My godson picked up his new bike from me and dropped off the Dahon I gave his aunt about 8 years ago. It looks like it has sat for about that long and is rusty and covered with dirt and dust. The michelins still look good though.
So it will get a complete rebuild, paint and all.
Today:
Very cool. Dahons are well made bikes in my opinion.
Scoring a pair of Dahons at a yard sale years ago are actually what got me back into bikes. I was on the Dahon forum before I discovered the RRB forum.
Here is the Dahon I fixed up for my wife next to the rough stage of Fugsley for comparison.
Note to self: 'I don't need more bikes, I have lots'; repeat as necessary. I've been watching Moulton videos on youtube lately. These small wheeled bikes are a kick!
I bought a pair of Retrospec 7 speed foldies from Fb Marketplace for $200 recently. I think I posted them here. I have enjoyed them, well, one of them, I haven't ridden the other yet, so much - way more than anticipated. The Retrospec is a copy of the Dahon.
I took off the handbrakes and put it back to it's original setup with just a coaster brake. It was a red Boardwalk single speed at a church sale for 10 bucks. All the hinges needed cleaned up and lubed but are all in good shape. I took off the Michelins and found cracks in one where it had been sitting flat for a long time. Those tires are about 14 years old. To my surprize a 2.4 tire fit in the rear and a 2.125 fit up front. Those are on there just for testing. I ordered some new blue rims and a blue hub for the front. I need to get another coaster hub, this wheel belongs to a BMX bike I stole the wheel from. I think a nice set of 1.50 street tires will work best with this setup.
It's ready for a ride now. I'll see if a 52/18 ratio will be suitable. If I use my 2 speed I'll have to add handbrakes so I'll probably stay single speed.
After the test ride, I disassembled it, except for the big hinge. The hinge pin looks like it was pressed in, so I'll leave it be. It works fine so I'll paint around it. I found the cranks to be very heavy. It's a 52 tooth chain wheel but I'll change it out with a 47 alloy set and have a smaller cog on the rear. It was 52/20 so I think 47/18 will be about the same gearing. I have a 16 cog if need be.
I couldn't get the bearing cup on the drive side to break loose. I may just clean up the cup and use it, but I wanted to use a sealed set. There's nothing like getting pinched by the channel locks.
The drive side bearings were working but the cage was all torn up. This will get a new set and spindle.
I should be able to spend freely on this bike. I just got the wife a new car. I'm set for a little while!
The front wheel is ready for truing. The rear still needs spokes and a hub.
I have a new set of adjustable bars I got for a front wheel drive project, but they weigh the same as the original so I'll stay with the Dahon bars. The front wheel drive may happen on a build later.
I sanded down the bike and only found one spot where it rusted through, and it's small enough to not worry about.
The painting has begun. With the acrylic paint, it looks like it won't cover well, but it doesn't look good until the second coat is applied. I'm using aquamarine as a base coat to be followed with different shades of blue splattered on. Then a few light layers of clear coat to finish. The handlebar assembly will get gloss black to match the chain wheel.
This is a 2002 Boardwalk S1, their basic bike. It came with 20 x 1.50 tires I think. They were skinny. $199 new.
20 x 2.125 tires will fit so I'm going with a beefier look on this build. I first redid this bike back in 2009. It will still be small enough with the fatter tires when folded so I can take it anywhere. My plan is to ride wherever and whenever the girls go shopping.
I wasn't sure if they were 16" or 20". My old school Moulton has/had 17" wheels and they are TRASHED. Since 17" wheels/tires are probably not available, I am trying to decide which way to go with this bike....
All I've seen are 16 and 20.
If 20's will fit, I'd go with them. There is much more selection of 20" tires and wheels. Especially the good road tires. I'm using budget priced wider tires so I can go offroad if need be and also the roads here are rough, no nice paved bike paths yet. But still a tread pattern that rolls well.
This build is pretty timely. I had just gotten interested in Moultons and folding Bromptons and Dahons when you started this thread. At some point I'm going to pick up a cheap folder to fiddle with and for travel. Some of the imported cheapies look pretty fun too. I like that this one can fit the 2.125" tires as dirt roads are a mainstay for me.
I looked at the prices of new Dahons, 600 bucks at a minimum! I looked at some in the mall last week, not too bad for about 250 bucks. If the wife likes the Dahon I'm building I'll get her one of these at the mall. For me, I would go to the bike shops around town and try to find a scrap one and build some wheels for it.
I can find a used Dahon for $100 or so. That's what I'm looking at right now. The Zizzo bikes are only around $300 new so that's tempting too. I like that blue one you're looking at there.
The spindle is a narrow one, none of my extras will work. But it cleaned up well enough to use, just adding a new bearing where the old one fell apart. I also cleaned and lubed the folding pedals. The bearings were dry, so I squeezed grease into them.
I painted the other parts black and they will also get clear coated tomorrow.
The wife took the wheels in for truing. I usually go along but she's got a meeting to go to and I would have to wait around for a couple hours. Three wheels in all, these two and the one for the BMX bike.
All done. I didn't add the rack back on to save space when I pack in in the car. Or it might fit in a suitcase. I'm going to have a sack made to carry it in.
I took it for a short ride, lots of rain today, flood warnings are up.
