DTG

What's the furthest you have toured on a folder? I'm new here and just trying to get opinions/thoughts on having a folder for so many other reasons beyond quick trips in the city and/or commuting.

Jim Kukula

These folks have a new book about touring on Bromptons:

https://pathlesspedaled.com/2012/08/t...-book-is-here/

rodar y rodar

My longest folder tour to date was about 300 miles, which is roughly the same distance as my "long" tours on a non folding bike. I have a pretty stout Bike Friday with 20 x 2.0 wheels and it doesn`t match my full sized bike after the pavement ends, but does just dandy up until that point. Actually, the little wheels give some interresting options for packing that wouldn`t otherwise be available. Too bad they don`t like ruts, sand, or rocks!

Alekhine

550 miles through Thailand along the Andaman Sea, 2006, on a Bike Friday New World Tourist. Good times in an amazing place. The bike handled it great, though I left the suitcase at my friend's apartment in Bangkok, so I didn't have to drag that thing along behind me and just used the rear rack and a handlebar bag for all my stuff.

fietsbob

Bike Friday is 1st, a Travel Bike suit case knock down sized, to fly to trip trailhead.

look at the bike friday site to read travel stories , and the menu on CGOAB site.. Tons..

Sixty Fiver

Have not taken any extensive tours yet with my folder but have gone on many multi day trips of 300 miles and have used it for a 5 day a week / 60 mile a day commute finding it to be just as capable in this as my full sized touring bike and have ridden it on many centuries as well.

KirkBeiser

I don't think the issue is how far you can tour on a folder but rather how much load you can carry. And if that becomes an issue then it seems like a trailer becomes an option.

wahoonc

I have done multiple 120 mile trips on a basically stock Raleigh Twenty, there are some things I would want to change if I were to do l longer trips on it. Then you have The Path Less Pedaled which was pointed out above. They literally went around the world on a Brompton. Eventually I would like to tour around the US like that. You can tour on just about anything if you set your mind to it and accept some limitations. To me the tour is more about the trip and less about the equipment.

Aaron

fietsbob

Herr Stucke is still going around the globe on his..

axolotl

I've done lots of touring on my Bike Friday NWT. I don't know what the longest tour was and I'm not inclined to start calculating it. But I've toured thousands of miles on it, including crossing major mountain passes as well as touring and commuting on unpaved trails. If you want a folder, you should decide what the principal use will be. Some folders are designed for intermodal commuting with a quick foldup into a small easily carried or rolled package. Others, like my NWT, are designed for long distance touring and packing in a suitcase, but don't fold up as quickly or easily.

If you search on the forum, you'll find lots of posts about touring on folders, especially the Bike Friday NWT.

Bacciagalupe

I used to own a few folders, but found the fold to be superfluous.

I rarely needed to use the fold in my typical uses. I'd only recommend them for multi-modal commute, or a situation where you don't want to lock up your bike outside the office every day.

For touring, IMO it's only advantageous if you do a lot of touring that requires transport first. A decent touring-capable folder will set you back at least $750 (and more like $2500 for a really good bike), plus you need a case, plus airlines baggage fees....

If you need a folder, by all means get a folder. But if you're hunting around for justifications to get one, touring might not be an ideal use.

GTizzy

I'm in the midst of a 3000km tour on a folder, from Bangkok to Singapore... Only 400 kms in, so we'll see how it goes:

Www.bangkoksingaporebiketrip.tumblr.com

GTizzy

(note: self supported tour)

axolotl

Have you ever owned a quality folder designed for touring? I suspect not. Touring very much IS THE IDEAL use of a Bike Friday NWT. That's precisely what it is designed for and what it excels at. I've had mine for 13 years and I have flown with it enough so that I've easily saved in airline bicycle fees what the bike & suitcase cost me. More importantly, I have a bike which I love to ride and which is my bike of choice.

While most airlines are now charging baggage fees, the fees for checking a bicycle on most airlines are much higher. On international flights in particular, bike fees are typically several times what the fee is for a simple piece of checked luggage. My NWT packs into a standard suitcase which is under the 62 inch size limit most airlines use for defining "over-sized" luggage. I have NEVER had to pay a bicycle fee for it, and I've checked it in with an airline at least 30 times. At this time, Delta seems to be charging $150 for a bike on most US domestic and international flights. United seems to now be charging $100 for a bike on US domestic flights, and $200 on international flights. American Airlines seems to now charge $150 on domestic flights. These are one-way fees, of course, so double these bike fees for a round-trip ticket. Furthermore, it's far simpler to get to an airport with a quality touring bike packed in a suitcase than having to deal with huge box or an over-sized case.