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Dahon chrome/stainless monstrosity questions

Old 06-19-22, 08:58 PM
  #1  
flipchip
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Dahon chrome/stainless monstrosity questions

Would post pics, but not enough posts :/

Hi, I’m new to folding bikes. I saw this chrome (stainless?) Dahon locally for $50 and decided to pick it up. The parts seem completely random, but all 80s vintage. Shimano and sturmy archer in the back, suntour up front, and two mismatched shimano friction thumbies. The RD is zip tied to the chain stay, so its just the hub and the FD, which makes it a six speed. I’m guessing none of these are original?

The bars are bizarre as well, tiny bullhorns with diacompe levers mounted as bar ends, which I’ve never seen anything like before. Should I change the bars? With the head tube being nearly 90 degrees I feel like I’m going to double over when braking. Will I just get used to it?

The head tube (?) bounces around when riding, which is very off putting. What can I do about that? And it seems like the centre folding pivot doesn’t actually lock into place when open, it’s just a flexible piece of metal. Also, are these wheels just normal 16 inchers or are they something more esoteric?

Cheers

Last edited by flipchip; 06-19-22 at 09:23 PM.
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Old 06-20-22, 08:28 AM
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tcs
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The Sturmey-Archer hub will have a MM-YY date code on it which will give an approximate age of the bike.
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Old 06-20-22, 08:33 AM
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When you get a few more posts add pictures of the bike. Dahon has many different models of bikes and at least 2 of mine mine have 20 inch rims. Some are also 16 inch rims. Roger
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Old 03-16-23, 08:38 AM
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Old 03-21-23, 11:03 AM
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Yes the Dahons with the angled support bounce around a bit. The head tube doesn't really lock together but the angled strut keeps it from falling over. I tell people it's like riding a wooden roller coaster - a lot of fun, a little shaky, but you're pretty sure all the parts will arrive at the end of the ride at roughly the same time.
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