What clinched it for me was that you can put a Brompton into a 29 inch suitcase and take it with you on a plane. The others you will have to put in a bike bag/box and the airline will charge you the earth for it.
It would help to see the bikes with different wheel sizes being ridden up steep hills and going through pot holes to get a clearer picture of the differences.
I have been riding 6-speed Brompton folding bikes with 16" wheels on paved and gravel roads in both dry and wet weather for nearly a year, and have taken them inside buses and trains; they have served me well. I habitually brush off the mud and sand from the tires and hose down the dust on the frame and drive chain after every ride, and occasionally check the tire pressure. It has been completely trouble-free so far.
@@Downytr I have bought new ones as well as demo models at the end of the year. A new M6L would cost around CAD2,100, but a demo would be around CAD1,550-1,700. They are robust and durable bikes, especially with some tender loving care.
@@HamsterGrabsHand I bought my first demo Brompton at Cap's Bicycles in Port Coquitlam, (Metro Vancouver) BC, in January 2017, and another one in early 2018. Since then, Cap's sold a few (3 of 4?) of its stores to Trek, but there is still one left in Port Moody, BC. I suggest that you search the Brompton website to find out if there are dealers close to where you live, then check with them at the end of the year or the beginning of a new year. Best of luck to you!
Great vid! Moved to Abu Dhabi about 2 years ago and that was the first time seeing these bikes. They have Java, Upten and Dahon here. Thinking of starting with a Java for a beginner as myself. Would be great to ride to the beach, grocery store and such.
I love my 24 Tern Node. You are right, I just needed it to easily fit in my cars trunk.. and I love the stability and that it can easily go in the dirt or road
One thing to keep in mind when selecting a folding bike is that many cities will not allow you to place any bike with smaller than 20 inch wheels on the front bike rack of a city bus. You will have to fold it and take it inside which can be a hassle on a crowded city bus.
I had a 20 inch bike when I was 14 and it had rear and front suspension that’s were I learnt how to do a wheelie and learnt how to properly ride a gear bike and control the gear
Good info. I have 2 foldables. I always have my 20" CBA Asahi I bought in Japan. I use it mainly for cycling tourism since it can carry a bit more. My 16" is a second hand Solorock (made in China). This is used quite often for daily short commute and groceries.
I got my Citizen Miami 7 years ago for $250 brand new and LOVE IT. It still drives perfect and trust me I ride long distance of over 20 miles at times in hilly trails and NEVER had an issue. I’m surprised I still have the stock tires and brakes that came with the bike. Everything is stock actually and although it doesn’t look brand new anymore it rises like new. Now I’m looking to upgrade since I want to keep my Citizen Miami in good condition and grab a Tern folding bike
I bought an old 3-speed Japanese 16" folding bike of ebay and I love riding it. Because the small wheels and it's cool to ride. I think the only time I folded it was just to do it at least once.
I bought my folding bike second hand from an independent shop in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. It's an Ammaco Pakka-Lite, probably made in China. It's all aluminium, six speed, 20 inch wheel, came with a bag to carry it in. It's been on buses and trains all over the UK, all for free. It's been on the London Underground, the trams of Sheffield and Manchester, the Newcastle Metro and in the boot of many cars which I collect and deliver for a living. It fits into the limited luggage space of a two-seater Smart car. Yes, really. I replaced the cheap-shit tyres it came with for something more substantial and done some basic maintenance but it's the best thing I ever bought. Saves me time. It even makes me money as I can claim 20p a mile against my tax every year. I have been using it most days for a year and a half. Bromptons and the like are good, but crazy expensive. I'm doing up to 40 miles a week for work purposes, the Ammaco is amazing. I paid £80 for it. Total bargain!
I'm 58 and it's been many a year since I've been on a bike. After searching I decided to go with the Swagtron EB5 Pro Plus with 14" wheels. Now I'll admit my aging to relearn bike riding in general was a factor. As well as its relatively compact folding size and low weight. Then there's the Ebike factor which is a new beast for me entirely. At 499.00 I think it was a so.id investment as its small size gave me some confidence because I could easily just slam my feet down to help gain control as I relearn bike riding and learn ebike control. Also I live in an apartment. Smaller bikes being perfect space-savers.
Swagtron... no disk brakes, 1 speed gear system... the smaller tires, the more heat generating from such thing of brakes, the faster worns out your tires.
All true but when I was shopping it was under 500.00 and its meager 250 W motor zipped my 200 lbs up a fairly steep hill no sweat. Which kinda surprised me. Also it's light and I have a long flight of stairs to climb to get in and out of my apartment. Seems the bigger the wheel dimensions the price and weight increase. Give and takes. Sigh. An unavoidable part of life it would seem.
Mate, put your saddle higher to get maximum power from your legs! Got an Ammacco Pakka Lite, 20 inch. Been on London Underground, Sheffield trams, Manchester trams, Newcastle Metro (subway for you American people), every bus type known to man and even in the 'luggage compartment' of a Mercedes Smart Car, yes, the two-seat version! Bike cost me 80 quid from a second-hand bike shop in Worksop, England. Brompton's are good, my brother's got two. He even took one on a plane to New Zealand from UK to cycle round that beautiful country. He's an enthuastic cycle fan. I just do 10-20 miles every day for work picking up peoples lease cars. Fold the bike, in the boot (trunk), off to next delivery! Whatever you ride, it come down to worth. My bike was at least a tenth of the price of my brother's cheapest Brompton, but the Ammacco goes like the wind! Keep cycling!
I got my 16” bike from Citizen. They sell direct to you on line. They have beautiful folding bikes in all sizes. I bought the cheapest one which was also the smallest. I get compliments where ever I go and it was only $300. I’ve had it for 3 years with no problems. No you don’t have to spend $2000 for a good 16” folding bike. Why did this video only mention the most expensive brands?
True, no ones using them like off road mountain bikes so there is absolutely no reason for them to cost that much to be usable in urban areas. In Australia I know a brand that gives life time warranty but cost less than 270 Australia dollars for a 20inch folding bikes. These expensive ones don't even have disk breaks! Some people are such gullible marks.
The Raleigh Evo 2 is a good 20 inch folding bike thats very reasonable in price around £300 new and £100 used Just picked one up from a friend for £75 ...seems ok a bit harder on the legs to ride than my bigger bikes but easy to store
There's no way i'm spending over $1,000 on a bike! I love bikes and skates very much. They are my main source of transport along with my own two feet. The markets though are out of their minds, constantly alpealing to the wrong market class.
Pro tip: the Chinese frames that take 20-inch wheels will also take 22 inch wheels...I tour on a 22 inch wheeled Fnhon that I put together...it's the sweet spot between folded size and ride comfort.
I'm thinking of turning it into a pedal scooter/bike where I'd take off the seat (& use it for my other regular bike). Do you think turning it into a pedal scooter will work? A 14 or 16 inch would be perfect for me but for some reason it's way more expensive. One of the 20" foldable bikes on amazon is only $120, the 16" is $300, the 14" is even more. The smaller the wheels are the more expensive it is, it should be the other way around though.
@@HelloHello-hk4sxdepends on the specs, some build more poor or put cheap wheels on to lower cost and if into cycling, you would upgrade wheels and tyres first
I have a Brompton Folding A Line bike that I purchased recently and I also purchased a Solorock Dash 8 folding bike with 16in wheels and aluminum frame. I like my Solorock Dash 8 folding bike just as well as my Brompton folding bike. The Solorock fix better into my bike's carry bag with room to spare whereas the Brompton barely fix into the carry bag with seat post attached. I ride both bikes just about equally and the 3 speed Brompton can give the 8 speed Solorock a run for the money on average overall speed. The Brompton has a thinner width tires than the Solorock and the Brompton tires are over inflated as the manufacturer has recommended this, whereas the Solorock bike tires are twice as wide and over inflation of the tires aren't specified by the manufacturer.
I’m looking seriously at a Montague navigator. Small wheel bikes are far too restrictive and you can carry a Montague on Bart or Amtrack and some longer distance bus systems.
sooo what about them built it yourself bikes with frames from Crius and Fnhon?Turning up your nose at them just because they are made in China will be a mistake, imo. I find them really intriguing that you can install both front and rear derailleurs on them, and whatever that can fit on a full size frame, it should fit on them too. Hurray front derailleur braze on mounts! I got a Fnhon KAD2018 frame built up with a full Sora groupset with 53-39 front chainrings and 11-25 rear cassette. Makes going through most gradients easy enough to stay seated, at the fraction of the price of a similar specced Tern. That, and the snooty attitude of the guys manning our exclusive retailer here really puts me off getting a Tern. That said, though. The luggage options available for them Tern bikes... quite nice.
Fnhon is like an offshoot of the dahon factory in China IIRC, and they make a good frame, use similar parts. I'm with you, I don't care so much about brands. Bromptons are handbuilt in London and have a special shape, so I give them a pass for pricing, but dahon is built mostly on the legacy of their original frames from decades ago, and I've heard that some parts on terns break all too easily with little recourse for replacement. Either way, I tend to buy my folders gently used.
I have both 16" and 20" bikes from citizenbike. I am 6'1" and 16" is a bit small for me. Seating position is not comfortable. It takes more effort to ride it compare to 20". Think of it this way: smaller wheel bike has smaller frame - almost like a tricycle. It would be difficult to ride a tricycle for a tall person right? Although when folded 16" takes up less space, you can go further with 20" bike Btw Brompton is an exception to this rule. The frame is still long and tall enough, but it is a waste ...
I always set my seat height as high as I can physically manage which usually means while the bike is stationary, I can sit on the saddle and my tiptoes touch the floor. Way better for me on hillclimbs and flat roads as I don't tire so easily.
How often do the 16 & 20 inch require maintenance? I would love to see a video on lubricating the chain, and just basic bike maintenance that new riders like myself are bliss to
The maintenance on folding bikes is the same as on regular bikes. The only difference is the hinges, you will just need to check if anything could damage the hinges and if the latch can be opened or closed smoothly. I haven't had to fix the hinges on all my bikes but I planned to make a video on folding bike maintenance anyway. :)
BikeFolded I purchased a Schwinn Loop after seeing it on BikeFolded. It's been years since I've been on bicycle. After purchasing the Schwinn, I didn't expect that cycling required so much maintenance, especially the ones that shift gears. I probably should have gone with a single speed folding bike
BikeFolded No the shifting works really well, I did had to do some minor adjustments with the barrel adjuster when I first took it out. I just meant that having a derailleur means having to do a little more maintenance from time to time.
The most important thing to me is the quality of the tires available. For that reason in terms of the smaller wheel sizes, the 20 inch (406) probably has more available tires. I value flat prevention. Tires like the 451 or the smaller sizes or the 24 inch do not have tires of similar quality in terms of puncture resistance. The tires are more for kids, and not acceptable. That is my impression anyway. Buying tires for bikes is not as straight forward as cars, where one can shop by size and see all available options. No, it is very hit and miss, more luck than anything. I would definitely favor the 406 size due to more available tires from the tire manufacturers like Schwalbe, Continental and Michelin, who know how to make a quality tire for street use. My thoughts from experience.
I'm looking at schwalbe one for Carrera intercity as I'm guessing wheels are requiring tyres of 20" 451 and also as how I am and wheels smaller I'm looking to slap 70-75t chainring on
Wow. This video was recorded in Viet Nam. You could be a Vietnamese person. Where do you buy the Oyama bike. There are not many foldable bikes with 24 in wheel. Thanks
You should check the size of the frame, not just the wheel size. I would certainly go to a bike shop and try wich one fits better,. Not all the bikes are the same, one model could suit you better than another even though it's the same size.
Al parecer a mi país, Perú, no llegan las bicicletas de aro de 24 pulgadas desplegables ☹️, he buscado y encuentro. Ahora con el covid todos nos desplazaremos en bicicleta, en mi caso tendré que pedalear 14 km. Y y otros 14 km de vuelta. Los importadores de bicicletas deberán aprovechar el momento. Espero no les suban los precios.
Folding bike isn’t for me. Tried it and most of the times im complaining how struggling it is to get it to the speed that I want, so I ditched it. Maybe when i get much older I’ll get one again. Brompton is the best as it’s the most compact.
I've been riding this bike for about a month ru-vid.comUgkxwC0IIeIomGQVeBWg-kKJaToZkLEFIA2W and a half now and I think it's fantastic. It helps me get to work on time every day since I'm able to fit it inside of public transportation rush hour. The price is great too, people are always shocked when they ask me how much I paid for the fold up and I tell them "200". It's easy to fold and installation when it ships is insanely easy. All you have to install when the bike arrives is one foot pedal, everything else is done for you. I do recommend you carry some sort of wrench to tighten any loose screws on the handle bar and seat whenever they get a little bit loose. Other than that I think it's a fantastic bike. Easily fits in the home, can fit inside a car trunk and can even fit in subway rush hour.
@@TankwiperThe 24s have the same or more gears than the 20", although they might be slighty longer or shorter. I found it quite "shocking" when I heard it, I honestly think they simply pedaled slower to go at the same speed on all. You would certainly notice the difference if you took the 20" and 24" on a longer road ride (3-10 km) where you usually go "as fast as possible". It would be easy to assume they seaid that because the just went around the block to test those bikes. 24" would be better if you have to ride longer distances.
I love 20" , purely out of preference...16" is too slow and twitchy; 24" is too big when folded. As for speed, sheesh, these bike were never built for racing so it's stupid if you plan to buy a folding bike and use it for sprinting races. But if that makes you happy, then go for it.
