And MANY people in the Netherlands are biking and taking the train...





Here's a busy train station and where you end up leaving your bike if you can't fold it up and put it on the train!

[ikojo]

3. I bought a new upright bike in May 2004

I paid a little over $700 for it...so are you saying I can get a FOLDING bike for about the same price? When I looked into them in 2001, they approached $2,000 which is too rich for my blood.

[Astrochimp]

4. I have a full sized moutain bike that folds, got it 7-8 years ago.

[DELUSIONAL]

5. You can get a Dahon -- price range $300 - $850

http://www.airportshoppe.com/bikes/

We bought the mariner in 2003 -- and we can carry groceries in back packs and on the rear rack.

There are other brands -- and the price range goes on up.

If you want a bike that folds and is portable -- then consider the various folding bikes.

To prevent theft in area with high bike thefts -- the seat and other parts of the bike can be removed -- if it needs to be chained outside. Friends had their folding bikes stolen in Japan -- the one night they were too tired to remove the seats.