Hi guys,

I've been away from this forum for quite sometime. Just to recap, I started cycling in 2015 thru some family outing in Putrajaya. I saw my sister friend's who riding a java fit and I'm impressed by it's folding mechanism, so I bought a Java Fit. However, my wife started to join me into cycling and I needed another bike and I start to compare Java fit with other brand and Dahon comes into the picture and I started to hunt for a Dahon and with the same budget as java fit, I got myself a Dahon Route with 7 speed. I decided to pass java fit to my wife as it have 18 speed so it will be easier for her to ride. Dahon Route is a sturdy solid bike to ride, less flex on the handle post but I start to realsie the gearing are inadequate as the rear cassette starts from 13 to 28. It unable to go as fast as java fit and unable to climb as easy as Java fit. So I started to research on how to upgrade my Dahon Route into a 9 speed or maybe a 2 X 9. To my dismay, I start to realsie the cost of upgrading a 7 speed into 8 or higher speed. A 7 speed wheelset cannot be use due to its hub are made different. The cost to upgrade will be almost the same price as the bike itself. A new wheel set, cassette and shifter. And due to Dahon Route frame shape. It's unable to hang in a front derailleur. Anyway, one of my kids started to ride so I decided to just pass the bike to him without modification.

That means I need to get myself another bike. Searching high and low and finally I decided to get a Dahon Dash. It's fast, it fold so it should be the best. So I bought a 2nd hand Dahon Dash P18. It's fast no doubt and I really enjoy riding this bike for a while until i need to pack 3 bikes in my car for family ride and my younger kid are starting to learn how to ride and i might need to put in 4 bikes in my car.

So the search for another bike is inevitable.... So after much online research and comparing, I find Tyrell IVE fits the needs I want. A bike that feels solid ( No folding in the frame ) and it wears a 18" tyre. So I sold my Dahon Dash P18 for this Tyrell IVE. It's my first expensive bike which is over RM5K and it really feels different. Been riding it for some time until my younger kid are ready to ride with us. And that I was thinking, should i get just a normal folding bike or go into something smaller and similar to Tyrell IVE .... Thats the time I started taking the plunge in buying a Brompton. And that was 2016 last year. And with four bikes that fit into my car, there's a lot of family ride been going on.

That's all for now. Will continue my story some other time.

Ettigge,

Nice leather bag you have there It's been some time since we met. What folding bike are you riding now?

Ok ... let me continue with my rant...... Haha.
After I got my first Brompton and that's when I realise a small folding footprint really matters a lot in my life style. I started to ride more and more on the brompton and I realise the gearing at not that bad at all. In fact with it's wide gearing like BWR, you got about 300% gearing ratio. In fact, the standard chainring of 50t, gives you about 100 inches per cycle. That's is as good as a 52t front X 11t on a 451 20" tyre. And with all the accessories you could get for a brompton. It is so much fun playing in it.
After some time, with me riding a brompton and my wife riding a tyrell, size start to creep in and speed are no longer the most important to me. So I bought another brompton for my wife and sold off my tyrell IVE.
So now my wife and I are riding brompton while 2 of my kids are with a java fit and dahon route and there's so much more space to get these 4 bikes in my car.

Good morning ☀️


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