Folding Bike-what to get

dave35

Looking at a folding bike for the odd ride to and from the station,not on a huge budget £500-£600.
Requirement i suppose I'm looking for is ease of use-folding/unfolding/carry the thing. Might only be used twice a week for a 3 mile ride at night so I know I can take it on the train but don't want to be farting around too much put it together.

dave35

Choices between
Dahon uno speed
Dahon mu uno
Tern link d8
Tern link d16

Will now be a 10 mile flat commute in then short ride to the station on the way home.
Any experiences with these bikes? Or are their ones to avoid?

pbkclements

If it was me, I'd be looking for a second hand Brompton - 15 seconds to put up, ultra small fold & hold their value over the years. Also built to last, lots of fun to ride & secondhand still way better than some new folding bikes with intrinsic issues.

As you might have guessed, I'm an evangelist, my first brompton was stolen some years back, so get a good lock (which I have now done) - I replaced the stolen with a second hand brought off ebay about 4 years ago for £400 - not much spent on it since & has had daily 15-20 mile use over past 2 years combined with train travel, so it really works for me.

Anyway just my thoughts & cholce is yours ...

Peter

dave35

thanks,
After much thought I went with a new Brompton s2L. Didn't really need a 6 or 9 speed bike or else I would sold the road bike, it's purely for either commuting from the station or chucking it in the car and riding round the park with the family.

dave35

An interesting first ride,jumped in at the deep end and straight into a 10 mile commute. Bit twitchy at first but once I got going it held up well and was surprisingly nippy.
My legs hurt a lot now though,possibly due to a different riding position compared to the road bike.