A common frustration in my part of the world is that transit does not run very often, and there are only 2 spots for bikes on the front of buses. There have been many times when I’ve had to wait an extra hour just to see if the next bus happens to have a spot for my bike.
Every time this happens, I promise myself that I’m going to someday spend the money to buy a folding bike (which can be taken on the bus if it’s folded).
In my head, riding a folding bike is a joyous experience, partly because of Dr Sharon riding a Brompton in Ted Lasso, but I’m curious what it’s actually like.
My dream folding bikes are any model of Brompton, a RadExpand 5, or a Tern Link D7i.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIaXT9h2FFk
This GCN video came to mind. It’s a fun watch, they do a “Top Gear” competition to compare bicycles in the context of commuting. Watch to find out if the folding bicycle defeats the other two contenders.
Awhile the folding bicycle isn’t the fastest or must comfortable, its convenience is compelling.
GCN is cool, thanks for the recommendation. At first I resented their content a bit because they’re so incredibly sporty and I think its important to focus on bikes as accessible non-sporty objects of transportation, but Ive also started riding Gran Fondos this year so I’m hypocritically a sporty cyclist lol
Hey, neat – my wife and I have a pair of those Dahon Classic III bikes, but I figured they were too old to be worth mentioning.
For what it’s worth, the thing really is as awkward to fold (and carry while folded) as they portray, it really is as slow as they portray, and it definitely would’ve been the worst at that hill climb if the guy had actually tried to ride it. You might think he was playing up the general crappiness for the camera, but nope – if anything, he was underselling it by failing to mention things like the crappy Sturmey-Archer 3-speed IGH (which admittedly is better than a single speed, but not by much).
That said, it has the important things going for it that it is, in fact, a functioning bicycle that you can take with you places other bicycles can’t go (e.g. airplane checked luggage without special packaging, disassembly, or paying extra for being oversize), and that it’s cheap (mine were only $50 each – the guy in the video paid so much because he apparently got a fancy marine-grade stainless steel one). I take mine with me and ride it when I travel, but I never, ever touch it at home when I have better bikes available.
Incidentally, I’ve also test-ridden a Brompton. The riding experience isn’t hugely different in terms of geometry or stability (they’ve both got 16" wheels and spindly seatposts and stems, after all), but it’s a nicer experience because the frame feels less flimsy and the (new) 3-speed IGH and brakes work better than poorly-maintained 30-year-old ones. It is also hugely better at “being a folding bike:” much faster to fold, much easier to move around while folded, and much smaller when folded/easier to store. Is it worth paying at least 23 times more than the Dahon ($1155 USD for the stripped base model Brompton vs $50 for a used Dahon), if you’re actually using it regularly for something like commuting? Hell yeah, and it’s not even close.
Also, LOL, GCN’s scoring system was terrible. The results were exactly backwards to what they should’ve been: the autoshift bike was objectively the best commuter.