There was a time, not so long ago when you had to pay quite a lot for a light reliable practical folding bike. To be honest, little has changed, but the cheaper bikes have certainly improved. Some of the equipment may still be a bit dubious, but for £300 you can buy a Chinese bike that does quite a reasonable job. We’ve selected two from the recent crop of imports.The Space Invader is the latest incarnation of the Oyama Victor 1.0, first tested in A to B 44.The derailleur is less sophisticated, but the frame has been beefed up, and the bike costs a whacking 28% less, selling for just £249 in the UK. The DownTube is a relatively new concept, designed in 1996 by US bike shop owner,Yan Lyansky, produced in China, and sold direct to the public (via the ubiquitous eBay) to keep costs down.The result is a range of bikes priced from £249 to £299 ($299 to $329 in the USA). We’ve tested the fullsuspension IX FS, costing £299.

On the Road

Price is closely allied ton the folding bike market, so don’t expect either of these machines to be lightweights. Both have aluminium frames and wheels, but at this level frame material has little effect on weight.This might sound odd, but whereas the high-tec manufacturers will use clever computer design techniques to make frail alloys as thin as possible, the cheapie manufacturers tend to play safe by using a lot of it, particularly in the hinges. The Space Invader weighs 13kg (29lb), which isn’t too bad for a bike with a stand and full mudguards. But with front and rear suspension, the DownTube weighs a much more substantial 14.3kg (32lb). Only the very muscular would contemplate running for a train with either of these bikes under their arm, so if weight is an issue, read no further – you probably need to spend a bit more.

The Space Invader is equipped with Shimano’s cheapest derailleur, the SIS, now in 7-speed form, but still offering a disappointing 200% range (in other words, top gear is twice as high as “…neither bike is very quick, bottom). In this case, bottom gear is 32″ and but the Space Invader is certainly top gear 64″, which sounds pretty limiting. It the quicker of the two… is, but – in town, at least – the bike makes up for the limited gears with sharp steering and a lively, nifty character. It looks and feels fun to ride, until you find that your legs are spinning like mad and you’re still only doing 15mph. But it’s surprising how far and how fast you can go with a 64″ gear, and the change is pleasingly clunky and positive.

DownTube has chosen the Sunrace JuJu M90, which we’re not familiar with, but it looks slightly down-market, thanks to carbon fibre-effect paintwork on the mechanism. Strangely, the label (key parts are helpfully labelled) identifies the material as magnesium. Whatever it’s made of, it works well enough in a rather vague, woolly way, giving nine speeds from 28″ to 81″. Gears are the strongest element of the DownTube package.The JuJu is claimed to be the cheapest 9-speed folder in the world, which sounds unlikely, but seems to be true – you certainly get a lot of gears for the money.The tie-up with Sunrace means the company will also be selling a Sturmey Archer 8-speed version from early 2007.

On paper, the DownTube promises considerable advantages – a wider gear range (289% against 200%), more gears (nine against seven) and that full suspension. But where money is tight, less really can mean more, and in this case, although everyone fought over the DownTube initially, most defected to the Space Invader after a few rides. It just feels more lively.This might have something to do with the lighter weight, but it’s probably more about tyres. Both bikes use Kenda, which are almost universal on cheap Chinese-made machines, but the Space Invader rides on sprightly 32-406mm tyres, while the DownTube, rather oddly, comes with a 40-406mm on the front, and a slightly knobbly 47-406mm on the rear. All the tyres are rated at 65psi, but the Space Invader’s 32mm tyres seem to roll much better. Our new test hill (hopefully calibrated to match the old one) confirmed that neither bike is very quick, but the Space Invader is certainly the quicker of the two, recording a speed of 12.8mph, while the odd mixture of wider tyres on the DownTube held it back to 10.2mph. For comparison, a good 20-inch bike should hit 15-16mph, and a good 16-inch bike, 14-15mph. Incidentally, we hear a whisper that Dahon is unhappy about our claim (A to B 55), that the 16-inch Brompton S2L-X rolled marginally better than its 20inch MuSL.Ten years ago, 20inch bikes had a real advantage, but apart from smoothing out the bumps, the differential seems to have narrowed quite considerably today.

These 20-inch bikes are much slower than the Mu or the Brompton, but again In terms of numbers, the crude SIS there’s a marked difference between the must be one of the most successful derailleurs ever produced two. Riding our new 10 mile commuter circuit (again, we hope it’s “…The Space Invader recorded comparable), the Space Invader recorded a creditable time of 45 minutes… the a creditable time of 45 minutes, despite DownTube a lethargic 491/2…” being unable to capitalise on a strong tailwind on the outward leg. Riding back into a headwind, the little 7-speed gradually overhauled a twenty-eight-zillion gear MTB.

With more gears, the Downtube should have done better downwind, but it proved slower throughout, recording a lethargic time of 49 minutes 30 seconds. On one long uphill drag, the bike came perilously close to being passed by a jogger…

Handling is neither dangerous nor exciting on either bike, which is probably all you need to know. Both feel solid and dependable, but there’s a little play in the Space Invader stem hinge, and the pivot bush is a bit frail, so the movement can only get worse. Both have a 109cm wheelbase, which is typical for this sort of folding bike, and long enough to avoid choppiness and instability.The steering bearings were rather tight on the Downtube, which caused some low speed problems.This is easily adjusted, but it’s annoying to have to do this with a new machine. Both bikes needed their gears and brakes set up – not a problem with the Space Invader, which will usually be bought through a dealer, but DownTube bikes are sold on eBay in the UK, so a man will turn up with a box and you’ll have to make it work yourself. Once properly adjusted, the V-brakes on both machines worked well, although with a pronounced squeal from the front of the DownTube.

Kerb Hopping

This is where the DownTube comes into its own.The bike has fairly rigid rear suspension, but the front forks (borrowed from the junior MTB world) offer 50mm of travel without noticeable damping.This makes for great entertainment – pogo-ing at the traffic lights, plonking up and down kerbs, or pelting along fire trails, but the lack of control is less useful if you’re riding hard, when energy is wasted bouncing the bike. And in seriously rough conditions, those horrible tyres are too smooth for useful traction, the derailleur is only 7cm from the ground, and the heavy, cumbersome frame awkward to manoeuvre. Needless to say, the willowy Space Invader neither looks nor feels like an off-road machine, but then it doesn’t pretend to be.

Fit and Equipment

The DownTube should fit more or less anyone.The saddle extends from a low 79cm to a very high 108cm, and the bars from 97cm to 106cm, but you’re unlikely to use the extremes. Adjustable bars are probably more trouble than they’re worth on cheap machines.There’s quite a weight penalty, and in this case the crude clamp left a rusty stain and scored the alloy stem, which both looks unsightly and weakens a critical area. In any event, the bike comes with bar-ends, which effectively do much the same thing The as height-adjustable handlebars, JuJu has a vague and woolly accommodating a number of gear change, but offers a good range for the price riding styles.

In the equipment department, the bar-ends are about all you get.The DownTube has no pump, mudguards, stand, rack (the mountings are there though) or bell (now a legal requirement on new bikes in the UK).The Space Invader has practical, effective alloy mudguards, a bell and a stand.The handlebar stem is steel, and non-adjustable (which is probably a blessing), giving a fixed height of 105cm.This is a little on the high side, but great for riding in town.The saddle goes as low as you like, or up to 100cm, which will be too low for the really tall.

Folding

The Space Invader wins easily here.The fixed height bars fold neatly to the left, ending up between the wheels, the hinges are simple (the frame has a liftable safety pin) and fairly easy on the fingers, and the bike comes together quickly and neatly. Folding pedals are the near universal ‘Next’ pattern, which are strangely unbranded, save for the helpful legend ‘do not trap fingers’ in English and Chinese. As these are sold in pairs, and the Chinese like symmetry, the bike has two, but folding the right one will only slow you up, because it makes no difference to the folded package.Width is an admirable 37cm (narrower than most Dahons), height is a reasonable 64cm (less if you remove the saddle stem) and length is around 85cm.The folded package doesn’t lock together, but the volume of 210 litres (7.1 cu ft) is excellent. Not quite the smallest in class, but close to it.

By contrast, everything goes wrong with the DownTube.The bars fold to the right, ending up outside the package, and the height adjuster has to be fiddled with to get the bar-ends parallel with the wheels.The chunky frame hinge and less substantial bar hinge have spring-loaded safety catches as well as clamps, which is a nice touch, but the very wide front forks fold round and clank against the rear wheel.This results in one of the widest folding bikes we’ve ever measured, at 50cm. Both height and length are above average too, at 66cm and 88cm respectively, producing a package of 290 litres (10 cubic feet). As nothing locks in place, the bike constantly threatens to unfold in a heap and the bar ends prod you in the privates. This unwieldy 14kg lump must be carried very carefully. If you’re looking for something that will fold once in a while, either of these bikes will suffice, but only the Space Invader can really claim to be train friendly.The DownTube is not the sort of thing your fellow commuters will be happy about.

Conclusion

If you get the feeling we prefer the Space Invader, you’re right, but only because we look at everything from a sensible, practical point of view. It’s cheaper, lighter, faster, and makes you feel cheerful, without giving you a wet bottom in damp weather.The gearing is a bit on the low side, but it all works well enough. At this price, there’s lots of competition these days, but not many of them could be considered practical commuter machines. Best of the bunch are the badge-engineered ‘old model’ Dahons, such as the Philips Boardwalk and Ridgeback Impulse.The Space Invader competes well with these. The DownTube is an interesting paradox. It’s cheap, and offers lots of gears for the price, but it’s let down by weight, the indifferent fold and slothful performance. On the other hand, if you want suspension on a folding bike, it’s less than a third of the price of the equivalent Birdy, and with some good quality (ie free-rolling) knobbly tyres, it could make a neat little train-able mild off-road machine.We’d be interested to try the 8-speed Sturmey Archer version too, but not with these tyres.

Specification

DownTube IX FS £299 . Weight 14.3kg (32lbs) . Gears JuJu M90 9-spd derailleur Ratios 28″-81″ . Wheelbase 109cm . Manufacturer DownTube tel +1 (215) 245 4032 mail yan@downtube.com

Oyama Space Invader £249 . Weight 13kg (29lbs) . Gears Shimano SIS 7-spd derailleur Ratios 32″-64″ . Wheelbase 109cm . Manufacturer Oyama . UK Distributor Mission Cycles tel 01622 815615  mail info@missioncycles.co.uk

A to B 57 – Dec 2006