Dahon has made some design changes to some of their 20" wheeled folding line making them less conveneient to pack for commercial air travel. Models such as the Speed TR, Speed Pro, Helios SL, Jetstream XP etc, have now handlebars that DO NOT slide up and down unlike the Speed P8 and Mu P8 models. With the inability to slide the handlebar off the folding stem when packing into a suitcase, it is a lot harder to find a suitcase tall enough that will fit the bike. The handlebars on these models also fold to the OUTSIDE of the folded frame making it a wider package. If you have any plans of packing the bike into a suitcase for commercial air travel, stick with either the Speed or Mu P8 and the upgrades we do on these bikes. The Jetstream P8 because of the front and rear suspension makes it longer in the back and taller, making packing hard as well.
In light of the new design changes on Dahon's 20" wheeled fancier models, we are now customizing the Speed and Mu P8 models to come up with features only available on the Speed TR, Pro and SL models. By using the P8 models as the platform of these upgrades, you're guaranteed a bike that will fit into an airline legal case and a bike where the stem is adjustable in height for better fit.
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| The stem on the P8 models fold to the left of the bike and their handlebars slide off as well. This makes the folded frame a lot more compact. |
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| The handlebar on the Speed TR as shown above has a fixed position. It will NOT slide up or down. It also folds to the right side of the bike. This design changes has made them unsuitable for packing into a suitcase. |
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We now have 3x9 Tour conversion for both the Speed and Mu. We use the SRAM Dualdrive hub like in the Speed TR and Pro. But instead of using an 8 speed cassette as in the stock Dahon models, we can upgrade to even a 9 speed cassette giving you a 27 speed unit for a wider gear range. For the rear wheel, we use a 36 hole double walled rim. Both front and rear wheels are handbuilt using stainless spokes in a 2 cross pattern. You have a choice of front chainring size to give you the correct gear range that matches your riding style. Instead of a chainguard to prevent the chain from jumping, we use a rollerkit which actively keeps the chain in contact with the chainring. Our 3x9 conversion give you a better built bike for a price even slightly less than the stock Dahon dualdrive units.
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Left: By using the SRAM dualdrive hub on the rear wheel, we can convert your P8 model into a 24 or 27 speed model.
Right: You have a choice of front ring on our 3x9 conversions to give you a wide gear range tailored to your riding style. Orange rollerkit prevents chain jumps.
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If you need a lightweight model, most of the weight savings is achieved by using super narrow tires. Let us know your intended use for the bike and we can recommend some weight saving suggestions. We do not recommend wheels with very few spokes as common in some of the fancier Dahon lightweight models. The weight savings by having fewer spokes is not worth the hassles of a less reliable wheel.
A lot of the customizations we do involve gear changes. Folding bikes with extremely long stems are meant to be ridden sitting down on steep climbs. We tell Dahon riders NOT to stand up on the bike when attacking a hill as it puts too much stress and torque on the long stem. This is true not only for Dahons, but all folding bike with the long stem design. With a low gear, you can power up by spinning your cranks. On long tours, spinning is adviseable over pushing big gears as it leaves you fresh to enjoy your all day ride. Replacing the front ring with something smaller will shift you gear range down. It will not be as wide as the 3x9 conversion, but you maintain the simplicity of a cassette system with a rear quick release wheel.
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