no1mad 

Stopped by LBS yesterday on the way in to work. Spotted a Giant Halfway marked down to USD399. I know very little about foldables.

mrbrown

Nice robust ride and decent fold. Though I am not sure how you could upgrade the parts since the gears are on the side with the fork.

no1mad 

Not really planning on making any upgrades. Thinking about letting anybody in the family use it to make short trips to the corner c-store. I am just shy of 6', the step-teens are like 5'5-5'7. I'm hoping that this one frame will fit everybody.

mrbrown

The seat is adjustable but the handlepost isn't. Something to consider if you want it to fit different people. It will be more than adequate for short trips and even longer ones. The 7 speeds is very similar to the Dahon Vitesse D7's.

CaptainSpalding

I owned a Halfway for a while. It is not a bike that is often mentioned here, but I think it deserves more notice than it gets. It has a nice narrow fold, a fun and stable ride, and good build quality. I felt the reach was a little close, and I'm 5'7". If you can test ride it, and find the reach acceptable, it's a good choice. If the reach is passable, but just a tad on the short side, you could add some bar ends and be a little more comfortable on longish rides. That's a pretty good price.

Ya Tu Sabes

I'm 6'5" and I actually found the reach alright when I test rode one, but I can't understand why they would make the handlebar setup that way. It just galls me.

MnHillBilly

That's a great deal - give it some consideration.

I looked at a number of folders after getting tired of trying to rack my '07 Raleigh Passage. My '07 Halfway is my preferred vehicle. I commute 7 miles each way on it, and it's smooth. Shifts better than my Raleigh, which means I can handle hills that would otherwise task me. Feels solid, handles solidly. The only caveats are the same they would be for any folding bike - you can't pound it on rough pavement or stunt jump with it and expect it to survive - anyone who may be riding it will need to know to pay attention to potholes and things like that.

I'm 5'9" and find the reach to be comfortable, but as another poster mentioned, you can add extensions if you "really" find it to be bothersome on a long ride. I'm also an "Athena" - meaning the 250-lb range (and steadily dropping the more I use it) so I'm especially cautious about not pounding pavement with it - and it's held up fine, this is the 2nd season I've used it, still just starting back to my commuting at this point yet.

Things that I've "tweaked" for my own enjoyment of the bike: I wrap bungie cords around the two wheels after I've folded it up to keep the wheels together - just makes it easier to carry as one piece on elevators and the train, etc. The bag that comes with the bike is fine, but 28 lbs to carry on one shoulder was bothersome for me - I find it easier to carry by hand via the frame to manoeuver.

The rear rack is nice, though small, obviously for what it's attached to - but I've managed to bungie a foot pump to the rack, I have a medium Banjo Bros seat bag to carry tools and gear, and I just this afternoon figured out a way to create homemade waterproof paniers that are of a size suitable to carry small things for my commute on each side (photos to be posted within the next week or two).

A great ride, and at that price, you'd be getting a bargain!

Lalato

I've been using my Giant Halfway on my work commute. I'm about 6' tall and I think the bike fits me OK. There are times when I wish there were more handlebar positions though... and that's something I'll look into with bar ends or a new handlebar. The seat tube can extend up beyond my maximum needs so it should theoretically fit someone as tall as 6'4" or so. Someone taller could add a "Butt Buddy" or a sprung saddle for a little added height.

The gears work well, though I'm almost always on "7". Which means that the only way to go faster is to peddle faster... no more gears beyond that. Someone on these forums suggested changing the gears to an 11-28 freewheel (which is no longer available from Shimano, though there are rumors of its imminent return)... and that would make the 7th speed a little faster... which would be nice for me. The low gears are great for hills, but I'm in the midwest and the worst I come across is decidedly not a hill. LOL

That said, my grip shifter is starting to show signs of wear and tear. I'll be fixing that this weekend.

When folded, the bike doesn't have a way to stay together on its own. I use a bungie cord to strap around the saddle and the handlebar post. This keeps the bike together for carrying and allows the wheels to still move. This is important as I generally don't fold the handlebars down. Instead I flip the bike over with the handlebars up and I roll it along. Makes carrying it on and off the train a lot easier.

I have had some minor issues with the folding latch. It's a very elegant design, but you want to make sure that the bolts and whatnot are checked out regularly. It's a bit tough to work with them. I use a needlenose pliers and an allen key.

Some folks here have complained about the process to take the tires off. I found it to be a lot easier than I expected. Though it's not necessarily something I would want to do on the side of the road with cars buzzing past.

The bike is heavy. At 28+ pounds it's among the heaviest quality folders around. I took off the rear mud guard and rear rack to shed some pounds, but I'm still at 26.5. That doesn't sound like a lot, but try a full day of multi-modal commuting where you're getting on and off trains and hefting the thing up and down stairs. If, however, it's not being used for this purpose... then weight isn't an issue.

The ride is good and as smooth as your road surface. If you're looking for true comfort though you'll need to invest in fatter tires (Schwalbe Big Apples have been suggested to me) and possibly some sort of seatpost suspension. I don't have either and I feel ever bump in the road. Not that it's a bad thing necessarily... just depends on what you want from the ride. These things are so subjective.

Now... for the big question. Would I buy it again? No... as it's not well suited for my purposes. But then again this is my first folding bike and I didn't really know what my purposes would end up being at the time. I kind of originally bought it to keep in the car for a quick ride here and there. For that, it was great. For my current use, however, I'm saving up my pennies for something else.

It sounds like for your purposes (riding to the corner store and back), the Giant Halfway will work well. That said, keep your eyes open for other folding bikes and give them a test ride.

--sam