Where in the World is Inverbras' Dahon?

We spotted Inverbras' Dahon Speed TR yesterday on our way to a hardware store. Inverbras used this bike for a short duration - even starting a blog on it - before he opted for a full size Canondale mountain bike. Kind of a hassle to lug up and down his brownstone walk up in the New York West Side, he told Zexiv, when asked why he decided to replace it. Plus something about having to pedal a lot more as compared to a bike with standard sized tires.

On the other hand this kind of bike does lend itself naturally to the idea of Vancouver downtown high density and low impact "green" living. We already use CFLs for a number of our lights, walk or take public transportation whenever possible, and do our part to recycle. Imagine a small folding bike you can take with you on the elevator in a bag without the neighbors making a fuss (or even knowing that there is a bike sharing an elevator with them), and then store in a walk in closet. Probably not the sort of thing you'd use to ride a century in (which Inverbras and Ozaymas just completed today), or use in technical North Shore trails, but it might be just the right thing for exploring the seawall and the outskirts of Stanley Park. In the Dahon website it is touted as the bike for those whose "idea of a vacation is heading to Croatia, Costa Rica or Vietnam to tour the local back roads".

Perhaps it is time to reexplore the idea of a "folder" again ...