Folding bicycles

Bikes can tow folding shopping carts , so those cases of beer , the pair of propane bottles ot 4 bags of food are less bother over a couple of miles.

Beyond a 20 min bike ride , I call a cab!

I bought a cheap 89 buck mountain bike wannabee from kmart in key west three years ago. Walked two miles to the store, rode back!!! It's pretty light and the gears are real handy for hills, carrying a load or pedaling into the wind. It sits on the back deck and often gets salted in heavy weather. Once out of the weather I rinse it off or the rain does it for me. Some wd40 or whatever on the critical things that like to rust. Replaced the seat with one a bit more comfy.

It has some rust on it, but everything still works. Not the lightest on the planet, but still not too heavy. No problem hoisting it one handed even when pile tied on a high pier.

Bottom line is for the cost, can't be beat. If I get a few more years out of it, great. I often burn way more money in diesel... in a day.

FWIW, We had a couple of bikes aboard when we started full-time cruising. After in effect giving them a "tour of the area" for a couple of years we put them up in the give-n-take shed. (Thankfully, they were two craigslist bikes costing $25, and $30 ea).

We found in smaller towns (most of where we stopped) we just walked. And in larger towns we took the bus - - so those two bikes never got used.

I had the cheaper dahon folding bikes and hated them. They are heavy for their size and awkward to move around in the boat. And yes the tires went flat quickly. Worst of all was the steering geometry. Because they fold the forks were too near vertical which makes for jerky clown bike type steering.

boatpoker said:

We tried many bikes over the years and didn't like the weight or propensity for corrosion. We eventually bought two "Trek District" and love them. My 5' 2", 110lb. wife can carry both of them above shoulder height with one in each hand. They are carbon fiber and aircraft aluminum, but the best part is the drive system, the gears (pullies) are plastic and there is no chain, they are belt driven. There is nothing on these bikes to rust in the salt air.

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Those look very bitchin'. We're using Montagues and enjoy the exercise aspect. A 20 mile ride is about right for this geezer and the gearing makes it fun. But these look like a vast improvement by eliminating the rusting bits.

boatpoker said:

We tried many bikes over the years and didn't like the weight or propensity for corrosion. We eventually bought two "Trek District" and love them. My 5' 2", 110lb. wife can carry both of them above shoulder height with one in each hand. They are carbon fiber and aircraft aluminum, but the best part is the drive system, the gears (pullies) are plastic and there is no chain, they are belt driven. There is nothing on these bikes to rust in the salt air.

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Could you send a link? I don't seem to be able to locate the model you have.....

bayview said:

I had the cheaper dahon folding bikes and hated them. They are heavy for their size and awkward to move around in the boat. And yes the tires went flat quickly. Worst of all was the steering geometry. Because they fold the forks were too near vertical which makes for jerky clown bike type steering.

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We have a couple of Island Hopper folding bikes. When my grandsons were young they saw the bikes. They asked whose clown bikes, and could they ride them. Not good bikes, but have served the purpose.

Moonstruck said:

We have a couple of Island Hopper folding bikes. When my grandsons were young they saw the bikes. They asked whose clown bikes, and could they ride them. Not good bikes, but have served the purpose.

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I think as long as you wear those really big shoes and a large red nose while riding them, these bikes are fine. People just think the circus is in town, and that makes everyone happy.

Delfin said:

I think as long as you wear those really big shoes and a large red nose while riding them, these bikes are fine. People just think the circus is in town, and that makes everyone happy.

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Small shoes make my feet hurt, and that is my real nose.

Never needed more than taxi, bus, or train on land (but we mostly walk). ... In flat-land Copenhagen, there are hundreds (thousands?) of free, publicly-available bikes not used. ... In Venice, public boats get you wherever, as well as workaday transport.

Our adventurous friend Richard on Dauntless bought an electric bike while he was in Miami. He used it for serious transportation. I rode it around in my stores parking lot once and I was very impressed. Richard used it to travel some pretty long distances.
He once rode it from my store to Coconut Grove and back. I don't think I could have made the trip any faster in a car.

I wonder if he took it across the Atlantic with him?

We have the newest West Marine design, the Bayside or something, a replacement for the Port Runner II (if you have one of these, take it to WM for a free exchange!). We used them a lot in the salt air and they held up well except for the chain. Buy a stainless chain now or later. We also had a couple custom covers made from Sunbrella that keeps some of the salt off. These are not as good as the Dahon or Bike Fridays, but a LOT cheaper.

While I was in the navy, I bought one of these. It was great but being young and impetuous I was rolling down a long hill and failed to stop. I ran into a truck who was obeying the law and broke the handle bars, after that it was pretty useless as I tried various methods to fix short of buying new handle bars.

On my current boat I carry Roller skates which are fine for getting around, but it takes a while to build up the stamina for long distances. Plus carrying groceries back to the boat requires a back pack and limits the amount you should carry.

Skorpion™ Quadline® Street Skates | Skorpion Skates

Lots of adds for ebikes these days. They seem reasonably priced, but I wonder if they hold up in a salt air environment. I still think the Montague bikes are heads and tails above the "circus" bikes like Dahon etc. Priority bikes looks promising as well (not folding), belt drive, aluminum frame and internal gear pack.

+1 On the Montagues. Pricey but good-I use their "paratrooper" version and it is one tough bike.

For some time I have owned a English made Titanium Brompton folding bike It is the very best folding bike on the market and I have traveled extensively around Japan and Asia with this bike It has the best folding mechanism of any folding bike and is so quick to fold up when needed . Must admit it was a bit expensive but it has never let me down over 1000s of miles

Have been using folders for the 45+ years that we've been out cruising. I still have our original stainless steel 16" Dahons in the barn. The small folders are not ideal when biking long distances, so when we were sailing on our Island Packet 31, I bought a couple of cheap 24" bikes. Pull front wheels off and stored them in the 31s large cockpit locker. After getting tired of breaking down the bikes, went with all aluminum frame 26" folding Dahon Matrix. Great bikes and we still use them biking from home. When we moved to the Nordic Tug 10 years ago, could not easily get the Matrix bikes into the engine compartment, so I purchased a couple of 20" Dahon Mariners. Unlike the Matrix, the Mariner has a lot of "rustable" components, and frequent doses of WD40 are required.

Since we hang on a mooring and anchor out most of the time, getting bikes to shore is a hassle. Our bike riding on the boat has declined a bit (we're in our 70's). I usually leave the bikes on shore at our home boat yard, use them around the boat yard, and only take them on board when I know we will be going somewhere where we will take the bikes off for several days (Block Island, MV, Shelter Island, etc). Plus, in our old age, we've discovered shuttle buses (Duh). If you cruise the North and South Forks of Long Island, there are shuttle buses running from Orient Point, through Greenport, Riverhead, the "Hamptons", right out to Montauk (75 cents Senior rates!). And walking is still an option. Anchored out in either Montauk's South Lake or Block Island's Great Salt Pond, the wife would rather walk into town. We confine our bike riding to touring long distances at selective cruising spots.

Bottom line, bikes on board are a definite PLUS. As far as brands, we have 6 folding Dahons, the oldest pair are the stainless Dahons that are over 30 years old. and still useable. Prices today are pretty outrageous for quality folders. Our Dahon Matrix cost $500 each over 15 years ago, today $700. The Dahon Mariner is a $600 bike. Some people simply purchase a couple of cheapy Walmart 26" bikes, treating them as throw-aways. Break-em down by pulling off front wheel (quick release front wheels are best), and throw them away after a couple of years when they rust out.

We scored a couple of AMC(Back Bay?) for $200 from West Marine. They are $400 bikes that were on sale for half off. I couldn't pass on the deal and have already used them quite a bit. So far so good but also have fairly low expectations at that price point.

BTW , if anyone is interested we have to almost new Montagues that we could sell as we do not need them anymore.

We use Citizen "Tokyo", for $199 direct from Citizen. All aluminum, fold up easily and weigh 27 lbs (I think). They are not built for speed, but around large marinas and small towns....perfect and at the price, if they gets stolen (although we try remember to lock them), it's no big deal.

dimer2 said:

We use Citizen "Tokyo", for $199 direct from Citizen. All aluminum, fold up easily and weigh 27 lbs .

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Nice deal There!

Baker said:

We scored a couple of AMC(Back Bay?) for $200 from West Marine. They are $400 bikes that were on sale for half off. I couldn't pass on the deal and have already used them quite a bit. So far so good but also have fairly low expectations at that price point.

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We've had a couple of Dahon's bourht 7 years ago for $300 ea. We store them folded on the fly bridge forward of the couch, not outside. I lather them up with T-9 a couple of times a years. Still in good shape. Just used them yesterday.

We bought 3 used Dahon Mariners on Craigs List for $150 total. New inner tubes for all and a little chain lube so they are good to go. Yes they are a little shakey but it beats walking. Caution that 20 inch Dahon rims had some issues being out-of-round. Check before buying.

We're both tall, and the folding bikes we've tried wouldn't allow our legs to extend properly. Tried to get an extended seat post, but mechanics were off. Only advice is to sample a bike for longer than a few minutes.

I was sufficiently impressed with these: Downtube - Folding Bicycles for Sale that I imported one into Aust.: very light and efficient, 8 internal hub gears & a belt instead of a chain, so no messy/complex/hard to store sprockets or chain; various suspension (front or front+rear suspension) and gear options; great sale prices make them very competitive. I enjoy riding it around Sydney harbour foreshore parks/cycleways where we are berthed. Easy to get on and off the dock and up to the flybridge for longer-term storage, in a bag we had custom-made for it.

Aquabelle said:

I was sufficiently impressed with these: Downtube - Folding Bicycles for Sale that I imported one into Aust.: very light and efficient, 8 internal hub gears & a belt instead of a chain, so no messy/complex/hard to store sprockets or chain; various suspension (front or front+rear suspension) and gear options; great sale prices make them very competitive. I enjoy riding it around Sydney harbour foreshore parks/cycleways where we are berthed. Easy to get on and off the dock and up to the flybridge for longer-term storage, in a bag we had custom-made for it.

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I have a chain-type predecessor of one of those, with a bag direct from Downtube.

Decent bike, except for the bits that'll rust... which is mostly connection-related (e.g., seat post lock) or folding-related. One of the best features is NO rear suspension, which in turn means a decent load-bearing rack is possible. I think I might like a non-folding version, which would probably eliminate much of the pot-metal and mild steel.

The bag is only as good as its zipper... and it doesn't really seem to protect the bike from salt atmosphere. And it's made to cover the bike when folded, which means folding... which is often more trouble than it's worth. We've been planning to make a cover that encases the bike when fully assembled, with handlebars turns... but haven't pulled that off yet.

That said, T9 or CRC-656 all over the thing from time to time seems to help. Would have helped more if I'd been bright enough to start that from day one.

-Chris

Aquabelle said:

I was sufficiently impressed with these: Downtube - Folding Bicycles for Sale that I imported one into Aust.: very light and efficient, 8 internal hub gears & a belt instead of a chain,

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Very cool bike for the Money!

Downtube 8H Shimano Nexus - Downtube

We bring our Bike Friday folding bikes on board our Ranger Tug R-31 and usually leave them unfolded up on flybridge. They get more messy when folded but they do take up less room. I have samsonite suitcases that they fit in when traveling by air but it takes several minutes to reassemble. The Bike Friday bicycles are lightweight and I have completed triathlons and races on mine, in addition to riding many, many miles off the boat. I do have Brompton envy though. If money were no object, they fold the best - essentially into a neat cube-ish pkg.

Downtube - Great Experience

We purchased Downtube folding bikes 5 years ago. They have operated flawlessly since purchase and have held up well to the elements. They're really were an outstanding value.

We just brought the bikes we already had: a Schwinn Varsity, Schwinn Collegiate and a Huffy mountain bike. They rusted a little but they cleaned up afterward. Only used them a few times although they were great 'pack mules' for carrying laundry. At sea we kept them on the port side deck but in the canals and rivers they were up on the flybridge.

One night we stopped for dinner at a nice restaurant with a dock. It had signs posted all over saying "no overnight dockage". After dinner I asked the waitress if she would ask the owner if we could stay overnight at their dock. She came back and asked if we were "the boat with the bicycles?". When I answered yes, she said "then the owner welcomes you to spend the night".

That was the best use of the bicycles during the entire trip.

Further on we met a group of trawlers that were mourning their expensive stainless folding bicycles. They were stolen off their deck while they slept. No one ever bothered our two Schwinns and the Huffy. Jus' sayin'.