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Folding Bike

by Neil Woodburn (RSS feed) on May 6th 2007 at 2:06PM

One of the strangest geeks I've met while traveling blew past me on a folded bike shortly after getting off a train. I caught up with him an hour later at the local youth hostel where he was bragging that he had beat us all there with his trusty bike and landed himself the best bed in the place. Yes, we all hated they guy.

Traveling with a folding bike is not the most convenient way to travel, but it sure can come in handy at times--whether you are a geek or not.

One of the very best designs on the market, according to a review in Wired Magazine, is the Brompton M6L. This British contraption folds up to just 10 x 24 x 32-inches in less than half a minute and weighs only 25 pounds. Fortunately, an additional pair of tiny luggage wheels makes it easy to drag the contraption around when transporting it in its folded state.

I like the concept, and the engineering is very cool, but I still don't think I'm willing to part with the $1000 to call one my own--even if it means I'm not the first one at the hostel.

Filed under: Gear

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

zima3000 May 7th 2007 1:50AM

There is a number of models that can be had for as little as $200 - search google for "folding bikes". Among those cheap fold-ups manufacturers Dahon is probably the most established brand but some others make pretty decent (for the price) bikes.

P.S. Neil, great posts, man - keep up the good job.

Neil May 7th 2007 1:52AM

Thanks Zima! Stay tuned for another folding bike post soon!

Tari Akpodiete May 8th 2007 4:04AM

so far, the one i find to be the neatest folding bike can be found here - http://www.a-bike.co.uk/ - now is that NOT super-cool?

david tan May 10th 2007 10:11PM

another cool folding bike for traveller
http://jz88.com/jz88-blog/?p=21

babachu Oct 20th 2007 10:06AM

thanks to david tan, I got my jz88 folding bike when I was visiting Singapore last month. they even let me try it (http://jz88.com/try.html) for a couple of days before I decided to buy. nice people and good service.

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Be sure to check out Episode 5 of Travel Talk TV, which features a Santa Cruz beach adventure; explains why Scottish money is no good; shows how to cook brats the German way; and offers international dating tips!