Decathlon B'TWIN Hoptown 320 Folding Bike

[Julia9054]

Thinking of buying a cheap folder for occasional trips around York. Looks good value for £179. Anyone got one? What are they like?

 

[SpuddyJones]

I've been looking at these too so will be interested to see if anyone has owned one.

Edit: Just seen this https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/decathlon-or-other-cheaper-folders.117328/

 

[Julia9054]

Thanks @SpuddyJones . Have just read through the thread and it seems to get good reviews. I am potentially looking at a lot of hospital appointments and thought that using park and ride and cycling the 2.5 miles to the hospital might be a good option for keeping me sane!

 

[Racing roadkill]

The hinges are a bit flexible, cornering can be 'interesting' but if you want a budget folder, they are pretty good.

 

[e-rider]

I'm looking at buying a folder but my budget is around £500 so I haven't considered a BTWIN. I note though tha the cost is £180 - during my search I've seen many bikes from Dahon and Tern at just over £300 on Jan sale right now - I'm thinking that could be £120 extra well spent?

 

[chriscross1966]

There's a guy who uses the same bus route as me with a BTWIN who I see if I catch a slightly earlier bus than usual. We get off at the same stop so I get to see him unfold it... If I wait a while... It's very clumsy when folded cos nothing locks it shut. His POV is that if it lasts him 2 years he'll have saved up enough for a decent S/H Brompton...

 

[kingrollo]

I just brought a tern link n8 - it cost me just over £400 from evans. After about 30 minutes practice I am folding/unfolding in around 30 seconds. I work at hospital and the parking and traffic close to hospital is a nightmare. I plan on parking up about 10 minutrs cycle ride away.
The term IMO wouldn't be good to hump on a bus - but it fits in the boot of the car which is all i need. 20" wheels make for quite a swift ride.
Money spent IMO depends on how often you are folding. If youre humping the thing on and off buses it would have to be a brompton - as folding/unfolding is what they do best.

 

[mjr]

There's a guy who uses the same bus route as me with a BTWIN

Any idea which one? There have been a few with quite different designs - I assume different makers behind a rebranding.

It's very clumsy when folded cos nothing locks it shut

Really? Usually there's some strap or hook supplied with designs that don't lock shut, but of course few people actually use that in practice and rely on picking it up or pushing it in carefully so that it doesn't flap open.

 

[Drago]

Isn't the hoptown essentially a rebranded Dahon Express?

 

[mjr]

Isn't the hoptown essentially a rebranded Dahon Express?

Got pics? The Hoptown 300 does look most a Dahon, but I've not seen anything exactly like it and the Express I found seemed to be from the late 1990s, so I'd be surprised.

 

[Drago]

I don't I'm afraid. When I could be bothered to work for a living a colleague bought a Hoptown and I recall them saying about the Dahon.

 

[MarkF]

Is this a new bike or a re-named model?

My exerience of B'Twin's is limited to Spain, that's because every bike hire place is full of them (good sign?) and nowadays I don't even bother taking a bike unless it's for a 2 week+ long jaunt. I hired something very similar in Valencia last year, to me it looks the same bike, but it wasn't called Hoptown. It was lighter than my Dahon 7 and flexed more, but I used it every day for a week, upwards of 50 miles some days and without any issues, never once wishing that I was on a "better" folder, it's hard to believe you can buy such a thing for a measly £129!

 

[chriscross1966]

Got pics? The Hoptown 300 does look most a Dahon, but I've not seen anything exactly like it and the Express I found seemed to be from the late 1990s, so I'd be surprised.

I wouldn't be, Dahon has previous form for badge-engineering obsolete models out on other company names, problem is the tooling will be getting old and its been taken to the cheapest place they can find to build it...

 

[TheDoctor]

I've got one - bought it from @User of this parish. It's a perfectly good budget folder, with 6 gears and brakes that work OK.
In terms of folded size it's no Brompton, but it's fine for short rides.

 

[Sara_H]

We have an old Hoptown which is a rebadged Dahon. It's been ok, but it folds up big, OH has been refused entry on to the bus with it a couple of times. It seems to require a lot of maintenance.
I wouldn't buy another one, but it hasn't been the worst bike ever.