jfouellette

I have an old 2007 Dahon Speed with its original 20 Inch wheels. I’m wondering if replacing them would be of any benefit. Would the new wheels be smoother, lighter, freehub with cassette etc? If so, what brand should I be looking for, litepro, pasak, Novatec which I found on Ali express.

Thanks

joey buzzard

Sure. Maybe.

Do you not like the wheels already on the bike? Are the rims wearing out? Unless the wheels are terrible I'd probably run them til I wore them out.

Here's a short list of questions I'd ask myself:

What am I using the bike for? Am I frequently using it for long fast rides or is it something that gets ridden occasionally around the immediate neighborhood? If it's the latter almost any set of wheels will probably do.

How much do I weigh? Those low spoke wheels on AliExpress might look great, but the more I weigh the more chances that broken spokes will be a persistent issue. Ditto if I don't weigh so much, but I intend to load the bike with 30kg extra of camping gear and go into the mountains. Generally, more spokes = more strength/heavier and fewer spokes = less strength/lighter. You want to find the right balance between the two that works best for you.

I've bought wheels from AliExpress in the past. These were ok. I had one set of litepros that employed a Campagnolo style lacing pattern. On the plus side they were fairly light and looked great. On the downside they only had so-so longevity (well less than a year) and I frequently broke spokes and had to replace them. But then I way 75kg and I'm constantly riding everyday and I like being in whatever hills or mountains are nearby wherever I happen to be. If you're lighter than me and/or your riding is restricted to occasional juants on flat these might be a great and aesthetic option.

​​​​​​Lately I've been in the process myself of replacing the wheels on my Swift. It's turned into an odyssey. I've ended up buying a DT Swiss 240 hub (rather expensive, very high quality) which I'm lacing to a Radio Clipper Expert BMX rim. I chose this rim because it is 28h which is a low spoke count for a BMX rim. I could only find it in blue and even though I ordered two it turned out there was only one in stock. So I'm searching for another matching rim for the front before I purchase the front hub. I expect the end result will be eye catching and very high quality. I'm justifying the expense of using high end hubs because I tend to wear out rims within a year or so, sometimes even faster, but with such a good hub it'll last and I'll re-use it several times over as I lace it onto new rims periodically, so it's a bit of a long term investment.

If you're in the States or Canada Velocity make some very nice 20" rims with as few as 24 holes btw. Ask around at your local bike shops about wheel building. Somebody might be capable of building a wheel to your needs, or at least give you good advice. Depends on the shop of course, but it's worth asking.


Anyway, here's what I've got so far...

BobbyG

Perhaps a cleaning and repacking of the hubs first, to see what that does.

Fentuz

you can fit the Kinetix comp pro which came with the speed pro TT and Mu SL


But, you will to run 35-406 tyres max (kojak type). I fitted tyres and front kinetix comp pro on my helios (similar config to speed pro tt


I saved 1.5Kg


This bike is 10.25kg

with rear comp pro, I'd save another 0.5kg and that would make the bike accelerating a little faster perfect for "stop-start" however, it would require a little more effort to cruise at constant speed

jfouellette

Thanks

and nice British roadster in the background

rickpaulos

Some Dahons were recalled to replace the handelbar/stem due to them potentially breaking off. You might check your serial vs the recall notice. I had one fixed this autumn at local bike shop. Dahon won't deal direct on this, only through a willing bike shop.

https://road.cc/content/news/3654-da...s-folding-bike