I’m starting a folding bike thrad, one that I will post in a few times then probably abandon.
I bought a Tern Link C8. It’s dumb, but it fits in my car and does bike things. It’s actually not horrible, but it’s far from good. I really only got it cuz I could use my REI dividend and get it for $300 and return it if I truly hate it.
But here’s the catch: it’s stupid fun to ride. It’s tiny, twitchy, hops up and down curbs so easily I was a little caught off guard. The components are bad, but I can’t really be bummed about that for how little I spent. As things break I guess I’ll just replace them, or get hyper fred and start upgrading to IGH and Dyno hub models with anno parts…
I have a Bike Friday tikit that I scored with a suitcase quite cheaply used, but it was in terrible shape. Swapped out 7sp gripshift for 8sp and a trigger shifter plus a larger front ring.
Doesn’t fold as small as sup’s brompton, but it’s got better brakes, more gear range and has an acceptable reach / seat height. And it folds fast
Love taking it on short trips and tearing around on it. Always handles a little funky until I get used to it again. The samsonite case is biggish but not S&S big.
for the Tikit be real careful with the QR handlepost interface
the first bunch of versions could develop unresolvable slop that required warranty replacement, I dunno if they ever conclusively fixed the design for good
The small wheels get up to speed really quickly so it was pretty fun to ride around the city fast…but also a bit twitchy - sort of like riding a low-trail bike unloaded. The fold was pretty nice, but honestly I could never be bothered to fold it at which point I didn’t know why I had a folding bike.
When I was in the bike mines, there was a dude with a modern mini cooper who had 2 of the folding mini cooper bikes that he would bring in on his hitch rack for tune ups.
can’t find a picture but i used to have a Dahon Speed TR - 8sp + SRAM DualDrive, dyno up front. weird fucking bike that i really miss. sold to pay medical bills after breaking a bunch of bones in 2014
I’m still tempted to try a Brompton to see what it’s like. Plus there’s plenty of aftermarket stuff for dithering. I may or may not keep this Tern, so we’ll see. It’s fine, but I know I’ll want to start replacing stuff (brakes, shifter, add some reach with a bar adapter, etc) and it might be pointless to spend money on an already junk bike.
My main complaint is that it doesn’t really roll well when folded, which is a mild hassles when I get to the office and have to navigate around to get to my floor. It may just be me though, I might be missing something totally obvious.
For being such a dumb bike, I still like this. I’m staring to tweak things a bit and it’s grown on me quite a bit. Got a new saddle, some Reuben pedals, and have some grips and a stem extender in the mail.
I’m not seriously considering buying one but I would snag one cheap used in a heartbeat. Don’t need a folder/travel bike but something like this would be fun to toss in the luggage section of a NYC bound bus and fuck around on.
