Frame: There's a great big hinge in the middle of the bike that, of course, allows it to fold in half. Despite this, the frame is very stiff, and I do not detect any give at all when the hinge is locked in place. It's a brilliant system.

The frame is made of aluminum, which is lighter than the steel that many other bike frames are made of. Some say that steel is more comfortable to ride because it absorbs more road vibrations. Personally, I think the whole steel/aluminum debate is moot, especially in this case. What's more important here is that the frame is as light as possible, so that it can be carried while folded.

The bike weighs in at 25 pounds, which is not very heavy. At 25 lbs its still easy to throw into a car trunk or even carry up a flight or two of stairs. If weight was your first priority, the mud guards and back rack could be removed, which might take another pound or so off. But again, at 25 lbs its very manageable. If it becomes too heavy to carry, just unfold it and roll it.

Wheels: I test drove folding bikes with 14" and 16" wheels, and their handling was twitchy and unstable. My build is 5' 9" and 200 lbs, and those small wheels never felt right. But at 20", the wheels on my Dahon are very comfortable. The extra 4" of wheel circumference probably adds some weight to the bike, but it's well worth it.

I find that starting the bike is not as smooth as a normal bike, which can probably be attributed to both the 20" wheels and the upright riding position. But once the bike is stable and at speed, there really isn't much of a difference between riding this bike and riding a bike with 26" wheels.

The Kenda 20" x 1.25" Dahon Special Edition tires that come stock with the bike hold up well on streets. Several times just today I found myself riding through unavoidable stretches of broken glass, but none of those shards got through the tires.

At the same time, the tires are an example of one problem with Dahons and other folding bikes in general - proprietary parts. Where can I find 20" tires and tubes? I probably can just walk into any bike store or a Walmart and expect them, I'll have to call around and see who has them, or order them online. The #1 complaint that I hear about Dahon's is this proprietary parts issue and the problems it creates with basic maintenance.

Derailleur: The derailleur is the part in the back of the bike that moves the chain from one gear to another. You can think of it as the transmission of a bicycle. It is controlled, in this case, by a grip shift system (a grip shifter operated with the right hand).

The derailleur fitted onto this bike is another proprietary Dahon part, called the Neo derailleur. It is much smaller than a regular derailleur, but does the same job. When it is tweaked properly, the Neos works really well, and the shifting is crisp and clean.

Unfortunately, the derailleur seems to fall out of adjustment every time the bike is folded and unfolded, and this is probably my biggest complaint. The problem is usually fixed with a slackening or tightening of the cable that connects the grip shifter to the derailleur. This bike, like most bikes, has easy access adjusters for this problem, and one of these adjusters, located on the grip shift, can be tweaked while riding. So while it is annoying, once you figure out how to adjust the tension, that problem is mostly solved.

Also, this problem might be fixed by a quality tune-up by someone trained to do that. I will be bring it in for a tune-up in another week, so I can report back on this.

Seat: Men and women are supposed to have different saddles for bikes, because of the different placement of the bones in their rear-ends. Women's saddles are wider because these bones are further apart. The saddle that comes stock with this bike seems to be a universal saddle that tries to split the difference and make both sexes equally uncomfortable.

That said, it is made of a pleasingly pliable material, so it's not all bad. You might want to switch the seat out, and this would be a relatively cheap change to make.

As for seat height, this bike could accommodate a great variety of leg lengths. Officially, the height of your seat should be high enough that when you sit regularly on it, your leg should be fully extended when you place your heel on the pedal. That way your leg will have a slight bend to it when you put the ball of your foot on the pedal (which is how you should pedal). This height is possible for me, and in my case, the seat post is not even fully extended.

Rack: It's great to have a rack in the back of the bike. You can strap a towel and a book to it and take off for the beach. Or you can bundle your groceries up and have your bike carry them home for you.

The first thing I did after I bought the bike was go to Kmart and by 2 18" bungee cords for the rack. The rack comes with bungee cords, but they are lousy. I've already stretched them out in 2 weeks. I find constant uses for the bungee cords, on and off the bike, and I'm always grateful to have them with me.

Handlebars: The Dahon folding bikes employ a telescoping handlebar that folds at its base. While riding, handlebars are secured in place by a latch system.

In my experience, however, this latch system often becomes loose during the course of a ride, perhaps from the road vibrations, and needs to be frequently tightened. For those of you suffering from this problem, it's not the screws that need to be tightened, it's the nut in the middle. See the picture below. This solves the problem altogether, but needs to be repeated now and then. It's a good idea to keep a tool with you that can deal with this problem (i.e. a small wrench) when you ride.


So far the handlebars haven't become loose enough to make me feel unsafe, but I imagine they might if I never adjusted them.

Pedals: Dahon offers 2 different kinds of pedals - pedals that fold and pedals that come off altogether. The folding pedals came stock on my bike. These pedals use a spring system to hold and release. About 60% of the pedal is sturdy, and the other 40% is spring-loaded and mostly useless. I've never had the pedal give way under me, which would be very bad, but I do feel it give a little as I pedal up hills - which is a worrisome sensation.

I haven't tried the pedals that snap on and off, but from the look of their design, they seem sturdier and I would recommend them.