My new ride III: Dahon Curve D3

This is a new Dahon Curve D3 folding bicycle. It comes with 3-speeds via a Sturmey-Archer 3 hub, 16-inch Schwalbe Big Apple tires, and an integrated BioLogic™ Zorin PostPump seatpost pump. Yes, the seatpost is an air pump.

I added a Cat Eye HL-EL135 light for the handlebar, and a Cat Eye TL-LD 600 rear red blinker to the seatpost.

It is for my wife to ride on weekends. But I took it to the office for a spin. Despite the smaller wheels, I took about the same amount of time to ride to work. In fact, the ride was more fun. It is a very agile little bike.

The three gears are adequate for city riding, although sometimes I wished they had a few more gears, especially on steeper inclines. While it is no speed demon, the bike is a lot more agile than my mountain bike, which is a plus in city environments and heavy traffic.

The bike folds to a compact 34x60x65 cm size. Folding it takes me about 30 seconds. Weight is about 11.4 kg (25.1 lbs). It is not entirely light but you shouldn't be carrying it around a lot anyway. I reckon a bag may be a more useful way of lugging it onto the MRT, which is what a foldie is good for.

Or you could get some of the lighter models, heheh. There is an SL version of the Curve which weighs less than 10kg (21.8 lbs) but it costs more and I don't think it is available here (too bad, it has a 5-speed hub, which would be cool).

Then there is the magnesium Dahon Mu XXV, a limited edition bike, to mark their 25th anniversary. Only 250 will be made, and it weighs in at 7.5kg (16.61lb) and purportedly the lightest foldie in the world. Expected price is €2500. Ouch.

I heard of someone who brought his Dahon foldie down to below 6kg. but it required some crazy upgrading. The carbon fibre components and other lighter parts he bought ended up costing more than the already expensive high-end model he bought. But hey, most people spend more than that kind of money on zhnging their cars, so it isn't so crazy.

The rest of us will make do with the entry-level and midrange sub-11-to-14kg models, I reckon.

A bike like the Curve would be ideal for going to work with, especially if you don't live next to an MRT station like us. Feeder buses suck, and they charge too much. Then there is the wait. Foldies let you do the distances which are too far to walk but too much trouble to take a bus for. And the added bonus is that you never worry about leaving your bike locked outside your office building or at the station. You just carry it in and leave it next to your desk.

And if you rains, or you have a flat, or you feel tired, you have the option of jumping into a cab instead of pedaling in the rain. And there are so many brands to choose from, like Dahon, JZ88, Strida, Birdy, Downtube and Brompton.

Too bad I only had one with me when the wife and I met for a movie one night. You have to fight like mad to find a cab on Orchard Road at 9.30pm. Most cabs are changing shift or just taking call bookings. The area around Wheelock Place and Shaw Centre, where we were, was full of people trying get cabs.

We finally got a cab from the Orchard Towers area, where the nightclubs and the, erm, foreign talent, were. I just folded the bike and chucked it into the cab's boot.

It would have been fun to just get on the bike, cycle to Dhoby Ghaut station, and jump on the North-East Line right away. Don't even need to change trains from the North-South Line (which we would have had to do if we had boarded the train from Orchard station). Just cycle straight to the Dhoby Ghaut NE station, dismount, fold bike, get on train, reach our station, and then cycle again from our station to our home, without waiting for the overpriced and takes-forever-to-arrive feeder bus.

That would mean get a second foldie... hmm.

The strange thing about riding often is, you start to find rising fuel prices and ERP hikes less bothersome. Sure the car is still handy but if you don't depend on it as much, you don't get affected by ever-rising cost of car ownership in Singapore. Nor are you so bothered by the bloody spotty and overcrowded bus system too. Just use the trains, they are more comfortable anyway. When the Circle Line is completed, there will be even more coverage (WHEN it is finally finished, whenever that will be).

And a comprehensive network of park connectors and a bike lane system will be nice too.

Foldies rule!