I don't have special outfits for cycling but I usually wear dryfit Ts and Columbia's hiking pants when I ride. Even if it rains , it will dry off in less than 30 minutes with continuous riding. Also I have those hiking sandals which dries off fast too. But nowadays, I can't wear these sandals when mountain biking because on offroad, bits of mud and sands gets into the shoes. But I guess riding on tarmac should be OK. Those watershoes by Adidas or Nike also are OK since they dries off fast.




The one above is quite expensive but you can get similar kinds from Direct Sports under their Karrimor brand. Just as good and comfy in fact. I have one size 43 (very new). Anyone interested, can let you have for 50 bucks.

This post has been edited by etigge: Oct 30 2015, 12:10 PM

Getting really competitive! A fraction of the price for a same spec-ed foldie. Light too and high profile wheelset with slick tires. Shimano Sora drivetrain. Only thing to mod, maybe is changing the 42T smaller chainring to 39T for more varied gear ratios.

Correctly they are described as 'bar grips'. One of the most under rated important components is the bar grips apart from the saddle. These two are where our body touches the bike and it is very important that both of these matches us. Gel gloves helped to an extent. A few years ago, LeRun Industries had their warehouse sales and these in the pictures below was selling at 50 percent discount. I bought 4 sets of them but 2 have been sold when I sold my 2 folding bikes. I made a mistake of not taking them out. Now I have 3 sets ( 1 set I managed to fing in Rodalink ). I find them actually very comfortable but as they are in an angle, they must be adjusted such that it does not hinder the gear shifter release.

Now I am trying to find them but I don't think Le Run will bring them in again.

No worries !

Off course it is possible. Many have done before. GW Cycle can do it but it is an expensive affair there. If you can't find any LBS to do it, PM me. I can do it if you want to. Finding a road bike triple is a bit hard though. Be prepared to spare a few hundred bucks to do it. PM me if you are interested.

Get the most popular one. Dahon Vigor or Dahon Speed and then convert to 18 speed. Within your budget. Go Kimbell Jaya. There's a unit there and Kimbell Jaya can do the modifications as well. All parts available as well there.

The biggest dis-advantage about the foldie in comparing speed is the weight. YES !the weight. An average roadbike is 8 to 10 kilos where else a foldie is about 13 kilos and even a Brompton is 14+ kilos. To make a foldie sub 10 kilos will make you spend about 5K if you start off with an aluminum or carbon frame.

Actually there is a group that chases roadbikes with velos (451s wheelsets) but they are really fit riders. My suggestion if you want to catch up with roadies, don't ride with them if they won't wait for you. As simple as that. Let their ego fly with them like a kite. Many buy foldies because of pricing and portability. There was once a rider that. He started off with a foldie but he was not fit to catch, so he bought a road bike to join folding bikes ride. That is to give him advantage. Then he started turning back to sweep ala 'leader' kinda thingee. So, next ride, I purposely went to roads which are off roadish, you know gravel , a little mud . He had to carry the bike a few times. He should join a roadie group but I don't think he can catch up with them.

Just set your priorities. If you want speed and it your thing, buy a road bike and train with it. You cannot have everything, that's why there are riders with all three types, road bike, mountain bike and folding bike.

I think you just have to get used to the saddle. Give it a few more rides before deciding. A padded underwear or shorts will help though. They say," One must break in the saddle". But I say, " Our butt must break in also ".

News!

For those 7 speedster who wants to upgrade but don't want to spend much, here's a chance. I saw this posted in BBS. Just change this hubs and use back the old rims and spokes. They are matching , don't worry but only for Dahons. Others if their front are 20 spokes and rear 28 spokes, then they can also be used. Good for Route and Vybe. Once changed, you can go up to 8,9 or 10 speed with more accurate freewheel gear shifting.

http://bicyclebuysell.com/item/283794/daho...ding-bikes-hubs

A forummer here wants to upgrade his Tern C7 with a triple chainring. The original gear inches is now from 74.28 GI to 37.14 GI. ( GI is gear inches and the smaller the GI the lower the gear [meaning easier to pedal] ). That means the variation is from the figures mentioned. If you add a triple in front , the variation goes from ,

biggest chainring 52 teeth - 74.28 GI to 37.14 GI
middle chain ring 42 teeth - 60.00 GI to 30.00 GI
smallest chain ring 30 teeth - 40.00 GI to 21.42 GI

As you can see, there are many over lappings between the 3 ratios and ultimately the gear ratios for such modifications is from 74.28 GI to 21.42 GI.
If you use double chainring setup the variation is ;

big chainring 52T - 74.28 GI to 37.14 GI
small chainring 39 teeth - 55.71 GI to 27.85 GI

that means the gear varies from 74.28 GI to 27.85 GI and that's not very far between a triple and the double but the double provides a very trouble free shifting and smoother too.

Another alternative is to upgrade the rear to 9 speed ( off course if you have the dough you can go straight to 10 speed for more smoother shifting ).

chain ring 52 teeth with 11T/32T = 32T being the maximum I suggest although there are 36T also. This is to ensure that the rear derailleur cage don't hit the ground or the rims.

This setup gives a variation of 94.54 GI to 32.5 GI. The higher gear means you can pedal faster on a flat or even pedal downhill where else in the above configurations, you will be free wheeling on flats with the smallest 14 teeth cog at the rear.

The drawback of the first option is, when you have attain some level of fitness and when you want to pedal faster, you CANNOT as the rear's smallest is 14 teeth. And when you want to upgrade again, you have to start all over again. That's because the 7 speed set up is different from 8,9 and 10 speed. You cannot use the shifters, chainrings/crank and almost everything have to be changed and the money on the first mod is wasted. That's why I always suggest modifying the rear first and go through the ardous task to pedalling in higher GI to train your legs. And once you attained this, modifying the front will give you all the advantage of 94.54 GI to 17.5 GI.

For one, I think it is better to train our fitness to a level where it is comfortable to ride without changing gears at the Putrajaya lakeside. Presume your comfort level on flats is 52 front and 14 rear (the highest gear on a 7 speed setup) , you ride constantly and until a level it's is easy. When you want to ride even faster or further (because there must be variation for long distance rides) you can't because that's the maximum. So, that's why the smaller rear cogs will be needed once you have attain the level of fitness. There are some drawbacks on triple chainring setups as there are a few ratios you can never use because the chain is sagging on the smallest chainring and on two or three smallest rear cogs. So, this configurations are not usable but the GI can be found with the middle chain rings though.

Many new riders are making a mistake on relying on easier gear ratio (lower) to tackle hills without trying to train harder to a better level of fitness. I think this is because they ride in a group and try to catch up with other more experienced riders. every rider have to go through the phase, there are no short cuts, of course unless you fit in an electric motor. My point is, having more gears are good but we still need to train our fitness level.

Just for comparison sake, the gear inches for a 30 speed 26 inch mountain bike is 104 GI to 15.88 GI. The lower gear is because the chain ring is smaller than the largest rear cog.

This post has been edited by etigge: Nov 6 2015, 12:08 PM

If you want to upgrade this, you have to upgrade 2 items. The brake levers and also the shifter itself. You can go for Shimano Deore brake levers and also the Shimano 8 speed shifters. Yes you can use back the original cables and housing. If you are upgrading both the items, might as well add another 100 plus bucks and upgrade to Deore V-brakes as well, that is if you are using V-brakes lah!

You can only match exactly the number of gears for the rear gears, eg. 8 speed for 8 speed and 9 speed for 9 speed. As for the front, all can be used. So, if you want to buy part by part, you have to buy the 9 speed first and then keep till you complete buying all the needed components. Most shifters and brakes operates the same way, there are many videos on Youtube about changing gear cables or shifter cables. I think you are searching the wrong description.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7bKwvYNBpY

Sometimes when you see them posting pre-loved bikes for sale, they seem a bit unrealistic. That said, even if I see one, I just keep to myself, after all, most important is the transaction will go only if both parties mutually agree, right? So, why comment? I also see many many enquirers, potential buyers or not, gives un-necessary comments comments like stating the price here-lah, there-lah! If the price is not right, then look for others. I think, to be fair, price should be about 25% to 40% less than the selling price. But it is so hard to gauge selling price because one can buy a bike in USJ Cycles (notorious for their high price and bad service) for RM1500 or Tat Seng Cycles (also in the same league) and then the same bike can be bought for RM1100. That's already RM400 overpriced. Presume he sells it a year later and wants 60% of the original price which is RM900 and this is deemed too high for a used unit if the buyers really checks the market. The fair price for him is only RM560 ! if he compares to the price at RM1100.

That's why till today, I still suggest Kimbell Jaya. I also recommend cautiously, lest they think I am taking a cut from the sales. I always tell them to enquire every other places first and finally only do it in Kimbell.

So, basically, it depends on the buyer/seller situation. The same reason why most LBS cannot accept trade-ins. Because their cost might be very much lower. But lowballers are everywhere. I many a time have posted items for sale and usually I post prices where I deem fair, at times less than half the price I paid. But most if not all will message you and ask for 'best price please' eventhough in the ad posting says, " the price is final!" That's why I don't state negotiable anymore. Some are even worst! For a RM70 FD, they want me to COD in Klang! even though I tell them I am somewhere in Kajang.

Just be prepared to get many lowballers and unreasonable potential buyers if you post in the internet. Many also confirmed with you and sent their names and addresses but their remittances never came. I even met one seller who wanted to sell a Met Parabellum helmet. He posted RM400 for a used one. Also in BBS, under a username, he's selling RM450 for a new one. So, I just mention the username and tell him if he could consider sellng for RM350. He texted back, scolding me that I did not respect him and he don't know who the hell the username is. He even said, " Kalau tak puas, kita boleh jumpa! " So, that's how rude Malaysians can be. You cannot imagine how much I have lost replying futile messages and phone calls. Some even leave you dangling for a few weeks and then when you decide to sell it off to others, they suddenly re-appear and start to call you 'ungentleman and not keeping to your words'.

Last advise is, be prepared and not take them seriously until the fund is in your account or in your pocket!

If RM500 is your strict budget, ( I usually don't encourage but in this case, I will ) go for the Oscar Imagine. They have since progress quite a lot since 3 years ago. Another brand about the price range is Garion. Get the alloy units and try to avoid the hi-ten steel units. But to be fair, it takes a lot of care and even that they won't stay at the same quality for long. After a while many components will bet a bit rattling. But by that time, you will be able to access if you are really into cycling.

Fny.Hon is the same people who are contracted to build Dahon's frame, only without the warranty. It;s quite good actually. Customizing is very expensive but you are getting what you atually wanted without wasting un=used parts later. FnHon has most of Dahon's design, only size is what you need to consider. 14, 16, 18 or 20 inch?

There's KHS F20 T3 used foldie for sale in BBS. The price is quit reasonable. I wonder why there are no takers! This once bought, needs no modification as it comes original with 30 speed! And it is constructed with high quality Reynolds chromoly steel. Also modded to 451 wheelset. Just informing guys/gals in here of the bargain.

Nope, the Tern Verge is a design taken from Dahon during the split. SO it is an old model Dahon Vector which Dahon gave up and the they redesign another Vector and the Vigor is the product. The 9 speed is called the Vigor but the 20 speed and above is called the Vector. The bottom picture is the old, old Dahon Vector.

Dahon also made a 20 inch with same kind of fold already. The Dahon Qix !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-64kYF0_gCs

This post has been edited by etigge: Nov 18 2015, 07:15 PM

Shipping in is not cheap unless using sea lines but the wait will be long. Shipping via airlines is a few hundred and with that there's a risk that it is not what you want later. Also since you buy from overseas, many local bike shop won't touch it when comes to tuning and alignment before use. If they do, they will nag alot , critisize a lot and charge you unfairly. If all these is worth the few hundred bucks saved, then go for it.

A new Dahon Speed P8 plus modding the front to double chainrings is about RM2700 to RM2800. A bit offroad, why don't you go for Dahon Jetstream? Both materials, Chromo and aluminimum is very common in use and we can't really recommend without actually knowing what style or kind of rider you are. I suggest you read the post from V1, most of the answers are there.

PS/Don't forget about the custom's tax and also the GST as well !

This post has been edited by etigge: Nov 20 2015, 10:29 AM

The shifters can get from Sai86 or Dave who are from the northern states. No need to get from KL. Sai is cheaper though. They post their products in bicyclebuysell.com site. They comes inpairs though , left and right. For 9 speed it starts from Shimano Altus and then Shimano Alivio. If you want to use roadbike RDs, then go for Shimano Sora which is more expensive though.

Those days quality shifters are in 9 speed as well, that's before they introduce 10 speed. Shimano produces 9 speed Deore, LX, and XT. and even XTR. But you need to keep a look out for them in the buysell forum. Now the quality ones are mostly 10 and 11 speed. Yeah it call 'trigger shifters'.