Folding bikes
A folding bike is simply a bike which can be folded up for storage purposes. They are very popular with commuters who may travel part of their journey on bike and part on the train or bus. Folding bikes are also great for people who lack the storage facility to keep a full sized bike at home or in the flat. Many people like to buy a couple of folding bikes to take on holiday when they go camping as they take up less space.
A typical folding bike has 20-inch wheels with a small frame that has a long adjustable, sometimes telescopic, seatpost and handlebars. To fold them the frame normally folds in half with the seatpost and handlebars being lowered. Some of the more expensive models tend to have more details and gadget type features to aid the speed of folding or to reduce weight. The average folding bike is ideal for short to medium length commutes (up to about 10 miles).
To reduce the folding size and overall weight some manufacturers have reduced the wheel size to as small as 6 inches in some cases but this obviously has an effect on ride quality. On the other hand some companies have taken full sized bikes and split them in two so they will fit into a suitcase when you travel abroad.
Examples of folding bikes are Raleigh Parkway, Dahon Matrix or top of the range Dahon Fuego folding mountain bike. Prices start from around £160 to well over £1500.
