Dahon takes ultra-compact Curl to Kickstarter

I was just looking at this bike yesterday. I would be extremely handy for commuting to work since it would fold up nicely for when I’m on the train. Alas $1500 is a lot to pony up for something that I would only be using to save costs for commuting.

Why does bike rumor publish an article about copy cat? This curl is an ugly and more expensive copy of the Brompton. Even the Brompton offer 6 speed.

Here are the FAQs full text, for those who may be interested:

“Is the CURL a clone or a copy of the Brompton or any other flip fold products on the market?”

No, not by definition, unless the CURL is an exact copy in every detail.

“But still, why does the CURL “look so much like” a Brompton?”

The CURL integrates, for the first time in a DAHON’s 35 years history, a rear triangle flip fold. This is a feature and image which Brompton folding bikes has popularized and is primarily recognized for. The rear flip fold is not exclusive to Brompton and was in fact first developed by Di Blasi in the 1970s. Many other folding bikes, such as Birdy and Oyama, also make use of rear wheel flip fold.
Numerous innovations set the CURL apart, as you would expect from DAHON, an industry leader. To be fair, the CURL looks very distinct even on Kickstarter!
“Does the CURL infringe on any of Brompton’s patents?”
DAHON, with 350+ individual invention patents of its own, is understandably very cautious about this issue. There is no infringement whatsoever, according to our meticulous/professional searches.
In fact, many of our patents are copied or licensed by most folding bikes today which comprise about 10% of the total adult market! In particular, The 45 degree handlepost fold was first patented by DAHON over 35 years ago and is found on almost all modern folding bikes today, including Brompton. Figures appeared on Brompton’s early patent, which included a pair of left-and-right folding handlebars. This design remained for some time on its product shown below (at right) until mid to late 1980s, years after the Original DAHON patent was filed/issued. DAHON could very well have taken legal actions against Brompton, but instead only lodged a verbal protest with Brompton’s then CEO Mr. Andrew Ritchie. Any further actions against the laudable inventor, then a budding entrepreneur, would hurt DAHON’ s own mission – “To help green the world.” However, that same (popular) patent was licensed to many larger manufacturers, including Panasonic, for up to $7.00 (=$58 in 2017 value) per bike, until its expiration 18 years later.
Patent laws are for the protection of both the inventors and Society at large. The patent is effective for no more than 20 years. Brompton, itself a very innovative company, has filed very few patents, and most basic ones expired years ago. Still we welcome anyone’s scrutiny.

The CURL has 11 distinct patents, some pending, that differentiate it from other bikes, and features a number of unique innovations, such as its user-friendly latches, rectangular aluminum tubes, quick-release pedals, rear V-coupling, Eifel handlebar, inverted stem, telescoping handlepost and more. This kind of technological evolution is good for Society, unless there is a legal infringement on existing patent/s, which of course there are none on the CURL. The aim of the CURL is to offer something new, improved and legal.

“Why compare it to a Brompton in your video?”

We wanted to show a comparison bike that represents one of the most compact, equivalent folding bikes on the market, until now.

“Will the CURL enjoy the same support from distributors and bike shops as other DAHON models?”

Yes, of course! The CURL is our 35th Anniversary Special. Global exposure on Kickstarter is our first PR salvo to kick start this baby. In June, it will be available in thousands of DAHON retailers in 40+ countries worldwide, (without the special discount here, of course. Consumers will be enjoying the same global support as our other models, no matter where you have purchased them.

“I heard SRAM are no longer making internal hub gears, but the CURL uses one?”

The CURL was developed with a SRAM brand 3 Speed internal hub. SRAM has announced (after we have placed our orders) that they will discontinue producing internal hubs in 2018. We have used this hub very successfully in several models of bike (Curve i3, Vitesse i3 and others). We (and you) will have full support from SRAM (a listed company) for spare parts and after-service as usual. We’ve been partners for over 20 year. There is no need for concern in that respect. We expect that the SRAM Sachs hubs will land in new hands just as Sachs was passed to SRAM some years ago. (Or like Sturmey-Archer , which passed from Raleigh to Sunrace in Taiwan, and is still being used by Brompton without much problems).
“Why are you using Kickstarter when you are an established company?”
Kickstarter provides an excellent platform for exposure for new products that are truly advanced such as the CURL. Meanwhile, the exposure campaign may spawn new markets not yet served by our sales network.

“Is DAHON a Chinese company?”

No. The DAHON Group started in 1981 with DAHON North America, Inc., Duarte, California, under the leadership of an accomplished Chinese-American physicist. Our stated mission was “To help green the world”, and this has remained unwavering since. Folding bikes were practically unheard of then. But today, American owned and operated DAHON has subsidiaries or affiliates in California, Wisconsin, China, Taiwan, Bulgaria and Germany, with sales networks in 40+ countries. Globalization, not nationalism, has allowed DAHON to synergize the best resources internationally to offer the best products for the money internationally. Over the decades, the group has produced folding bicycles for millions of consumers in hundreds of models under the DAHON brand, while licensing many of its 350+ independent patents to many manufacturers international. Its technical footprint (5 on average) can be found on almost every one of the hundred million folding bikes being sold annually nowadays.