ShinyBiker

Darn. Can't replicate that deal. Thanks, anyway.

vmaniqui

sorry mate. if ever i get new connections, i will PM you for sure.

Dynocoaster 

Saw this on the Bay https://cgi.ebay.com/Dahon-superlight...item27bd30f5b4

vmaniqui

wow - $60 (with $20 shipping). that's just ridiculous. that's exactly what i have. just different name. how i wished i bought more.

vmaniqui

and look at this....https://cgi.ebay.com/New-KCNC-Lite-Wi...item45fc18a1c4

$124 for a seatpost that cost only $15 (that's what i paid for mine)... mine is even 600mm long and theirs is 550mm. i could have earned a lot if i bought a boxful of this seatpost )

xrayzebra 

Very sweet indeed. I love these bikes, have had three of them, but never modded one this much. The first thing I did when I got the newer of the three was to swap off the dyno hub, which I considered useless weight and drag. I've left mine cushy with the big apples and thudbuster. I've got another bike for speed. The TR is my cruiser.

vmaniqui

thanks. yes. i love my TR also. just had a long ride with it yesterday and i could tell right away what i am missing (i usually use my curve sl for everyday commute). in fact i used to have a Tikit but decided to get the TR as it has 24 speeds (need it more on my hilly rides) and sold my Tikit. now my TR is a 48 speedster as i installed a double crank (53/39T).

xrayzebra 

48 speeds... that is so wrong. Just joking. I was gonna ask since you mentioned the double chain ring, cuz I wasn't clear if you installed a front "disrayley." Figured I just missed where you said it, and didn't want to be a dork. 48 gears is just so wrong. What's the range, like 750%? Seems like the late Sheldon mentioned having done a 96 speed bike once.

vmaniqui

i know. just having fun upgrading my TR and since i have a shimano 105 double chainring lying around, i decided to install it. i don't have a FD so if ever i need to change the FD i have to shift it with my hand. honestly don't know what the range is like on this bike. all i know is i can climb the steepest hill.

Leporello

Hey vmaniqui,


I'm new to the forum and bikes in general. My first bike is a used Dahon Speed TR. Like you, I was soon a bit disappointed by the excessive bulk and weight of the TR. I'm hoping to make a few modifications similar to yours. Hoping you'd be able to help me out a bit:


As I said, I'm totally new to bikes, so pardon if these are really obvious questions.
1. What tool (type and size) is required to remove the front and rear racks?
2. When buying a new & lighter seat post, do I need to keep an eye out for posts of a specific diameter, or do most posts come in the same size as the biologic pump seat post?
2.2 As an aside, while I wait for a new post to arrive; I've been having trouble with the clamp on top of the existing post. It's very difficult to keep the saddle locked into a position. Is there something wrong with the bolt or maybe I'm doing something wrong.


Thanks for any input you might have.


(Sorry for gravebumping the thread. I tried to send this as a PM, but I guess you need 50 posts under your belt first)

joseff

There's a newer thread on seatposts here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...osts-for-Dahon

You'll want the 33.9mm diameter post. These are generally available in 57-60cm length. Also look at the pics and ask the seller if the seatpost comes with a rubber bumper at the bottom.

pampera

Hi, have you measured the weight difference of each part you replaced?

wangta01

Curious, but how much did you spend overall for the upgrades? Bike looks great!

vmaniqui

sorry. just saw your post. anyway on your questions.
1) you can even use a regular plier. in my case, since i want to tinker with my bike, i bought a complete bike tool kit from performancebike.
2) seatpost should be 33.9mm (dahon standard size).
3) not so sure what type of clamp you have but i am guessing that the screw has loose thread. never have issue with mine. if you can post pics that will make my assessment easier. let me know how your upgrade is coming along. and ask me any questions. THANKS.

vmaniqui

i did not. what i did was measure the weight of my stock Speed TR and my upgraded Speed TR. didn't have the weighing scale to weigh them individually. all i can say it at current state if i remove all the lights, bags and all the weight is about 21+/- lbs.

vmaniqui

i would say my safe estimate is less than $400. but the best part is i got the Speed TR in excellent condition for a bargain price. it's such a good of a deal to pass.

Leporello

Thanks for the input. I have now resolved these problems!

As for modding my Speed TR, I was thinking of replacing the seatpost with one of these (https://www.ebay.com/itm/TURNER-Seatp...item43be76fb08), replacing the front wheel with the Kinetix Pro S Wheel, and switching to Kojak tires. Would this be enough to cause a noticeable reduction in weight and an increase in speed? Also, are the Kojaks fine for well-packed dirt/gravel roads (most of my riding would be on these)? Maybe Schwalbe Marathons would be better?

EDIT: Also, thinking about maybe replacing the rear wheel with a Kinetix Pro. Would that be a significant improvement worth the $200-250? Also, would that present any additional problems with the actual replacing, regarding the cassette or derraileur? As I mentioned before, I'm a complete bike novice, not entirely sure what's connected to what.

Azreal911

You want to upgrade to Kinetix Pro S wheels (10 spoke wheels) and put kojaks to ride on hard packed dirt and gravel roads? That sounds like a bad and expensive idea in the making. One thing is that your spokes will probably be stressed to breakage and Kojaks are very squirrely on any gravel if you are going to try to push it over 20km/h. On big apples I can fly at almost 30km/h and still be ok on the gravel but once I had kojaks on I had to use alot more finesse to make it through.

Also with the minimum pressure between big apples (30psi) vs kojak (55psi). you would actually go faster with big apples at a low psi if you are going to be riding on gravel the majority of the time. This is from real world experience for me since I have a tiny section of gravel on the way on an alternate route and went from Big apples to kojaks, noticed a difference right away in that section.

vmaniqui

agree. if you plan on using your bike on sand/gravel, switching to Kojaks and Kinetix Pro is not a good idea. in my case, the reason i switched is i normally bike on well paved/concrete roads. never on sand/gravel. i am also using my bike on my multi modal commute so i need a light bike/fast bike.

on your rear wheel, my advise is to just keep it. not really a weight saving upgrade and will be a complicated one as you're dealing with SRAM DD. the stock Speed TR is suited for sand/gravel road - which is what you mentioned you'll be biking to. so i am not really sure what your intent on upgrading the TR is. can you refresh our memory.

freebooter

vmaniqui, It looks like you have a bracket of metal covering the dualdrive clickbox? If so could you give some more details? I have thought that this is quite vulnerable.

thanks

vmaniqui

yes. i have a protective metal on my clickbox. it's just a diy project. i knew it will get bumped all the time so i decided to make one myself. i just bought a strip of aluminum at Orchard Supply and made one. but since that time i changed it to a different one. as you can see from the picture below, i just used a cloth hanger and made a protective clickbox housing. i like the cloth hanger better as i can see the click box.

freebooter

Thanks, I may look into making something myself. Clothes hangers here though would be too weak.

vmaniqui

you're welcome. notice the fender wire support ? i made that also out of cloth hanger. or you can check hardware store for a bigger wire.