A folding bicycle is a bicycle that folds for convenient storage and portability. There is a very broad range of folding bicycles on the market: some optimize folded size, some optimize weight, some optimize folding speed and convenience, and some optimize riding performance. The best products on the market are good on several of these important measures. The worst ones are good at none of them. The perfect folding bike would be one that rides as well as a quality full-size bike, folds in seconds, weighs less than 10 kilos (22 lbs.), and folds small enough to fit under a bus or train seat.

The bicycle is one of the greatest inventions ever, but traditional bicycles have some very significant disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that the traditional bicycle doesn't integrate well with other forms of transportation like trains, buses or cars. It means trips by bicycle are limited to very short distances - which in today's sprawling cities, means that only a very small percentage of total trips are possible by bicycle. Traditional bicycles also don't store well - how long do you think a nice bicycle would last chained outside in NY or Amsterdam while you run errands? And we all know how much space a traditional bicycle takes up if you store it in your apartment or bedroom. But with our folding bicycles, we've significantly extended the functionality of the bicycle because you can go anywhere you want, and your bike can go with you, whether you ride the entire way or go part of the way by bus, train, car, boat or plane. Following are some examples of how a Dahon Folding Bicycle can make life easier:

1. Hop on your Dahon bicycle and cruise down to the corner cafe for Sunday brunch instead of driving and spending fifteen minutes looking for parking. Your Dahon folds and stows away under your table while you eat so you don't have to worry about whether your bike will still be there when you finish.
2. Commute to work. Ride your Dahon to the train or bus station, fold it up, and stash it under your seat. When you reach your stop, unfold your Dahon and ride the rest of the way to work. You get a good workout and save on gas, road tolls, and parking as a bonus. If you head out for drinks after work, your Dahon easily folds to stash away in the trunk of your friend's car.
3. Take one on vacation. Many Dahon owners throw a couple of our bikes in the back of their car or RV and head off for a week of camping and touring. Exploring Europe by train and Dahon is a favorite with our customers and is a great way to meet people and visit smaller towns.
4. Take one to college. Dahon bicycles are perfect for crowded college campuses. The nimble handling and fast accelerating smaller wheels are ideal for weaving through the busy crowds on their way to class. And if it starts raining, it's easy to fold your Dahon and catch a car ride home with a friend. And because Dahon bicycles fold, you can keep yours safely indoors at night while everybody else worries about their bikes parked outside.
5. Hide a Dahon (or two) in your car. Parking can be impossible to find in many cities. With a Dahon, you can park a bit further away and ride the rest of the way to your destination. A Dahon in the trunk also makes excellent emergency transportation if you have car trouble.
6. Keep several Dahon's in your RV (camper). When you get to the campsite with the family, everybody will be equipped to explore. By keeping your bicycles inside your RV, you keep your bicycles safe from the weather and thieves.
7. Stow a Dahon on your boat. When you arrive in Sausalito or Mallorca on your next port of call, you'll have instant transportation. Dahon's fold to fit easily into the smallest boats and we even have special "Mariner" models designed specially for boaters.
8. Stash a Dahon in your private plane - when you touch down at a remote airport, it can be a long walk to the terminal. With a Dahon, cruising to the terminal is a breeze. And in town, you'll be fully mobile.

The answer is simple really: we make some of the world's best folding bicycles. After all, its no coincidence that we've been the world's leading manufacturer of folding bicycles for over twenty years. Its also a question of commitment, passion, and focus: we've been designing folding bikes with a single-minded focus for over twenty years. And while as a business we need to make a profit, our corporate mission is the promotion of cleaner forms of transportation. With few exceptions, other producers of folding bicycles are johnny-come-lately types who view the folding bicycle market as the latest profitable trend in the bike industry. They've jumped into the market with imitation bikes and naturally they've copied from the industry leader, Dahon. Over 95% of all folding bikes on the market use technology developed and pioneered by Dahon. It's similar to what we saw in recent years with the once ubiquitous scooter - manufacturers were falling all over themselves to pump out millions of imitation Razor scooters. But the result is that when greedy manufacturers jump into a new product sector without adequate R&D and testing, injuries, shoddy products, and product recalls are the result. Now that the scooter craze is over, those manufacturers have left the market and left consumers holding the bag. On the other hand, there are a handful of very good folding bicycles made by committed manufacturers like Brompton, Bike Friday, and Reise & Muller. If, after comparing our bicycles, you find that one of these company's bikes suit your requirements better, we won't feel disappointed - it still means one more person on a bicycle.

Yes. Everything starts with the frame and we use patented folding mechanisms and proprietary frame tubing to guarantee a strong and stiff platform. Our frames are among the stiffest in the industry. A patented manufacturing process ensures proper alignment. Geometry of the frame is also critical for proper handling and stability as well as efficient power transfer from the rider. Our full size bikes all feature standard frame geometry so you can't even tell that you're riding a portable bicycle. Our compact bikes (16" and 20" wheel sizes) feature our BioLogic frame geometry and deliver superb riding comfort and efficiency. Most of our small-wheeled bicycles feature Telescope stems and seat posts that deliver a perfect, custom fit for riders of all sizes. Finally, parts selection is critical. For instance, to make up for smaller wheel sizes, we either use a smaller rear cog or a larger chainwheel (or a combination of both) so that pedaling a Dahon is the same as pedaling a traditional bike. This seems pretty obvious but you'd be surprised at the number of folding bikes on the market that are geared improperly. This same attention to detail is used on each and every component that we use. Early folding bicycles, including our Dahon bikes, didn't ride as well as equivalent non-folding bikes, but over the last twenty years, we've worked obsessively to improve riding performance. We've tinkered with riding position, wheelbase, head angle, fork rake, components, frame materials and construction methods, all to improve the ride of our bicycles. But the proof is in the ride so take a test ride!

No. We adjust the gearing on every bicycle we make to function like a full-size bicycle so that you don't have to pedal any harder or faster. To do this, we use special oversized chainrings, smaller rear cogs, or a combination of both.

Yes and no. All test conditions being equal, a small wheel has a slightly higher rolling resistance than a larger wheel. But rolling resistance is only one element of "speed". Small wheels have several important performance advantages compared to larger wheels. First, small wheels accelerate faster due to a lower moment of inertia. Second, small wheels are more aerodynamic than larger wheels. Third, small wheels are lighter than larger wheels. In fact the world speed record for a bicycle ridden in an upright position was set twenty years ago on a bike with 18" wheels. And, most human-powered speed records on bicycles have been set on small-wheel recumbents.

Rock solid. We have an excellent safety record and we build all of our own frames and folding components in our own ISO 9001 factory. All of our bicycles exceed the rigorous strength and safety standards in the U.S., Japan, Germany, the UK and France. That's why we offer a five year warranty on our frames and folding mechanisms - upgradeable to lifetime if you send in your warranty card and have it serviced before riding! All of our designs undergo long hours of testing, redesign and re-testing. We use DoubleLok technology on all folding frames and parts, which makes our latches and locks virtually fail-safe when adjusted and used properly. Most importantly, we've been designing portable bikes for over twenty years, so we have a wealth of experience to draw on. On the other hand, there are some small factories in Asia that have recently jumped on the folding bicycle bandwagon and are churning out Dahon imitations. You should carefully evaluate bicycles from an unknown producer before electing to buy. Ask the seven following questions when evaluating a folding bicycle for safety:

1. Who made the bicycle? Does the manufacturer have a reputation for quality? Did they make it in their own factory or did they contract it out to someone else? How long have they been building folding bikes?
2. What kind of warranty does the bike come with? The longer the warranty, the more the manufacturer believes in their own product.
3. Is the frame rigid under normal pedaling loads? For a quick test, sit on the saddle, squeeze the brake levers, and twist the seat post and the handlebars in opposite directions to stress the frame. How stiff is the frame? A poorly made folding bike will flex alarmingly.
4. Is there any play in the folding mechanisms when they are locked in the closed position? A poorly made folding bike will wriggle around like a wet noodle even when the locking mechanisms are locked.
5. Are there double locks on the key folding parts? If not, is there a chance that these locks could come accidentally undone while riding?
6. Does the bicycle adjust to give you a comfortable riding position? Many low-cost folding bikes are not sized properly for taller adults. As a result, the handlebars may bang into your knees on tighter turns.
7. How does the bicycle handle - is the bike stable and the steering controlled? Many low cost folding bikes are designed by people who don't even ride bikes. Often there is little if any testing of the product. Remember that folding bike geometries need to be carefully tuned to deliver a stable ride. If you are buying from Dahon or the other quality producers who have been producing folding bikes for many years, you can buy with confidence; but if you don't know who produces the bike, "caveat emptor."

All of our 16" and 20" wheel size bicycles are rated for riders up to 230 lbs. (105 kg.) Our 26" bicycles are rated for riders up to 240 lbs. (110 kg.). In terms of riding position, our compact bicycles (16" and 20") are designed with Telescope seat posts for a customized fit. As a general rule, our 16" models are ideal for riders 4'6" - 6'2" tall, 20" models for riders from 4'10" - 6'4", and 26" models for riders from 5'4" - 6'2". These guidelines may vary slightly depending on your riding style and preferred riding position. Take a test ride - that is the best way to see if a bike meets your requirements.

Pretty compact. In each class (16", 20", 26") Dahon bicycles are among the most compact folding bicycles available. All models fold into a neat box shape without protruding parts, making them easy to transport and store. A Dahon 16" reduces to the size of a shoping bag that can fit under a bus seat or in an airline overhead luggage bin. A Dahon 20" is slightly bigger, but is still very compact. Believe it or not, you can fit two 16" and two 20" Dahon bikes into the trunk of most midsize cars. Dahon 26" models are by far the most compact 26" portable bicycles available - you can fit one with room to spare into the trunk of any standard compact car.

Very favorably. One of our primary design goals over the last twenty years has been to reduce the weight of our bicycles. After all, what use is a bike that you can fold but is too heavy carry? Our lightest model weighs only 17 lbs. (7.9 kg.) and our best selling bikes weigh about 26 lbs. - 27 lbs. (11 kg. - 12 kg.). To reduce the weight of our bicycles we use a variety of proprietary frame tubing and patented technologies like our ReBar™ frame technology that results in strong but light frames. We've also carefully studied every component on the bicycle to see where we can reduce weight without sacrificing safety or performance. For example, our proprietary seat posts are a mammoth 34mm in diameter because larger diameter tubes deliver better strength to weight ratios. On higher end models, we use carbon, titanium, magnesium, exotic aluminum alloys and state of the art manufacturing techniques to reduce weight wherever we can. Obsessive? Yes.

Dahon bikes are generally pretty easy to service. Except for the frame, fork and handlepost, most parts are standard and can be replaced by any quality bicycle dealer. If you have a problem with a frame or other component that isn't stocked by your dealer, the local Dahon distributor will stock replacement parts.

Our corporate mission is to promote the growth of clean transportation, so we price most of our bicycles within reach of the average consumer. We do however, also offer a few luxury models made of exotic materials and equipped with state-of-the-art components for our "enthusiast" customers. Parts specifications (and therefore price) will vary depending on the country.

When it comes to business, size does matter, and Dahon is the largest manufacturer of folding bikes in the world. Since we build in such a large scale, we are able to negotiate very good prices with our suppliers. We also keep our costs down through vertical integration: we manufacture all of our own frames and folding components starting from raw tubes and sheets of metal. We also assemble most of our bikes in our own factories. With the exception of Brompton and Bike Friday, most of the other folding bike brands don't even make their own bikes - they just contract them out to a giant OEM bike factories that supply bikes to many other brands. Building in small volumes and through contract manufacturing drives up costs. We're happy that our bikes offer the best combination of price and performance in the industry and we plan to keep it that way.

A Mini Bike is a full-performance and full-featured bicycle designed around small wheels. Mini Bike frames do not fold. Small wheels make Mini Bikes super portable and easy to store. Small wheels mean faster acceleration and more agile handling - just what you need for riding in crowded cities. Designing a bike with small wheels also solves many of the design compromises that have to be made when designing a bike with 700c wheels for smaller riders. A Dahon Mini Bike packs flat in less than 30 seconds, small enough to slide under a bus seat or even hang in a closet. Try that with a full size bike.

In the U.S. our bikes are sold in hundreds of bicycle shops around the country. Visit your local dealer and check for availability. If they don't stock Dahon, have them give us a call and make a special order. If we have the model you want in stock, we will ship it within 48 hours. Dahon bicycles are also sold in select boat and RV stores. You should note that not all models are available in the U.S. Internationally, you'll find our bicycles available in over thirty countries. Again, check with your local stores for availability. If you have trouble finding our bicycles, get in touch with us by email and let us know what model you are interested in. We'll let you know where you can find one. Again, not all models may be available in your country.