Folding bike for mild downhill project??

[tsakis]

It is not final yet but I was thinking that if that was possible then I would really like to try it.. I have never done downhill before p, just a friend of mine talked me into this and I thought uphilling too should be really fun!

I was thinking of a dahon Jack or matrix since they are the most mountain oriented bikes of the brand and can be found cheap enough.. Montrague bikes seem good too but i only can find expensive used ones.. I don't know even what kind of tyros do you need for dh and if those bikes can have such tires installed...

In case of using Jack I need disk brakes and a suspension fork as well, possibly the matrix might need upgrades to those departments too...

First of all what is your opinion? Can those bikes handle some mild downhill routes?

About the electric setup now, I am completely clueless... Are hub motors sturdy enough to handle the harassment and will the rim make it with such weight in a hard tail bike?

An other option is crank drive that is also more lightweight, helps balance and it can be placed in more secure places.. The problem is that I am not familiar at all with this setup, at all...

Any, and I mean ANY, thoughts are welcome! As you saw I just wrote down my thoughts on this and I don't even know if this is a readable thread, but it just came to my mind and wanted to discuss it...

 

[FMB42]

A friend and I did a fair amount of "week end warrior" downhill riding back in the early '90s with our non electric Diamond Back hard nose and tailed MTBs. We, after some time, gained enough "experience" to tackle DHs that were rated at 7-8 out of 10.

Thus, my non electric "DH" comments would be:

1. Make darn sure that you wear a good helmet and other protective clothing (i.e. gloves, long pants, and shoes).

2. You'd better have very good brakes because once you "over-run" your brake system, you'll have no choice but to try and "ride it out".

3. What takes hours of peddling, and pushing, to climb often only takes 20-40 minutes to ride down.

As for an electric DH setup, I would be concerned about:

1. Brakes.

2. Spokes.

3. Rims.

4. Hub motor axles and spoke flanges.

5. Having the weight of a rear hub motor and/or rear mounted battery wanting to "swap ends" on you while braking.

6. Adequate medical coverage.

 

[dogman dan]

I'd want to be doing very mild downhill, to use a folder. I was suprised how well a cheapo FS bike handled mild trail riding. But you sure knew immediately when you hit a bump beyond the mild category.

You could do worse than copying my off road bike. Performance is so so, but just good enough to do moderate hard trails. I keep descents to below 20 mph at my age though. http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27364&p=395587#p395587

 

[MadRhino]

1. Make darn sure that you wear a good helmet and other protective clothing (i.e. gloves, long pants, and shoes).

...And the full body armour, if you're gonna ride DH with a folder.

Those small wheels would need huge tires and a damn good suspension to give you anything close to adequate handling in the mountain trails. Then, some people like to jump Niagara falls in a barrel...

 

[heathyoung]

A folder? - dear god no. Wheels are too small and the frame will probably unlatch if you are riding hard. No real potential for braking upgrades, only advantage would be the small wheel for uphill hub advantage.

I've snapped lesser frames (rigid) on some decent downhill, and folded a steel bike into a tree. (no, it wasn't a folder, I just turned it into one - folding it back out again was out of the question though)

How downhill are we talking - just XC, singletrack or balls-out bat-shit crazy?

 

[tsakis]

Who talked about 20inch rims? http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dahon/matrix-2007-folding-bike-ec015290?currency=EUR&country=GREECE


And the lower specced http://www.dahon.com/bikes/2011/jack-d7

At those full sized bikes it is possible to upgrade rims, fork and Brakes the only question is about the frame...

About how serious dh we are talking... I have never done any dh before so novice stuff I assume.. One friend of mine does the trails I am intended to do with a specialized hard tail that retails 900€ new and him and his bike are alive to tell the story after 20-30 trail says...

 

[dogman dan]

Got me curious? Why the folder? Issues with getting on a train or bus to get to the riding? For sure, many of us were picturing the usual 20" rim folder.

Like the cheap wallmart MTB's, the Dahons you link to would be strong enough for the easier trails. Go slow on new routes, and learn where you need to go slow next time and you should be OK.

The problem here is when you say DH, we picture Blackcomb in our minds, 20-30' air from ladder bridge to ladder bridge, soaking up gravel the size of bowling balls, etc. So for DH, a definite no. But for easy off road stuff that doesn't fracture a normal hardtail frame, the main issue would be the folding mechanisim. Might want to carry a spare bolt, or c clamp or something to limp home with.

At the point where you needed to upgrade rims, or shocks, I'd be wanting a non folding bike frame for dang sure. Just the flex you see on a regular frame when riding hard can be a mind blower. No thanks for a frame secured by one bolt.

 

[FMB42]

I'll also a this bit of "DH" riding advice:

Don't ride DH paths, trails, and/or dirt roads until you're absolutely certain of their gradients and various conditions from "top to bottom".

A good way to do this is to take careful note of the gradients and various conditions of the trails, paths, and/or dirt roads as you climb them followed by riding down the exact same route you just climbed.

 

[tsakis]

What about the motor? Can a hub motor handle the stress and possibly a rock or smt hitting it? Maybe a crystalate should be more appropriate ?

 

[dogman dan]

I pound my dirt bike pretty hard. Taco bent a rim last summer, then melted the motor later. But I haven't broken one, in any of the crashes.

 

[doc007]

I don't think a folding bike would work for DH. I'm not sure how well those folding points are made but I would think you might risk breakage in that area. Also the components are not that well built. Last but not least you need a suspension system.

 

[slacker]

well i think if the montague paratrooper is good enough for the marine corp to use jumping out of planes and in combat i think it might work for you?electric cyclery sells one with the bionx system,spendy but nice.just my opinion.peace out.

 

[doc007]

Since you have never been DHing before I would suggest you first get a rental bike or try your friends bike to see how you feel about it. This will give you an idea of what components you may need for your "mild" DHing. From my experience, some sort of rear suspension is very necessary, especially if you are a beginner. To give you an idea an average DH bike has 7-9 inches of rear suspension. Good luck with the build! I look forward to seeing how this works out for you!

 

[dogman dan]

Still curious, why a folder? Bike rack on a car or a truck is the way for 99.9999% of us.

 

[tsakis]

I was thinking of maybe making this my only ebike.. Plus I I thought it is cool to ride back up the
Trail instead of needing to get it into a car and drive it back up..

 

[doc007]

I don't think that explains why you need a folder... but if you REALLY need a folder maybe this is an option http://www.emotoev.com/products/bicycles/mountain/ridge30/

otherwise a normal bike with dual suspension would be fine for very light DH.