Author Topic: In Praise Of Dahon  (Read 15231 times)

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #25 on: 29 September, 2015, 10:34:34 am »
I think I got my over & under mixed up.

It's too spinny.

Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #26 on: 29 September, 2015, 01:08:08 pm »
I think I got my over & under mixed up.

It's too spinny.

I don't think you got 'em mixed up (spinny=under-geared) - but I do think you're wrong!

I prefer spinning, and find my Brom way over-geared, even for London use.

Must get a bigger rear sprocket for it - then I might actually use 3rd gear more than once in a blue moon.


clarion

  • Tyke
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #27 on: 29 September, 2015, 02:53:34 pm »
I like spinning, but my Dahon runs out of gears quickly.
Getting there...

Kim

  • Timelord
    • Fediverse
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #28 on: 29 September, 2015, 11:08:20 pm »
I like spinning, but my Dahon runs out of gears quickly.

I think it's hard to get a decent range out of a single derailleur without going to 9 speed or more.  My folding BSO (originally 5-speed, retrofitted for 7-speed 'megarange' when catastrophic cheese failure required a new rear wheel) suffered as soon as you ventured beyond North London.  I'd got the bottom end right, so it was lack of top end on the gentle descents that really bugged me.

Hub gears are the solution, of course.  With a Dahon it's easy to have a proper Nexus, rather than the Brompton-esque bodges.

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #29 on: 29 September, 2015, 11:11:40 pm »
I like spinning, but my Dahon runs out of gears quickly.

Never quite thought of it that way, but you are right, mine has completely run out of gears.

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #30 on: 29 September, 2015, 11:27:35 pm »
No problem with insufficient gears and spinning out on mine. Maybe that says more about me than about the bike, dunno :-[

fruitcake

  • some kind of fruitcake
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #31 on: 29 May, 2016, 12:13:17 am »
I've recently taken some parts off my Dahon. I was running a carbon seatpost for a while but I realised the original aluminium one had slightly more setback and more flex, which I liked. I've also swapped the full size pannier rack to the ArcLite rack which puts the rear load lower, and I have removed the front rack because I never used it. If you may find those parts useful, they are available to buy here

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #32 on: 23 February, 2020, 02:02:36 pm »
My teenaged dahon jetstream p8 was reburbed and upgraded to “p16”... and it works very well off road (muddy forest path, green lanes, gravel/stoned road) or in urban environment jumping curbs and going down a few steps. I put a custom 455 h900 hinge pin.


but it s heavy, 14kg.


So as i also have a helios 20” with 7 gears 11-28 and spare bits, i’m going to convert it into a speed pro TT or verges x30h /x18

to run these, I will fit road shifter/brake levers and litepro V brake pulleys.

the unknown is the handle bar, road drop down with the curved handle or TT bullhorn handle / speed pro TT.
so which one? What are the pros and cons?
I would grateful for any feedback especially regarding speed pro TT some of you ride.

I will be lightening the bike as much as possible.

tyres: i ‘m not sure whether refitting a set of marathon big apple or move to kojak (or similar).

this helios is going to be road orientated bike for longer rides, no curb jumping etc.

so please, advise me.

thanks

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #33 on: 23 February, 2020, 02:56:09 pm »
Folding a Dahon with a bullhorn bar is noticeably more compact than with a drop bar. Unless you regularly use the drops (most don’t often get down on drop bars), a bullhorn is probably better.

Kojaks are lighter but not quicker than Big Apples. You’ll need more exotic tyres to gain extra speed.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #34 on: 23 February, 2020, 03:31:50 pm »
Folding a Dahon with a bullhorn bar is noticeably more compact than with a drop bar. Unless you regularly use the drops (most don’t often get down on drop bars), a bullhorn is probably better.

Kojaks are lighter but not quicker than Big Apples. You’ll need more exotic tyres to gain extra speeds

Ok , so is there much point about bullhorn vs flat bar with ergos like my jetstream???
I read the the bullhorn can be hard on the back.
Folding capacity is not too much of an issue and bullhorn or drop down will protrude similarly unless i put a handle hinge that allow the horn to point vertically rather than horinzontally

I guess i could put a carbon bullhorn at a much cheaper cost than a carbon drop but if i stay in aluminium, cost difference is negligeable and frankly it will be a ebay job.


Tyre, i thought about  Schwalbe One Performance Raceguard .

https://www.tweekscycles.com/uk/schwalbe-one-performance-raceguard-wire-tyre-2008912/

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #35 on: 23 February, 2020, 03:50:29 pm »
A bullhorn puts the brakes in hand for my most-used position, unlike a flat bar with barends. Bullhorns generally have enough forward extension, unlike most barends, hence your adaptor between stem and bars. Your bike already has a QR handlebar clamp to change bar angle.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #36 on: 23 February, 2020, 03:53:26 pm »
I don t have the original helios, i hav a TT with a weld bar stump .
I never liked the height adjutable version

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #37 on: 23 February, 2020, 04:02:59 pm »
I wasn’t talking about height adjustment but instead handlebar angle. There have been a million variations on the theme of Dahon but many stems have had a QR for handlebar angle.

http://www.foldingcyclist.com/Dahon-Speed-Pro-TT-folding-bike.html
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #38 on: 23 February, 2020, 05:47:03 pm »
Yes, there are these kits

https://foldingbike.biz/epages/7665e38c-067c-4fa0-9037-afac2266f927.mobile/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/7665e38c-067c-4fa0-9037-afac2266f927/Products/TERNDAHANDROSSTEMSIL

But when looking at the cost, it would be cheaper to fit a jetstream handle post.

If there are cheap kits, i’ll be interested.
At the moment, i have a litepro on the shelves

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #39 on: 23 February, 2020, 05:54:01 pm »
Sadly, as some here will know, my Dahon (pictured above) snapped in half near the hinge several years ago, and dumped me in the road:

So I've jumped ship and bought a Brompton :-[

However, I do have this Tern Verge X18 for nice days when I fancy a ride back from work that's a bit more fun:

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #40 on: 23 February, 2020, 05:55:51 pm »
If there are cheap kits, i’ll be interested.
I've got one or two bits like that left from the broken Dahon mentioned in my previous post. Let me take a look.

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #41 on: 23 February, 2020, 06:02:27 pm »
However, I do have this Tern Verge X18 for nice days when I fancy a ride back from work that's a bit more fun:


So how does it fold? Is the handlebar standard or from a teenager or may be lady road bike (smaller/lower profile)
I might invest in a kinetix  MU lightweight front  wheel

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #42 on: 23 February, 2020, 06:31:16 pm »
This video shows the basics, but for some reason doesn't include the final flip-down of the stem and bars, which is like any other Dahon. Of course the dropped bars stick out more than straight ones would, so it's not as compact. Yes, they're original - all I've done is add my own SPDs (and bottle cage).

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #43 on: 23 February, 2020, 06:37:06 pm »
What sort of gearing has it got? I’d expect a 50+ T chainring and 11-32Tcassette???

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #44 on: 23 February, 2020, 06:57:27 pm »
Details here. Pretty decent gear range. The Capreo hub allows a very small top sprocket and hence the high top gear. To be honest I think it's a waste of time, and I'd rather have an Ultegra hub with an 11T or so, but overall it's a really fun ride.

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #45 on: 23 February, 2020, 07:16:56 pm »
I have the following choice of chain ring
53T -39T rotor q rings
53T - 44T rotor q rings
50T - 34T std rings

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #46 on: 23 February, 2020, 07:23:45 pm »
Our 406 Moultons run 58t big rings and 11t cassettes. Much smaller than a 56t is a bit depressing on a faster machine. Teethgrinder ran a 53t on a 11t Moulton for a while and was very happy to swap to a 56t ring.

The 9-26t 9sp Capreo cassette lets small-wheel folk use normal chainring sizes, as does Moulton’s expensive 10t cassettes. Both use a unique freehub design. The recent Shimano 10t cassettes help but use yet another freehub design and typically have excessively large cogs at the low end. The long arm rear mechs get very close to the ground.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #47 on: 23 February, 2020, 08:12:43 pm »
I’ well aware that a 9 or 11 gear cassette would open further options but i don’t want to spend £100s on wheel, hubs, cassette, deraileur shifter etc.

It i was to do that... i’d sell the bike and buy a new one...  like a hammerhead

LittleWheelsandBig

  • Whimsy Rider
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #48 on: 23 February, 2020, 08:17:36 pm »
I was talking about the size of the smallest cassette cog, not the number of cogs. A 9t top cog on a 406 wheel (particularly with a narrow 406 tyre) means you can use normal chainring sizes. An 11t top cog means an oversized chainring is needed to get a decent high gear on a road bike, as our Moultons do. You can get 11t top cogs on 7sp cassettes, if you like. The main way to get a 9t top cog is to use a Capreo cassette, as drossall’s Dahon does.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: In Praise Of Dahon
« Reply #49 on: 24 February, 2020, 06:21:06 am »
I bought a second hand Dahon with Land Rover badging, thinking how cool it would be to get to the station and pull it out of the Land Rover,casseble it and ride off.

It was a bit tired, cut generally sound. I gave it a good clean, treated the rust spots, new brake and gear cables and outers, new brake blocks (tyres worn but sound marathons) and spent quite a lot of time getting the hinges and clasps to work properly.

That done, I rode it, once. Just didn't like the twitchiness and feeling of being perched on rather than part of the bike. I sold it for a profit.

I'll be ordering an airnimal in the next week or so.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens