The
Folding Society
Sunlova 20" full-suspension folding mountain bike
By Russell Coles
First
published 22 August 2010
Contents
1. Overview
2.
Folding
3. How
does it ride?
4. The
surprising bit
5. To
sum up
1.
Overview
This is a dual suspension bike based on a shrunk
down Y shaped mountainbike style frame. It uses BMX wheels
and tyres.
| Frame
Construction: |
Hi-tensile steel |
 |
| Wheel Size: |
20" (ISO 406) |
| Suspension: |
Front and rear suspension |
| Handlebar: |
Foldable alloy handlebar |
| Gear System: |
7-speed Shimano system |
| Wheel specification: |
Lightweight aluminium
rim and steel hubs |
| Brakes: |
Alloy V-type brakes |
| Handlebar and stem: |
Adjustable height |
I purchased this bike over the internet from sunlova.com as I was
looking for a cheap folding bike for my relatively short comute to
work. The web site said they would dispatch the bike the day after
recieving payment and it would then arrive in 2-3 days. In
fact it was
dispatched the same day and arrived in 2 days. Due to
difficulties with being home to receive the delivery I had it sent to
my parents and it was assembled by my Dad (this wasn't planned this way
honest). My dad who
is a keen cycling enthusiast apparently took 2 days to assemble the
bike, how much actual time this equates to and how this divides into
actual assembly and perfecting the gear and brake adjustment I cannot
say (Dad is a bit of a perfectionist, I recieved the bike tweaked to
perfection, I reiterate - Not planned this way honest). My 1st
impressions I was told by my Dad that the build quality wasn't great,
what this seems to mean in practice is that the welding isn't going to
win any awards for appearance. Several of the stickers used
to
decorate the bike were put on in rather a shoddy manner (simple
solution, take them off). The big issue however is the seat
post. While
the handlebars have a great range of adjustment, only the smallest
rider can possibly get a good seat position. I would recomend
that anyone buying
this bike should get a replacement seat post before attempting to ride
it, in fact get a new saddle at the same time.
2.
Folding
The main fold in the center of the bike has a quick release and is very
easy to do once you know the knack. The trick is that there
is a safety feature whereby you have to lift up the quick release lever
after flipping the lever to release the hinge. This is
actually a
very good feature as in addition to preventing issues with catching the
QR lever while riding, it means that when unfolding the bike it will
click into
position making it much easier to control the bike while you apply the
QR lever. The handlebars also fold down with a quick release,
this one has a simple plastic hook to twist out of the way to prevent
accidental release. Overall the fold size is surprisingly good
but not
the simplest bike to fold.
3.
How does it ride?
It should be noted that I havent ridden any bike for many years so for
a fair appraisal maybe someone might want to borrow it for a quick spin
if they see me at a folding soc event. That said, it
performed
well on the Bristol docks ride (I will forgive it a puncture and
subsequent issues with brake adjustment) and the suspension and BMX
tyres are excellent on cobbles and cattlegrids. I would be
dubious about using it as
a full blown mountain bike but I have not seen a folding bike which
would do a better job on rough ground. The gear ratios are rather
low as
you would expect on a bike claiming to be a mountain bike and with the
small wheels it does tend to try and do wheelies on steep inclines.
4. The surprising bit!
This bike costs less than £100
5. To sum up
This bike is very cheap, it is great (for a folder) on rough ground,
its folds up reasonably small and it preforms reasonably well for
general cyclepath riding. Who cares if the welds could
look a bit more professional and the seat post has to be
replaced. Oh
and no-one has seen one before apparently so you get a bit of extra
attention :)
This bike was bought from www.sunlova.com
and cost £97.99
(plus £15.99 Postage)
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