BikeRadar Live: James Norton smashes Dahon folding race
Seasoned commuter winner James Norton with his steed, a Dahon Mu EX (Chris Keller-Jackson)
James Norton took out the Dahon Folding Bike Championship of the Universe at BikeRadar Live in the Seasoned Commuter class, annihilating a field comprising folder experts from the Dahon and Brompton squads and fit folder newbies in a race over four-laps of the Donington motor race course.
Simon Soengard from Denmark came over to BikeRadar Live for the weekend, entered the one-lap Novice race and, like James, took away a Dahon Mu P8. Other prizes included Bespoke clothing and Met helmets.
In the four-lap Seasoned Commuter event, James led almost from the gun, very rapidly unfolding his bike after the LeMans start and getting under way up the hill of the Donington motor circuit before some riders had even remembered which way the handlebars went.
In particular, Procycling magazine’s Dan Friebe was desperately struggling with the technicalities of getting his bike working and was last away.
A LeMans style start
James Norton taking the lead
If there’d been a prize for the day’s biggest guts effort it would have gone to Friebe, who was back in contact with a five-man chasing bunch at the end of the first lap, along with his colleague Ellis Bacon and cycling author Richard Moore.
But as the chasers put on neckties in the end-of-first-lap challenge, James was long gone and storming up the hill. The chase group was splintered by the challenge – some people clearly spend far too much time in t-shirts – and James’ lead never looked in danger.
He cruised into the finish, stopped at the finish bus-stop, deftly folded his bike and sprinted up the hill across the finish line.
Novice winner Simon Soengard with his Dahon Mu P8 and the Dahon reps
Team Brompton were well kitted out
Mount that bike!
Results
| Seasoned Commuter race | ||
| 1 James Norton | ||
| 2 Richard Moore | ||
| 3 Jack Hibberd | ||
| Novice Commuter race | ||
| 1 Simon Soengard | ||
| 2 Jeffrey Baker | ||
| 3 Adrian Moore |
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User Comments
There are 5 comments on this post
Showing 1 - 5 of 5 comments
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NickHu
Posted Mon 1 Jun, 3:32 pm UTC Flag as inappropriate
As a Dahon rider myself I'm interested to know what kind of speed these guys were riding at? How would they fair at the silly commuter racing game played on the forum!?
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ademoore
Posted Mon 1 Jun, 4:15 pm UTC Flag as inappropriate
Hi,
I miraculously came 3rd in the novice race, I've never riden a folder before, my wife loves hers and keeps wanting me to have a go on one, so used this as an opportunity. The bike I rode was kindly lent to me by Dahon, it had a 7 or 8 speed derailleur with slick tyres which was a great help, it was also VERY light.
The extra gears helped my speed, but when I watched the pro guys going for 4 laps (I only did one which was more than enough!), I was so impressed with the speed they could keep to. So to answer your question, a standard noobie like me with the right gearing and tyres can get a folder going reasonably quickly (not as quick as a larger wheeled bike) but a seasonded rider can get them going much quicker, even after doing several time trials and races already that day!
Sorry, no times were recored, so that the most detail on seeds I can give you is my observations.
I really enjoyed the race and all of Bikeradar live,will be back next year!
Ade
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StuAff
Posted Mon 1 Jun, 10:34 pm UTC Flag as inappropriate
I did the Smithfield Nocturne folding race last year- this year's is Saturday, in that too- and the fastest guys were hitting 32 or more mph, averaging 23-24 last year. I can just about manage 32 downhill :) Any of these guys would be lethal in SCR (nothing with a higher FCN could ever take them!).
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StuAff
Posted Mon 1 Jun, 10:37 pm UTC Flag as inappropriate
And James Norton's bike isn't his prize- that's a Mu EX (8.8 kg, SRAM Red components....mmmm!). No wonder he won...!
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john7doe
Posted Tue 2 Jun, 7:18 am UTC Flag as inappropriate
I came in 1st on the short distance, to my knowledge no times were recorded. We did a le mans style start (and end), so i don't think the timing would have reflected the rideing speed anyway. Last time I brought my GPS with me I could do a little above 28 mph on flat road with a little headwind.
I'm riding a giant halfway, per default it has a very conservative gear configuration 48-13. I have upgraded it to 52-13, but it is still the gearing that is the limiting factor on the top speed. The dahon I won had a better gearing 54-11 or 52-11, so I expect my speed on that bike will be better.
There were a couple of good climbs with lots of nasty headwind on the track, so not sure what our adv speed was.
/Simon
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