Folding v "normal" bike for commuting?

[Albrey]

I'm thinking of using a bike for commuting a couple days a week - 5 mile journey each way in London.
I'm attracted to a folding bike purely because I don't have much storage space at home, and I can also take it inside at work.

Would you say these advantages outweight the disadvantages - the alternative would be a cheapish hybrid <£500.

I've never actually ridden a folding bike with 20" wheels so I don't know how riding one compares to a 'normal' one. - I did have a go on a Santander bike this week and got on fine with it.

 

[tinywheels]

there's only one folding bike, everything else is a pale imitation.

 

[HarryTheDog]

I have commuted into work including London for many years. A big consideration is the security of your bike. I have been lucky in that everwhere I worked had private secure parking for bikes beyond secuity gates not open to the public. 5 miles a couple of times a week you could do on virtually any bike so a foldable is a good option as you can take it inside work.

 

[Cycleops]

Unless you've got a kidney to spare a 20" folder would probably work quite well for you. The experience isn't that different to a regular bike.
Don't buy new, many people buy a folder and hardly use it so plenty of bargains on Gumtree and eBay so check there first.

 

[stewpot]

A folding bike is ideal for commuting in London, just stand outside Victoria Station any work morning and you'll see them streaming out. As you say being able to take it into the office is a big plus along with the space saving aspects. For years Brompton were THE folder but train/bike commuting is so popular now that other manufactuers have caught on.

The B'Twin Tilt 500 is less than £500 and seems to be held in high regard

 

[All uphill]

Unless you've got a kidney to spare a 20" folder would probably work quite well for you. The experience isn't that different to a regular bike.
Don't buy new, many people buy a folder and hardly use it so plenty of bargains on Gumtree and eBay so check there first.

I've noticed a few 20" wheel folding bikes turning up on Gumtree recently for reasonable prices.

If you can find one that has had little use and have it serviced you should be good for commuting for under £200.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I would agree that security is the main advantage of a folder for commuting unless there is a good place to lock it up at work

The ability to fold it up and shove it under your desk it a big plus point - assuming that doing that is possible where and how you work.

The problem, so I've heard, with cheap folders is that they are not always brilliantly made and so can get a bit 'loose' after time
Which is why "that make" became so popular - they were well made and light

However, if you can get a good cheap folder froma half decent company second hand then you could go for it without too much of an outlay

 

[tinywheels]

jeez this cheap vrs brompton thing is done to death.
buy a btwin or a similar product if your skint and really need a folding bike.
or if really really skint,get a clunker from your local dump,they start at 10 quid here.
use your common sense, it's not rocket science.
no one nicks a crap looking bike so go for a scrapper.
I left one at tonbridge Station for years,then I started to work further from London Bridge and went back to a brompton.
do some creative thinking, there's always a solution.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I'm thinking of using a bike for commuting a couple days a week - 5 mile journey each way in London.
I'm attracted to a folding bike purely because I don't have much storage space at home, and I can also take it inside at work.

Would you say these advantages outweight the disadvantages - the alternative would be a cheapish hybrid <£500.

I've never actually ridden a folding bike with 20" wheels so I don't know how riding one compares to a 'normal' one. - I did have a go on a Santander bike this week and got on fine with it.

5 miles, folding bike is fine plus storing made easy, bring into a pub when you feel like it, or on a tube, when it buckets down.

 

[T4tomo]

I'm thinking of using a bike for commuting a couple days a week - 5 mile journey each way in London.
I'm attracted to a folding bike purely because I don't have much storage space at home, and I can also take it inside at work.

Would you say these advantages outweight the disadvantages - the alternative would be a cheapish hybrid <£500.

I've never actually ridden a folding bike with 20" wheels so I don't know how riding one compares to a 'normal' one. - I did have a go on a Santander bike this week and got on fine with it.

if you don't have a train journey involved then you don't need to pay a premium for a brompton.

I used to do a bike train bike and initially used a brompton, with the primary reason (for a folder) being it could sit under desk at work, where a full sized would have had to be parked on the street.

several years later, the then office had secure pass-accessed bike storage, so for the london leg I bought a cheap used single speed , left it locked up at Euston (on the platform parking that no longer exists) and used that/this:.

The single speed was a marginally better ride I guess, but both methods work. If you have limited storage at home a used 20" folder will work very well for you.

 

[steveindenmark]

Do not buy a Brompton in London . For a 5 mile commute a cheap Halfords commuter will do the job.

Riding a Brompton in London is like riding with a target on your back these days.

 

[EltonFrog]

If you really want a folder, you can get one of these for somewhere between free and 50 quid, a Dawes Kingpin, cheap as chips and not worth stealing, reliable and easy to maintain.

If you want new, get one of the Decathlon folders, 20” wheels again, like the above, nice to ride. About 180 sovs. Nearly got one of these myself ’cos they are nice to ride, got a Brompton in the end be of the fold.

The Brompton undoubtedly has a better fold, but is very spendy and extremely nickable ( with menaces by some accounts).

If I was only doing a five mile commute I’d get the Kingpin.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Double check that you actually can take it inside at work. I know of more than one place where folding bikes are just classed as bikes - not permitted in office space and have to go in the bike storage area with their big wheeled cousins.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Riding a Brompton in London is like riding with a target on your back these days.

When was the last time you were in London for any extended period, and would it class as "these days"?

 

[Albrey]

I think I've narrowed it down to one of these:

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/20-inch-folding-bike-btwin-500/_/R-p-120070?mc=8500544&c=BLUE_MAUVE

https://www.halfords.com/bikes/fold...P4dbukRcfowgxQlp5RepEWO2AAIWU6jIaAgHZEALw_wcB

Tried second hand, but not found the right thing in the right place..