smoked by a curve
There is a short uphill section on my commute path and I usually ride it as a leisurely pace. Reason being that the lanes are narrow and traffic is bumper to bumper. At anytime, I might have to detour through a petrol station alongside so that I can get to the head of the traffic. Further, there is a traffic signal at the top of the hill and there is little reason to hurry.
I was leisurely riding up this morning when a cyclist zoomed past. I don’t mind cyclists overtaking me as I am not racing. I do a brisk pace to sweat out during my commute and am not usually suckered into racing. But this time, I wanted to catch up as the feller was on a foldable bike with 20” wheels. I had to chit chat with him. City riding affords that since all traffic is buffered at the traffic signals and I managed to catch up with him at a couple of signals down. This was a longish red and managed to get some first hand info on foldable bikes.
The bike was a 2008 Dahon ( Curve or mu I am not sure) and he mentioned that he was speed testing the bike for the distributor. I am not sure if it was the rider or the bike, but it seemed like the bike is pretty capable of good speeds. The feller looked a bit twitchy at times but was able to easily ride around traffic. That is good for urban setting. What struck me was the acceleration. Like BMX bikes or roller skates with smallish wheels, the acceleration is pretty rapid. My heavy, large wheeled bike, in comparison is pretty sluggish off the start. I am pretty sure I could match the speed (or faster) on long stretches but nonetheless, was impressed by the acceleration it seemed to have. It might be good for urban setting with many stop-starts at traffic junctions.
One thing I noticed was that the feller did not stand up to pedal. It seems to me that the bike would not be very stable if you try to stand and induce lateral forces. It is not rally a problem since it does provide good acceleration and climbs pretty well. The bike was bare-bones, no fender, racks etc and may be with additional weight, it might be bogged down and am not sure how it would handle. The bike seemed comfortable around traffic and I guess is a good option for people who do not have secure bike parking at their work place. Foldies are also good if you multi-mode your commute as they can be easily brought into buses / trains. Though I do not have a need, I guess I would test ride one when I have time.
There are 2 distributors I know of in Singapore who deal with foldable bikes. If you are interested, you should check them out.
- Diginexx (dealing with bike-friday, brompton, birdy, strida etc…)
- Speedmatrix (dealing with dahon)
Happy shopping and riding 
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June 24th, 2008 16:15
Just to clarify, the frames look similar but the 20″ models that look like you describe are the Mμ series and the 16″ models are the Curve series. From experience, you can stand up without problems on the Mμ’s and the bike is still stable. But only if you really want to. The 16″ Curves are great as well, but not typically used for the type of acceleration you are talking about.
Thanks for the link to Speedmatrix, they are a great source for Dahon bikes!
Matthew Davis
DAHON
June 24th, 2008 23:24
So when are we racing neck to neck on our Dahons to come?
June 25th, 2008 17:22
Talk about company paying attention to potntial customers eh. Thanks matt for clarifying.
Like I mentioned the bike seemed very zippy and probably there is little reason to stand and pedal. Good to know that the bike would handle ok in such cases too.
I have no experience with small wheel bikes and would be sure to go over to speedmatrix to try it out. Friends of mine are very interested and I guess I should get them to test it out too.
August 6th, 2008 23:13
Hi Nat
Thanks for the mention of us at Diginexx. We pride ourselves as being the folding specialist in town – showcasing 9 international brands!
If you are exploring a MTB or road bike in the form of a folding bike, then you must check out our Reach Road and MTB bikes (20-inch wheelers). We will also be bringing in 26 inch wheelers that fold – Montague’s Swiss Bikes and the US Army’s Paratrooper. Hope to see you at our showroom one day soon!
August 7th, 2008 09:32
I frequent your site too to see the latest models you have. I am holding back on folding bikes still but have been getting my friends interested in the idea of multi modal commute.
I would be sure to drop by your store one day. Given that I travel every morning by your store, it is a wonder I have not really checked your showroom out. I am very interested in test riding the tikit or the brompton and would come over one of the weekends.
Good to know local bike shops are keeping track of the bikers (obscure though my presence on the web is).
thanks for inviting
August 7th, 2008 15:43
Hi Nat
When you do come over to the showroom, pls identify so I can say a big “Hi” to you! We are actually a bike distributor with a retail showroom. You should check out the folding bike forum at http://www.stridasingapore.com/forum where avid folding bike fans meet and yak abt their bikes and more. We do monthly rides too!
August 11th, 2008 11:24
Will be sure to do that. Thanks much.