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A detailed Dahon Curl i8 review

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A detailed Dahon Curl i8 review

Old 01-04-18, 11:50 PM
  #1  
superzxq
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A detailed Dahon Curl i8 review

Just found a detailed review of Dahon Curl i8. Some of my friends thought that Dahon was copying Brompton. After reading this review, they changed their opinions. Curl and Brompton are so different with each other. Each has its own
unique features.

´óÐÐ35ÖÜÄê¼ÍÄî°æCurl i8µÚ008ºÅ¿ªÏä¼òÆÀ ¡ª 77bike.comµ¥³µ½»Á÷Íø,ÖйúµÚÒ»ÕÛµþ×ÔÐгµÂÛ̳,ÆïÐÐ,´óÐÐ,dahon,p8,p18,bya412,412,·çÐÐfnhon,ÕÛµþ³µÉý¼¶¸Ä ×°
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Old 01-05-18, 01:48 AM
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Hi superzxq, any chance of translating the review?
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Old 01-05-18, 03:06 AM
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Originally Posted by superzxq
Just found a detailed review of Dahon Curl i8. Some of my friends thought that Dahon was copying Brompton. After reading this review, they changed their opinions. Curl and Brompton are so different with each other. Each has its own
unique features.

´óÐÐ35ÖÜÄê¼ÍÄî°æCurl i8µÚ008ºÅ¿ªÏä¼òÆÀ ¡ª 77bike.comµ¥³µ½»Á÷Íø,ÖйúµÚÒ»ÕÛµþ×ÔÐгµÂÛ̳,ÆïÐÐ,´óÐÐ,dahon,p8,p18,bya412,412,·çÐÐfnhon,ÕÛµþ³µÉý¼¶¸Ä ×°
You are joking, right?
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Old 01-05-18, 03:43 AM
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Attachment 594516
Originally Posted by avole
Hi superzxq, any chance of translating the review?
Copy and paste the link into Google Translate. The translation into English can be quite entertaining.

[Wonderful discussion] Bank of the 35th anniversary Curl i8 No. 008 out of the box comments

Beam curvature of the vehicle is the most criticized it, to be honest I do not like it. A lot of car parts, most of them are black plastic parts, estimated to spend a lot of mold fee. The curvature of the girder wraps the whole rear wheel in the frame after the rear wheel is folded, and the support on both sides should be strong but also contributes a lot of weight. The rigidity of this car is really good, the rear wheel is also not shockproof, so a lot better than the small cloth power.
The vehicle actually looks better than the photo renderings, the owner deliberately wore the red shoes to mention the car.
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Old 01-05-18, 05:26 AM
  #5  
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Alternatively you can use Chrome, which does it automatically. However, I didn't bother, as the translations are woeful.
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Old 01-05-18, 07:09 PM
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Nice pictures,...otherwise this post was a waste of time. Google Translate isn't up to translating the text, and all we get is nonsensical garbage to attempt to sift through.
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Old 01-07-18, 09:01 AM
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So Dahons are mass produced but Bromptons are what? individually built? Custom built? Hand built? I'm at a loss. Is the difference price? Where it is built?


I'm baffled, maybe only the Asians can mass produce something?
Dahons are mass produced in Asia.
Bromptons are mass produced in England.
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Old 01-07-18, 02:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Rick Imby
So Dahons are mass produced but Bromptons are what? individually built? Custom built? Hand built? I'm at a loss. Is the difference price? Where it is built?


I'm baffled, maybe only the Asians can mass produce something?
Dahons are mass produced in Asia.
Bromptons are mass produced in England.
It's trolling nonsense. Bromptons are great - I've owned two - but discarding all Dahons as "mass produced", and having problems because of Tern, is a silly Brompton Cult comparison. Brompton, Dahon and Tern are all mass produced, and the only one I would avoid is Tern.
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Old 01-07-18, 04:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Rick Imby
Dahons are mass produced in Asia.
Bromptons are mass produced in England.
What's this? I was assured by some Brompton fanboys that the bikes are created by old world craftsmen at a handful of village smithies scattered about rural England.

brompton factory.jpg
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Old 01-07-18, 05:17 PM
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Originally Posted by BooksandBikes
There you go again! STOP IT! I am not a troll. I am not a Brompton fangirl--no more than you are a Dahon employee or Dahon fanboy.

The bike is cute. Leave it that.
Yes, I will keep "going again" as long as I want. I've owned and ridden a ton of folding bikes and know of what I speak. You're welcome.
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Old 01-07-18, 06:12 PM
  #11  
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The red Curl looks very cute!! But not available in Malaysia now. Will make a review too when I got one
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Old 01-08-18, 11:14 AM
  #12  
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Originally Posted by BooksandBikes
The builder at Kinetics builds a new fork or something. His builds are gorgeous. I don't want to do all that. Just design the bike where larger tires can fit. I guess it is complicated because it changes the fold and weight.
Sigh.
Yep ... tinkering involves a lot of trial and error, IME. Can be fun at times.

The wheel/tire size thing is particularly tricky. Brompton, of course, has 349 wheels. But I understand that it was a while before one could comfortably fit the widest tire available at that size: the Greenspeed Scorcher (40 mm wide). I keep thinking that my tikit would be better if it could comfortably fit 355 with Big Apples.
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Old 01-10-18, 05:01 PM
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€1,399 = US$1,700

For that kind of money, it's not worth it. Just get a six-speed Brompton.

https://www.faltradxxs.de/dahon-curl...lieferbar.html
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Old 01-11-18, 07:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Winfried
€1,399 = US$1,700

For that kind of money, it's not worth it. Just get a six-speed Brompton.

https://www.faltradxxs.de/dahon-curl...lieferbar.html
I agree,...for that price it's definitely not worth it.
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Old 01-29-18, 10:03 PM
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Why would anyone choose to own a Dahon Curl at $1780!
I've seen the bike first hand in a bike shop, it weighs around 13kg

I used to own a Dahon D8 Jetsream, sold it after 1 month cause it rode so badly and you cannot roll the bike properly as you have to balance it on one wheel. Can't compare to a brompton I now own in any way. The dahon curl is also the same price as a Brompton M6R in Asia which costs more than UK, this means it costs more than a brompton.
It's like a chinese made car pricing a new car at the BMW, Audi and Merc range, no chance.
With any Dahon, you get zero customer service if your outside US, no aftermarket accessories and its made in China. How can this bike justify it's price? and it's made of all aluminum which is cheaper than high grade steel btw.
Aside from the folding style vs a brompton, it's copied the look of a brompton, the distinctive curve in the frame.
I have googled and found an official dahon curve unveiling with the same exact brompton pedals on.
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Old 01-30-18, 02:41 AM
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I don't get the Curl pricing I would of thought they were going to price it signficantly below but still above their normal Dahon pricing for the same components. A sort of mid position model. It may well get abandoned like many Dahon designs if its doesn't sell well and support maybe limited in future. The frame is unlikely to last as long as a Brompton unless ridden by a very light rider or infrequently. However I have no idea of Dahon's costs, designing and manufacturing the frame may have been expensive and maybe if the model sells long term pricing will get much more competitive later on. At the moment though pricing would seem to prevent the model getting established. I also wonder about copying the frame design of a Brompton but using aluminium rather than steel. The whole design of the Brompton frame is based around using steel. I honestly don't know why Dahon didn't also use steel.

I think most people will assume anyone riding a Curl is because its a cheaper option than Brompton. Ultimately I think its down to people's perception of the Dahon brand and the value they attribute to it and this may vary by country. Where the Dahon brand is very respected then such pricing will be accepted.
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Old 01-30-18, 04:48 AM
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I'm guessing Dahon is just starting out with a ludicrous price to try and recoup the many years of development; some people just want the latest thing like the iphone X.
Since there are no expensive components not many will sell and then the price will drop. $1000 has a chance of success; $700 would sell like hotcakes.
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Old 01-30-18, 11:16 AM
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I'd go for no more than $800 myself,... I had hoped for this to become a reality, but it's turned into more of a pipedream for me.
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Old 01-30-18, 11:29 AM
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I think the easiest answer to the price, which is high, I understand that myself, is that one really needs to ride the bike, uphill, mashing gears and do all the stuff you really shouldn't do on a folder ... than compare ..
Its not perfect , nothing ever is in my eyes.... but its worth it, even with the high price tag


Not to forget that it is rated for 130 kg or 280 lbs


I will pass on the comments if alloy is cheaper, a Jetstream doesn't ride well and and and comparing a Jetstream to a Brommy is just wrong on so many levels ...


In any way we have 25 in besides the custom personal ones. That's it for at least the next 6 months. I am not too concerned that they wont sell in that time :-)
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Old 01-30-18, 11:58 AM
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Originally Posted by ThorUSA
I think the easiest answer to the price, which is high, I understand that myself, is that one really needs to ride the bike, uphill, mashing gears and do all the stuff you really shouldn't do on a folder ... than compare ..
Its not perfect , nothing ever is in my eyes.... but its worth it, even with the high price tag


Not to forget that it is rated for 130 kg or 280 lbs


I will pass on the comments if alloy is cheaper, a Jetstream doesn't ride well and and and comparing a Jetstream to a Brommy is just wrong on so many levels ...


In any way we have 25 in besides the custom personal ones. That's it for at least the next 6 months. I am not too concerned that they wont sell in that time :-)
Are we getting all the rubbish frames in Europe or something. The EU site clearly states 105kg.

DAHON Curl i3 16" - DAHON

Maybe the wheels are weaker and downgraded compared to elsewhere. That actually wouldn't be that surprising as many Dahon bikes seem to be downgraded in Europe. Cassettes turning into freewheels etc.

Oh wait actually says 105kg on USA site as well.

https://usa.dahon.com/bikes/curl-i3/

The eu bike weight claims to be 0.3kg heavier but I can't see the spec difference to justify it. Wheels look the same but eu models states double wall rims. It also states 18" rims and 16" tyres too though.

Is the higher weight limit only on certain curl models? Better wheels?
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Old 01-30-18, 01:41 PM
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yeah the site needs updating my figures are from Dahon direct ...
heavens knows what they do in Europe ... might be wheels as you say or just copy and paste other specs. the fact that they are unsire about 18 versus 16 leads me to believe that they either don't know or don't give too much ... lol
In any way we have many cool bikes and the Curl I 8 is only one of them
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Old 01-30-18, 01:59 PM
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I won't argue pricing, but these weird comments about aluminum being weaker and the frame will collapse after a short time are ridiculous. Steel and aluminum are both efficient ways to make a bicycle frame; neither are going to fail during the expected span of ownership of the bike. Let's get a grip, people.
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Old 01-30-18, 05:22 PM
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Originally Posted by Joe Remi
I won't argue pricing, but these weird comments about aluminum being weaker and the frame will collapse after a short time are ridiculous. Steel and aluminum are both efficient ways to make a bicycle frame; neither are going to fail during the expected span of ownership of the bike. Let's get a grip, people.
I'm not sure anyone has said short time at least in this thread and there are quite a few models of aluminium folding bike that have had frame recalls; Tern, Origin, SGM and a british brand I forget the name of. You also see reports in forums of folding bike frames failing occasionally. When Brompton and bike friday had recalls it was aluminium parts that failed and not the steel frames themselves. Bottom bracket for Brompton and handlebar stem for bike friday tikit models. There certainly has been reports of Dahon frames failing but not to the same degree as Tern of course.

I think it is fair to make that comparison, many people are riding very old steel folding bikes like Bromptons and many lightweight aluminium folding bikes do often have a relatively shorter lifespan before the frame fails. Not only that but in the rare instance of a steel frame failure it often can be repaired successfully and relatively cheaply. I'm totally biased though and have a preference for steel even though I don't have a Brompton. I honestly believe your average aluminium folding bike frame is more likely to have the frame break/crack but if Thor is right about the improved weight limits of this particular model it may not be the case here.

No suspension on the Curl though and the rear suspension of the Brompton not only makes the bike more comfortable for the rider and help isolate the rider from potholes etc for the very same reason it also isolates the frame from such jarring impacts because the load itself (rider) is not rigidly connected which helps reduce stress to the frame and reduce metal fatigue. I've read the Curl is an uncomfortable bike which you really feel the impact of potholes with and if you are feeling them you can be sure the frame is too.
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Old 01-30-18, 06:58 PM
  #24  
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The Curl looks so cool, Red.......
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Old 01-30-18, 10:14 PM
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You either love it or hate it

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