sturdy and solid, great looking, good to ride and very useful
Disadvantages:
doesn't quite fold up as small as a Brompton
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I own this bike, and its cool. Its the sort of bike that you can ride on down a cycle path through a bunch of kids on BMX's and Mountain bikes, and they do not mock you. This is a folding bike that isn't to be mocked by children.
In fact when mine is unfolded the handle bars and seat post are often higher than my mountain bike, I have always had the problem of never having a bike big enough for my needs, but this one I can actually ride on properley, no more cramped posture, this is a bike that actually fits me, and i'm only 6ft 2.
How does this bike compare to something like a Brompton? Well you are in luck, because I used to ride a Brompton to work before I got this bad boy! The Brompton is significantly smaller, roughly about two thirds of the size of the P8 unfolded, but then, its slightly easier to take on trains, I've even had the Brompton on the underground in rush hour with no real problems. The P8 folds well, but its it not nearly as compact, or as stable as the Brompton in its folded form, The P8 is strongly reliant on the seat post to maintain one of its 3 points of ground contact, and I have found this to be a tiny bit unstable when free standing on a train. The Brompton was a dream to throw into a space in the luggage rack, or between seats, with the P8, its usually best if you can get to the luggage space first, other peoples luggage fits better round it. It also doesn't slide under the baggage holder rack as smoothly, which is a pain if people are pushing behind you to get on.
However, the P8 can take a knock, sometimes, for whatever reason people walk in the cycle path, and you might be tempted to take the bike onto the road down the kerb, on the Brompton this is dangerous (the rear wheel folds if lifted from the ground) or worse damaging, I fear I am no spring chicken, around the upper weight limit for the Brompton, taking the bike of the kerb on to the ground is a juddering whack that isn't done lightly. I have found the Dahon to be a sturdier bike in this respect, the solid frame with the central connection has meant that I don't mind going round people on the path. I have even embraced the inner child and carried out a few jumps on my beauty, shes a little unstable at the front so landing properly is important but she takes a jump well, I haven't dared ride without holding the handle bars yet, but shes steady as a rock even on rougher ground.
The P8 has 8 gears, in a twist shift changing mechanism, I find myself around 6 most of the time, but when I want to put a burn on 8 is awesome, and I have found myself overtaking racers a few times. In fact, a speedier racer pulled along side me about 3 weeks ago to tell me she was impressed by the speed I was getting out of her (sure she left me for dust after she had said that, but I took it as a compliment) The P8 is faster than my mountain bike, and matches the Brompton for a good burn. One of my concerns switching from the Brompton was the added bonus of having a lightweight bike on a hill climb, I have actually found it easier to climb the same hill (in any gear) on the P8. The Dahon is a little bit heavier than the Brompton but this is barely noticable.
The Brompton brakes have always been a little easy, I liken it to driving an older car before ABS, sure they will stop you, but you should start planning when you want to stop. The Dahon breaks are awesome, capable of being operated with a single finger and reassuringly solid in their breaking capacity. My only concern would be that once fell of the bike (on a steep kerb!) and knocked my breaks and had to re-adjust them before I could ride on, even this was relatively simple, and the breaking system is beautiful.
The P8 actually folds faster than the Brompton in my opinion, its fairly important to get the pedals in the right place for both bikes, but I can be unfolded and cycling off in around twenty seconds on the P8, whilst I would usually look for around 30-35 seconds for the Brompton. Though they take roughly the same amount of time to fold down into folded mode.
In summary, I love this bike, its solid, has a good range of gears, can take a knock or two, and is a more appropriate size for the taller gentleman. Its downsides are a slightly larger package on the train, but nothing that isn't managable. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone.
More details
Price
£329-399
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