Dahon on Vacation: Suitcase to Riding
 

Since I live in the rural mountains of Northern New England (USA), strewn with dirt/gravel, frost heaved and cracked pavement roads, I rarely if ever ride my Dahon Speed 7. I picked it and my wife's Dahon up from TJ Max in 2014 for $99 (USD) each. I've modified mine significantly to match my riding style and needs when traveling on vacation during the winter months. Typically I travel to a beach area, so higher gearing is my rule of thumb.

This winter I've upgraded it again and added a SRAM Dual Drive three speed rear hub with a 12-25 9 speed cassette. Combined with a 53-42 Shimano 105 crankset, and I have 54 speed Dahon :eek: !

I'm on vacation in coastal Georgia (USA). I took this slide show of the unpacking after the flight from New Hampshire to Georgia. Took about an hour from start to finish. More pictures as I enjoy this respite from winter! :D

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Nice! Well done to both your sweet modded Dahon and your travel kit. That animated photo tells the story perfectly. Welcome south...

Congratulations! I hope you have fun. Incidentally techniques for riding on a sandy surface are quite similar to that for riding on powdery snow :D.

My packing and unpacking of NWT takes even longer, because of fenders and rack. For Brompton, on the other hand, these are nonevents.

Please report on the details and performance of your 54 speeds :twitchy:. I had a week of intense riding on my 27-speed Brompton and went into some refining afterwards. Presumably it is stable now, but I also pondered about jumping into 30 speeds along the hub line. It could give me a finer gear spacing than now, more effective gears, but it is doubtful I really need it.

@towndock and @2_i thanks for the comments. I'm back from my 24 mile shakedown ride. Went well but I haven't ridden since October and my legs felt the lack of exercise. I only stopped for one glamor shot along the walk leading to the Atlantic.

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As far as the 54 speed, I guess I consistently used about 18 gears :p Where the Dual Drive will come in handy is when I'm in a significantly more hilly place, and I'll need lower gearing for climbing.

This was the first ride since doing a major makeover this winter.

Sorry,... I couldn't resist,... :p

@tds101 how true! :thumb:

I should mention, I had a problem with one of my new tires, Schwalbe Kojaks. When I first rode it I thought the rear wheel was out of true. It was ever so slightly, but this felt like a couple of spokes had broken and none had.

So I pedaled to the nearest LBS (that would be 30-40 miles at home in NH) which was about a mile away, here in GA! :D We put the bike on the stand and there was a major hop in the rear wheel. As it turn out there is a thick section in the Kojak tire. :eek: It runs about 5-6 inches along the top of the tire. It raised the profile about 3-5mm, which caused the entire rear end to bump up and down. Fortunately the LBS had a similar width high pressure and relatively smooth tread Sunlite 406mm I could run as a replacement.

The owner of the LBS had never seen the Dual Drive system before I showed up from out of the blue!

I'd love to do a crankset/igh rear hub myself,... For me a 8 speed igh, combined with a high/low option, would be more than sufficient. 16 gears, marine environment approved. That would be the bees knees! LoL!!! Your bike is fantastic all the same. 54 gears though? Wooo,...

Nice that it fits in suitcase w/o having to remove the crank.
Amazing how fast you will get breaking-down the folders and re-construct them
.. you get really good at it after awhile.

I didn't have a chance to ride today as we drove to Savannah for the day. Tomorrow Mrs. PB plays golf and I'll aim for a 30+ mile ride with more pictures.

Yes, a 54 speed is overkill all the way! I have a new rear wheel at home and will probably run it either as an 18 or 20 speed set up for my next trip, which will be the end of April in the Florida Panhandle. This is where I've actually ridden it the most. The last time I was there I ran the original wheels with an 8 speed Sachs freewheel (12-24) and the same Shimano 105 (53 & 42) crankset. At that point I kept the fenders, rack and kickstand. Losing those gave me room to pack more in the bike suitcase and still say under 50lbs.

It is so nice to be out and about in the sunshine! Predicted over night low for my little mountain town in NH is 1F! I head back on March 15 and I'm certain there will be 3-6 more weeks of winter! :eek:

Other than needing to adjust the bearing races in my hubs, my Dahon was an absolute bargain at TJ Maxx for $99! I have had so much fun hot-rodding it!

You are correct! It is absolutely amazing I can pack the whole thing in a regulation sized suitcase and still have spare room for my bike shoes, most of my bike gear and the tools needed for assembly. The key trick is to keep it at just under 50lbs so I don't incur a charge from Southwest Airlines.

TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Home Goods and Sierra Trading are all owned by the same company. It is not unusual to see a Huffy Beach Cruiser or similar bike in one of these stores, but not always. I've never seen more than two bikes at a specific time. I've never seen another Dahon or a folding bike of any brand. When I found one Dahon in one store, I called all the other TJ Maxx stores in NH (there are only about 5-6) until I found a store that had a second one for my wife. It was a really lucky score.

I love a Dual Drive, have one on my Greenspeed trike. It gives me 71 gears!!! Can't use them all, of course; but that super low gear (2mph up a 13% grade) is a lifesaver at times.

@76r welcome to Bike Forums and Folding Bikes. Glad you came along. Where do you hail from and what other bikes do you ride? I passed a fellow on a trike as I finished my 32 mile ride today.

The Dual Drive system is truly underappreciated. Sturmey Archer makes a similar IGH with a freehub for cassettes. I've had the DD on my Cannondale MTB since 2003 and the only issue I've had was the axel broke while I was out on a rail trail that was about 3 miles from the nearest cross road. However SRAM sent a replacement hub to the LBS at no charge. I only paid the labor to swap the axel out.

My ride today went end to end on Saint Simon's Island, GA. Not really a circuit since one end only has a long out and back road. For some reason my picture at the lighthouse didn't same on the phone. I'll have to take that one again. I removed the front bag for this ride. I need to work on the mount. It doesn't hold as well as I'd like.

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At the South Harrington Rd. boat launch
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Near the Little Saint Simons Island boat launch

Hey PastorBob! Wifey and I are now on the Gulf Coast, Fl. Have a Dahon Mu D10 Tour en route from Thor. The trike has been my main "bike" since 2002. The trike is getting harder to push as I age though, ha.

New Hampshire was where I found that 13% grade, it was on the Kank (Somewhat close to you?). It was mercifully a short 13% stretch, but the Kank was mostly 9-11% FOREVER it seemed.

The "Kank" or Kancamagus Highway is about an hour drive northeast from my home (Lincoln, NH end). I've never ridden and only driven it. The opening grade is truly epic and challenging.

Me and my Dahon will be in Panama City Beach (east end near St. Andrew's State Park) a few days after Easter (April 21) for a couple of weeks. Will you be anywhere close?

No, we are WAY down the coast; 8 hr.

Had a chance to do a bit of "gravel grinding" yesterday. Actually it was a mix of packed sand, oyster shells, roots, and shed live oak leaves. A bit rough on 20 X 1.35s inflated to about 80psi! But the reward at the end was early 19th century plantation ruins. Aaron Burr waited out a hurricane in this house not long after his dual with Alexander Hamilton.

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Dahon at the lighthouse.

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Yes, a great deal of fun and the best part is that I got to leave the snow behind for about 11 days. :thumb: I head back to NH on Friday. :(

Circled Jekyll Island, GA twice today. This is an auto boat maybe heading to Europe with American built cars.

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:thumb: