Ever get that feeling that the world has become a fast moving and confusing place? Take the world of folding bikes, for example. Not long ago, the Brompton was compact, the Bike Friday was sporty, the Dahon was cheap and cheerful, and almost everything else from the Far East was utter rubbish. In time-honoured fashion, you knew where you were.

Brompton and Bike Friday are still very much with us of course, but badges that were once the butt of innumerable folding bike jokes are fast becoming respectable.We noted the same process in the last issue with the very presentable Ezee electric bikes, and now folder manufacturers are moving the same way.The truth is that the Chinese in particular have done a lot of catching up in a remarkably short space of time. Initially spearheaded by the US and European-inspired Dahon brand, a revolution is underway.

…the Victor 1.0 looks like a Dahon, or – dare we suggest – a Bike Friday…

Oyama

Oyama will be best known to A to B subscribers for copying the Brompton, launching the rather absurd Space Genie on an unsuspecting public in February 2002.We were less than complimentary to the Space Genie then, and laughed all over again the following year, when this and other Oyama bikes were adopted by US distributor Breezer.The Space Genie was an over-priced and ill-conceived attempt to cash in on the success of the Brompton and that – so the orthodoxy went in those far off days – was the best that Chinese and Taiwanese engineers could achieve.

Then in August this year, we discovered a new Oyama bike, and were intrigued.The Victor 1.0 looks like a Dahon Speed, or even – dare we suggest – a Bike Friday, with an aggressively raked monotube frame, straight bars and sporty bar-ends, but it was to be launched at a price of £350 – half the cost of a comparable Dahon and, for all the comparison is worth, a quarter of the price of a Bike Friday.

‘Ah yes’, the experienced folding bike watcher will say, ‘but the Oyama has a wobbly steel frame, crude 5-speed derailleur and weighs 15kg plus’. Not so.To save the bar-room pundits further embarrassment, we can reveal that they are entirely wrong.The Victor has a rigid alloy frame, 406mm (20-inch) wheels, all- up weight of a shade over 12kg, 8-speed Shimano Acera derailleur and numerous other light and delicately crafted bits. Folding bikes traditionally cost 25% to 100% more than their non-folding cousins, but the Victor 1.0 seems to break all the rules – can it really be this good?

The Victor

First impressions are positive.The Victor has clean lines (marred only slightly by a stem raked forward a little too steeply), deeply lustrous metallic paintwork (blue or red) and some snazzy graphics. Just about everything else is either sexy matt black or polished alloy.The frame, handlebars, saddle stem and (daringly) forks are made from aluminium, as are sundry other bits. In fact, the only substantial chunk of steel is the lower stem, and we’re not sure that is strictly necessary, of which more below. Interestingly, the spokes are made from something non-magnetic, which usually means stainless steel, but in this case they’re painted black. Something left over from the Chinese space programme perhaps? Who knows.

…the Victor is a real whopper… high enough to give shorter folk vertigo…

It’s a measure of how things have changed that a bike assembled from Chinese bits can look and feel so good: the Alex alloy rims are nicely machined, the Velo Crossflow saddle is leather (or, perhaps, leatherette), and the Xerama folding pedals (similar, but neater than the better-known VP117) look suitably chunky.

Like us, you may not be familiar with UNO Dimensions bar-ends, HA Speedwheel chainrings, or Chosen hubs, but don’t worry too much – they’re smart-looking and apparently serviceable Chinese facsimiles of quite nice bits and pieces from elsewhere.

A brief spin tells you a little more. Like all mid-range Shimano derailleurs, the Acera changes nice and crisply, with an occasional mild crunch, and the bike goes as well as it looks. But it’s designed for giants.The Chinese certainly seem to have taken on board the early European criticism of their tiny machines, because the Victor is a real whopper.The saddle goes up to a healthy 100cm (a shade more at a pinch), and the bars start at 100cm and climb to 119cm, which is high enough to give shorter folk a degree of vertigo. Oyama really could have saved itself a lot of weight and bother, as Dahon has done on most of its new designs, by eliminating the telescopic handlebar stem altogether, because hardly anyone will make much use of it.

More of a problem is the saddle to bar ‘reach’ which some find quite a stretch.We have a fondness for rather upright bikes at A to B, and immediately put the saddle as far forward as it would go, but still felt like children on the Victor. Larger and more wirily-framed persons, particularly those used to drop handlebars, will be delighted.

Cover a reasonable mileage and you may find yourself grumbling about the saddle, but you can say that about almost any non-recumbent bicycle. Otherwise, the 30″ – 87″ gear range deals with most things.The 32-406mm Kenda tyres are fast-looking, which is half the battle, and inflate to a reasonable 65psi, all of which you’ll need at the rear, unless you’re quite light. At 14.2mph, the roll-down speed on our test hill proved more or less average for this tyre size.The weather was a bit autumnal and the rear hub bearings a little tight, so the Kendas could probably do better on a good day.

The unbranded V-brakes are excellent – quiet, progressive and effective, with power limiters both front and rear.We achieved best stops of .59G from the front, .38G from the rear (with the wheel locked), and a joint effort of .75G without any really scary stuff going on. If you take an interest in this sort of thing, you’ll appreciate that figures like these are more or less state of the art. Generally speaking, the feel of this bike, in terms of acceleration, cornering and braking, is impressively similar to something costing a great deal more.

Accessories

Make no mistake, at this end of the market, the Victor is a well-equipped bike. Mudguards are of the stubby bendy-plastic variety, and look trendy, but perform reasonably well in light rain; the stand does what it’s supposed to; and there are mounting points for a rack and/or proper mudguards should you feel so inclined. Everything feels well set up, and works straight out of the box, except for the bar-ends, which are delivered pointing downwards, but you’d probably want to adjust them for comfort anyway.

Folding

Not ‘alf bad, actually. If they’re not already down, you’ll need to drop the handlebars to their lowest position, then fold them using the stem catch, and carefully fold the frame in half, sandwiching the bars.We choose words with care, because the right-hand bar-end (remember, the bike was delivered with them pointing down) comes very close to snagging on the cables as you fold the bike.To complete the fold, the saddle stem drops with a quick release, and the Xerama pedals fold in (only the right-hand pedal in practice). All being well, the bike comes together in a reasonably compact fashion, measuring 44cm across, 83.5cm long, and 63cm tall.That’s a folded volume of 231 litres or eight cubic feet – not strikingly compact, but typical for a 20-inch machine. Whip out the saddle stem and the height comes down to 57cm, reducing the volume to 209 litres or 7.5 cubic feet.

Folding can do horrible things to paintwork, and the Victor is vulnerable in this respect, the metallic finish being protected by a thin and rather brittle high gloss lacquer coat. A few weeks knocking about on station platforms and in and out of car boots would play havoc with the beautiful finish, but then you can’t have everything for £350.

…in terms of spec, the Victor is streets ahead of anything else in the £350 zone…

 

There are no clips to hold the bike in its folded form, but in that respect the Victor is no better or worse than most other 20-inch bikes.The hinges themselves are a mixed bag.The frame hinge is substantially engineered and more or less fail-safe.The stem hinge is equally well-crafted, but the latch is a bit dodgy-looking and we’re concerned that after a bit of use, it might develop enough play to separate. Hard riding put some movement into our handlebars after only a few miles.This is easy to adjust out, but it’s a problem that will return if you habitually pull hard on the bars. If Oyama is listening, this needs re-engineering. If you’re buying one, don’t worry unduly – we’ve seen worse on bikes costing three times as much. Just keep it in mind and watch for movement.

Conclusion

In an effort to gauge what value for money really means in this strange new world, it might be constructive to compare the Victor with the Trek 600 we tried back in April 2004. OK, the Trek has a trendy US badge, but it’s basically engineered by Dahon, whereas the Victor has no obvious track record. Both bikes have 20-inch wheels, both weigh within a shade of 12kg, both have a gear range of around 32″ to 90″, although the Trek has nine, rather than eight gears. Folding is broadly similar, but the lack of bar-ends and mudguards allow the Trek to make a slightly smaller package.They’re both suited to larger people too.

Differences? The Trek is almost certainly stronger, particularly around the hinges, but the Victor is better equipped elsewhere, and dynamically speaking, the bikes do much the same thing.The only serious difference is in price – £350 for the Victor and £750 for the Trek. Not being particularly badge- orientated, we wouldn’t hesitate in picking the new Oyama. Never thought we’d say that.

In terms of spec, the Victor is streets ahead of anything else in that £350 zone.Would you seriously choose a Pashley Fold-it, Di Blasi, or Strida over a bike like this? The Victor even succeeds in putting pressure on mid-range Dahons and Dahon-clones in the £500 – £700 region, which is quite some feat.

If you’re looking for a smart-looking, fun, sporty folder, and pennies count, go Victor. It might not be up to Iron Man Triathlon events, but it looks as if it might.You really are getting quite a nice little bike for the money.

Specification

Oyama Victor 1.0 £350 .Weight 12.1kg (27lb) . Gears Shimano Acera 8-spd . Ratios 33″ – 90″ Folded Dimensions W44cm H63cm L83.5cm . Folded Volume 231 litres (8 cu ft) . Folded Dimensions (saddle stem removed) W44cm H57cm L83.5cm . Folded Volume (saddle stem removed) 209 litres (7.5 cu ft) . Manufacturer Oyama Industrial Company Ltd web www.oyama.com UK Distributor Mission Cycles tel 01622 815615 mail info@missioncycles.co.uk