Submitted by
Hugh ODonnell
a Recreational Rider
from
Date Reviewed: August 29, 2010
Bottom Line:
Just want to say I bought a Downtube Nova three months ago. I live in downtown Chicago and use it regularly all around the City. I weigh 200 pounds - the limit for the bike. The bike has been awesome. Easy to ride and easy to fold up. Every weekend I do rides of 20-30 miles with no problems. I bought a new seat because the original seat was uncomfortable. Other than that, a great product.
Strengths: THE BIKE ISNT TOO HEAVY, FRONT SUSPENSION, BACK WHEEL RACK, FOLDING PEDDLES, ADJUSTABLE
HANDLEBARS
Weaknesses: WIRES ON BRAKES TOO TIGHT SO YOU CANT FULLY ADJUST THE HANDLEBARS OR HEIGHT ALL THE WAY, SEAT IS REALLY HARD AND UNCOMFORTABLE, TIRE ON FRONT IS SMALLER THAN BACK, WHEN IT FOLDS IT IS NOT COMPACT AND IT DOESN'T STAND UP FOLDED UNLESS YOU BUNGY CORD IT TOGETHER , PLUS IT DOESN'T STAY CLOSED WITHOUT THE BUNGY CORD
Bottom Line:
DOWNTUBE FOLDING BIKE. BEWARE EVEN THOUGH THE PRICE SEEMS GOOD. I BOUGHT THE 8H MODEL AND WHEN IT ARRIVED, IT HAD A STRIPPED SCREW HOLDING THE SADDLE TO THE SEAT POST SO I CAN NOT CHANGE THE SEAT. YAN, THE OWNER OF THIS COMPANY TOLD ME I HAD TO PAY TO SHIP THE PART(WHICH IS HEAVY)AND THEN HE WOULD DETERMINE IF HE WOULD REPLACE IT.WHEN I QUESTIONED HIS POOR BUSINESS PRACTICE, HE INSULTED ME AND HUNG UP ON ME,. THEN HE SENT ME AN EMAIL SAYING THAT I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO BIKE ANOTHER BIKE FROM HIM. I THINK HE SENT ME A USED PART FROM A RETURN HE HAD.
Strengths: Wonderfully stiff, quick and responsive frame. Most components have held up well. Easy to adapt to your own riding style, Forks surprisingly good.
Weaknesses: Paint chips if you look at it too hard. Hated the saddle. Paint chips if you look at it at all. Pedals died in short order. Paint chips even if you don't look at it! No adjustment to fork settings. No way to fit chainguard. Did I mention the paint?
Bottom Line:
Quick and responsive. A very solid allrounder, if you can only afford/justify one folder to perform every function, this will be at least adequate in all respects. Not as quick as an Airnimal, but I wouldn't want to take an Airnimal down trails. Not as compact to fold as a Brompton, but I woudn't want to tour on one. The Downtube will do everything reasonably well, or better. Folds fairly quickly and fairly compact. Not so much a bike that should be damned with faint praise, so much as praised with faint damns! Not suitable for anyone who takes themselves to seriously.
Similar Products Used: Moulton, Brompton Dahon, RSW.
Bike Setup: Lengthened cockpit (140mm ext. Handlebar stem, & forward facing raceface 2" riser bars, also forward facing). Brooks B17 saddle. Better folding pedals. 200mm extension to seatpost, (joined with a hardwood dowel). Planet X front mudguard,Schwalbe Marathons. Alloy rack cantilevered from seatpost. Small Airhorn, essential for City riding and scaring away urban zombies.
Strengths: Price is way below the others I looked at and the quality is equal to some of the $800 folders. With the 30 day trial period HOW can you go wrong.
Weaknesses: If you're going to use it for lots of miles of riding you will want to upgrade some of the componants...but not many.
Bottom Line:
Purchase the Downtube FS to get around the Miller Motorsport Park race track West of Salt Lake City as a track volunteer and it has met all my needs. Easy to fold and store, nice smooth ride, but not to bouncy, I'm 6'2" and 235 lbs and it handles great.
I upgraded to the 9-speed and installed a set of Avid Single Digit TI v-brakes that I had along with replacing the BB with a Nashbar sealed bearing unit.
The bike arrive in perfect shape and well protected in the packaging...I was able to ride it out of the box, but I still went over everything after a short ride just for safety sake.
Strengths: Nice ride. Comfortable, including for taller people. Can be used for moderate offroad riding in addition to reasonably effecient on-road riding. Great price. The components are almost all standard and thus easily upgradeable.
Weaknesses: Quality control on the bike that arrived was a bit low. I understand that the company is working on this, but still I lowered my rating from a five to four due to the several little issues.
Bottom Line:
I love this bike. For a taller person like me, the FS is very comfortable and fun to ride! I like riding this bike around town because it's so responsive, though I have 3 other bikes to ride (road, mountain, commuter). The suspension is not overly soft - it takes the bumps out of the road, but it doesn't bog down or get bouncy. This bike was an excellent value for the dollar. It is surprisingly fast given the reputation of smaller wheels - I pass people frequently.
There have been some minor issues: the paint on my white FS chips very easily, one of the welds on the little stand attached to the bottom bracket was broken when the bike arrived (not affecting function, however) and after some heavy-duty use, I had some shifting issues and ended up replacing the deraillur cable and housing. So far the company has been responsive, which is great. In any case, I still like the bike a lot and am happy with the purchase. For anyone who is not experienced at bike mechanics, it is a good idea to take it into a shop for a tune and check out when it first arrives.
