Dahon Dash Altena

Pictures at the bottom.

When I first started working at my current job, I realized that mostly everything I needed was within 2 miles of my apartment, so biking became a very viable option for me.

After 2 months into the job and a bit of research, I had bought myself a ZiZZO Urbano, the ZiZZO Rear Rack with Rollers, and the Vincita Big Nash Rack Bag to go on the rack. This setup is a ridiculously good commuter and grocery-getter. The nature of the folding bike makes it easy to keep in my work office, apartment, or in the back of someone’s car.

• The Urbano in Twin Falls, Idaho.

When we were planning our trip to Japan in 2025, I figured it would be a good opportunity to grab some bike parts. I was interested in trying out some drop handlebars, but couldn’t justify putting them on the Urbano since they would interfere with the folding. If I wanted drop bars, I’d need a new bike.

Planning

When deciding on a new bike, I came up with the following criteria:

1. Folding - I often need to bring my bike around in other people’s cars, so making that as easy as possible would be ideal. A folding bike was also the only realistic option for bringing the bike around during the Japan trip. Taking it apart and fitting it in a standard suitcase would make it easier to transport.
2. Supports drop bars
3. Something different from the Urbano. The design of the Urbano was never something that was aesthetically pleasing to me.
4. Nothing too expensive (<$1500)

My initial options were the Birdy (Air) and the Dahon Visc Evo, but after a bit more research I stumbled upon the discontinued Dahon Dash Altena, which was unique even among folding bikes since it preserved the traditional diamond frame and came stock with drop bars. The Birdy and Visc Evo would require me to buy and install drop bars separately. It also helps that the Altena was the cheapest out of these options.

• I liked the Air since I don’t think I really need disc brakes. Unfortunately the Birdy ecosystem is pretty expensive to get into and finding parts seems like a pain.

• The Visc Evo comes with a 2x10 Tiagra groupset compared to the Altena’s 2x8 Claris.

• The Lockjaw mechanism has been used for a while for several Dahon models, including the Dash line. However, the Altena is one of the few models that comes with drop bars.
• It seems like the Altena stopped production in 2023 and was discontinued in 2024.

I only found a couple retailers in Japan that sold the Altena, and eventually worked with Calmax Tajima to get the last one they had in stock delivered to the hotel we were staying at.

The buying process was pretty straightforward, just a couple emails and the bike was on its way to meet me at the hotel. It just so happened that the bike arrived right as we were checking in.

• The bike came with pedals, a bell, a keyring from the shop, an instruction manual (in Japanese), as well as a completed bike registration form and sticker.

Disassembly

The disassembly process was pretty straightforward. I got mostly everything off within 30 minutes. The hinges were a bit difficult to tke apart because the lock screws were very badly overtightened and seized. Luckily I didn’t actually need to dismantle the hinges since the folded frame was able to just barely fit inside the suitcase.

• I brought some craft foam sheets to use as padding. I was not charged any oversize fees.

Despite my best efforts, my packing wasn’t 100% complete, and some scratches made their way onto the frame. They’re luckily pretty hidden though.

Reassembly took a bit of time since this was the first time I’ve ever done a full service on a bike. I think I did an OK job with everything, except maybe the front derailleur. The only real issues I ran into were some wobbly chainrings and a few cracked chainring bolts.

Review

As of writing, it’s been over a year and 1300 miles on the Altena, and it’s held up very well, especially considering this was my first time working on many of these components.

The main pain points on the bike were the front derailleur and hinges. The chain had a tendency to rub on the FD, and it had to be very fine-tuned to get it quiet. I also spent a bit of time truing the chainring so that the chain stayed relatively still throughout its motion. The hinges would make noise on occasion. This also took some trial and error, but it turns out that you simply needed to tighten the lock screw enough so that the hinges stay put.

I also ended up throwing out the stock bottom bracket because it developed a significant amount of play pretty quickly after I started riding.

Modifications

• 100mm stem, -17deg
• Ritchey Classic Butano handlebars, 38cm
• Fizik bar tape
• Panaracer Minits Lite, 28-451
• Tubolito BMX inner tubes
• Ergon saddle
• 165mm cranks
• Tange Seiki bottom bracket
• MKS UB-Lite pedals
• Vincita rear carrier small wheel
  • needs after market stays
• Kickstand
• Kool stop dura 2 pads
• Reusable cable ends