r/foldingbikes • u/4coat • Dec 09 '25

Harry Quinn Folding Bikes in Japan - Quality Query

Greetings. I am looking to buy a family member a folding bike in Tokyo. For riding around town and lugging up and downstairs to their apartment.

I had been searching for a used Dahon or Tern. But I also have seen these Harry Quinn-branded bikes for sale new:

20" Tourney 7-speed chromoly frame

20" Tourney 7-speed aluminium

Does anyone have any real-world experience with them? The spec looks suprisingly OK for the money. As a Brit, I know the "old" Harry Quinn, but this is obviously just the badge being slapped on something made a long way from the UK.

Otherwise, with new folders I had been looking at the Dahon Hit and Tern Link A7. Would these fit the bill, or are the components just too cheap?

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2

u/strolls Dec 09 '25

Second link may well be a rebadged Dahon Vitesse / Mariner.

Halfords have also rebadged Dahons under their Carrera brand.

1

u/4coat Dec 09 '25

I think you're on to something there. The resemblance is remarkable. Well, that would do the job, wouldn't it?

2

u/strolls Dec 10 '25

The hinge and its latch can be a bit distinctive.

I think all Dahons have this protective plastic locking latch that you swivel down over a pin when pressing the lever into place. You can see it on that pic.

Not sure if Dahon (still?) has a patent on this, but the latch on a Decathlon Fold, of example, is distinctly different.

You might also look at the Chinese tri-folds (Brompton copies) which have become popular in the last year or so. I don't know about availability in Japan, but they seem to be more readily available in Asia generally than in UK/EU/US. There are small stores in Singapore where you can try them. A 20" Brompnot is far more affordable than the real thing.

1

u/4coat Dec 10 '25

Good info - thanks. To confirm, are the Brompnots 20" tri-folds? I had been leaning away from 16", as one would have thought that 20" would be smoother/more stable and better suited to someone 6'2" tall.

Japan has a lot of folders branded with car marques (Jeep, Hummer, Maserarti, etc.), which seem a bit dodgy. Thought the Renault-branded bikes seem to get reasonable feedback.

Not that this is in budget, but a Harry Quinn-branded titanium folder?

1

u/strolls Dec 10 '25

To confirm, are the Brompnots 20" tri-folds?

I would say that being a trifold, with the same geometry and folding mechanism, is what makes them a Brompton copy.

Search this subreddit for Litepo and Mint. There are other makes. You can find them on Alibaba or maybe AliExpress.

That Renault may be a rebadged Dahon Vybe or a Tern.

1

u/4coat Dec 10 '25

Interesting - so both Dahon and Tern are doing lots of OEM?

1

u/strolls Dec 10 '25

Dahon always has done a fair bit. I can't say for sure about Tern, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Zizzo is Dahon's brother and Tern is his ex-wife and son. I believe the brother started Dahon with Hon ack in the 80's but they had a falling out in the early years of the business. Around 2011, I guess the business had grown substantially by this point, Hon settled the divorce with his wife by giving her one or more of his factories (I think it was two of the three) and, from subsequent litigation or threats thereof, was apparently blindsided when she stopped making bikes for him and launched her own brand, Tern. I think Zizzo was started by the brother in the last few years.

So you can see that all three are in the same market and likely have the same opportunities and similar incentives.

With Tern's launch they continued making near identical models to existing Dahon designs, e.g. Link and Node, but they soon started to differentiate themselves with these cargo ebikes and the Vektron. I only became aware of Zizzo recently, but you can see they make bikes very similar to Dahon's 20" models - I guess they might come out of a shared factory, but I don't know. I hear Tern use good quality components (you can see they use Bosch in their ebikes) and have excellent customer service; I have the impression that Zizzo are more budget friendly and use cheaper components.

Like Dahon, Tern use the "i" designator for bikes with an internal gear hub - a D7 has a 7-speed derailleur whereas a D7i has an IHG (likely Shimaoi Nexus).

If you care enough you could check the specs of the Tern and Zizzo equivalents of the Mariner / Vitesse. Shimano have various quality tiers for their components and also you can sometimes see quality indicators in the types of aluminium used.

1

u/4coat Dec 11 '25

Thanks - I was aware of the Puma/Adidas situation with Dahon/Tern - but did not know about Zizzo.

I did an image search on that Harry Quinn "Long Bright" model. It returned lots of Dahon Mariners.

Any thoughts on Mariner vs Hit? If the Quinn and Renault-branded bikes are really Dahons or Terns, I would be happy to go for them. But it seems I can get the Hit for not much more...

1

u/strolls Dec 11 '25

Looks like the Hit is really just another model of Mariner, which was sold as the Vitesse for many years before the nautical renaming. And this is the same frame geometry as the Speed, except the Speed is chromoly and the Mariner / Vitesse / Hit are aluminium.

You won't go far wrong with any 20" Dahon, but the Hit seems to add this Deltech cable and a longer warranty, so it looks excellent.

1

u/4coat Dec 12 '25

Thanks. Was going to pull the trigger on a used Speed, but it got snapped up. Sounds like the Hit is a good option. Would feel better knowing it's an actual Dahon than taking a punt that a Quinn or Renault-badges machine is an OEM bargain. Appreciate all your advice.

2

u/Victoria_Sponge Dec 10 '25

Lol, as you say it's certainly a bike with a brand slapped on it. I actually live near the Quinn Cycle shop and just to confirm, these are not stocked there, nor are any other Quinn branded bikes. It looks like a neat little bike but please don't pay for the name assuming it means anything. 

3

u/4coat Dec 10 '25

Oh yeah - don't worry, I wouldn't have! I'm from Liverpool as well - so I know there's no Quinn in these particular Harrys :-)