I don’t want to look like I’m from Portland.
<------ Brompton owner, no regrets.
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Non-folders are notoriously picked apart by the business travel community. 
I don’t think we’re so much into folders because we dig them as because it’s the most reasonable compromise. I’d be delighted to take my regular bike with me if someone would agree to mount it on my car so I don’t get dirt on my suit, take it apart and pack it at the counter for me so I don’t get grease all over, unpack it and put it together when I arrive, and do it all again when I come home. This is all easy with my folder. Sure, the small wheels make for rough riding, and it’s heavy for its size, but it works. I love having it.
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David Byrne rides a Montague.
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He didn’t want to look like he was from Portland, so you show him a unicycle driving all over my old neighborhood – in Portland.
That’ll show him.
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I had 20" wheels build on Shimano hubs, the front being a shimano dyno hub sourced form a Brompton dealer in the UK as it is a nonstandard 70mm width. Since I hate dealing with flats I stick with Schwable big apple or marathon tires, I think my 2006 D7 came with Kenda Kwest tires which I had to patch at least once a month vs every six months for schwable. A very important upgrade is a new crank with metal skip guards since the plastic ones tend to break and there is no dérailleur to keep the chain on front. The plastic pedals will only last a few K-kilometers so I replaced them with alloy folding pedals though I have attached my SPD click-in shoe pedals a few times.
The seatpost is pretty cool as it is a full size pump inside, replaced the front Al fork with a Dahon Fe fork.
Front/rear racks, fenders, Brooks saddle, dyno to USB electrical system, dyno front and rear lights…
I do a bike+train commute and one other bike rider I see has a folding bike with a belt drive. I was sceptical of belt drive bikes until I bought an avanti inc 3. Now I am not going back to chains and dérailleurs. For a bike which is intended to be portable, I think its better to have as much mechanical stuff as possible inside the hub, and to not have it drip oily water.
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Well yeah the roads must roll.
I used to take a unicycle on the train to university every morning. It was cheaper and easier to collapse than a folding bike, but you use a huge amount of energy to go anything like the same speed. If you want to go faster, you either lose the benefit of the small size or have to spend a fortune on hub gears. I had a 26" wheel, which was about the best compromise I could find.
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I love my Columba (not a misprint) folder - 26" wheels and super cheap at $229. Yes, not as light nor as compact and fast to fold as a Dahon, but the price and big wheels make up for it. Customer service was pleasant and very responsive. And if it gets ripped off I’m only half as sad.
A friend of mine cycled Lands End to John O’Groats a few years ago. I think he took a little under two weeks - he met some people who were unicycling it in about a week. I think they had those hub gear setups.
I think it must have been these people:
I have this, which is interesting
http://www.strida.com/en/main/
Belt drive, unicycle style fold, disc brakes.
Would not want to ride more than 10 miles on it though. Very small tires!
Yeah, what are those, 12"
sounds like you did it up proper!
I have looked at those ultra compact Strida bikes with interest, but last I looked $US600-2000 was a bit much for such a simple/limited bike when I already have the Dahon mod which already fits in a plane/bus/car/train/apartment.
I used the Dahon D7 to ride from home to the train station everyday. It’s quite a good bike, but it didn’t take the cobbled streets of Madrid well. All the vibrations loosened the screws and twice I had the frame hinge open mid-ride. Pretty scary but in both cases I could brake safely. I used thread locker on all the screws and it held more or less. Now I’ve changed the commute and no more biking for me!
I believe the biggest point of folders is ‘intermodal’ travel or commute: when part of your trip includes planes, trains and automobiles (so to speak) your standard lighter-but-larger bike may not be the best choice. Same thing for stowing in a RV, boat, etc. for vacation use.
And I’m guessing being able to bring the bike inside instead of locking it up in the mean streets does wonders for not-having-it-stolen-ability. A Japanese-style minivelo might be small enough for that with less of a weight penalty, if you don’t mind the goofy look.
How fast can you get it going? I know that the belt limits the radius of the rear cog, reducing the drive ratio further.
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