kayakkielbasa

Hi folded bike friends,

By coincidence, I found this below used bike for sale. It's an ECO 3 , I assume it's a quite early model, presumably 2009. As I'm totally unable to compare any Dahon bikes in here to compare any construction differences, I'm asking You guys.
Local stores in my country have usually single models, Dahon are not too popular here either, (not to mention that people in stores don't know much about these bikes) but the technology evolves, so I wanted to ask if:

- were there any flaws in these particular early Dahons like weak folding mechanism etc? D8 vitesse has similar main folding clamp to my surprise (I saw this one in person), but the one on the steering stem seems to be different. worse, better?

- is the height of the handle post adjustable in this model ? I can't find this info anywhere?

- anything I should be aware of ?

- I can't see the magnets preventing the bike from unfolding. Was it normal at that times, or some has taken them off?

what do You guys think of this bike? It's for sale for around 220$. It's not much, but that's not the case. I'd rather want to get to know more about it from any user's perspective, or if it's going to be reliable when restored.
Maybe there's something I don't know about these early bikes in general . I haven't seen it in person yet, just received photos.
Any help appreciated. thanks!

p.s. I tried to paste pictures, but it looks like I can't due to restrictions for newbie users.

Duragrouch

Hard to find info online. For one thing, I thought, being an Eco 3, it was 3 speeds, Dahon has sold those. But I think it's 7 speeds? From what I can find...

I think it has an aluminum frame, with "monostays", seatstays on each side and no chainstays. So rather than triangulation for strength, it relies on the cantilever bending strength on those seatstays. Given Dahon mass producing these, should be OK. Also the frame is aluminum which is less conducive to cyclic bend versus steel, but again, should be ok under normal use.

An advantage of that frame style with no chainstays, is that it could use a belt drive (without a frame that comes apart to accept a link-less belt), those are nice with Internal Gear Hubs, but that requires horizontal rear dropouts to be able to tension the chain, and the Eco has vertical dropouts, so negative on that.

The pics I see online, it looks like the long handlebar stem uses their older design hinge and latch, works OK, just the newer design take a lot less effort to lock and unlock. I also see zero height adjustment, this is ok if you like the handlebars high (their fixed stems are the same height as their adjustable ones at max height). However I don't like the handlebar welded to the stem as seen in the pics I see online, that prevents swapping out the handlebars for something more preferred.

$220 is not a terrible price, especially since Dahons have doubled in price over the pandemic. You might find a Dahon Speed with better features for a bit more money. Notably, the Zizzo Liberte (and other of their models) are like the Dahon Mariner, aluminum frame, for about $470, with some finding them on sale for $300, brand new, that is a deal versus the Mariner now selling at about $1000. The Zizzos look to be a much better bike, and a better deal if you can find on sale price.

kayakkielbasa

Thank You for reply and Your input. Zizzo looks nice, indeed. Keep in mind I live in central europe, I don't think I'm able to bike these bikes here, except places like 'amazon or ebay.

But as I couldn't get any information and no one has replied for couple of days I started to look for some alternatives and I ended up buying an used 175£ Bickerton Junction 1607. Seems like it's better equipped than Eco 3, with no major signs of wear.
I never saw these bikes before until I found this auction, then I started to dig into their history and it looks like it's even older factory than Dahon's. They also used to make bikes for Mini (BMW) but with a different logo. Seems like it's a good bike, comparable to Dahon.
Anyway, I'm happy with a purchase.

Duragrouch

Bickerton... wow, that's an old name, predates even the first Brompton. I have a bicycle book from my youth, has a drawing of the original model ("The Bickerton") hanging on a hat rack, like an umbrella. Fortunately what you bought is not the original 'Bick, it appears the frame style is very similar to the Eco. Don't be surprised if it's made in the same factory and just rebranded, that is quite common with folding bikes. Sounds like a good deal. Make sure the frame hinge joint and handlebar stem hinge joint, are properly adjusted; If they are too loose, you will get movement, and they may pop open, although on a Dahon, both have a safety (secondary) catch that prevents that. There are probably videos on youtube for adjusting, if not Bickerton, find a Dahon video with the identical style hinge latch, and go based on that.

A Zizzo 20" wheel is going to ride extremely similar to the 1607, so if you decide to upgrade, don't worry about ordering one off amazon, or company direct, many companies ship for free. Just make certain the company is genuine, I've seen here fraudulent websites for known brands, I almost fell victim to one, called the local store first, total fraud website.

EDIT: HAH! On the wiki page for Bickerton, it says, after sales decline on the original model, "Bickerton's son Mark continuing to explore diversification options, including the rebranding and sale of cheaper Dahon folders." and later, "The brand was relaunched for the 40th anniversary at the Munich Bike show in Germany[citation needed], in 2011.[4] Mark Bickerton, son of Harry, is involved with product development, marketing and sales. The new bikes are manufactured by Tern in Taiwan, although some are built in Vietnam. They combine the Bickerton brand with several new designs, aluminium frames, and modern gearing."

kayakkielbasa

I've no idea if it's original, but it's branded as Bickerton with their logo and it's the same as the one that is still listed on Bickerton's website. Unfortunately I can't post links so You'd have to check it out by Yourself.

Duragrouch

I did look, before my last post. So yeah, highly likely it is made by Dahon or Tern, a good thing. There's another thread on the Folder subgroup, someone considering a "Birch" folder, low cost, they liked the looks, but I had *serious* concerns about the frame design, someone tried to get too clever, and sure enough, the thread poster said only a week later, reviews on the bike on amazon were showing frames cracked in half.