Winfried

Looks like France's Decathlon is working on a folder that could be nice competition for Brompton

Too bad it folds the usual way and leaves the chain exposed. It might be possible to replace the derailleur with a gear hub + belt (Edit: Not possible, see the rear axle.)

Winfried

Edit: Since BF doesn't seem to like Twitter…

https://tinyurl.com/3wffe6tr

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Schwinnsta

A link that works would be appreciated.

Winfried

The tweet is clickable.

willydstyle

At what point does a fork stop being a fork?? It's more of a "stick with a wiggle" than a fork in this case.

I think this is a super interesting design FWIW. I'm very curious if it feels "noodly" when riding due to decreased frame stiffness, but that might be an acceptable compromise for people who want a very small fold without all of the downsides to a brompton (price, non-standard components, etc).

Winfried

They did it to get a more compact fold while still folding the usual way (front wheel on the left).

Side effect: The derailleur can't be replaced with a gear hub.

Ron Damon

That question was answered by Cannondale in 2000 when it introduced the Lefty fork.😉

Schwinnsta

Not for me. Does not work.

CEBEP

Interesting design. Assuming such fork design is done to make fold more compact, I don’t see how much space would the front fork design save. The right side still goes in about 25-30% of the way to accommodate break calipers. Sincere it’s below the rims, I guess they couldn’t have gone all the way and make a front fork standard.

willydstyle

If you look at the picture of the bike folded I think that's your answer. That is impressively narrow for a hinge-in-the-middle folding bike.

CEBEP

I look at the picture and see short part of the front fork going full thickness between the wheels preventing them from folding any closer to each other.

anga

Twitter link disappears after posting.

https://tinyurl.com/3wffe6tr

Winfried, feel free to edit your post with my clickable links. Hoping it works!

Reddleman

On closer view, the short sections for the vee brakes do not align with each other when folding front and back wheels together. That means that the extra bulk doesn’t limit the fold very much.

Ron Damon

Don't forget about the outside-folding handle post. The depth of the fold is not just the depth of the two wheels side by side. Some mid-hinge folders put the handle post between the two wheels. Is this bike significantly narrower in depth than existing mid-hinge folders? I have my doubts.

CEBEP

That’s my point, if front fork section still goes between the wheels they probably could have made it a standard fork and increase rigidity.

anga

Giant Halfway has similar projections for brakes.

Disc brakes, as in IF bikes, would've eliminated the projections at the front and rear.

Probably too expensive.

Knowing Decathlon, this folder will be significantly less expensive than IF series.

Winfried

If not, you could have typed it like I just did

https://tinyurl.com/3wffe6tr

Winfried

€850

Watch your pants.

CEBEP

This bike is not really made to be modified much as many, including me, like to do.

I think Decathlon will have good sale considering their wide network of worldwide retail.

Jipe

From the pictures, the bike seems very short. No Wheelbase mentioned but a total length of 129cm meaning a very short wheelbase.

No clear information about the wheel size, its said Marathon Racer 16x1.5 but Schwalbe has no Marathon Racer in ETRTO349 nor in ETRTO305 in its official catalog, the ETRTO349 Marathon Racer are only made for and sold by Brompton.

Ron Damon

Schwalbe Marathon Racer 35-349 can be easily bought free and outside of the Brompton racket in some world locales. 😉

Jipe

This is surely what Decathlon is doing to equip their bikes !

Brompton has a kind of exclusivity for the tires their asked Schwalbe to make for them (they paid Schwalbe for that) so Brompton is not eager to see other manufacturers using those tires and selling those tires (because Decathlon will most probably sell as spare parts the tires they mounted on this bike just like Brompton does).

Ron Damon

I didn't say that that's what that bike maker is doing. What I did say, however, was that your statement, "the ETRTO349 Marathon Racer are only made for and sold by Brompton.", is false and mis-informed. Here it is, that so exclusive Brompton tire, on offer in the largest shopping platform of the world's fourth most populous country. 😀 One really ought to get out more.🤡

Jipe

This tire was well developed by Schwalbe on demand and for Brompton.

The fact that it is also sold by some individuals on a grey market platform in Asia doesn't mean that it is officially sold by Schwalbe to official Schwalbe resellers, there are many other branded products sold on the grey market by non official resellers especially in China and other countries in Asia.

BTW. nobody knows if such products are real ones of counterfeit products.

Ron Damon

​​​​​​Moving the goalposts again. No one said that it is being sold officially by Schwalbe or Brompton. The plain, undeniable fact is that the tire is, in fact, being sold outside the Brompton bubble which stands in plain contradiction to your blanket statement. That exclusivity of yours exists largely only in your head. Here it is being sold by a reputable store, one of the best known folding bike sellers in the country with a brick and mortar store in the heart of the country's capital. They don't sell fakes.


Now, why one would want to buy that tire ($36) at that price or why Brompton would have a special deal with Schwalbe to make such a mediocre tire is beyond me. The only Schwalbes worth the coin are the Marathon Supreme, Almotion and Modial. I should know for I own several pairs and have toured on them.