DAHON K3 Plus: Competing against the P Line?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 มิ.ย. 2024
- Does the 16” wheel Dahon K3 Plus have what it takes to compete against the P Line?
NOTE: The new introduced model has some improvements over the one presented here (including inside fold and telescopic stem)
00:00 Introduction
00:23 Unboxing
00:34 Geometry
01:54 Gearing
02:40 Brakes
03:19 Tires
03:50 Foldability
04:41 Luggage
05:00 Maintenance
05:46 Conclusion
Copyrights
Video by 거열 박 from Pexels [People walking in a busy street at Hongdae]
Video by Brompton Bicycles [P Line: • P Line. Performance. T... ]
Videos by wowfactorfilms from Pixabay [Porsche Speedster Convertible]
#brompton #2bikes4adventure #dahon
![Downhill with a Brompton [safely]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LFZT9NaxLxA/mqdefault.jpg)
There isn’t a better channel that reviews foldies such as this one. The graphics and the presentation is second to none. 👍🏼
Great review, as always. Many thanks.😊
Another fabulous review, Pam and Gilbert - thank you!
What an informative review! Thanks 😉
Dahon k3 plus is my target! ❤️
Super cool review, thanks!
What an amazing review
I bought this last week -. Thanks for useful info 🙂
Enjoy your new bike!
Thank you for a complete and accurate review!
Great review.
the best k3plus review online 👍👍👍
Not too many online reviews about the K3Plus.
This is a really good review considering you were given the bike. You still called out their dd pricing structure.
Great review! The new k3 plus (2022) also leaves more space between front wheel and fork so you can easily upgrade the wheelset from 305 to 349.
Thanks for the info. This is excellent news. It seems North America still has some of the older model in stock (ex.: outside fold)
It is not clear to me that ISO349 wheels are an upgrade. More like a side grade or different flavor. You'll find that many 305 bikes and framesets come with sufficient clearance for such a side grade.
@@chacmool2581 349 allows access to a lot of performance oriented tires available to Bromptons
Thanks for implement my recommendation to compare to K3 plus. If they would extend the wheelbase about 15cm, It could be the ultimate folding city bike.
Cheers.
It looks cool, I'll give it that.
Great video and review. I have k3 plus and surprised that the USD price was almost tripled compared here in the Philippines. it will not beat the trifold feature of brompton but k3 plus is a fast 16" folding bike and it's also an uphill machine. The only problem was tire selection if you want to change/replace your tires, you also need to upgrade the stock fork to have a wider selection of tires (305 and 349). Looking forward for more reviews.
Second and third generations can now work with 349 wheels out of the box. Dahon are even now offering 349 special versions
And I have gone down a long steep serpentine road on my "Superlight Brompton", with frequent Cattle prevention bars across the road, so I had to make a full stop each time! And my Brompton brakes never let me down, though I had some fears in the beginning!
Great overview very interesting.. I still love my Brompton c line.. and if I were to upgrade it would be to a p line all day 👍🚴🤩🤩
@n22pdf, hope your wish come true and you get your P Line one day
Good to see many of the scenes were shot in Montreal. ALso, Dumoulin is a decent shop. Visited there last summer.
Ils ont une bonne sélection de Bromptons.
@mas465190 En effet, nous y avons acheté nos deux M6R.
Dumoulin nous ont aussi assisté à quelques occasions lors de la production de certains de nos vidéos.
yes, now many choices of 349 wheels , such as SILVEROCK, the tyres for brompton ,K3 plus also can use now
Finally! A folding bike that is honest about how I am probably too heavy and too tall to be comfortable on it! I’m 6 foot in nearly 200 lb. I have tried and not every folding bike is suitable for my bodytype
The K3 Plus would indeed be somewhat cramp a 6’+ rider.
Get a Tern verge X11 or P10 if you cant afford that. 451 wheel set. Will accomodate your height nicely. Great hill climbers too..
@@fender1000100 I ended up getting a brompton in the end which works just fine in complement to my big bike
Thanks for a great and comprehensive review! Personally I’d probably buy a used brompton or the lowest cost one if I were commuting. It’s a lot easier to push around, get groceries or carry cargo with the brompton bags even folded. Dahon is great, but nothing beats the trifold for intermodal switching. Now I hope you can review the Curl ei4 which I’d consider the direct competition for the electric brompton!
Also love that you guys are in the Montreal area because I can see exactly how the bike performs in the metro. I’m not sure I’d like to haul the Dahon around Bonaventure or Square Victoria (yikes!) 😊
Good deals can be had buying used folding bikes.
Our first Dahons (3), Birdys (2) and Bromptons (2) were purchased 2nd hand. Just need to keep your eyes open (we had to drive to Toronto, Trois-Rivière et Québec to buy some of them).
Looking forward to see the Curl ei4 in North America (probably not a used one).
A Brompton is at least 3 times the price, at least it was when I lookend. It is for sure better, but this one is fine.
Great and details review...I have both Brompton m6r and dahon k3 plus.i preferred Dahon after a year of using both simply because of road conditions in my country. I face a great challenge to fix a puncture Brompton tyre at road side.otherwise Brompton is giving me better ride quality with longer travel distance.😊
If we could fit slightly wider tyres on the Brompton (like Schwalbe Big Apple) it would make a difference in comfort.
Thanks for the great review! Do you happen to know what is the stock length of K3 Plus' stem? I was thinking of upgrading it to a longer stem if needed.
@cherrylollipop5455, From the middle of the handlebar to the bottom hinge, ours is about 38cm. Note the new K3 Plus now has a telescopic stem (it also folds inside instead of outside), two significant advantages over the model we reviewed.
Amazing review! Could you please let us know how does the bike roll when it is folded, is it easy to push or pull like a suitcase or trolley?
@chaindrums The K3 Plus doesn’t have a “trolley mode” such as the one be found on Brompton or Tern BYB.
However, with some practice, it is possible to roll it on the rear wheel when folded (pushing with the seat post up). More a hack than a feature.
Proper gearing and a light Bike 21lbs for less that £1000. Amazing. Beats the Pline which costs more than twice as much.
I bought one about a year ago, used it quite a few times and I really like it. It rides very nicely, is not very slow and so far no major issues (the screws of the plastic part of the front folding lock came undone, but that is it). The brakes are excellent and the gearing is fine. It is really fun and enjoyable to ride and surprisingly comfortable.
The biggest drawbacks are no fenders, no lights, no luggage rack and no abilty to push it while folded. So if you are ready to dish out the money, maybe better get a brompton. For me as an occasional user (using other bikes most of the time) it was not worth the investment, as a brompton with proper gear is about 2k CHF, while this one was about 600 CHF directly from china.
No problem with shipping or import fee(s)?
@@2Bikes4Adventure No I had to pay customs duties of course but that is common in Switzerland as it is not part of the EU.
Customs duties are not that high, only the handling fee as the VAT is only 7.7%. The bike was about 450 CHF, wth Shipping like 630 and with duties and everything like maybe 750 (so I was a bit too low, I did not check all my numbers). The bycicle is more expensive now though.
Other than the EU Switzerland has no special regulations for bycicles from China (if you are in the EU,, be carefull, there is something like a 100% duty on bycicles from China I think).
All in all it was fine. I checked for a brompton first, they where really expensive at that time at least. Anyway, I am happy with the dahon, it is a much better bike than I thought it will be. It is a great traveling companion and saved me from having to rent a car on a few occasions, especially in Germany and Austria where pubic tansport is not that good (compared to Switzerland).
Hey, Love your videos, I have not missed any for the last 2 years? Mind checking the
Decathlon folding bikes? Btwin?
Excellent suggestion. We will see what we can do.
@@2Bikes4Adventure another one that has come to the market is Kaze-Grünberg. It’s basically a folding bike designed for European market, made in Asia. Low price.
The Kaze-Grunberg bike is very “Brompton” looking to say the least
@@2Bikes4Adventure they also have a KaZe-MACHI which is based on 20” wheels, 10 sp. cassette, yet only 11kg and for riders up to 180cm. It would be great if you could do a review of this $545usd newcomer. No shimano on that bike but shimano has contract manufacturers too.
1. "Twitchy" One man's twitchiness is another woman's maneuverability. I ride a 92cm wheelbase 16er. I love it for its nimbleness and agility, its turn on a dime maneuverability. You need more balance on this issue.
@chacmool2581 Teri makasi! Nice FnHon Gust you have there. Is the built completed now?
BTW, we cycled twice in Indonesia, including down Bratan in Bali once. You should join us downhill next time.
PS Is there a “2.” missing in your comment above?
PPS Did you ever try KD-Tree? In some instance, it’s better than K-NN.
@@2Bikes4Adventure Hi, the Gust 16" only needs the chain, cabling and grips installed, and then it'll be ready to roll. In the meantime, my 16"er is a FSIR Spin 3. Agile, nimble, maneuverable like you wouldn't believe. Twitchy? Yeah, when you first ride it. But you'll be amazed at the plasticity of the human brain and you own reflexive ability to adapt. By contrast, the 104.5mm wheelbase on the Broxxxon makes it feel like an ocean liner.
Never tried KD-Tree. But I have tried a vaguely similar technique: hierarchical clustering followed by partition clustering, though.
The other thing is that we (you) need to get out of this bipolar thinking of Brompton vs. the rest. The world of folding bikes is really so much more plural than that.
Would like to see you do a review of another mini (but not folding) bike called "Stijn". It looks like it would have better handling than a Brompton, have better components and still be relatively compact enough to travel with. The model of interest is the "Peg" and it looks like it can be fitted with racks. I think one advantage is that it would have saddle setback more similar to a 700C roadbike, so you could ride a bit faster and more comfortably.
We will keep our eyes open for one of those, certainly looks different.
@@2Bikes4Adventure Stijn Deferm worked on Birdy. He is no stranger to travel bikes, in addition to being an accomplished athlete and bike designer. Maybe you can get him to send you one for review!
K3 Plus in HK priced 1/3 of a C-Line and almost 1/5 of a P-Line where it's a famous model in HK. Currently it has the 2022 version with inside folded handle bar and a higher front fork that makes upgrading 349 wheel much easier. Recently there is a 40th anniversary model Dahon Mini 349 which is a K3 Plus equipped directly with 349 wheels with new decor and a longer rear fork. It's a wonderful machine gave excellent user experience far beyond its price. Just if at USD 1500 range I definitely prefer Brompton C-Line than K3 Plus. K3 Plus is good but still its craftsmanship is not as superior as Brompton, where easily having noise when riding (maybe due to the aluminium frame), sprocket get loosened quite easily. I used to bring my bike to bike shop for maintenance every 1 or 2 months, while for Brompton, not much maintenance needed except tires replacement and regular cleaning. Its reliability and stability offer a superior experience for commuting, except its speed is no match with K3 Plus, all other usages are excellent.
Excellent feedback. Indeed, the K3 Plus USD price makes it a more difficult proposition.
Any chance of reviewing the Dahon K3? I have a Dahon K3. Yes it's only three speeds, but it is lighter still and very responsive. I put pop-on pedals on it and it easily fits inside an ikea dimpa bag, so I can carry it over my shoulder onto a bus. No real issue with the fold. 14 inch wheels - eek! Not a problem. Cycle - bus - cycle - coffee with a friend -its great for a microadventure.
@guystapleton6130, the K3 is not easily available in North America, but if we have the chance to test ride one, be sure we will make a video about it.
Mas videos de bicicletas plegables japonesas y clasicas del 50 plegables .
Were you riding on the Petit train du nord?
@bengt_axle, Bonjour/Hi :-)
Indeed, Le P’tit Train du Nord was used during our “test drive”.
We also cycled around Montreal and Vaudreuil-Soulanges canal.
I think the fold size and the clearance on the back gears are the only downsides to this little whippet
What’s the best folding bike for a 240lb man
The Dahon HIT is an entry level 20” folding bike rated for riders up to 300 lbs
( th-cam.com/video/JREWZn_wFOU/w-d-xo.html )
all these kind of bikes have positives and negatives. i wouldn’t worry too much about weight and gearing or how big the wheels are with them. get one for fun. for more serious riding, have a bigger bike. (mtb/road/gravel etc…).
Snappy, fun, quick to start and get rolling, have usable climbing gears. But I think its way overpriced outside Asia.
Someone should just try to import a container load of them.
thx for the review! do you think the dahon or brompton will last longer and require less maintenance?
@714SNF, we would refer you to our video comparing Brompton and Dahon ( th-cam.com/video/p6bjWHg2XJ8/w-d-xo.html ), where we discuss, among other issues, maintenance.
Both will require normal bicycle maintenance (tube, tire, chain…). As for long term ownership costs, your decision should also take into consideration ease of access of replacement parts. A $10 proprietary replacement part may be cheap, but if it is not easily available in your area it could be a problem.
All else being equal, I would give the “longevity” award to Brompton.
@@2Bikes4Adventure Thanks for the reply! Would you recommend going with the K3 Plus if it was under $1000 in the US? Or save up for Brompton :)
@@2Bikes4Adventure If you had to pick one, which one? :)
If you are looking for a sub-10Kg folding bike, the K3 Plus offers a very good value proposition (at around $US700 in Asia). The North American listed price is a lot less favorable however ($1500). In this higher price bracket (or if money is no object), the Brompton is a strong contender.
@@2Bikes4Adventure so you're saying get the K3 Plus if it's Asia market price but if it's US Market price, go Brompton? :)
Just bought this bike. But there are some differences parts on it. Mine's use Dahon Custom brake set. Tire use Dahon custom tire 25-35 psi.
Components seem to vary from place to place. Same with the Dahon Mariner D8 we noticed. Maybe supply chain issues. Enjoy your new bike.
How does this compared to Speed Falco?
The Falco is made of chromoly, has 20” wheels and V-brakes. It weigh 12Kg.
The K3 Plus is made of aluminum, has 16” wheels and disk brakes. It weigh less than 10Kg
Can't believe I am too heavy for it.
Model KAA693 - Stem fold outside
Model KAA694 - ??? Stem fold btw Tires ??
Looking at www.dahon.com.hk/categories/product-16foldingbikes , both models seems to be identified as KAA693
What is the top speed? 🚴
At 90 rpm cadence, you will be going about 35km/h
This review is not fair since this Dahon K3 Plus is model 2021.
the new 2022 model has inward folding and height adjustable handlebar. These two new features enhances the practicability of the bike.
As mentioned at 04:16, the newer “inside fold” model is worth waiting for. We are also told it has better fork clearance (for potential wheel upgrade). Unfortunately, this model wasn’t available in North America when we did this video.
@@2Bikes4AdventureOh I’m sorry.
Thank you for your reply.
i really wish mechanical disc brakes would just die. Its such a downer seeing these on bikes still. They take constant tuning to keep them at there best and if you don't then you have lousy brake throw or disc rub.
Sells for a grand today
A little too heavy for the K3. The Brompton is for me.
It cost as much as a tri fold lol
I have both bike.. if you like to bike city ride.. yeah buy the K3 plus.. but if you wish to ride longer distance. Go for brompton. For comfort riding for long ride distance.. brompton is your bike.
Dahon K3 plus has disbrake is very nice to have and ride.
Nothing wrong in having more than one bicycle!
As a first, it is double the size!!