Originally Posted by
chesky
Simple answer: Allen Sports Ultra X
It is not only the fastest but also the lightest folding bike with 20-inch wheels and carbon fiber frame. I'm surprised no one here mentioned the super bike.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sopTTzglUzw
But this "lightest folding bike" is only 100 grams lighter than a Dahon Mu SLX that hasnt a scrap of carbon anywhere.
Originally Posted by
Diode100
Good to see Dahon stepping up to the plate with some new models, I just hope they get them out and onto the shop floor so people can see, ride and hopefully buy them. Folderwise all you see in London bike shops are Brompton, with a smattering of Terns in Evans, and Dahon as rare as hens teeth. It's only the likes of Velorution and Bike Fix, and W9 Fudges, niche outlets, who have anything rarified like Arnimal, Ori, Pacific Reach, or Moulton.
Originally Posted by
Rick Imby
Folders are very unavailable in the Northwestern US also. I have never seen more than two folding bikes in a shop at the same time.
Not many shops get behind folders and push them except in some big cities. If you look at a map with all the Dahon Dealers in the US ---there are tons of shops. But it seems very few of them ever have more than one or two in stock.
I never thought it would be so difficult to buy a Dahon. I am in Tokyo and while I see a few Dahons around, finding them for sale is tough. Even so called authorised dealers only stock a few of the most basic models and have never heard of the model I want to buy. Why I just can't buy directly from the Dahon website is beyond me. Why protect distributors and shops that only stock their bikes on paper?
As for the OT and speed, well the rider has nothing to do with it. It's not the engine that determines speed, the engine is you so all bikes have the same identical engine. If the engine determined speed then this means all bikes are exactly the same speed which clearly isn't the case.
It all comes down to inertia vs force applied through gearing - drag and friction.
Now here is my take:
Gearing can be discounted because unless we are talking about a very specific road then I postulate that whatever ever folder you mention has the correct gear for whatever magic road we are on, which is always correct sometimes. Also "correct" gearing is subjective, a measure of speed is not. Any gear can achieve any speed, it is only a matter of how fast you need to pedal, there is no such thing as a faster gear.
So we are left with weight and friction/drag. The fastest folder will have narrow low resistance tyres and high grade hubs (to reduce friction). I can't think of any folders with other aero optimisations so we don't have to worry about bike aero beyond tyre width. I discount things like rider position and aero bars because a faster bike should by definition be faster than another bike in an identical situation. If the rider is in a different position then the comparison is not like for like and is invalid. Plus I could hang my head over the bars of any bike, it just would not be comfortable. So to include things like rider position is to include comfort in a measurement of speed.
Now given that most top of the line folders generally share the same level of quality in running gear giving them equal drag/friction then the only true variable in the speed equation is weight. Lightest top spec bike wins. That is my take on it.