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Dahon steering stem

Posted: 30 Mar 2014, 6:29pm
by barbelfisher
Can anyone help please? I purchased a second hand Dahon Speed TR a few months back for touring this summer. Just had it serviced and been informed of a hairline crack on the steering stem just below the lock mechanism. I have tried several times to contact Dahon Spares Uk which demands a stupid code to send the message. I have inserted the code so many times, always correct but to no avail. I desperately need a new stem.
Help please?
Regards barbelfisher.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 30 Mar 2014, 7:23pm
by MickH
Do you mean these people: C H White?

I've never tried to order online from them, but they have responded to emails with good information on what to order. You can always phone 'em too.

A quick search threw this up... http://www.velovision.com/showStory.php?storynum=1018

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 31 Mar 2014, 6:49am
by Sweep
CH Whites are excellent.

They talked ignorant me through changing the headset on my Speed Pro when I was abroad.

They were extremely patient.

I have the Speed Pro by the way - I think the TR is the same bike with some minor changes.

After my experience with the Speed Pro (definitely a fun bike but ....) I'd be extremely wary of a tour of any length on a Dahon Speed TR.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 31 Mar 2014, 2:26pm
by foxyrider
Sweep wrote:
I have the Speed Pro by the way - I think the TR is the same bike with some minor changes.

After my experience with the Speed Pro (definitely a fun bike but ....) I'd be extremely wary of a tour of any length on a Dahon Speed TR.


Not quite true - well not at all! The Speed TR was designed for touring with racks, beefy wheels, low gearing, adjustable handlebars. Seems to be reasonably competent given the diddy wheels. The Speed Pro is a much lighter, more racy bit of kit - certainly not a tourer!

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 31 Mar 2014, 2:50pm
by Sweep
Maybe I'm wrong but it was my understanding that they had a similar base - of course I accept that the wheels and tyres were somewhat different.

What's the gearing difference? My Speed Pro has good gears and it's good at the low end - been up some mountains with it.

The Speed Pro will take a rack - Dahon would supply one if you could fight your way through their at times awful parts availablity.

My Speed Pro, of the same vintage as the TR, also has an adjustable handlebar - what's the adjustable bar on the TR?

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 31 Mar 2014, 6:53pm
by barbelfisher
Thanks for all the replie folks. I tracked down a company that do Dahon parts and ordered a new stem. The price was 46 euros which seemed a good deal to me. Just waiting for delivery now

Regards
Barbelfisher

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 31 Mar 2014, 6:55pm
by Sweep
Out of interest, what was the company?

Might be useful for others.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 12:49pm
by MickH
Sweep wrote:Out of interest, what was the company?

Might be useful for others.


I agree. Please let us know who the supplier is, it's always good to have a selection of people to deal with.

Cheers,

Mick

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 3:52pm
by V4281051
CH White are excellent in every respect..However if you cannot get what you want try http://www.thorusa.com/..He should be able to help..

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 4:18pm
by Sweep
V4281051 wrote:CH White are excellent in every respect..However if you cannot get what you want try http://www.thorusa.com/..He should be able to help..


Must admit I don't have great memories of him from an encounter on the (now possibly defunct) Dahon forum.

Seemed keen to mystify Dahon's parts, which they did themselves by giving even the most humble part some special trade name as if it had descended from the clouds.

Agree totally about CH Whites - good old fashioned service.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 5:42pm
by jezer
CH Whites is local to me, and I bought a Dahon TR from them a few years ago after being recommended. I used it with full panniers on a CTC two week tour of Sardinia. It performed well, and several other riders were using them. Climbing was good, although the brakes on descents were rather weak. I sold it soon afterwards as I found it a little flimsy for my rather bulky weight. I did have an issue with the steerer, although it was replaced by the shop under warranty. They said there was a fault with the bearings at the time.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 5:46pm
by Sweep
Don't be so tough on yourself jezer - any normal bike should support a rider unless you are an absolute leviathan.

What do you mean by the bearings of the steerer?

Do you mean the headset bearings?

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 5:58pm
by jezer
Yes, they kept getting rather stiff, needing loosening off. Not really a problem, just a bit annoying every few miles.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 1 Apr 2014, 6:05pm
by Sweep
Interesting.

Headset a pretty big issue with my Speed Pro - it eats bearings - I eventually decided that it isn't possible, on my bike at least, to get the headset properly adjusted so have to live with it.

Strangely (oo spooky) I was in Sardinia when I came to appreciate CH White's wonderful service - they shipped a new headset to me and a guy in Hawaii (I kid you not) took his bike apart and sent me pics to help me get mine back together.

Town I was in had a Dahon dealership but so **** was Dahon parts distribution in Italy (as bad as UK) that they gave up trying to get any sense out of Dahon and suggested I went elsewhere.

Things may have improved since - they can't be worse.

Still waiting for OP to reply with source of his/her bit.

Re: Dahon steering stem

Posted: 5 Apr 2014, 11:06pm
by barbelfisher
The company who supplied the Stem for my Dahon Speed TR is called hollandbikes.Com. The stem arrived but black and possibly the wrong one. I have contacted the company who have promised to send me the correct one as soon as possible.

Regards

barbelfisher