Best Folding Bike (undorky)

Dahon Cadenza 8

The bicycle is one of the greatest inventions of all time.  It is, for example, the most efficient form of transportation ever devised, in terms of distance and/or speed achieved versus energy expended.  (A person on a bike is 5 times more efficient than a person walking.  The current speed record for a bike with a male rider on level ground is over 82 mph; the motor-paced record for a bike is a phenomenal 166 mph.)  Bikes are also fun to ride, a symbol of the passage from toddler-hood to kid-hood, a great form of exercise, and a major source of sport and athletics throughout the world.

Of course, bikes weren’t all that efficient when first invented, but a lot of progress has been made in the intervening 200+ years.  Just as with many technologies, bicycles continue to improve in design, materials, and functionality, while prices for models sporting the latest advances continue to drop.  Bicycle companies are often among the first manufacturers to incorporate space-age materials and engineering innovations into their designs.  When you look at the bicycle landscape these days, it’s hard to believe that the development of the commercial moutain bike didn’t occur until the 1970′s.   There are now at least 6 categories of bicycles — perhaps more, if you count sub-specialties.  Go down to your friendly neighborhood bike store and you’ll find find BMX racers, triathlon bikes, cruisers, cyclocross bikes, touring bikes, recumbent bikes, and single-speed racers, not to mention ”flat-foot” bikes, trials bikes, and hybrid bikes.  Here we’re going to cover a bike in the commuter sub-category:  the folding bike.  Specificially, the best of the class,  the Dahon Cadenza 8.

As urban dwellers become more motivated to commute to work via bicycle rather than car — whether to save on gas and parking costs, to get more exercise, to help lessen air pollution, or all of the above, many are finding that riding to work can be inconvenient due to having no good place to lock their bike during the day.  And even in cases where you might have a fence or pole to lock your bike to, leaving your bike outside all day increases the chances of theft, as well as the wear and tear from weather.  However, there is often not enough room to easily store your bike in your office or cubicle throughout the day, not to mention wheeling it through lobbies and taking it in elevators.  Solution?  A folding bike.

Dahon Cadenza 8, folded

 The best solution?  The Dahon Cadenza 8. 

Dahon has been making folding bikes for over 25 years.  And they are now offering folders that look like “real” bikes, as opposed to the small-wheeled, long-seat-tubed versions that eccentric university professors seem to gravitate to.  Many folks don’t particularly like the handling characteristics of small-wheeled folding bikes, particularly during demanding commutes, and so a bike like the Cadenza 8 is a welcome develpment.

National Geographic Adventure magazine endorsed this bike, writing, among other things:  “…the rare folding bike that doesn’t make you look like a tool, thanks to full-size Schwalbe Big Apple tires and Shimano Alfine drivetrain.  In 30 seconds, it bends in half so you can discreetly stash it…”

Dahon uses top-of-the-line components for this bike, including LockJaw™ hinges, which make it almost impossible to spot that this is a folding bike.  It stands up to the rigors of daily commuting in all sorts of weather.  Features include 8 smooth-shifting gears driven by the Shimano Alfine system, a burly 7005 aluminum frame, Shimano disk brakes, a tire pump in the seatpost, and the innovative and convenient Dahon F.I.T. system that offers 50 mm of vertical adjustment to the handlebar height.  It comes in 3 frames sizes:  Small (fits rider height 5’2″ – 5’6″), Medium (fits 5’6″ – 6′), and Large (fits 6′ – 6’4″). 

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