Dahon Espresso folding bike reviewed

With ‘Espresso’ what you see is what you get and you get what you pay for. This folding bike does its job the way it should. Just as you wouldn’t expect a scooter to turn into an ultra-fast Japanese street motorcycle overnight, don’t wait too long and it might meet and even exceed your expectations.

Strengths:

This folding bike is good value for money. It’s a relatively inexpensive full-size binder whose frame folds in half quickly and easily with the added benefit of removable hanging handlebars and folding pedals. The folded version fits comfortably in the trunk of your car and in doing so eliminates the bike rack, but it sports a sturdy frame with a wide, ergonomically friendly seat. It’s nice to have a top-of-the-line folding mechanism on a standard full-size folding bike rather than many of what I call circus binders on the market with their little wheels better suited for big clowns than serious commuters. This bike is surprisingly fast and the brakes are highly effective and provide immediate responsive stopping ability.

Weaknesses:

It is an efficient but inexpensive folding bike that contains “original” parts rather than “custom” parts; keep it in mind and remember how little you paid for it and you will be satisfied. The main complaints from users are:

1) a cyclist describes the gearshift system as “iffy” due to its tendency to skip gears and make unexpected shifts; Clearly, the 21 gears and the mechanism as a whole could be of higher quality. 2) ‘low end’ tires could be softer and more responsive and it is not uncommon for owners to replace ‘original’ versions with better quality ones; Not surprisingly, then, users have described the ride as “unstable” and “bouncy.” 3) The frame, while not offering the most stable ride, is robustly built and while the new frame sizes make up for the short 35-pound seatposts, this is still a heavy bike.

Minor irritants are: poor seat composition (separates from the saddle base), cheap pedals, a sticking handlebar pull-out lever, bike support deteriorates quickly (to hold the bike in a folded position), and a flimsy chain rail cover (apparently minor but essential to protect work pants).

Recommended:

Yes, don’t expect a premium folding bike at affordable prices and you won’t be disappointed. This bike offers fast and neat folding, the ride of a standard bike in a compact package, and a low tag price. The Dahon Espres gets the job done and more.