Kimbell ordered as many Vigor as possible but they only sent 2 and there's another 2 orders outstanding. So, I doubt Kimbell has stock for the Vigor. Can try smaller outstation outlets though.

Shifters are a matter of preference. The original are SRAM twisters but I never liked twist shifters. So I changed to thumb shifters. On doing that, I decided to go straight to 9 speed as 9 speed offers more choice of shifters. You actually can find Shimano XT or Deore 9 speed shifters if you look hard. I on the other hand found the old age LX shifters for both me and my wife's Boardwalk. Although not really important, all shifters works just fine, indexing is good but the ease of shifting is important to us. We like to do Genting Peras as the place is nearby our house, so shifting easily and also triple chainrings are important to us too. Though we don't use the granny anymore like before. But it is good to have, in times when we are too tired and want to cruise more leisurely, like riding and resting at the same time. To be fair, you need to know, what terrain and what kinds of rides are you planning to ride on.

It also approve my decision as on one of my group rides, there was another rider who blistered her palm trying to shift up and down with the twist shifters. It was not the shifters but a slightly jammed cables. It was not moving very well, maybe some signs of rust in the cable and housing. Another weakness of twist shifters (grip shift) is you tend to over shift. New users will know this. Microshift still has 8 speed shifters , so does Shimano. The SRAM X5 shifters are 10 speed nowadays.

If you want something that can fold as compact as the Brompton, you can opt for the Trinx or XDS 16 inch folding bike. Folded properly they can even be pack into the IKEA Dimpa bag. The Trinx is only RM580 here in West M'sia and the XDS about RM200 extra. As you said , it is only used mainly on flat lands, so the number of gears should be enough. The tires of the Bromptons are 349 mm in diameter while the mentioned bikes above are 305 mm, so the size is just a small difference.

There is another brand called MIT that folds exactly like the Bs but the price is above your budget though. They cost averagely about 2.6K. There's another brand called TXed which also folds similarly compact. As for, your preference for style, retro looking bikes usually cost more.

Rodalink sold 2 units before for RM6,250.00 each. That's only one batch, never seen them again nor I saw anybody riding it. It is still available in Nava Bikes in Bangkok and there are also many unts in use in Singapore. I have the Dash P18 (2012 Taiwan made model) and it uses Tiagra RD with Microshift shifters and FD. So, I started to change the components to X20 specs but went a little overboard. I changed the whole groupset to Shimano 105 for RM1750 then. After 2 rides on the dropbars, I decided to go back to straight bar Too taxing on riding position. Initially I went for the Tiagra 10 speed straight bar shifters but the shifting was not very smooth. Later I upgraded to Shimano 7 series straight bar shifters and this gives much better shifting with the ball bearing inside made shifting easy. Also with the quarter shift on the shifters, chain rub was eliminated at the extreme end. But I paid RM430 for that shifter, still heart burn about it but I sold off my 105 STI brifters for RM500.

Later on, the Dash original rims doesn't look matching compared to the X20's Kinetix Pro. As I am 98 kgs, the lack of spokes on the Kinetix Pro doesn't appeal to me. So, I ordered a pair of Weinmann SEC16 rims with the same number of spokes holes as the original Kinetix hubs. I then laced it and shodded it with a pair of Schwalbe Durano on it. I have been riding it off and on and it is fast and shifting is off course very smooth but I can't ride long as the size is an L size. You can hit 30 km/h cruising speed with it easily. That's my Dahon Dash X20

In Taobao, the frame is sold under Dahon Cheetah and the price is about RM1400 (after conversion) but the shipping is really a let down. RM400 to RM500 to ship over

That little counter sunk Philips screw is an M3/2.5mm. It is just to align the extension along the grove. The upper extension will still move if the quick release is not tighten. It is also to hold the QR in place. You can get as many of it as you want from any Nut and Bolt shops. Most famous is the Central Nut and Bolts in Jalan San Peng. Along Jalan Balakong there's 2 of such shops also but Central Nut and Bolts are the best place. Here's the coordinates of the shop,

3°08'02.5"N 101°42'29.2"E

Even original, the top extension still moves a bit to the right and left. The said screw, protudes a little bit to stop it from turning all the way round, just within a grove on the top extension. It needs the quick release to really tighten it and also you need to stand in front and put the front wheel between your legs to hold and then align the handlebar straight before you tighten the quick release. I usually adjust only once, and never adjust anything again because releasing and tightening too much will loosen it more permanently in future. But that might hinder the folding a bit as you need to lengthen the extension to below the hubs to get a closer fold.

Check this out !

http://www.bicyclebuysell.com/item/280543/...n-dash-20-speed

http://www.bicyclebuysell.com/item/280542/...-race-mini-velo

I am using both 406 and 451. For 451 available tires are usually slicks. Heavier treaded ones are rare and even if available, it's 1.35 inch. I got Schwalbe Duranos and I think Kimbell Jaya still has a few of them. GW cycle have them. Most common are Kendas likebthosebused in most brands as original. You have more choices in Singapore though , even Continental and Vedrestein.

Schwalbe Duranos are 1.1, in fact all diameter is 1.1. You can get it from Kimbell Jaya for RM68 each but only for the present batch. Later it would be over RM100 each. I heard the latest Schwalbe is available in 451s.

Since the Dahon Vybe C7A is on the list, take that. No arguments there since it is already in the list. The Raleigh Ugo is also good but you won't have regrets wit the Dahon Vybe.

There are pros and cons. 16 incher is easier to ride uphill but quite twitchy when rolling downhill fast. You need to get use to it. The fold is obviously more compact than the regular 20 inch. Another cons of 16 inch is the limited tire choice. We were on a ride over 2 days once and included in our group was a 16 incher , an FNHon which I assembled and the rider is an elderly lady and she covered 214km with us. So, 16 or 20, it depends on your preference.

Bear in mind also the 16 inch mentioned is also 20 speed so it can be upgraded too just as the 20 inch. The 20 inch on the other hand, is a more stable ride and parts and spares are more easily available. Still I feel you should go for the regular 20 inch if storage and fold compactness is not the main criteria. Just like folding speed, it is never an important reason to choose over which foodie for me because I don't mind taking 10 minutes to fold a bike.

I used to ride with a group where there are 2 teachers who rides the XDS 16 inch. I would say that the bike is quite good , strong frame but the bad point is the gearing. Since it is 16 inches and only 7 speed, you might freewheel when you ride a bit fast. So the riders tend to pedal like mad chasing after others as the smallest cog at the rear is 13 which is not small enough. But I have modded both the XDSes to 8 speed with 11 to 30 cogs and that helps a lot in them catching up with other riders.

OK I will clarify . If your crank and chainring has 5 Allen bolts on it, then you just buy a 39 or a 42 smaller chainring and bolt on it. You don't need to change the bolts but you will have to discard the bash guard. The bigger chainring will sit on the the bash guard's place and the smaller chainring on the original chainring place.

Other than that is off course the shifter and the FD plus it's adapter . Then there's the cable and housing.

There are 2 ways about it. One is off course add an extra or two chainring and go through the whole FD and adapter process. Other than that, you can also just upgrade straight to 10 speed which gives a 36 cog maximum at the rear.

If you adjust the chain carefully, the cage will be pulled to the front on the 36cog setting so it won't hit the ground. When you do this, you have the advantage of modding to 20 speed later if you still find it insufficient low gear.

Just go to BBS site and hunt for mob parts. I modded a Vybe C7s the other day with a Deore shifter and it was perfect.

PS/another way is get a smaller chainring but at the expense of speed at the highest gear.

This post has been edited by etigge: Jan 22 2015, 07:18 PM

Yes, you can. There are longer bolts with spacers for it. Come to think of it, I do have a set of it. PM me if you want it. Problem is, just maybe , the position of the inner chainring a might be too far in if you use the spacers and to remedy this you need a BB with longer spindle which is so hard to find, especially the 128mm ones. Another solution is to add spacer to the BB to bring the spindle further out.

I have tried using normal mtb sealed bearing and it can be used provided you use the original headset cover from the old one. You need to changed the crown as well. Taking out the crown from the fork is a bit tricky though without a crown ring remover.

I can understand the reason for upgrading in stages as I did the same. It is easier to actually get a high spec bike slowly as what I wanted will cost 6k if I choose a Dahon with the specs.
Sadly, you can't upgrade the way you mentioned as Tiagra 10 speed shifters are not compatible with a 9 speed RD. If you want you have to get the whole front modded and then the whole rear modded at once.
So I can suggest going for 9 speed.

That way. You first buy a 9 speed shifter, bear in mind, SRAM and Shimano are not compatible. Also road bikes and mtb has different shifting index length. If you choose Tiagra or 760 shifters, these are road bike flat bar shifters so mtb RDS are not suitable. But if you choose mtb shifters, you can use road bike RDs as long as your cassette don't exceed 30 teeth as roadie RDs has short cage.

So start with say 9 speed Alivio or Accera shifter. That way you can still use the Neos RD and then later change the RD. Then later add a chain ring to the front. This way if you ride hilly area, just shift the chain manually by hand to the smaller chain ring. Then later the FD and adapter and finally you have 18 speed which is sufficient for Fraser's Hill if you are on mtb set up at the rear. The front is always roadie 53/39 set up.

Sora is a 9 speed roadie components. The max is 30T so if you are operating at 32T, then the cage is at the max already, I did once on a Tern Link P9 using original cassette. I think they are not cheap either, just a few bucks less than the Tiagra. If you use Alivio or Accera shifters, the front FD is possible for 2 speed as well. You just lock the FD and the shifters stop at 2 and can't go further. I install an Accera RD on a Vybe C7s with 34 cogs max. The last is almost touching the tire and ground but at thus setting you are climbing and at low speed so it should be OK.

I might be wrong but I think the rims are from a model of Birdy bikes which uses 18 inch wheels. So, it is neither 406 nor 451.

The 130mm and 135mm refers to the width of the rear hub. It actually can be fitted regardlessly only if your frame is 130mm you can force open the width and if you have 135mm frame, you can tighten the QR tighter to close the gap.