Review: Excellent folding, but the twitchy ride leaves a bit to be desired cycling DecathlonUK
The Ultra Compact 1 Second Light folds into a very compact package, and presents nimble handling that's good for nipping around town and dodging potholes, but you might find it's a bit TOO nimble.
However, that high pressure does help compensate for the inherently high rolling resistance of a 16-inch tyre so with the tyres cranked up like this, the Ultra Compact zips along very nicely, if you can put up with the harsh ride. Messing around with the tyre pressures, I ended up at 40-50psi as an acceptable compromise.
That's almost certainly a function of the steering geometry, which, according to François Poupart, comprises a 74-degree head angle and 35mm fork offset. Rather than paint the frame, Decathlon has chosen to coat the brushed aluminium with smoky varnish so that no two bikes are identical.Rather than just putting bog-standard hinges in the frame and handlebar stem like almost every other folder ever, Decathlon has used hinges with sprung articulations to pull the hinge shut when it gets near to the closed position. The latches then close to hold the hinge together, so, as already mentioned, you don't have to do anything else.
Decathlon claims it folds down to 71 x 69.5 x 35cm; I made it 71 x 71 x 35.5cm. Brompton is claimed to be 58.5 x 56.5 x 27cm but the Brompton I've just measured came in at 63 x 61 x 29cm. The Ultra Compact doesn't fold quite as small as a Brompton, then, but it's still pretty good. It's certainly small enough to fit easily in the kinds of places you'll want to stow a folder: train luggage areas, under your desk and the like. And at 12.3kg, lifting it's not too onerous.
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