Folding bike info please...

Howdy -

With two EV's to fuel, I find myself getting more and more exercise as I jog from public charging to wherever I need to be (like home). Sometimes I need to be there sooner and with less panting and sweating (sorry, ladies) than jogging allows, however. So I've been doing some research on folding bikes. Bike Fridays seem to be an outstanding choice - but the better ones are at least double my budget. Still, with unlimited funds, this is what I'd buy today. Brompton seems to come in second in popularity, and then I've seen Montaque, Dahon, Titan, Ace and others. Many for sale on Ebay. But I have no idea where to find more information on these other "off brand" units. My local stores don't carry any quality folding bikes, so I'm at the mercy of advertising and word-of-mouth. If anybody has experience or advice in the area of folding bikes, I'd love to hear about it. Should I just bite the bullet and buy a custom-fitted Bike Friday and be done with it?

I'm still somewhat of a slave to aesthetics, and don't fancy the dorkiest looking bikes.

I'm expecting some input from Don on this...

Bropton
Bike Friday
Montague

My hunting buddies bought some Montague "Paratrooper" for use while duck-hunting (for transport between parking areas and far-away blinds).

Turns out, they all now love their folding bikes and use them for all sorts of occasions. They said the price around $550 was right too.

HTH

Well bud,

The goofy one I have is a STRIDA

- Don

Thanks Guncollector. The nice part about the Montagues is that they're "full size" folding bikes.

And thanks to you Don. That's the goofy little bugger! The nice part about it is the REALLY compact fold, and the totally unique look. I wonder if the geometry has been improved since yours?

Man, the more I look at these Montague's the more I like them. Full-size bike, compact fold, standard accessories and resonable prices! Damn.

Man, the more I look at these Montague's the more I like them. Full-size bike, compact fold, standard accessories and resonable prices! Damn.
Here's the Paratrooper (now $645 - but complete with disk brake and suspension):

that paratrooper doesn't look half bad (actually, i think it looks somewhat attractive)

the strida on the other hand...wow, that thing is wierd!

Yeah, that Strida fits into Don's life pretty seamlessly.

The Paratrooper is awesome, and the company is very responsive. For $645, the thing is LOADED!

And it turns out that an even higher-end Paratrooper is sold at Hummer dealers. Lighter and more bulletproof. I hate to give business to a Hummer dealer, but then I'm using it to be even MORE efficient in my EV travels, so I can pretend that I'm actually poking them in the eye.

Nice looking bike!

get the hummer darell!!!!

that one is sexy!

phew

Hmm...that really does seem like a paradox, use a hummer bike to get aound with your EV...

I'll have to vote for the Montague! Now I want one! Price seems a whole lot better than some of those others!

The Hummer IS the Paratrooper, but with a more expensive disk brake and a few slightly ligher components, and $50 more. Regardless, everybody is out of stock on both of these products, so I'll have to wait until the end of the month to do anything. I'm pretty much settled on one of these though. I didn't intend on replacing my current Mt. bike with a folding bike, but from what I can tell, I'll be able to do just that with one of these bikes. The only compromise to them folding is about 1/2 pound for the hinge and pin area (less extra weight than a full water bottle, the say). I'm riding around on one of the VERY first mountain bikes ever made, and it has to be one of the heaviest ever as well. 44 pounds without chain lube. These Montagues run about 30 lbs, so that'll be a nice weight savings. Plus the brakes on my bike suck, then there was no such thing as suspension way back in the dark ages when I purchased mine from a new bike builder named Gary Fisher.

Originally posted by Sigman:
I'll have to vote for the Montague! Now I want one! Price seems a whole lot better than some of those others!

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Let me finish your sentence:

...some of those other dorky yet still expensive bikes.

I agree. All the reviews I've seen are just glowing. They've won all kinds of magazine awards as well. Looks like a winner to me. Hell, let's all get one. Group buy?

Shipping might be a bit on the high side for me...

I donno...I was kind of hoping for a Strida to go with my Saab. Then when the belt broke on the Saab I could use it on my STRIDA, or the other way around maybe...

Shipping will be $40 just to travel one state to me, so yes, I think it might be a bit steep for you, Bart.

Still, shipping is cheaper than the sales tax I'd have to pay if I bought it locally.

The Paratrooper comes in OD green only, and the Hummer comes in black and yellow only. I may have to get the Paratrooper just because I don't particularly want black or yellow.

There were a whole bunch of Montagues with Currie electric assist units liquidated last year. As I recall, they were up on eBay for about $400 (about the price of the Currie kit alone!)

I bet if you were to look around a bit, there are lots of these siting in garages waiting to be snapped up. The Curie kit will add weight, but you have an ebike that will do about 18-20 mph!