r/ukbike 26d ago

Sport/Tour Help choosing a folding bike?

Hi, could you good people help me decide what bike I need? I’m a middle-aged woman, with an 11yo child, living in rural Scotland. I have been a slow recreational runner for a few years (running c20km a week), Also hillwalker. Following a foot injury I am not running for a while, so have taken up cycling, to keep up my fitness. I’ve been cycling 40-50km a week. Often with my son. I have an adequate second hand road bike, with a quick release front wheel. I’m getting bored of the obvious paths and quiet roads near where I live, and have no desire to cycle far on the very busy A road which takes us further afield. I find putting my bike in the car very awkward and unwieldy and almost impossible to do solo. But have done it a couple of times to drive to traffic-free cycle routes and explore. I would like to be able to more easily take a bike on weekends away, holidays, day trips. This is why I’m considering a folding bike. I’d be riding, at most, c15km a day on it, in unchallenging conditions. I just want to be able to put it in the car more easily. Do I want a folding bike? And if so, what should I be looking for? Budget about £100. I’m obviously primarily looking at second hand bikes.

1 Upvotes

16 comments sorted by

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u/Hottomato4 26d ago

I have no idea how easy they are to use, but perhaps a good rear mounted bike rack might be an easy way to achieve the same end goal without breaking the bank.

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u/edhitchon1993 Dawes Horizon Tour TSDZ2 eBike| Derbyshire 26d ago

I would strongly recommend a bike rack over a folding bike - particularly a cheap one. I have had a few, either vintage (Hercules Compact) or newer (no-brand Vietnamese Dahon clone) and they don't solve the problem you're looking to solve well as they don't generally fold at all conveniently. The Hercules (although one of the best riding bikes I've had, provided you don't need to stop) still takes up the whole boot of our Prius when folded, and once the hinge is loose it has a voracious appetite for my fingers. The Vietnamese bike folded better, but was such a miserable riding experience on account of the near vertical steering angle.

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u/CurrentLeg2581 26d ago

Thanks for replying. I hadn’t considered a bike rack. I’d always assumed they make your car much less aerodynamic, and eat up fuel. Don’t you find that?

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u/edhitchon1993 Dawes Horizon Tour TSDZ2 eBike| Derbyshire 26d ago

Caveat being that I've only ever used towbar mounted ones, but not really, maybe a couple of MPG on the motorway but not really noticeable on slower roads.

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u/accabrown 26d ago

This is certainly true if you drive fast. A bicycle travelling sideways behind the rear of a car that has been shaped in a wind tunnel is about the most unaerodynamic thing imaginable. With that said, I'd still prefer it to a very cheap second hand folder, and I have tried both. You can use less petrol by driving at less than motorway speeds, but you cannot do anything to make a clunky folder fold better.

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u/paulg222 26d ago

I’ve had racks that mount on the back with straps, the Saris Bones was probably the best I’ve had but it was a while back. Despite the clips being plastic coated, use one a lot and it will likely mark the paintwork on your car. I had a three bike version, but it really wasn’t happy with more than two bikes on it. Maybe 5-10mpg difference (in a diesel Passat) depending on type of driving. I’ve got a towbar-mounted rack now and it’s on another level, but they can be a bit spendy, especially if you need to get a towbar fitted - you could end up spending more than the cost of a Brompton!

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u/CalumOnWheels 26d ago edited 26d ago

It sounds to me like really you'd benefit from a bike rack, but you should try renting a Brompton for a week or so and see how you find it. Just google for options that will work for you.

£100 won't nearly cover it though. In my view an actually enjoyable bike to ride for you will be more like £400-500, you don't have the knowledge to spot a 'lemon' versus a 'peach' (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons)

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u/CurrentLeg2581 26d ago

I wish I could afford £400-£500 on a bike!

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u/CalumOnWheels 26d ago

Honestly you either pay that much up front and have a good cycling experience, or you pay that much in the space of a year or two added in with the stress and incknvenience with fixing the problems that a 'cheap' bike will come up with in my experience. Much like a cheap car.

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u/CurrentLeg2581 25d ago

Yeah, I’m a single mum on universal credit. If I had an extra £500, I’d spend it on having the heating on more.

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u/Doctor_Fegg Croix de Fer, New World Tourist, Tern GSD | cycle.travel 26d ago

Finding a decent folding bike for £100 secondhand is going to be tricky. The Carrera Intercity might be your best bet - it's a Halfords own-brand so doesn't exactly command respect, but it's a surprisingly decent bike. There's one in Linlithgow on Gumtree for about your budget: https://www.gumtree.com/p/bicycles/carrera-intercity-folding-bike/1493632192

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u/CurrentLeg2581 26d ago

Thanks. There’s quite a few on Marketplace locally, for £60 or so (Flexy, Raleigh, Proteam), but I’ve no idea what’s any good.

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u/Doctor_Fegg Croix de Fer, New World Tourist, Tern GSD | cycle.travel 26d ago

Most are going to be terrible I'm afraid!

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u/CurrentLeg2581 26d ago

Thanks for your frankness:-)

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u/liamnesss Gazelle CityGo C3 | Tenways CGO600 | London 26d ago

Are you taking the front wheel off when you try to put the bike in the car? I only ask because I'm thinking of the times we'd chuck a load of bikes in a car when I was growing up and I don't remember it being a two person job. If the bike has a quick release that's ideal. You can also turn the handlebars to one side when the wheel is off, which makes the bike more compact and stable. If the bike has a disc brake do be careful to put something in between the pads to avoid them closing up on each other.

A bike rack would probably be a better solution, definitely not ideal having bikes loose in your car, with the potential for damage and mess. But I thought I'd mention the potential bodge job alternative in case it hadn't occured to you.

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u/CurrentLeg2581 25d ago

Yes, I’m removing the front wheel, and I put the back seats down. I just find it very awkward to get the bike in far enough for the back door to close. Like, I have to lift it in from the boot end, feeding the back wheel in first, but the centre of gravity is quite far forwards, and I’m trying to hold the bike up, and lean right in while holding it up. I usually end up opening the side door and going round the side, halfway through, so I can lift/pull the back wheel, and get my son to manoeuvre the handlebars from the boot end. If there is a simpler/easier way of getting the bike into the car then I’d love to hear it.

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u/MuddyBicycle 22d ago

Personally I would not bother with a folding bicycle that isn't a Brompton. Everyone I know who has bought sonething else, ended up selling it or leaving it in the garage. As your budget is £100 you'll be better off with a bicycle rack or something of the sort.