Spinopsys

Folding Bikes, of one form or another, have been around since World War II yet they have never gained any significant bicycle market share.
Perhaps the discomfort of riding a folding bike, and the inconvenience of actually having to fold it up, outweighs any benefit that might be achieved in making a faster trip to the train or bus stop by bike rather than walking?
I have a friend that bought a folding bike last year, determined that it was the ideal bike for his commuting distance of around 10km. After the first few days he didn’t bother folding it anymore, and after two weeks he went out and bought a road bike. The folding bike now sits quietly in his garage collecting dust.
I strongly suspect that folding bikes fall into the category of “sounds like a good idea” but for which there is an extremely limited market.

No question of it being a nich, still they do serve some needs and many of the newer designs ride amazingly well

I’ve had good success selling high end versions like Birdy, many of which I know for a fact are being used by their owners as advertised.

Having done tests on some folders, I disagree with them being uncomfortable, like all bikes, fit is paramount. and the high end foldables are a snap to fold. I can do a Birdy in a lot less than a minute.

I also know of several customers who have done Tour De France tours, climbed Tourmalet and blasted down the hill without any trouble in it’s handling. Those BTW were folks I’ve ridden with and who were roadies.

A few have done long multi week and day tours and some have done events like the Around the Bay in a Day.

All have felt that the pecularities of a foldable bike were far out weighed by their usefulness and convenience.

However the folding bike shown is not one of those, still it’s important to chronicle the useful and the useless, if only for the contrast and novelty factor. It’s also fun to see what designs some manufacturers bring to market.