Dahon Folding Bicycle Forum: Upgrades and Accessories http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:04:47 -0700 30 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7817 My Espresso. Soon I am going to put an suspension fork too)) Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:03:22 -0700 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7817 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7814
So I was browsing the Schwalbe website today and it seems they have made some additions in preparation for 2010. And...it seems they have added an in-between size for the BA's for 20 inch wheels! 2.15. Previously there was only 2.0 and 2.35, unless I live on a different planet and missed the middle size. These should provide a softer ride and still give enough clearance, both front and back.

Question to anyone who has attempted to install 2.35's on anything other than MuXl's and failed, or played with bigger width tires in general: Would there be sufficient clearance for the 2.15's? 2.35 seems to be impossible to fit, but 2.0 fits nicely, so my guess is yes, but I'd like to have a bit more certainty before ordering.

Thanks in advance for input!
Mike

EDIT: I got a bit carried away there it seems. I was browsing the global site, not the US one...bah! Anyway, seems like somewhere in the world they are available. However the Liteskin version IS available in the US, so my question still remains.]]> Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:36:34 -0700 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7814 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7784 Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:22:15 -0700 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7784 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7776 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:15:33 -0700 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7776 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7763 First of all I have to say even without the modifications this bike is superb. I actually survived a collision with an automobile on this very same bike and only suffered a damaged wheel and slightly dented fork, that did not need replacement. The car on the other hand appeared to have suffered severe damage. Good job Dahin for creating a truly TOUGH bike.

I made several major upgrades to the bike. The first one being the fork, I changed the rigid steel fork for a Fox RL 80 mm suspension fork.

The fork has radically changed the bike and makes it much more interesting I can now fly of sidewalks and jump curbs without any problems. Although the rigid fork wasn't bad there were a few occaisions where I felt that the it wasn't doing the job.

There's nothing more embarassing than hitting a sidewalk and instead of finding your front wheel over the sidewalk you find yourself over the bars!

Although the Jack's frame may not be as sturdy as the Matrix's it's amazing how well it's held up to drops after installing the new fork.

Having a suspension fork is great for urban riding when and allows you to avoid pedistrians on the sidewalk by suddenly dropping of the sidewalk. it's also cool to enter a sidewalk by hitting it rather than using the ramped portion.

After the fork came the Rims and brakes. Since the Fox fork couldn't support V brakes I went ahead and got a set of Code 5's installed. The Code 5's are awesome and literally have enough power to send you over the bars. The Code 5's are often used by downhill riders who need to stop NOW! This allows me to do 20 and not have to worry about stopping if a car suddenly decides to do something interesting or a pedistration suddenly appears.

Of course I needed new rims because the Fox fork didn't have V bosses so I had to get the Vuelleta rim, I think it was under 800 grams for under $125 dollars. It was a great deal.

Although it realy wasn't neccesary I also had to get some Shimano DX pedals. The DX's really help transfer the power far more efficiently than Dahon's stock pedals.

Afterwards my last but not least upgrade was the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires. Although the Big Apple Tires use a softer compound and feel grippier than the Marathon Plus tires I wanted something that was puncture resistant.

So far the bike has been great and his given me most of the performance of a mountain bike with all the convenience of a Dahon.]]> Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:10:13 -0700 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7763 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7755 Splash from the front wheel gets all over the bottom bracket and probably has some effect on the pedals, which must pass through a sort of "conical section" of water going through puddles. My previously reported services on my MKS pedals and couplers were necessary quite possibly because of water splash and minimal seals.

So, today I whipped up a new mud flap. I used part of a vinyl "stair tread" I had lying around. The original stubby flap was removed by grinding off the *inside* part of the rivets holding it to the fender. The holes in the fender had to be enlarged slightly to accommodate the pop rivets I used. The new flap is longer than the old one by quite a bit, and wider; yet it does not interfere with folding. Notice the leaf debris on the bottom bracket shroud in the first image. I will see if the same amount is picked up over the next few days... still a lot of wet leaves around.

It may not be pretty, but it may work!
Steve]]> Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:23:55 -0700 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7755 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7725
yesterday, while riding my Mu XL in rain in my "walking" shoes, I learned that the 'Big Mouth' pedals that the bike came with, get slippery in the wet to the point where riding up any hill becomes almost impossible and even dangerous.
Out of anger I instantly changed the pedals with a pair of plastic non-folding ones, but this seriously reduces the bike's portability, so I'm after a new pair of folding pedals. After checking the local bike stores I found that none of them stock any type of folding pedals. I have another pair of folding pedals on my A-bike, but I don't think those would stand any sort of hard-ridind I do with my Mu XL. What make of folding pedals would you recommend as a replacement for riding in plain shoes (I don't like clips or removable pedals)?]]> Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:31:54 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7725 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7709
What components/parts can I replace that will significantly reduce weight reduction?

Any help from people who have done this is appreciated. I want to decrease weight and increase performance.

V/r,
Tim]]> Fri, 23 Oct 2009 07:18:31 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7709 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7707
http://www.competitivecyclist.com/mountain...235.1922.0.html

Will these fit as a replacement for my Dahon MU P8 without modifications?

I was thinking about the small SRAM size.

Please let me know if you have any experience with replacing grips on the DAHON bicycles and what I should be aware of.

Thanks.

Tim]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:18:43 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7707 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7679
I bought a white medium that arrived today. I have a yellow Bell Citi that I have been very pleased with it. It is similar to the Metro, but less expensive (than a non-sale Metro). I bought the Metro because it has a "winter" kit available which plugs most of the holes and provides some ear muffs. I picked up a winter kit on eBay so I'm now ready for cold weather.

Added 10/15/2009
Through today Nashbar has 15% off with the coupon code BUY3 if you purchase three (3) items. I don't know if it applies to clearance items. If so, this would be a pretty nice helmet for ~$30 plus shipping.]]> Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:20:00 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7679 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7675 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:59:02 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7675 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7668
I fitted Sram TRX 7 speed trigger shifters. cut down the bars by 1.5 inches each side and fitted Tritec Shortie bar ends.
I changed the saddle for a 'Charge' Bucket Seat, a copy of the 1980's Turbo. I replaced the bottom bracket with a Truvativ sealed, square taper one. In my bits box I found a Shimano 600 (1980's) crankset and bought a TA 48 tooth chain ring to slightly lower the gearing. The pedals I replaced with Wellgo LU 982 Trekking/SPD to be able to use MTB shoes or trainers.

What a difference it makes! http://www.flickr.com/photos/kelletcycles/

]]> Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:08:07 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7668 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7663 http://www.flickr.com/photos/43466262@N02/...57622445235487/

Hope this willl be of help to anyone considering changing out their Speed TR to drops.

]]> Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:30:30 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7663 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7649
In no way can I keep up with the road bikes, but the TR is nice to ride. Still I NOTICE the rolling resistance. Maybe it is the hubs, maybe the honkin' huge Schwalbe Big Apples. It is quiet, however and it shifts smooooooth.

My question is, can the performance be tweaked a little with maybe Kojak tires or different hubs or something? Maybe I will Tour someday. WHen I do I will still want the bike to roll faster. WHen I stop pedaling, the bike pretty much stops as well. If anyone has made any effective performance upgrades for the TR, I would love to hear about them

Cheers!
Abraham]]> Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:21:16 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7649 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7645 someone stole the seatpost pump / saddle on my speed p8 2008. do i need a 34" or 27" and does the saddle come with it?

josh]]> Tue, 06 Oct 2009 17:33:26 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7645 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7635
About 6 or 7 flats on the rear tyre (none on the front) for the first 100 miles which was mainly on paved roads and then nothing since. Now about the same number of flats on the second 100 miles (mainly on gentle but gravely surfaces), this time all on the front (none on the rear). What's going on? Found some small sharp stuff in the wall after very very close inspection of the front....then did a bit of work (500 metres) on sand and picked up anoher frontal puncture. No spokes seem to be perturding or anything. All the time I'm running high pressures...at least 65 - 85 psi.

Any ideas...I'm really having a horrible biking experience here.]]> Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:20:22 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7635 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7624 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:57:26 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7624 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7623 Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:50:03 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7623 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7621
I consider it a bit of an overkill to have a battery-powered rear light on a hub-dynamo equipped bike. (The statement about tossing batteries from the Dahon website is just as equally true for the rear light as it is for the front one). So I installed a Bumm Toplight Flat on my new Mu XL. Since the Joule II hub dynamo is rated only 2,4 W I was prepared to having to remove the stationary light capacitor from the front light, but it turns out that both lights (the factory Spanninga LED front light and the Toplight) take just over 2 W RMS and function perfectly together. I routed the cable from the rear light under the rear mudguard and along the shifter cable to the front light. It doesn't interfere with folding and doesn't ruin the look of the bike. I used a nylon-reinforced silicone-insulated coaxial cable so hopefully it won't stretch or snap or disintegrate for some time.
Here are two pictures of the light:]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2009 22:35:39 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7621 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7619
thanks]]> Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:58:25 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7619 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7617 http://www.dahon.com/technology/component/arx.htm]]> Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:46:30 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7617 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7609
Tires: - (COMPLETED)
I bought the bike with 20x2.125 knobbies on it. These have worked well around town, but the road noise at any decent speed is annoying. I bought some used Big Apples from a fellow Dahonian and finally installed them tonight. I only had a chance for a ride around the block, but so far so good.

I have been trying to get my wife to upgrade from her 1990 Mariner Classic III. First I tried to buy a Piccolo, but the deal fell through. This past weekend I bought a 2006 Mariner D7. Well, she wants to stick with her little Mariner Classic, so I am going to end up selling the Mariner D7. I started looking the D7 over and decided to strip off a few items before selling it.

SeatPost: (COMPLETED)
Previously I was able to bastardize a regular rail seat and make it fit on my SDG I-Beam seatpost. Now that I have the D7, I am going to use it's regular rail seatpost. Obviously an easy swap to the JP8. I will just have to get used to the silver color and no seat height markers. I will re-install the SDG IBeam saddle to the SDG seatpost and place it on the D7 when I sell it.

Arclite Rack: (NOT STARTED YET)
I have removed teh Arclite rack from the D7. I am going to steal the idea for mounting this from this post:
http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showt...amp;mode=linear
I should be able to cut some of the length of the front supports and flatten them out with a hammer on an anvil. Then I can drill them so that I can secure them to the lower shock bolts. I will also need to buy a replacement Arclite bungee. I have a nice Bontrager seatpost rack, but I think I will enjoy the arclite more.

Fenders: (IN PROGRESS)
I have removed the silver fenders from the D7. Now comes the tricky part. Will the fenders work with the Big Apples? I did some dry fitting tonight and I think I can make them work with some modifications to them.

Front Fender: The front fender will be fairly easy. The main obstacle here is that the bottom pivot for the Q shock comes below the bottom of the fork tube. I have two choices, either trim the front of the fender so that it doesn't stick out in front of the fork or try to cut a notch into the fender where the bottom pivot of the Q fork hits it (this is my preffered choice). The silver fender really looked sharp with the Tech Bronze color of the frame and silver highlight decals.

Rear Fender: This is more complicated since the clearances are less. I have already determined that the fender will not be able to extend from the brake cross brace down to the bottom crank. There just isn't enough clearance, but that is no big deal to me. I think if I trim the fender I can almost make it work up to the brake cross brace. One other issue is the lateral radius of the fender. It is a bit too tight in some places and looks like it would potentialy rub the rear tire. My proposed solution to this is to use a heat gun since these are plastic. I think I should be able to carefully heat them up in the problem areas and spread them out a bit.

Any way those are my proposed upgrades to my Jetstream P8. I will provide some photos as I get into this more. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

Below is a "BEFORE" reference photo.]]> Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:03:56 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7609 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7607 Where is it? Will I ever get one? I'm not angry but after all this time someone at Dahon should be able to answer these simple questions. I've looked at the "El Boso" or whatever it's called more than once and I don't like it, don't want it, sorry. I want something as small and light as possible, the slipcover is perfect. Metra train conductors got increasingly intolerant of my clear garbage bag cover. One finally insisted that I use an opaque green bag instead. For the time being they have accepted that but I don't want to get kicked off a train some day because I don't have a "proper" bag. I've seen it happen to other cyclists so it isn't an empty threat on Metra's part.

So, what's the story here? Am I actually going to get the bag I ordered and when? Or do I need to start sewing my own? I think my wife's sewing machine will do embroidered lettering and so help me if you make me sew my own it is going to have a nice big "Brompton" embroidered on one side and "Bike Friday" on the other!

Ken]]> Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:49:56 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7607 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7605
Issues: well, getting the brake lined up without the bolts rubbing on the disc was interesting. Probably caused by a cheap(ish) hub not being built to as exacting tolerances, or the fork width or something. In the end i used a washer on each side of the axle to spread the fork out a tiny bit more. Might have to carefully 'cold set' (bend) it, once i've pumped a bit more iron.. ;D

And the fork is more 'suspension corrected' than the stock jack fork. Which actually i am quite happy with, it slackens the angles a bit, making the bike more stable at speed, and seeing as i spend a lot of time going very fast downhill in heavy traffic, i'm quite happy with that. And the BB is higher. Also good, more clearance for steps and kerbs. Makes the kickstand useless though, so i'll probably take it off.

Anyway, to the pics!

http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=3816

http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=3817

http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=3818
]]> Tue, 29 Sep 2009 03:52:55 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7605 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7604
Perhaps some are asking "what is an indoor trainer?" It is basically a frame that clamps around the rear axle of your bicycle and holds it upright. It also has a roller that bears on the rear tire and includes a "resistance unit". As you pedal your bike the rear wheel drives the roller and the resistance unit generates a torque that opposes your pedaling motion and makes it feel like you are pedaling outdoors and fighting wind resistance and perhaps a slight grade too. The magic in the design of a trainer lies in how the resistance varies with the speed of the rear wheel. There are three types of common resistance unit: fan, magnetic, and fluid. The fan and fluid units generate fairly realistic simulations of the wind resistance you have to overcome as you ride outdoors because the power they require varies as the cube of the wheel speed just as wind resistance does. The magnetic units are less realistic because their power curves are linear with speed. This is just what you need to simulate steep grades, by the way, because your speed on a grade is low enough that wind resistance is less of a factor. Most magnetic units do not generate enough resistance to simulate a very steep grade however. Fan units are noisy, the other two are reasonably quiet. Fluid units are likely to leak fluid as they wear out so don't use them on a floor surface that can be damaged, or keep a catch pan under them. The Kurt Kinetic fluid trainers avoid this issue with a totally sealed resistance unit that is driven magnetically and has no rotating shaft penetrating the case of the fluid chamber.

The 1up unit is an odd duck in that its resistance unit is all mechanical. As you pedal some weights (steel balls) inside the unit are forced to the outside by the rotation of the resistance unit. The faster you pedal the harder they are forced outwards. The balls "cam" part of the unit against a friction pad to generate the resistance. It is said to generate a resistance curve similar to the highly regarded Kurt Kinetic fluid trainer. It has the freedom from leaking that a magnetic unit has (since neither has any fluid that can leak) but the more realistic resistance curve of the fluid and fan units. It also has the low noise level of the magnetic and fluid units. It and the Kurt Kinetic have all the strengths of the other trainers and none of their weaknesses.

Reviews of the 1up are unbelievably positive, yet now that I have one it seems like they are accurate. The fit and finish of the unit are top notch. The engineering and execution are nearly flawless. Like all trainers it has "cups" that grab the ends of your rear axle to hold the bike in place. Unlike most other units the height of these cups is adjustable to make it easy to fit bikes from 16 to 29 inches and it keeps them all very close to level. Other units require you to bolt and unbolt an adapter bracket for the resistance unit to fit small and large bikes and the smaller bikes are held with their rear wheels well above the floor requiring a leveling block under the front wheel. 1up even shipped my unit with two sets of axle cups so that I could keep them in the positions for my Dahon and my wife's Fuji. Ideally this would eliminate any wrench work to change bikes. That idea almost worked but the drive side cup for my Dahon interfered with the Fuji derailleur so I have to move it out of the way to mount the Fuji. It still works well, just a little more fiddling between bikes than I had hoped. A lot of QR skewers don't work with the cups so they include one that does with the trainer and most other trainer makes do the same. They sell extra skewers if you have more than one bike you want to use with the trainer. The cups do grab the axle ends of nutted axles fairly well. If you have hub gears you will need to remove the shifter interface however. This locks you into a single gear, whichever one you get with the shifter disconnected. In the case of my Dual Drive rear hub it locks me into the low range. So I have put the stock wheel back on my P8 in place of the Dual Drive for the winter.

At first it did not seem like the unit had much resistance. It supposedly mimics air resistance plus a 1% uphill grade just like the Kurt Kinetic units. Having my bike stuck in the low range did not help. Once I put the old rear wheel back on I hopped on it and tried to ride for 5 minutes in 8th gear pedaling as fast as I could. At first it was no problem but before 2 minutes were up I was breathing hard and dropping down to 7th. When I completed the 5 minutes sweat was starting to soak through my shirt and my legs were burning nicely. It is not like climbing a 20% grade but it will definitely give you a workout. After 15 minutes total, at most, test riding I can't say anything about durability but the out of the box experience is quite good. The only issue I had was that the Dahon is so short that you can get heel strikes on part of the frame if you don't keep your feet positioned on the pedals right. This is not an issue with normal sized bikes, especially my wife's "pedal forward" Fuji. My feet are US 11.5. If yours are much bigger this could be a serious issue with folding bikes but otherwise I would recommend this unit to a friend so far.

Ken]]> Mon, 28 Sep 2009 22:08:03 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7604 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7602 http://www.calhouncycleshopcast.com/?p=43

]]> Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:29:32 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7602 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7597
I have a dahon curve sl 2008
on the cover of this crank sets is broken, whether dahon have or sell, I will soon buy

Thanks
Fahmi
irfahmi@bit.net.id

]]> Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:09:24 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7597 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7591
I might be buying a Dahon bike from a friend, but there's a crack on the frame. I might be able to repair it, but first I thought I'd ask here - is it possible to buy a replacement frame for a Dahon bike direct from the manufacturer (presumably I should say 'you' there )?

Fingers crossed it's possible just in case - I like the look of the bike and it would fit my needs perfectly.

Also, is it easy enough to buy replacement parts for these bikes generally? Sorry, I'm new to this stuff!

Cheers


Roy]]> Sat, 26 Sep 2009 15:47:52 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7591 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7590 I've replace it with a Sram TRX 7 speed trigger shifter.

It is widely available in the UK at Halfords, Evans and on the internet.

I've also cut the bars down by 4cm each end, fitted Titec Hellbent Shortie Bar Ends (Wheelbase) and put on a favourite
(old) Turbo Matic saddle. This together with Time Attack MTB pedals, now feels much closer to my road position]]> Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:03:57 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7590 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7589 I am a tall man at 6'6" and I find that I need a longer seat post as I have the standard post out to the max mark. Best guess is I need at least 3 more inches vertically. Without knowing at this time the angle of the post I can’ say exactly how much longer, but I am guessing if it was 4 inches longer that would give me the height I need.

Even though I think the Zorin internal pump is the best idea to come along since private phone lines I would give it up in a heart beat if I could get a longer seat post.

On another thought does anyone know how long the Zorin internal cartridge is inside of the standard post? I am giving strong thought into cutting the post about 2 inches above the pump cartridge and forming a solid aluminum extension with end collars which can then be pressed fitted with epoxy into the the two pieces of original seat post thus giving me the height I need. If I do this right I can still keep my internal Zorin pump.

I am having trouble finding any 33.9mm OD aluminum pipe so I can make one for myself.

Any help would the appreciated.
Steven
]]> Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:48:08 -0600 http://www.dahon.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=7589