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First Impressions: Dahon Fuego

Dahon Fuego

As RL mentioned in a previous post, mtnbikeriders.com took home a beautiful Dahon Fuego from the Sea Otter Classic 2007. The Dahon Fuego, an aluminum full suspension, is one of two mountain bikes that Dahon makes (the other being a steel hardtail called the Flo).

The Fuego is a fire red full suspension bike designed by the venerable Joe Murray, a mountain bike hall of famer. It has a Rock Shox Reba fork and Rock Shox Ario shock. Some of the cool specs on it include SRAM X-9 shifters and rear derailleur with a Truvativ Firex Team crank. The wheelset is American Classic hubs mated to WTB SpeedDisc wheels. They are stopped by the always excellent Avid BB7’s. Lastly, the Fuego has a very blingy Kinetic Carbonlite handlebar! Of course, what sets this bike apart from other full suspension bikes is not its great looks and nice component spec sheet, but its ability to fold down into a compact size of 11 inches by 26 inches by 31 inches.

Designed by joe Murray
“Designed by Joe Murray” on rear triangle

Check out the pictures below:
Ario Shock
Ario Shock, Choose from two settings: 3 inches or 4 inches of travel


Carbon Lite Handlebar + X-9s

Seat Tube Break Area
Seat Tube Seperator


Downtube Separator

Some quick first impressions:

– the red is hot! Fuego is a great name for the bike because it is a hot color.
– the bike is pretty light for a full suspension. The nice specs help, but surprisingly the ability to fold the bike didn’t add much if any extra weight to the bike.
– the bike seems very strong and stiff even though it can be folded in half in about 15 minutes. This speaks to a great frame design and very solid/strong materials used to execute the frame.

Check back here for more updates on the Dahon Fuego as well as a full review. And to find out more about this beautiful bike click here.