If you are an oldie like me, you may remember the rather basic Dahons of 10 or 15 years ago. The Dahon range now is entirely different! Apart from anything else, the range of machines is huge, and changing all the time (which makes it difficult for us to keep this section up to date!). Their lower price commuting machines are at the very least very competitive with anything else at the price, and they have some outstanding machines at the top of the range. There's nothing wrong with the mid-range machines either, and they have some truly innovative models as well. Whatever sort of folder you are looking for, the Dahon range should certainly be considered - but, as I said earlier, it changes almost all the time (possibly a criticism?), so we can't easily comment on individual models. If you can provide any more information on any model you own or have tried, do please contact us at dahonsig@foldsoc.co.uk. [23/11/2006]
Long Distance Touring on a Dahon
Speed TR
A report by Phil Chappell is available HERE.
The Dahon Mu P8
A test by Paul Franklin is now available HERE.
Dahon Hammerhead
We now have a report on the Hammerhead by Susie Jones. You
can read it HERE.
Dahon Ciao P8
William Reid has supplied us with a brief report on the unusual
Dahon Ciao P8 -
you can read it HERE.
Dahon
Speed TR
Eric Mathurin recently completed a two week cycling trip in Cameroon
with a Speed TR (2006 version). You can read his report on his blog at
http://www.mindless.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=160&Ite.
The Dahon seems to have acquitted itself well on quite an arduous
outing [04/12/2007].
Dahon
Vitesse D5
The
Vitesse D5 is another bike from Dahon fitted with the Sturmey-Archer
5-speed hub. You can read Karl
Wooldridge's report
here
[14/08/2007].
Dahon
Curve SL, and
front luggage
system
Our eagerly awaited (we hope!) test of the Dahon Curve SL is now
available. For 2007, Dahon also launched a new front luggage mount on
many of their small-wheeled folders, and you can find more information
about this in this test report - you can read
it here
[20/07/2007].
Dahon
D7 Speed (2006
model) test report
Sue Jones
reports on the 2006
version of the D7
Speed.
[12/06/2007]
Dahon 2007 Catalog preview
The new Dahon catalog for 2007 is now available on their web site in the USA. It's an even more impressive publication that usual, with lots of background information and pictures of the revised model range. There are quite a lot of new models and changes to existing models, and the mini-bike range has been expanded considerably - though of course those models aren't folders! There are lots of models in the range that I would like to try. However, if there is one criticism of the catalog it is that there are very few technical details of the individual models. While the Dahon web site traditionally provides a lot more detail, at present this catalog is really a preview of what will appear in 2007, and the web site does not have the technical information on the 2007 models. We will have to contain our impatience until the 2007 models become available - based on experience in previous years, this may be a couple of months yet. [07/01/2007]
Dahon
Jack test report
A report by Michael Alan Jones on the 2006 Dahon Jack - a 26
inch-wheeled
folder, is now available - read it here.
[05/01/2007]
Dahon Flo test report
We have now added
a report on the Dahon
Flo to the test section. The
report was provided by Christos
Markou. The Flo is a
high-performance 26 inch-wheeled mountain bike -
very good at what it is intended for, but of course not so good at some
of the other things that people buy folders for (eg commuting!).
Christos is obviously very impressed by the Flo. [28/09/2006]. Comments
from
Dahon added 24/11/2006.]
Dahon
Cadenza 2006 model
David
Farr has provided a report
on this 26 inch wheeled folder.
[07/05/2006]
Dahon
Speed D7
Eric Reed's original report from September 2005 has now been updated in
the light of his subsequent experience - he remains very enthusiastic
about the machine. The report is available HERE.
[01/03/2006]
Dahon
2006 Range
The
details of the 2006 range of bikes, accessories etc are now on the web
site in the USA (though not yet on the UK site) - details at http://www.dahon.com.
[]01/03/2006]
The
Dahon Jetstream P8 and a Rohloff hub
The first
stage of the
report
on the Dahon Jetstream P8, and the Rohloff hub which I've just had
fitted to it, is now available. At this point there are no photos, but
I'll be updating the report on a regular basis over the next few days
and weeks. You can follow the report here.
[19/07/2005]
Dahon
Matrix-V
Geoff Dabbs provides a very favourable report on the Dahon Matrix-V - a
26 inch wheeled folder. Read all about it here.
[01/03/2005]. This
report was
updated on 26 May 2005 to include more experience with the bike.
[26/05/2005]
When
is a Dahon not a
Dahon?
We commented a couple of days ago that the new "Land Rover" bicyle
range included a couple of folders which looked like badged Dahons, a
fact later
confirmed by Cyclemotion, the UK distributors of Dahon. In his email,
Mark
Bickerton (yes, the son of Harry Bickerton, designer of the pioneering
Bickerton
folder, if there are any readers who didn't know that!) of Cyclemotion
reminded
me that their web site contains information on some other names under
which
Dahons are sold in the UK - the link is http://www.cyclemotion.co.uk/what.htm.
This isn't new, but may be of interest to readers. [14/12/2004]
The
Dahon Matrix
Colin
Tulleth reports on his experience with the Matrix - a less highly
specified folding 26 inch wheeler, which shares the frame of the Zero
G - read the report here.
[12/09/2004]
The
Dahon Zero G
Our
test report on this high performance 26-inch wheeled folding mountain
bike is now available - read
it here.
[04/08/2004]
Full
report on the Dahon
Jetstream XP now available
The full
report on the Dahon Jetstream XP
is now available for you to read
- a great bike! [22/07/2004]
The
Dahon Jetstream XP -
first part of the test report
I've had this bike on
test for about a week. The test is not yet complete, so a full report
will not be available for 7 days or so. However, I rode it on a 100Km
Brevet Populaire - one of a series of longer rides on different
folders - on Sunday 11th July, and the report
on that ride is now available,
so you can find out a lot about
how the bike performed by visiting
that
report. Overall I found it an
impressive performer. When the full
test report is completed, I'll provide a link to it on this main News
page. [14/07/2004]
Choosing
a Dahon Helios
SL
Jacob Kite provides an in-depth
report on how he went about
choosing a replacement for his
Brompton, and how he finally decided on the Helios SL. [22/06/2004]
Impressions
of a Dahon Speed
TR
A short report on the Dahon
Speed TR is now available -
thanks to Dahon and Rob Tomalin for
providing this. [14/06/2004]
Coming
soon ...
We
hope to have reports on the Dahon Zero G and the Jetstream XP 2004
models soon, just as soon as we can get our hands on them (they have
not yet reached the UK)! [21/04/2004]
Dahon
Speed D6
We
now have a
report on this Dahon model -
many thanks to Andrew Macrow for providing it. [21/04/2004]
Dahon
2004
Dahon
have now updated both their USA
and UK
web sites to cover their
2004 range of bikes - better than ever. The UK version is not
finalised yet, so for the full details you need to check some points
on the USA version (though usually the range available here in the UK
will be less than in the USA). Joshua Hon tells us that
"One particularly neat new component is the custom Stelvio Light that Schwalbe produced for us. It is custom not only for the mango sidewall but also for the Kevlar bead and 120 tpi casing (the standard 20" Stelvio has a wire bead and 67 tpi). That means that our version is even lighter and more supple than the the standard."
Last year I rationalised (slightly) my collection of bikes, but immediately after I had done this one of the key remaining machines (road bike) was stolen. I can't afford to do a direct replacement, so I'm looking for something suitable, and with the improvements made in recent years, it is likely that it will be a Dahon. At present I fancy, for some off road and general use, either a Matrix (simple, and modestly priced) or perhaps even the Zero G (sophisticated and light). For the road bike, the decision at present looks between the Jetstream XP and a Moulton fx8. [30/01/2004]
Speed
Pro progress report
Back in April 2003, Geoff Dabbs
sent us a report
on his 2002 Speed Pro,
and now, with another 9 months use, he's sent us an update - you can
read it here.
[05/01/2004]
Dahon Speed TR
We now have a very comprehensive review of the 2003 version of this bike by Andy Macrow, and enthusiastic owner [29/11/2003].
Dahon
Helios 8 - a short
report
Rhys Jones has provided a report on the 2003
version of the Helios - you can read it here.
[20/10/2003]
Report
on the Dahon Espresso
- a 26 inch wheeled folder
Folders with full sized
wheels are rare, not least because the wheel size inevitably means
that the folded size is relatively large. However, there's no real
argument that in more extreme off-road conditions, larger wheels do
perform better than smaller ones, though under other conditions there
is little if any difference in overall performance. Member Colin
Walker has sent us a
brief report on
his Dahon Espresso, This is a
21-geared mountain/hybrid style
folder with 26" wheels. I'd rather hoped to test a 26 inch
wheeled folder myself last winter (which seemed the best time to try
a large wheeled folding mountain bike), but it didn't happen. Perhaps
this coming winter? [22/06/2003]
New
Dahon Community Message
Board
We hear that there is a new Community
Message Board at the Dahon
web site
- a good place to ask owners for their experience of using this
popular range of folders. [23/06/2003]
Dahon
SpeedPro Photos
We have published a number of very favourable reports by owners of
SpeedPros in the past year, and now, courtesy of Andrew Teoh, we have
some
photos to go with them.
[04/06/2003]
Dahon
SpeedPro 2003 model
availability
The 2002 version of the SpeedPro
attracted some very enthusiastic reports from our members, but as a
limited production run, some would-be owners were disappointed. Now
we have news of the 2003 model in the UK - here is Mark Bickerton's
news (Mark's Cyclemotion is the UK agent for Dahon).[19/05/2003]
Having been out of stock since the middle of 2002, we have a delivery arriving and we should be in a position to despatch from around 28th May. That delivery is mostly pre-sold (about 10 left at today's date), although there are some dealers who should have free stock....
Avon
Valley Cyclery, Bath,
Gearshift Mail Order, Sheffield,
Ben Hayward & Sons Cambridge.
We have another delivery ordered, which we expect to receive in August. Again quantity is limited so we fully expect to be building an order book on this model.
Thoughts
on the Phillips
Boardwalk 6 - by Mark Thatcher
Mark Thatcher
originally found his Phillips Boardwalk 6 rather low geared, but now
that he has solved that, he's very happy with the bike. Read his
comments here
[19/05/2003].
New
Dahon high-performance
20 inch/406 tyre
We hear that Dahon will shortly be
launching a new high performance 20 inch tyre, which they claim is
lighter and better-performing than the Conti GP. The information we
have so far is:
Dual Compound casing with a harder, low friction center section and a softer Silica material for better grip on the sides
So soon we will have a choice of 3 high performance tyres in this size - the Conti GP, Schwalbe Stelvio and this Dahon one. We look forward to the opportunity to test the new tyre, and will provide more information on performance, price and availability when we can. [17/05/2003]
Update
on Dahon Speed Pro
report
Nearly a year ago, we published a report by
William Reid on the Dahon Speed Pro. This
has now
been updated to include a progress report
after one year of use -
William remains very pleased with the bike.
Models available in the UK for 2003 - we recently received a full list from the UK distributors, which you can find on our web pages here.
This section includes links to test reports published on our own (Folding Society) web pages and elsewhere. They are listed with the most recent tests first.
Dahon Speed Pro (2002 version) progress report - an update by Geoff Dabbs to his earlier reports (05/01/2004))
Index to A to B Magazine test reports - the most comprehensive source of informed reports on folding and separable cycles of all types (not just Dahon)
Dahon UK - for information on some of the brand names under which Dahons are sold, see http://www.dahon.co.uk
A to B Magazine - a magazine dealing with all matters of integrated transport, but specialising in folding and electric bicycles
World
Wheels Folding Bicycles - official UK and EU
Dahon Internet Reseller
Your suggestions on other material to include here would be welcome.
Contact us: email info@foldsoc.co.uk