Is the Carrera Intercity Disc 9 a significantly better ride than the Disc 8?

[bonzobanana]

They do a version over this way for around 130 quids
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Looks a nice enough bike but its a low end Sensah drivetrain with what appears to be a freewheel. So the drivetrain is more entry level. It does have hydraulic disc brakes though which is good. Also often bikes sold in Asia have lower weight limits, bikes tend to get a bit of extra reinforcing when sold in Europe and the US. The Halfords folding bikes would likely be a fair bit stronger. Also sales tax, import tax and tariffs may also be factors in European and UK pricing. We do get a lot of similar folding bikes on ebay for sub £200 but those folding bikes typically have mechanical disc brakes not hydraulic. To upgrade such a bike to hydraulic disc brakes is probably at least £40 although you might be able to sell on the existing mechanical disc brake set to offset some of this price.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355622243654

There is a basic hydraulic set here which could be similar to fitted to that folding bike and they are currently about £26 delivered when you use the 10% off code on the page.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0DFH7B9ZX

We do get occasional good offers over here like this £245 20" folding ebike with disc brakes.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1267677?clickPR=plp:6:5

Out of stock now but there was also a £10 mailing list voucher going to bring it down to £235 with a further £6.95 on top for delivery. You could also get some cashback.

 

[Drago]

The Polygon Urbano is the same as the Disc 9, identical other than the snazzier paint jobs. It's Malaysian made I think and available in the far eastern markets.

 

[FrankCrank]

Looks a nice enough bike but its a low end Sensah drivetrain with what appears to be a freewheel. So the drivetrain is more entry level. It does have hydraulic disc brakes though which is good. Also often bikes sold in Asia have lower weight limits, bikes tend to get a bit of extra reinforcing when sold in Europe and the US. The Halfords folding bikes would likely be a fair bit stronger. Also sales tax, import tax and tariffs may also be factors in European and UK pricing. We do get a lot of similar folding bikes on ebay for sub £200 but those folding bikes typically have mechanical disc brakes not hydraulic. To upgrade such a bike to hydraulic disc brakes is probably at least £40 although you might be able to sell on the existing mechanical disc brake set to offset some of this price.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355622243654

There is a basic hydraulic set here which could be similar to fitted to that folding bike and they are currently about £26 delivered when you use the 10% off code on the page.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0DFH7B9ZX

We do get occasional good offers over here like this £245 20" folding ebike with disc brakes.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/1267677?clickPR=plp:6:5

Out of stock now but there was also a £10 mailing list voucher going to bring it down to £235 with a further £6.95 on top for delivery. You could also get some cashback.

Yep, I was forgetting the weight difference here - makes sense to strengthen up the EU spec bikes for the extra tonnage.

Pretty sure Dahon sit behind the manufature/assembly of these many rebadged clones, and build according to their intended audience.

 

[bonzobanana]

Yep, I was forgetting the weight difference here - makes sense to strengthen up the EU spec bikes for the extra tonnage.

Pretty sure Dahon sit behind the manufature/assembly of these many rebadged clones, and build according to their intended audience.

Extremely unlikely to be Dahon, they are a western brand that mainly buys from manufacturers and imports them into other markets. Yes they do have a mainly assembly plant in China but European Dahons for example are mainly assembled by Max.com in Bulgaria from kits mainly from factories like fuji-ta. It's extremely unlikely Dahon has anything to do with these budget folding bikes.

 

[FrankCrank]

Similar, but the frame is different.

The differences between the D9 and the one I linked must be very subtle, at a glance you'd think they were the same.

 

[Drago]

The silhouette is certainly very close, but the manner in which the rear seat stays meet the main frame spar are very different. Visually quite similar, but not the same frame.

 

[bonzobanana]

The Polygon Urbano is the same as the Disc 9, identical other than the snazzier paint jobs. It's Malaysian made I think and available in the far eastern markets.

I see what you mean its an identical bike and must be the same. Polygon is a brand of Insera Sena of Indonesia and they supply many of the Carrera, Voodoo and some Boardman bikes I believe so no surprise Halfords are rebranding the Urbano. Insera Sena are a manufacturer for the brands Saracen, Scott, Kona as well as many others and Go Outdoors use them a lot for their Calibre brand. I'm sure there are other bike manufacturers in Indonesia but I remember in the past they had something ridiculously high like 92% of Indonesian bike exports so if you have a bike made in Indonesia its likely to be Insera Sena. Polygon is their own brand but they have also bought the Marin brand now and have owned that I think for at least 3 years possibly more. That isn't to to say all Marin bikes are made by Insera Sena as I think some high end bikes may still be made by higher end factories elsewhere but I suspect almost all Marin bikes are made by Insera Sena. Insera Sena are rated on the same level as the more advanced bike factories in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and mainland China and seen as a cut above the slightly inferior quality of bikes from places like Bangladesh which tend to use more cheap labour rather than advanced manufacturing equipment. If it is Malaysian made I assume now Insera Sena has a factory in Malaysia as they are pretty close to Indonesia. I was always curious about this folding bike source as it didn't match up to the fuji-ta models in design very well. It has a more vertical shape to it rather than the classic fuji-ta shape of the original intercity.

 

[Drago]

Aye lad, even the tyres are the same as the ID9.

https://www.polygonbikes.com/urbano/

Aside from the pink highlights the blue one is perilously close to the ID9 colours.

 

[FrankCrank]

Hey Mr Bonzobanana, could I trouble you for an opinion on this one

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/tiger-metro-20-shimano-7-i4829417277-s20119779078.html?

Looks to be a near copy of the Dahon Boardwalk, and the components seem decent to me. On the newer Boardwalk, they've added a Deltech brace, which allows a longer frame warranty, and I presume this was brought about by the non-asian heavier clientele.

 

[PedallingNowhereSlowly]

I've finally rejuvinated my Intercity "Vee-brake" 8.
Well almost.

Has anyone fettled the headset on these things?
Otherwise, the £50 bargain has scrubbed up well.