The Story of Two Lightweight Folding Bikes

Jessie is a young professional who came from suburb America and now works in the big city. Since 1995, Jessie has lived in the New York City and works in the metropolitan area of the city. He has recently revisited his passion and enthusiasm for cycling, which he had as a little boy. In addition to his commute in the city, Jessie enjoys cycling along the Hudson River to relax after a long day at work. Jessie confesses that he has known about lightweight folding bikes for a while now, but refused to give up his full size bicycle until he decided to bike to work.

Jessie tried a couple different folding bicycles before settling for the lightweight. The first one he tried was the Downtube Shimano-8 speed and the second one was the Mini Shimano – 8 speed. Now Jessie wants you to hear the tale of these two folding bikes.

Downtube 8H Shimano Nexus – 8 speed (Gates Carbon Belt Drive)

The cycling distance from where Jessie lived to where he worked in the big city of New York was roughly 30 miles. He had access to multiple routes when driving by car. He also had the option to take the bus on 41st Street or take the bus and then the train or ferryboat. It would usually take about two hours for Jessie to get to work using these modes of transportation. With this Downtube folding bike, Jessie could cut the time by riding from Midtown to the Battery. In so doing Jessie had to take ride the bike and then fold it and take it onto the bus. After reaching the train, Jessie took one of these lightweight folding bikes onto the train to midtown Manhattan. He then rode to the office. This is the only bike allowed on Jessie’s train during rush hour – a folding bike. You can fold this bike in seconds once you get the hang of it. It only weighs 26.5 roughly and just a little more, if he carried lunch and the rack bag.

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Downtube Mini Simano Nexus – 8 Speed

Jessie purchased one of the Downtube Mini Simano Nexus – 8 Speed lightweight folding bikes recently. This one was fast and efficient and folds in only 15 seconds. There was no issue with improper shifting. It is extremely light and maintenance-free. The brakes are of the highest quality, coordinated with machined sidewalls rims. Lightweight aluminum frames and gates carbon belt and cogs contribute to its ease in carrying around.

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Conclusion

Both of these folding bikes are fun to ride for Jessie. Each of them has its own advantages. It all depends on your personal taste, biking needs and budget. Jessie reports that he feels safe driving both folding bikes, but prefers the lightweight one. He is so happy to be able to commute without the hassle of heavy traffic and obnoxious motorists. Like Jessie, other motorists have switched to lightweight folding bikes gladly because of its ultimate convenience.

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Flying with my Bike to Asheville, NC

Asheville, NC is one of my favorite towns in the states. Everyone is buying houses in Asheville including President Obama. Asheville is special for many reasons; it is close to the best east coast wastewater kayaking on the Chattooga. It is also close to some of the best hiking in the states, it does not get hot in the steamy summer months, and is home to two of the coolest College campuses UNC Asheville, and Warren Wilson College. The Downtown has an eclectic mix of an old artsy town; there are not too many cities like this in the South. There is a good reason so many celebrities are moving there.

Recently I was in the market for a house in the Asheville area however I lived 10 hours away. I searched online and found a great deal on a log cabin home just north of Asheville, not far from UNC Asheville.  I got a flight and brought my Downtube full size folding bikes with me in a soft suitcase. I jumped on an early flight to Asheville. We landed at11 AM leaving me plenty of time to see the house and hang out at UNCA one of the coolest college campuses in the western hemisphere!

I was going to take a taxi but there was bus service at the airport. The best part it only costs $1. So I unpacked my bike from the soft suitcase and collapsed the soft case onto the rear rack. I attached it with one bungee. On the plane I had my bikepacked in the suitcase, but once I arrived I have the suitcase packed on the bike, this is a great concept for traveling. I never considered doing this before, it just worked out on this

I got on the bus and I was complimented on my bike by everyone. I guess you could say I made a lot of friends on the ride. I had to transfer busses to get to UNCA campus. I biked to the house from there. Unfortunately it was half log cabin. The house was in poor condition, so I did not buy it, but I still had plenty of free time to play. So I biked back to UNCA for the evening until my 8PM flight.

Got back to airport took the soft case off the rack, put the bike inside. Checked it in and was home in no time. No baggage fees no hassles.  I thought to myself this is the way to fly. I was completely self-sufficient, and it cost me about $20 on food and transportation to spend the day biking around UNCA, and downtown.

On my next trip to Asheville I will take an extra day to stop in Biltmore Estates which is private estate and tourist attraction in Asheville. I will also book a trip on the Chatooga with wildwater at http://wildwaterrafting.com/rafting/chattooga-river-rafting/. Make sure to book the Chatooga section IV, it will blow your mind.

History of Folding Bikes

There has been much written about Downtube folding bikes. So what is going on with them? Are they better than their competitors? Let’s list some of their main competitors:

 1. Dahon- They created the folding bike market in the early 80's. They have some very nice models, such as a full suspension Jetstream (MSRP $1300). The Downtube9FS full suspension bike has more speeds and retails for $549. Dahon's base unsuspended bikes are excellent quality options. The Dahon Speed 7 is their base 7sp model and retails for $550. The Downtube Nova has similar components and geometry and retails for under $300. In short Dahon's bikes sell for almost doubleDowntube models with similar components.

 2. Bike Friday- Bike Friday is one of the biggest folding bike companies in the USA. They build their bikes in the USA and have a great reputation. Their bestselling bike is the Tikit 8sp which has a super fast fold retail for a Tikit start at $1698 ( 8sp model ). The Downtube mini's are smaller, lighter have better Shimano Nexus 8sp internal hub drive train for under $600. The Downtube 8H has a suspension fork to increase comfort, and adds a carbon belt drive for $699. They offer all this for less than half the cost of a Tikit. A Tikit with the Shimano Nexus hub and carbon belt drive retails for over $2200. Tikits are great but the price leaves something to be desired.