Folding bike
Buy a folding bike in Amsterdam
Folding bike. Brompton and kin. Not a kids’ bike with 16 inch as marketing.
Message about this folderBrompton, Tern, Dahon
A folding bike is made to go, in two or three folds, on a train, a boat or in a hall. Brompton is the Amsterdam measure: 16 inch, steel, a hinge that may work dozens of times a week. Tern and Dahon fold larger, often cheaper, sometimes electric.
Train, boat, small room
You buy it if you go into the metro or have no room for a Gazelle in the hall. Not as a ‘funny little bike’. A 16 inch kids’ bike has other geometry, other brakes, no hinge.
Hinges that do not rattle
Hinges, clamps, rear suspension (Brompton): that is where cheap folders fail. Play in the main joint is dangerous. We open and close it before it leaves.
16 inch is not a kids’ bike
Folded it is a bag with wheels. Lock: chain around a pole unfolded, or take it inside. An unlocked Brompton against the station is a gift.
Lock while folded
An electric folder (Tern e-fold) is heavier and has a battery lock. Say if you want assist. We open those batteries too.
Whether you fold it daily
WhatsApp: folding bike, Brompton or other, electric or not, how often you fold. Then what is in — or that you wait for a hinge that holds.
Brands we look for, among others
- Brompton
- Tern
- Dahon
- Birdy