I have decided to get the braqcing shifted up higher and from what I gather, aluminum to aluminum brazing is even stronger. I an going to get some aluminum rods and a canister of propane and a flame nozzle to do it myself. MAybe won't be neat but I can dremel it later. But I will do it after the CNY.

Another Dahon MU that came for modding and it is completed. When it came , the original red was really dirty. And the owner wanted to repaint it so as I was also painting the Birdy, we shared the cost of the paints. Modding is getting really expensive nowadays. 3 years ago, I can do this (without the painting) for 700 bucks but it seems impossible nowadays, unless you go for used parts. Total damage for this modding is 1.2K with the painting which I charged RM300 with the decals.



No need to chgange cranks, just slapped another smaller 39T chainring onto the existing. Added the adapter and the FD. A bit tricky here as the space is quite limited. I have to shave off some corners of the adapter.


9 speed Claris is choosen and paired with a ultra low 11/34T cassette. Initially, the owner just wanted a double chainring to save some cost but after looking at the Neos RD, I suggested he changed it too. This was the game changer, as the extra incurred will not be much between an 8 and a 9, we decided to go for 9.


Here's the mindboggling problem. The cables for MU is internally routed. The RD and brake cables is inside and to route the extra FD cable outside is really ugly. So, like what I did for Vigor the last time, I enlarge the front inserts larger to fit in 3 cables. The Vigor has an outlet but not this MU so I have to drill a hole just above the FD to bring the cable housing out. Took me a few hours to route this


Just a simple 9 speed Accera shifter for this setup.

can use, no problem. only not soo smooth only. maybe one lr two gears..

mine all ok, only when i shift up sometimes got jumping. shifting down no problemo

That's why you are the sifu and we are only little horses!

How on earth did you manage to pull the cable through that hole??

And that FD is touching the frame and it can still operate?

Or you can buy a TIG welding machine, a simple TIG set up (gas cylinder, protective gears… etc) only RM2000, plenty chap ayam TIG offering in lazada by local sellers. Very cheap now a days.
Brazing is a lot fun. But with aluminum it's trickiest. Lesser the joint gap the better, it's not difficult, just tricky and dubious. Again, like all other craft, practice makes perfect.

This post has been edited by KenC: Feb 6 2018, 11:04 PM

The FD is indeed near but not touching the seat tube. And even with this spacing, I still need to get a longer spindle for the cranks I did have to file off a corner of the FD adapter though.

No need to do so. Just visit my friend's air cond shop in Ipoh. They should have the propane gas cyclinder and if they don't have aluminum rods, can use copper rods instead.

Got my bike tonight. Ask help from a dear friend to take the bike from lbs and bring it to tonight's ride. And Guess what? You're right. It doesnt shift smoothly. Right from the start, it all shift alright, except for the 11t, which is the one cog that i use a lot! Tune on the spot, it goes down to 11t but jumping up and down at the 6th and 7th cog. At least it's usable for tonite's ride. I dont use those cogs anyway for the kind of terrain that we were riding.

Anyhow, when i got back home, i did some more tuning. The last effort for tonite, i manage to get the chain rolling up and down, except for the 9th cog(it's 11-25 cassette, so i guess it's the 23t cog). I know i dont use all the gears, but at least im expecting all of them to be working in order.

Maybe i'll send it back again to my mech later on. Im still hopeful that it'll work out well in the end, otherwise i'll have to make do with current setup, or, either get another compatible rd or the 4700 shifter.

I have a friend's wife, fellow rider, who have just bought herself a Brompton and she is selling her Java FIT , 16 speed. As far as I know, she paid RM1800 for it 2 or 3 years ago and very seldom rides. ANyone interested I can give you the contact. Guessing that the asking price will be 1K, give and take a hundred or so.

like i said, just tune whats ur favourite cog. if u need to spend some money more i think maybe a waste of time and money.

been thinking of swap my 6800 rd with the 4700 setup, but those didnt match my current 6700 silver grey color setup

For those using Dahon MU and wants to upgrade the gears, I suggest going for a single chain ring , the more the better rear numbers of speed. Like 1 x 10 or 1 x 11. I just tested the Dahon MU that I have built with dual chain ring and it is really difficult to accommodate the FD. The space is very limited. With the now hard to get 3 speed road bike FDs, it is even worse as the chain cage is smaller nowadays. As the FD can only fit into a small space, trying to get the right length of the BB spindle is also a problem. The FD adapter can only go so low and even with that plus the FD attached, the cable arm of the FD is stuck to the frame.

I have no choice and changed the FD adapter to a Litepro unit and even with it I have to cut off the long braze to accommodate the adapter below the frame. I also have to file off some part of the adapter's clamp so that it will go a bit lower as the welds are in the way. The right hand brace of the MU is located higher than the left side making clamping the adapater difficult. Once everything is in place, the moving arm of the FD can't go further as it is hindered by the sloping rear stays. So, I also file off a bit off the front derailleur.

SO, better go for single chainring modding for the Dahon MU.

Sent it back today. I was intentionally trying to get the flatbar 4700 shifter, but got no stock. So, rd has to go. The problem is, there's also no new stock for 4600 rd. So tried it with 5700, and 6700 rd. Surprisingly, same problem. Left the bike at lbs, and went home.

Just now, my mech friend sent me a video of it working properly. Guess what's the rd? It's a freaking Altus. Weird huh? That's what we think too.

In the end, the solution is not that expensive. Phew!

So it means that i have an almost brand new 4700 to let go. If anyone is interested, just let me know.



This post has been edited by fatani: Feb 9 2018, 08:33 PM

It should work well with 6700. I did it on the Dahon Route. And it should work with 5700. Funny huh Or maybe you have gone for the SL-R780 shifter. That will improve shifting a lot.

I know right?
Supposedly it should be working well with those derailleurs (5700,6700). But it didnt, at least in my case. Well, im glad it's sorted out. And altus is just too damn cheap anyway. I dont mind, as long as it works.

Actually, my TRS bike use the combination of slr780 and 5701 rd. It still doesnt shift smoothly on the 13t. My friend use the same setup, but with 6700 rd, and his setup doesnt have any shifting problem. So, i dunno lah. Shimano stated that slr780 is compatible with 5701, but it does not do the job well for me.

Which position looks better? The leather bag I mean...




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For more practical reason, hanging the leather bag on saddle is better.

If you ride solo and can carry your bike towards the back table of almost full house coffee shop for meal. Never leave your bike out of sight.

With bag on saddle, you still can fold your bike.

It was made for both ways. As long as it suits you. Sometimes, riders wants the security of having to look at their belongings , hence they put it in front while others who uses it just for tools and extra inner tubes and all items are expendable, they put it at the back. Mostly it's the smart phones that they are worried about. So, some strap it on their arms and they put it at the back. The bag on the handlebar can actually face the rider too, you know, on the inside.

The yellow house. All bikes repainted. Phew! My pelvic bone is killing me, all the squatting and getting up. That's 4 bikes within this 3 weeks. Need a rest , maybe half a year.



The rear stay bracing is sawn off and rear stays re-painted. There's another bracing there and looking at it, the whole thing looks quite solid and strong so I didn't re-weld another bracing. ANyway, with the rear bubs holding it, it should be quite strong and also I use the Avid Arch Rivals which also have an arch over the two stays. That will add some strength to the rigidity of the contraption.



My wife's bike which is also yellow is also coated with diamond dust. Giving a shimmering effect in the sunlight. Initially, all bikes are supposed to be the same but during the painting of the first one (The Dahon) the spray nozzle was too small to spray the flakes and so I omitted that step and repainted another two coats of yellow before the decals were added and then clear coat. My wife adamantly wants the diamond effect, so I actually waited to buy another spray gun but the paint shop helped me out by filling the diamond coating in a spray can. That solved it!



This is actually a Rhine and not a BIrdy. The Birdy is still hanging on the repair stand



This post has been edited by etigge: Feb 10 2018, 10:25 AM