Dahon Briza D8 Folding Bike - 8 Speed - Aluminum Frame - 24" Wheels - White

Video Transcript for Dahon Briza D8 Folding Bike Review

Hi everyone, it's Evangeline here at etrailer. And today, we'll be taking a look at our Briza D8 folding bicycle from Dahon. The Briza is probably the classiest of Dahon's folding bike lines. So we have some nice features here. Really good-looking handlebars, the seat, we have cargo options, a unique stand. We'll take a look at all of those different features and give you an introduction into the folding bike world so that you can make the best choice for you and your adventures.

A big thing about folding bicycles is not only how easy is it to fold it up, but how easy is it to unfold the bicycle. So let's say get off of the bus, you're off the train, you arrive at the campsite, or you're leaving work and you're ready to go. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna unfold our bicycle and show you how that goes. So our Briza is all folded up. By the way, this basket is not included with the bike.

It's an add-on attachment, and you can see it does not get in the way of folding up the bike. So our pedals are in, everything's secured. We do have two magnets holding the frame together. So the first step is just to push those magnets out. There we go, and we're gonna pop this out too.

You can see how the seat post was the initial stand. Let's secure this clamp, then I'm gonna pop this dual stand out. There, you get options for the front or the rear wheel up in the air. We'll get these handlebars up, and then secure that with this clamp. There we go.

And finally, pedals. Let's get those out. And then our seat post here. We have a lever here that comes out, set it to your desired height. I like to put a marker for my own personal height. Once I get that set, and just like that, we're ready to hit the road. And before we get into specs and measurements, let's go for a bike ride around the etrailer building, just like we're gonna go to work, then you can see this bike in action. Notice how I have our dual kickstand engaged. A cool thing about that is when you're ready to ride, you don't have to kick it out of the way. You just push forward, and you're ready to hit the road. So riding the Briza is a lot of fun. It's definitely a comfortable ride. It feels very smooth going over like the bumps in the road, the curves, the uneven pavement. The riding position here is pretty nice too 'cause I have full view of all the cars around me and everything around me, and I feel very visible too. The trigger shifter is kind of tricky at first 'cause I have to use my thumb for both, but does feel responsive and I'm able to use all the six speeds going up and then down our different slopes. Well, wasn't that fun This is definitely one of the classier bikes. You can definitely see it's a bit more comfortable than some of the other folding bicycles. And let's take a look at some of the components that make that happen. So starting from the front, then we'll go towards the back. We have the three holes here for your Dahon folding bike accessories, like this basket. You also have these fenders on your front and your rear wheels. So this will help prevent or help with that mud that's splashing up and that dirt. On our 20-inch wheels, we have V-brakes. So there's usually disc brakes or brakes like these which hold onto the wheels. Holding onto those brakes is really easy to do because you have this really nice rubber molding around your handlebars. Now these are fixed height handlebars. They also have a trigger shifter. So you're gonna use your thumb to activate both triggers on this bike. You're gonna have reflectors or over here in the front, as well as in the back and on your wheels itself. You also have a little bit of adjustment here. This is just for the angle of your handlebars, which may help you out, especially since these are not telescoping handlebars and you can't adjust the height. One of my favorite parts about this bike is the frame. So this is a Dalloy aluminum frame. We have this nice, shiny finish to it. It kind of glows, which is why it says Dahon Glo. This is a step-through frame, making it easier for you if you have a long trip. Easy for you to take breaks, also depending on what you wear. Let's say I'm wearing a skirt, this allows me to ride my bike without worries. The frame itself is made of a Dalloy aluminum. So that allows this stay lightweight, but also sturdy. So we have a weight capacity of 230 pounds, but it only weighs 1/10 of that, 23 pounds. We do have a cutaway saddle, which matches the trim color of our bike, making everything look nice. And personally, it was comfortable with this saddle on here. I know some people like to switch out their saddles for their optimum comfort, but as is, this works. We also have a quick and easy-to-use adjustable seat post so you can get the best height for you. In the rear of the rack, we have this pannier rack or your rear cargo rack. So this along with the ability to add on a basket or bag into the front and you could add bags from Dahon to that rear rack, this makes the Briza probably one of the best bikes for cargo management or cargo carrying for your trips. With this dual stand, you balance your bike by either your front wheel or your rear wheel. So you'll have one up in the air, making it helpful for if you need to do maintenance on your bike. More detailed information about the specific components can be found on our etrailer product page. There, you'll find information like the specific brand of shifter or what's the derailleur made of. These we're the main highlights of the Briza that make them a little different than some of the other folding bikes Dahon offers. Now let's fold it up and put its portability to the test. So what we're gonna do is we're gonna do a fun little test. So I have my folding bicycle and John over here. He's usually the videographer behind the camera, but this time, he'll be putting a regular bicycle up onto the bike rack on his vehicle, and I'm gonna be folding up this bicycle, and folding it and putting it inside of my vehicle, just to show you the process is a little different between the two, but let's make this fun. John, should we do a little competitionSounds good. All right, so let's start in three, two, one, go. So I'm gonna start by putting down the seat post, and then the handlebars real quick. These go down that way, yeah. And then we have this clamp here, so that pops out. Make sure that stands up and out. And then let's not forget about these. Let's fold this up and over. That goes in, that goes in. And then this goes right into my vehicle. All right, we have a basket, so that's gonna take up a good amount of space. There we go. Done. So John's definitely ahead of me here since the Briza is a little bit larger, but I'm done too. Do you have a cable lock on your bike rackI do not. Okay, mine is also secured inside of my vehicle. That's the main differences there. Yours was a bit lighter and easier to throw on, but he needed to have a hitch. There's some differences there, but pretty much close to the same time. About the same, yeah. And every other one we've done, it's been around the same too. Cool. Well, that was fun. So this is what it looks like with a folding bike inside your hatch. So if you have a trunk, you have a hatch, you can have more or less space than I do. This makes it easy to secure the bike though. I do have a basket, so that takes up a little bit more space. I have some tips and tricks when it comes to folding bicycles. One is to make sure you think about where it's being placed. Do you have a space for it I like to put down a quilt, that helps cushion the bike as it's being stored. Another thing is gonna be how are you gonna carry your bicycle if you do have to transport it from one spot to another This only weighs 23 pounds, so that's gonna be helpful, but you're gonna have to make sure you're holding it in the right spot what is easier for you. So make sure to hold it by the frame. You have different options here. You can carry it by the seat post. And up here, you do have a pretty strong magnet holding the two spots together, so that's gonna be helpful. That way, it's not popping out the place too easily. This isn't just for storing inside of your vehicles 'cause what if you don't have a vehicle, you bike to work You can fold it up, keep it right by your office. You can store this inside your boat. You can have this inside your RV. In fact, let's take a look at that. So here on our fifth wheel, we have this MORryde sliding tray, and this is what I use to store things inside of the basement of the RV. Now, one thing I learned with the Briza is it doesn't fit like some of the other folding bikes from Dahon. We have a little bit of height that we need to deal with because of where the handlebars are. We could adjust it a little bit by twisting them, but we're still gonna have a no-fit situation here. So how much space did this actually take up Measuring here inside of our tray, we have it at a length of about 39 inches. Our height is gonna be with the handlebars facing out like that, about 18 inches. And then our width is this is gonna be a long bike, it's gonna be about 32 inches even without the valet truss. So because of that, the Briza is gonna be one of your larger compact bikes. Depending on your own basement measurements, it may or may not fit. This MORryde sliding tray gives us less clearance, which means it really doesn't fit. So that's just something you're gonna have to measure for to see if it works with your boat or your trailer. So I brought out my top three mid-range folding bicycles offered by Dahon. So we have the MU D8 series, we have the Dahon Briza D8, and we also have the Launch D8. So if you've noticed, they're all D8's, meaning they're all eight-speed bicycles. So the question is what's the difference between the different bicycles They seem similar, they seem slightly different. What is best for what Let's go over that. A quick summary of the highlights of the bikes before we go into the details is the MU is gonna be your most versatile bike rack. It has pretty much the best of both worlds, not too fancy, not too crazy, a good middle-of-the-road bike. If you're not sure what kind of adventure you're going on, go ahead, get the MU. This one also has different color options. And then you have the Briza D8. This is gonna be your fancy bike. This is gonna have the most cargo options, cargo capabilities. This is also gonna have the smoothest ride overall. And finally, you have the Launch D8. This is great if you're planning on going super speedy through the streets of the city you're in, going down the trails, if you're going off-road even, this is what you would go with 'cause it has the power to get you through. So let's talk about shifters. The MU uses a grip shifter. The Briza and the Launch use trigger shifters. In terms of responsiveness, I'd like to say they're about the same. It's more of a matter of personal preference, what do you think performs better or is easier to use. In terms of adjustability or fine-tuning your bike for you, the Dahon MU as well as the Launch D8, they have telescoping handlebars. You can move them up and down. The Briza doesn't really have telescoping. It's fixed height handlebars, so that might be a big difference for you. They all have telescoping seats though, so that's where some of your adjustment can be found. If you're thinking about cargo, then the Briza is definitely the winner. You have an included cargo rack with the Briza. Now all three of them can be adapted to get a cargo basket or a cargo bag in the front, so that could be an option for you too. This is not included with the Briza, by the way. This can be moved back and forth, if needed. But this is helpful, especially if you wanna use saddlebags with your rear pannier. And I guess the other main difference between our bikes is gonna be the frame design. So they're all made of a very lightweight Dalloy aluminum material. So relatively, all the same in terms of their weight. The Briza is definitely gonna be the lightest as well as with step-through frame. Whether you're wearing a dress, a skirt, whether you have issues with long road trips, this is gonna be the most helpful for you. But they all perform very well. Their clamp systems all work very nicely. They have slightly different clamps, but I've had no issues with any of them. So in terms of that, it's an equal road. Compared to our more entry-level bikes, these definitely have their own different personalities and are designed for different types of adventures. Hopefully, this video helped you out with that. And that was a look right here at our Dahon Briza D8 folding bicycle right here at etrailer.com. My name is Evangeline, and I hope you enjoyed the journey..