I start looking for a folding bike one month ago and just got myself a Dahon Curve SL recently. It’s a 16 inch folding bicycle, quite light in weight, well built with good quality components; it’s a 2009 model with 9-speed Shimano Capreo gears. I bought it from My Bike Shop which is listed under Dahon Singapore dealer: Speedmatrix
http://speedmatrix.com.sg/webtop/IndexThe moment I walk into the shop, I’m pleased to see so many Dahon bicycles models display there, staff are friendly and helpful and offer me test ride. I have not own a bike or ride the bicycle for so many years, after test ride the Curve SL I’m impressed with the bicycle technology nowadays, it’s smooth to operate, you just press the button to shift down the gear for speed and push another lever to shift up the gear, it’s like paddle shift lever in some sport cars, quite easy to handle and fold up as well. Since I decided to get one for leisure and for some work out, it must able to fold and carry inside my car Suzuki Swift and this bike meets my requirements.
Here are the specifications of this bike:
http://www.speedmatrixdepot.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=popup_specifications&pID=286main_page=popup_specifications&pID=286http://www.dahon.com/us/curvesl.htmAfter few days of riding this bike, I’m sure that I made a right choice, it fold quite effortless after some adjustment to the handlebar, brake lever, bell and
gear shifting lever and small enough to put inside my car boot . The longest distance I ride was from Changi Beach Park to East Coach Park and then back to Changi Beach Park, as I did not buy a cycle computer to mount on the bike I do not know what are the distance and speed I traveled, it could be more than 30Km. Generally the pickup for this bike is alright, not so stress on your legs, but it cannot climb too steep slope, normal slope still manageable but very slow. It comes with Schwalbe Special Ed Marathon Racers 16” x 1.5” tire which is quite good for road use, I especially like the park connector at Changi Coast Rd, it is a straight tarmac road, and you can safely test the bike speed there. Due to its rather small wheel (16 inch diameter), even at its fastest gear I still cannot go further to catch up those racing bike (with bigger wheel) that passed me, hahaha…, but generally it’s quite fast already, and it feel quite firm and stable to ride at high speed.
I also add few items to this bike:
Cat Eye HL-EL450 Battery LED headlight
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/559Cat Eye HTSTL-LD500 Tail & safety LED light
http://www.cateye.com/en/product_detail/268Lezyne Micro Floor Drive HPG Hand pump
http://www.lezyne.com/index.php/products/hand-pumps/micro-floor-drive-hpg.htmlCateye Bike bell
Water bottle cage
PS,
After weeks of cycling, my leg muscle improve a lot, not so tough to climb steeper slopes now; in fact the 9-speed Shimano Capreo gears are quite sufficient for general cycling.
Add a Velo Gel Tech Seat Cover:
http://www.aleoca.com/accessories.htmBought it from:
T3 Bicycle Gears at Playground @ Big Splash, 902 East Coast Parkway S449874
Also a bicycle bag, Aero Wedge Pack, small:
http://www.topeak.com/products/Bags/AeroWedgePack_small_VelcroFrom Tay Cycle:
http://www.taycycle.com.sg/2008/index.shtmlChanged the front and the back original break pad to Kool Stop Thinline:
http://www.koolstop.com/brakes/index.phpIt is rim friendly; it will not damage and wear out the wheel rims to make the rim concave. I read in the internet that it’s so good that people will change to Kool Stop break immediately when they bought their new bike.
I got it from:
Hup Leong Company at Blk 51 Chin Swee Road #01-107 S(160051), near People’s Park OG area (Blk 34) Tel: (65) 6532-3700 Fax: (65) 6532-2100
29/10/2009:
Can’t find any hand phone holder bike mount in local bicycle shop, so I bought one phone holder (Made in Germany) from Autobacs without the base, test it with the base inside my car HP phone holder (also Made in Germany), feel so happy when they can match together; since I’ve two base when bought this HP phone holder, so I screw the extra base to the handle bar bracket, slide the new phone holder into the base and it comes out to be a nice combination, looks good enough. Now I do not need to wear the uncomfortable bluetooth earpiece anymore!
Found one free application software (SportyPal) and install it to my Asus P320, it will show you the distance travelled and speed, hence I do not need to buy the bicycle computer anymore. Usually I will turn on my mp3 music as well, riding become more enjoyable than before.
Check this out:
http://sportypal.com/Home/Overview
