HASA Folding Foldable Bike Shimano 6 Speed

First the good. This bicycle is a fairly good deal. It is relatively lightweight, comes with mud guards and a rear rack, and is priced aggressively. Most of the individual components are cheap, but that's expected at this price point. The bike rides pretty well, though you may need to adjust the brakes and derailleur to prevent rubbing and get smooth shifting, respectively. But that's easy. The tires ride well and the saddle is perfectly serviceable.The folding mechanisms, however, are disappointing. The handlebar hinge is not terribly secure, and the locking mechanism is held together with a tiny screw that wiggled loose while I was riding. Luckily I saw the screw fall to the ground and managed to stop and pick it up before it got lost, but imagine if I hadn't, and the handlebar hinge came undone while I was riding, miles from home. The top tube hinge is relatively beefy, but the locking mechanism is flimsy. Indeed, the fourth time I unfolded the bike, a screw holding the hinge lock together snapped at the threads, leaving the bike unrideable since the top tube hinge can no longer stay in the locked (unfolded) position.Given the centrality of the locking mechanisms to keeping the bike from collapsing while riding, I can't in good conscience recommend this bike to anyone because of the potential safety risks the hinges pose. While I only rode the bike a few times before the hinge lock failed on me, and realizing that this is probably only an issue if you are regularly folding and unfolding the bike, you may be willing to take this risk.

Picked this up to ride from my office to a fitness center during my lunch hour. I wasn't looking for anything geared to the ultimate daily commute/fold, just a bike that can be stored in a utility closet. I did the research, and this bike showed quality components like Shimano gearing, aluminum frame, and Kenda tires. On paper, it's a near clone of the Dahon Mariner at half the cost. The bike showed up in sturdy packing. Little assembly, if at all. It was ready to go in 10 minutes after cutting away the strapping, peeling off the plastic, and airing up the tires. THE GOOD: four folding points (pedals, steering stem, frame, seat post), assembled well, good build for the most part, nice carrier rack, a bicycle bell is even thrown in! THE OKAY PARTS: seat post could've been built better. It's a pinch-style adjustment like most bikes, and there's a intermediary plastic sleeve between post tube in frame and seat post tube itself. It slips a little bit, even when the pinch bolt is fairly snug. I decided when in folding not to slide down the seat post to reduce fatigue (on what could be) a venerable spot. I'm 165 lbs with backpack on, and the seat post will creep down about 1/4" or so after about 5 miles of accumulated riding. I could crank down the pinch bolt a bit more, but worried it might deform the post tube. THE BAD: nothing really. There were no significant build quality issues, and the product is just as it states. IN SUMMARY: I have ridden this bicycle almost daily for a little over a month now. Like I said, this bike is akin to the Dahon Mariner at half the price. If you're looking for a bike to fold up and put in the trunk, you can't go wrong with the HASA F2. Repetitive folding, such as in urban commutes (getting off on subway or rail), this might not be quite the bike. Repetitive day-in, day-out folding to get off/on public transit would be better left to a bicycle like a Brompton.

There are many good things about this purchase, so let me cover those first!1. Shipping free & Quick:I ordered this bike on January 2, 2014 and it arrived in New Hampshire, clear across the country from California on January 8, 2014 during a very bad week of weather. Not only was the shipping included, but I thought in light of multiple flight delays and those "coldest temperatures in 20 years" both this Amazon partner did a great job along with Fedex getting this package delivered in 4 business days!2. Packing was sufficient:The bike arrived safely, with one part of the bike having punctured the shipping carton, even though it was the mid-portion of the bicycle where it folds, luckily there was no damage. There really is no padding to speak of in the shipping container, but there is plenty of plastic and cardboard sleeves around the tubes and fenders, etc. In a way, it was nice to not have a lot of styrofoam/plastic packing.... I always thought there's way too much trash to be dumped in the landfill.... bottom line, the bike made it from Taiwan to California to New Hampshire with no damage!3. Setup was very easy, I spent more time removing cardboard sleeves and plastic wrap then actually unfolding the bike. You essentially do four things to get underway... a) unfold the bike in the middle of the frame and lock the folding latch, b) unfold the handlebars and lock that latch, c) insert the seatpost (seat is already attached) and slide it to the desired height and lock the quick-release, and finally d) find the one and only small box in the carton which contains the right-side pedal (the left-side pedal is already attached), using the correct size wrench, just attach the pedal (the right side pedal threads clockwise, the way you would expect... (just for information, the left side pedal if you ever remove it is a reverse thread)4. The setup above was easy... but adjusting is a bit more time-consuming. There were several other things to be done to get this bike underway. I'm sure every bike will vary, on this particular bike. The front brake was too tight, that had to be loosened a tad. The rear brake did not contact the rim at all, I had to loosen and pull the cable much tighter for the rear brake to work, also on the rear brake, one pad was hitting the tire more than the rim, another easy adjustment. The rear derailleur was a totally different story as far as ease of adjustment, the shifter would not even get close to the two lowest gears (these are the larger cogs in the rear). I had to totally disconnect the cable altogether and manually push the derailleur up and down while moving the pedals to even get the limits right on the derailleur (you can find directions on you tube for this). It took a while to set the limits and then re-attach the shifter cable and adjust from there, after a good 20 minutes I finally had the shifter going pretty good. I have a bicycle workstand to work with, which mad it much easier since you have to pump the pedals while checking the shifting.And last but not least! Fill the tires up to about 60psi (max of 65psi!)It's really a pretty nice bike, frame seems quite solid, the little riding I did (it's currently 10 degrees outside here in NH) was very smooth, shifted fine (after all the adjusting), seemed to brake well. It comes with funky little extras like fenders, a rear rack, kickstand, and a goofy little useless handlebar bell!You're all wondering now what is the "but" that I indicated in this review's subject line??According to the Amazon listing, in the main description it says:"This model is one size fits all. Fit riders 4'8" to 6'3" in height. The seat post is whopping 550mm long to accommodate all sizes."I am 5" 11" tall (32" inseam) and to be honest, this bike is too small for me. The seat post I received is only 530mm long (at best). In addition there's a hash mark on the post that says you should not extend beyond the mark... even with an extra 1-1/4" beyond the "safety mark" this bike is still a bit too small for me. I wish they had a little bit longer seat post! At any rate, I will give this bike to my girlfriend (our intention was to buy two to carry in the car to do quick railtrail rides etc...), I'm not sure if I'll see if I can change the seat out to get a little more height and maybe buy a second Hasa bike for me, just if I could get 2 more inches added to the seat height I would be happy!Overall, this is a great value, free shipping, but just be a bit careful if you're a taller rider! The 6' 3" maximum height they claim seems to be a bit unrealistic!