Folding bikes can be really useful, and really cool. However, most of them have smaller than usual wheels, which means that they are more responsive when you ride them and they are a bit odd looking. People tend to give you funny looks and ask a lot of questions when you ride a bike like this. However, there is a folding bike with regular size 26 inch wheels. This is the Dahon Jack.
The large 26 inch wheels would be considered a good thing by many riders of the Dahon Jack. However, having larger wheels does mean that this bike does not fold up quite as small as some of the other folding bikes on the market. This is understandable since the wheels are a lot larger than those on many of the bikes available. It does still save a lot of space when you fold this bike up though, and it ends up being about the size of a large suitcase. It is probably too big to fit in most overhead luggage racks, but it is definitely easier to store and carry around than a regular bike.
Even though the Dahon Jack is a regular size bike, it is still pretty light to carry due to the specially made frame. It weighs in at about 12.9 kg, which isn’t too bad. And if you don’t want to carry it, you can also wheel it around when it is folded, so you don’t have to. The main problem with carrying it is more the size than the weight so rolling is a good solution for this.
This bike also folds up really quickly. If you want to go all out and fold it as small as possible, you need to remove a few things and it will take about 30 seconds to fold the bike. However, you can also just fold it in half in about five seconds and that will be enough for some people, especially if you just want to put it in the boot of your car.
The Dahon Jack only has one gear rack and seven speeds, but this will work out fine for most types of riding. Steep hills are a bit difficult to do on this bike, so you wouldn’t want to use it for a lot of hilly rides or mountain biking. Also, although the tyres absorb some of the shock, most of the rest of the shocks will be felt, so you probably don’t want to be taking any seriously bumpy rides. Overall it is a great city bike though.
