Folding bike vs regular bike for 60 plus

"Don Wiss" wrote: My eight speed Dahon Glide has fat tires and does just
fine on rough
terrain. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have owned several Dahons, including a couple with 16" wheels, a Mariner
and a Boardwalk, both with 20" wheels. All of them had a warning label
about rough terrain. Does your Glide has such a warning? I have ridden on
some not-so-smooth dirt roads, and also off of curbs, etc. I have always
been careful about keeping my weight off the saddle and knees bent, as well
as shifting weight to the wheel that is not getting pounded. However, since
the frames have hinges and clamps, I would be leery of treating them like
real mountain bikes.

How do you feel about this?

Leo Lichtman wrote:
"Don Wiss" wrote: My eight speed Dahon Glide has fat tires and does just
fine on rough
terrain. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have owned several Dahons, including a couple with 16" wheels, a Mariner
and a Boardwalk, both with 20" wheels. All of them had a warning label
about rough terrain. Does your Glide has such a warning? I have ridden on
some not-so-smooth dirt roads, and also off of curbs, etc. I have always
been careful about keeping my weight off the saddle and knees bent, as well
as shifting weight to the wheel that is not getting pounded. However, since
the frames have hinges and clamps, I would be leery of treating them like
real mountain bikes.

How do you feel about this?


My 2009 vintage DaHon Curve has the same warning about off-road use.
While I would not hesitate to ride it down decent dirt roads or hiking
trails, I would avoid rough ground with exposed roots, "baby heads", log
jumps, etc and/or anything that would require putting a lot of force
through the handlebars.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
Celebrity culture is an opposite of community, informing us
that these few nonsense-heads matter but that the rest of
us do not. - Jay Griffiths

On Tue, 11 Aug 2009, Leo Lichtman wrote:


"Don Wiss" wrote: My eight speed Dahon Glide has fat tires and does just
fine on rough
terrain. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I have owned several Dahons, including a couple with 16" wheels, a Mariner
and a Boardwalk, both with 20" wheels. All of them had a warning label
about rough terrain. Does your Glide has such a warning?

No. But then it has 24" wheels.

How do you feel about this?

I don't treat it like a mountain bike, but I don't need to be on a road.

Don www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).

catzz66 wrote:
Pat wrote:
catzz66 wrote:
The folders do not appeal to me. I don't see many of them, but
don't they have smaller wheels than normal road bikes? I might
consider a recumbent or trike if I was worried about my balance but
would only consider a folder if I needed the space or portability
of one.

I use my Bike Friday Pocket Llama as a substitute for a mountain
bike. It performs well and is small enough to put in a suitcase. You
can get a suspension fork, too.

Pat in TX



Thanks, Pat. Have you ridden it enough to get a feel for how it is
going to hold up? I realize that it is pure prejudice caused by my
lack of exposure to them, but the looks would take a little getting
used to.

I think so. I've had it since 2005. I rode it on a trip to Europe for two
weeks without problems. I also rode the Katy Trail across Missouri, a total
of over 300 miles, without any problems. Mine has the gears inside the rear
hub, so the mechanism back there is a little tricky and it causes the bike
to weigh more. OTOH, there is no front derailleur, so I don't have to worry
about it getting out of whack while transporting it. On the Katy Trail
trip, I put it into a nylon bag and gave it to the AMTRAK baggage handler.
The weird thing is that when you are riding it, if you closed your eyes you
would swear you were on your regular road bike. It feels exactly the same.
Fortunately, I am immune to how it looks to other people. I have had plenty
of favorable comments from teenagers, though. They will just shout out as I
pedal past. Not one derogatory remark yet.

Pat in TX

On Aug 12, 9:51*pm, "Pat" wrote:
I have had plenty
of favorable comments from teenagers, though. *They will just shout out as I
pedal past. *Not one derogatory remark yet.

My experience is the same: Kids love small-wheel bikes! Our Friday
NWTs got compliments from teenagers about a month ago, and that's not
unusual.

But my best compliment experience was the day I bought a cheap, used
Dahon folder as a vacation whim, one with 16" wheels. Just an hour
later, my wife wanted to browse touristy gift shops in a little town.
I wanted to unfold my new toy and ride it around. We went our
separate ways, then I tried to meet up with her, but had a hard time
finding her among all the gift shops.

So I was cruising around the square, searching for my wife and feeling
like a circus bear on this tiny bike, when I had to go past a gaggle
of teens in droopy pants, chains and piercings. They were slouching
around looking uber-cool and practicing tricks on their skateboards.

I halfway expected some razzing. What I heard instead was "Wow - that
is the coolest bike I ever saw!"

- Frank Krygowski

Pat wrote:
catzz66 wrote:
Pat wrote:
catzz66 wrote:
The folders do not appeal to me. I don't see many of them, but
don't they have smaller wheels than normal road bikes? I might
consider a recumbent or trike if I was worried about my balance but
would only consider a folder if I needed the space or portability
of one.
I use my Bike Friday Pocket Llama as a substitute for a mountain
bike. It performs well and is small enough to put in a suitcase. You
can get a suspension fork, too.

Pat in TX


Thanks, Pat. Have you ridden it enough to get a feel for how it is
going to hold up? I realize that it is pure prejudice caused by my
lack of exposure to them, but the looks would take a little getting
used to.

I think so. I've had it since 2005. I rode it on a trip to Europe for two
weeks without problems. I also rode the Katy Trail across Missouri, a total
of over 300 miles, without any problems. Mine has the gears inside the rear
hub, so the mechanism back there is a little tricky and it causes the bike
to weigh more. OTOH, there is no front derailleur, so I don't have to worry
about it getting out of whack while transporting it. On the Katy Trail
trip, I put it into a nylon bag and gave it to the AMTRAK baggage handler.
The weird thing is that when you are riding it, if you closed your eyes you
would swear you were on your regular road bike. It feels exactly the same.
Fortunately, I am immune to how it looks to other people. I have had plenty
of favorable comments from teenagers, though. They will just shout out as I
pedal past. Not one derogatory remark yet.

Pat in TX


The one you have looks pretty nice. I have just not been exposed to
them.

If anything they will increase the risk of a [f]all
because of the smaller wheels surely?
Maybe if you use skinny tires.

=v= This second assertion makes even less sense to me than the
first one. I see no reason why either factor would increase
the risk of a fall.
_Jym_

On Aug 13, 2:07*pm, Jym Dyer wrote:
If anything they will increase the risk of a [f]all
because of the smaller wheels surely?
Maybe if you use skinny tires.

=v= This second assertion makes even less sense to me than the
first one. *I see no reason why either factor would increase
the risk of a fall.
* _Jym_

The smaller the wheel, the more sensitive it is to any road
irregularity. An "ordinary" or penny-farthing bike doesn't even
notice bumps that will stop a roller blader dead in his tracks. It
can be explained in terms of the ratio of bump height to wheel
diameter, and the direction of force components, if you want to get
technical.

My old lawn mower had about 7" diameter wheels. My current one has
big rear wheels, about 12" diameter. On my bumpy lawn, the difference
is pretty obvious.

- Frank Krygowski

Jym Dyer wrote:
If anything they will increase the risk of a [f]all
because of the smaller wheels surely?
Maybe if you use skinny tires.

=v= This second assertion makes even less sense to me than the
first one. I see no reason why either factor would increase
the risk of a fall.

If you had experience riding small wheel bicycles on any type of loose
or slippery surface, the benefit of added control the fatter tires
provide would be obvious.

For that reason, I would avoid the bikes with ISO 349-mm/355-mm/369-mm
tires and go with bikes that can use tires such as the 50-305 Big Apple,
53-305 Hookworm, or the several ISO 406-mm tires that are 44-mm or more
in width.

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
Celebrity culture is an opposite of community, informing us
that these few nonsense-heads matter but that the rest of
us do not. - Jay Griffiths

Frank Krygowski wrote:
On Aug 12, 9:51 pm, "Pat" wrote:
I have had plenty
of favorable comments from teenagers, though. They will just shout out as I
pedal past. Not one derogatory remark yet.

My experience is the same: Kids love small-wheel bikes! Our Friday
NWTs got compliments from teenagers about a month ago, and that's not
unusual.

But my best compliment experience was the day I bought a cheap, used
Da[H]on folder as a vacation whim, one with 16" wheels. Just an hour
later, my wife wanted to browse touristy gift shops in a little town.
I wanted to unfold my new toy and ride it around. We went our
separate ways, then I tried to meet up with her, but had a hard time
finding her among all the gift shops.

So I was cruising around the square, searching for my wife and feeling
like a circus bear on this tiny bike, when I had to go past a gaggle
of teens in droopy pants, chains and piercings. They were slouching
around looking uber-cool and practicing tricks on their skateboards.

I halfway expected some razzing. What I heard instead was "Wow - that
is the coolest bike I ever saw!"

Nobody wants to hear about small wheel folders. Their owners are
annoying when they talk about how cute the bikes are, and even worse
post pictures of them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19704682@N08/sets/72157619269876565/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19704682@N08/sets/72157619381165474/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/19704682@N08/sets/72157619857116687/

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
Celebrity culture is an opposite of community, informing us
that these few nonsense-heads matter but that the rest of
us do not. - Jay Griffiths