Being more active is great to keep our fitness level and help reduce the risks of lifestyle related diseases. If you want to be active and avoid getting stuck on cramped subway or in traffic hours, bicycling to work commuting with Dahon Mariner D7 Vs Speed D7 can be a nice choice for a healthier lifestyle. These city bicycles are ideal for urban used with useful features but, see which model will deliver the best benefit for you below before shopping.
In this article, we are going to give you information about:
– Why Choosing a Folding Bicycle
– What are Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7
– What Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 Look Like
– What Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 can offer to you
– How are the Performance of Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7
– Dahon Mariner D7 vs Speed D7
Folding Bike
Everybody wants to stay healthy for the rest of their life but our lifestyles are often in the way of achieving such fitness goal and it is not something that we can left undealt with since it will affect our overall health in the long term. Thankfully, our modern society today is starting to find a healthier options both on what food we need to reduce and how to stay active or mobile. It is also becoming a new trend and people are sharing their routine with others.
This is a good sign for an increased overall fitness level but, if you are not the type who exercise routinely whether it is because of the limited amount of free time or because spending hours inside a gym doesn’t sound interesting, we can try bicycling outside. Bicycling is one of the most popular exercises but it is also more because when pedaling, we are not only burning calories but also moving along to reach a destination in which journey can be very interesting.
This is especially accurate for mountain bicycling since the scenery we see while riding a bike is both calming and tranquillizing to break free for a while from the busy and noisy urban area. Tackling down a hard track is also satisfying since we can get a sense of achievement which is why many of us are racing to see the finish line and try to improve the performance over time. However, not all of us are fond of those more extreme activities.
If you don’t specifically have an interest for those type of bicycling, we can just pedal around the area near your apartment or house and commuting from and back of your house/office to both reduce the emission and avoid the chance of getting stuck in traffic jams, especially on busy hours. But, if your workplace is too far or taking a complicated route to reach, we can also combine the public transportation available but still use the bicycle to finish the distance. Read also: Shimano A530 Vs M324 here.
This is the specialty of folding bike which is getting a very huge demand in the last decade with more people are joining the activities and more cities becoming cyclist friendly. Developing countries are still working to build their cyclist city but those who lived in more developed countries may have more cities with proper cyclist route. With a reliable folding bike, we can reach everywhere both for exercising and adventuring purpose or to commute everyday; healthier for us and healthier for the earth.
About Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7
However, just like with anything that attract the eyes of many, its fate to be widely available and followed by many will also clear and this is the same for a folding bike because today there are so many manufacturers offering this type of bike for people who are chasing the active, healthy lifestyle but is living in an urban area in which some public transportation can deal with most of the destinations. Unlike a regular bike, your folding bike can fit inside a subway or bus just easily.
This is one of the best reasons why folding bike is gaining much recognition from the market and while there are tons of brands offering the bikes, Dahon is one of the best companies to look at if your shopping is towards folding bike. This giant manufacturer is the favorite of so many people especially in the United States and we are very proud that they are also the world’s manufacturer of folding bicycles with around 2/3 market share in 2006 so it is not surprising to see almost all of us are familiar with this company.
Not only known for a giant in the market, they are also well-known for the high quality products for their customers to purchase and the huge collections is great to let the users choose the one model that will be fitting their application the most. For those who are looking for folding bike that can be easily carried when taking public transportation and versatile enough for wider age range to use, the Mariner D7 and Speed D7 are two of the most ideal choice to consider.
The reason why they are often compared to each other is because they are offering the same capabilities and it is creating a confusion especially for those who are new and never have one from the brand before. In general they are actually a very similar and an identical bicycle from Dahon because most of the specifications are the same yet the Speed D7 is marketed for more power, probably because it is sturdier in build despite having the same weight limit to Mariner D7.
In terms of ease of use or folding mechanism, they are also the same and will form a compact rectangular shape when completely fold. They are great for commuting and for a smooth road but since the distance between the pedal and the ground is not high enough like a regular bike, it can be hard to take a sharp turn.
Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 Design
As you can see on the sample picture above, Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 are an identical folding bike with the same shape and the same fashion option but they do have different shade to coat the sturdy frame and main body such as the brushed aluminum finish of Mariner or the sport full black of Speed. If you don’t like these options, there are various other colors to pick like Ultramarine Blue or Mandarin Orange. Carrying them side by side, Speed D7 is easily a heavier bike.
On the Geometry, Mariner is actually coming with longer top tube, taller tube length, and longer wheelbase compared to Speed while the head tube angle, standover, chain length, and BB height are all the same. Maximum rider weight is up to 231 lbs. and due to the overall same build, they will also form the same 25.6 x 12.6 x 31.1 inches dimension when folded completely.
Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 Features
Moving further, let’s see what these folding bikes will offer to you and the first thing we want to talk about is the speed acceleration and since the latter is marketed for a more powerful model for the application. But, both of them actually have the same 7-Speed Shimano Radius Telescope with Fusion technology. In practice they are working equally smooth on different elevations but not made for a more challenging environment. The Mariner itself as the name suggest is made to take care of tough oceanic environments.
What made the Dahon Speed D7 special is because the frame itself is welded by hand from custom made 4130 chromoly Sonus tube as well as combined with several other different copyrighted technological aspects to produce the toughest frame for the bike. For comparison, the Mariner is using the Lightweight Dalloy Sonus which is why the whole bike is not as heavy as this version and making it more suitable for commuting with other public transportation. Additionally Mariner is using their V-Clamp technology while the latter ViseGrip.
For the derailleur, they are also using the same Shimano RD-TX35 which is made for 6/7 speed adjustment instead of the Neos that previously attached to your bike for older releases to give you an even more reliable fast shift as well as enhanced ground clearance. These folding bikes are also coming with the same 20-inch wheels similar like many other bikes while the riders are kept below 6’3” and at least 4’9”.
Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 Performance
For the performance part, Dahon Mariner D7 and Speed D7 are equally reliable and feels solid up to the highest limit and the fact that they are already featured with fenders and rack are nice for commuters. The 7 speed is also enough for daily use, changing speed is also quick and works great for flat roads. Folding is taking less than a minute while the weight is acceptable for standard folding bike. All of the clamps are also tight with some parts like seat clamp need some more adjustment.
Comparison
Now, let’s compare Dahon Mariner D7 with Speed D7. As you may already know, they are a solid folding bike to accompany your commuting routine but in comparison the Speed is coming with sturdier frame and its reinforced material offers more power and confident yet, the Mariner itself is already a reliable bike for daily use. They have the same speeds, same derailleur and weight limit as well as height limit but the Speed D7 is slightly heavier than Mariner due to the frame material.
Dahon Mariner D7 vs Speed D7
Conclusion
All in all the decision is all yours to make because not all of us are the same and it is best to choose the one that fits your daily commuting the most but between the two, we prefer the lighter and easy to carry Dahon Mariner D7.