A Montague Paratrooper Folding Bike

I've finally achieved my lifelong dream of owning a folding bike, thanks to the generosity of a pile of trash on the side of the road. I'm not sure if this is an improvement over buying used bikes on Craigslist.

    Before...

    After...

After some impulsive Amazon purchases, I upgraded the fork to a Rock Shox TK SoloAir (100 mm) which unfortunately threw off the trail, so I flipped the stem. I didn't have a lot of alternatives because no one else seems to make a suspension fork with V-Brake mounts. Flipping the stem upside down wasn't enough, however, so I ended buying a shorter stem and wider bars. This seems to have helped a little bit with the wheel flop and trail due to the taller fork. I increased the fork height by only 25 mm but it really altered the whole feel of the bike. In the future, I'm hoping to buy an angled headset which will hopefully bring the geometry back to where it needs to be. I also purchased a set of Mavic Crossride UB wheels but haven't installed them yet. I'm sill contemplating the perfect tire choice since these are the original tires from 1999, it would appear.

So what's the big deal about a folding bike? Well, it folds. Bike racks are probably my least favorite bicycle accessory so I've always wondered if there was an easy way to get around scratching my car with the clumsy straps and buckles found on most car bike racks. The few times I've put the Montague bike into my car, it's folded down in about 30 seconds.

Since I've first toyed with the idea of a folding bike, I've really wanted to see if I could build one up into a legitimate mountain bike, capable of riding cross country trails. The Montague line seems like the perfect candidate, so I was very excited when I actually came across one. Since the upgrades, I've probably put about 30 miles on the bike so far, so stay tuned for more posts and updates.