rfi: folding bikes

hi bikin bros and hos

so right now im basically splitting time btw my folks place in NJ and my girls place in NY... it would be nice to have a bike in both places since i am looking to explore brooklyn a little bit... (girl also lives on a 4th-fl walkup)

it seems like a folding bike is the best option but--i dont really know anything about them... recommendations? things i should know? are they significantly more convenient than a regular bike or is it like--between all the folding and whatnot theyre kind of annoying?

also--importantly--will i look like a total lame riding one?

i always always scoff at those on these things

yeah but ur kind of a scoffing kind of dude

its true i tend to scoff

i mean i guess i could just buy 2 cheap used bikes and keep one at each place

are folding bikes super cheap or something - cause im a bit suspicious of their true space saving capabilities

like $120-$150 as far as i can tell?

its not just the space--it makes bikes more wieldy--which is nice when youre taking it up 4 flights of stairs

u should prob just get some heelys

What's your budget, Max.

cause im a bit suspicious of their true space saving capabilities

Get a decent one - a Brompton or a mid-range Dahon, and the space-saving capabilities are huge.

The alternative is to work out what times the NJT allows full size bikes and how or to work out your routes via the GW bridge.

um lets say under $200 pash?

and ed, do you mean work out GW routes so i can bike from NJ to NYC? thats not gonna happen--my folks house is in princeton

Through staten island then, you can probably do it without overnighting.

ed im not going to bike from princeton to brooklyn every few days

on his lol folding bike

im going to start a folding bike gang and beat u up, lamewad

u should call yr gang "max's toy bike club gang of homos"

EXPLORE BROOKLYN

^^ singularly unhelpful

buy two unicycles

i wish you were dead

;)

cutts where do you live in do or die

spencer street betwixt dekalb and willoughby, one block east of bedford

ooo near the PROJECTS

do u go to SPUTNIK

i been dere. i don't go out much.

if you want to bang pratt girls, that's the place

i think im ok :/ also kind of far from my chicks place

but hey with a folding bike the world is mine

the world is a bike for you to fold and unfold. srsly though just get a raleigh one-way.

want to buy it for me?

do your parents charge you rent?

i asked first

You're not going to get anything anywhere decent new for $200, and you're not going to get any kind of used Brompton for that either. Look at a used Dahon. The Helios P8 is a good machine that's been discontinued for a couple of years. Various models with names like "Speed D7", "Vitesse D7" are OK. Dahons are pretty solid & reliable, BUT 1/avoid the really old ones (EG the "Boardwalk". They're OK, but v crude) 2/avoid anything fitted w/a SA 5-speed hub 3/avoid any Dahon w/smaller wheels than 20" (Brompton is a fine 16" wheel machine, Dahon's 16"-ers don't make it as yet) 4/on an aluminium framed Dahon, make sure the main frame hinge opens and closes freely. They can seize up and it's a fucker unseizing them (Park cutting fluid works for this but you don't need the grief, trust me.)

Also, if it looks fucked or like it's had a hard life, walk away from it (this goes for any folder). The last thing you want is for a structural hinge to fail when you're riding it. Avoid the "Merc" (alu-framed Brompton knock-off)

thanks for the tips!!!

which one of those will jhoshea scoff at least

He'll scoff at all of them, I'm sure.

Thinking about it, if you're not too tall (like 6' or less), and you're not doing to great a distance, the 2 Dahon 16" wheeled models from a couple of years ago probably would be OK, the Piccolo is likely to be harder-wearing (it has a steel frame), but is a bit heavy, the Presto Lite probably a bit fragile for real serious day-to-day riding, but it's VERY light. Both fold up to a very small package, the Presto Lite is the easier fold of the 2.

PH34_R my bike, it is awesome:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3014/2895521000_709fd0be8a.jpg

i know they got lil wheels, but do u rly need suspension on them folders? even in the back? do they make unsussed folders. i always like simpler and lighter if practical

esp since i cant imagine ridin one of those more than 4 or 5 miles each way

Dahon do some un-suspended folders, although often the suspension forms part of the folding (bromptons, birdies and moltons all do I think). Bromptons I especially dislike as it feels like half of every pump on the pedals is going into compressing the rubber widget that comprises the suspension.

I think Alex Moulton was the original little wheels = suspension required guy. I don't totally buy it myself, generally I don't think it's really necessary, but then generally I don't think suspension is necessary or desitable on any bike - extra weight, extra complexity, it uses up yr pedalling energy.

The Dahon Jetstream P8 I bought because I kind of liked the look of it, it's been a good bike, a 21 mile commute is easy on it, really, I can go pretty fast as well - when I was v fit, I could leave everyone who wasn't a hardcore roadie in the dust on either that or on a Brompton. I tightened up the suspension spring at the back as far as it would go, though. It was pretty funny passing some guy on a fancy mountainbike, and hearing the gears change behind you as they tried to keep up with the funny little folder. Har har.

Common mod on a Brompton is to put a jubilee clip around the suspension elastomer and tighten it up. Newer ones come with a harder elastomer anyway.

desitable desiRable

haha jubilee clip so british sounding. i had to guess what it was, but i guessed right tho (hose clamp).

"Jubilee" is or was the leading brand years ago. lol, britishes "quaint" brand loyalty vs USA practicality, see also "Stanley Knife" vs "box cutter"

wtf lolz