How to Adjust the Handlebar Folding Mechanism on a CONOR INDIE (Dahon clone) Folding Bike

I commute to work each day by bicycle and a few weeks ago bought myself a shiny new CONOR INDIE folding bike.

I chose this bike because it seemed to offer the best quality within my budget. One thing that really attracted me to the bike was the fact that the folding mechanisms are licenced copies of the Dahon folding mechanism.

I looked at a few different models of folding bike and the Dahon folding mechanism (also known as the "ViseGrip" hinge) seemed to be way better engineered than the other options. It is both very quick and easy to use and very firm once closed.

I've been using the bike daily for about 4 weeks now and have noticed that there is slight play in the steering column. This means that the handle post hinge (as dahon refers to the folding mechanism) needs tightening slightly.




Undesireable "play" in the handlebar post


To do this you need to first fold the handlebars down against the wheel.




Fold the handlebar post down


Next the handle post hinged is adjusted using a suitable spanner to tighten the latch bolt as shown in the photo. I tightened it by just under a quarter turn (see arrows indicating direction) this was enough to stop the handle post from wobbling without making the mechanism too tight to close.




Turn the latch bolt to the right to tighten


If the mechanism is difficult to close you need to loosen it by turning the latch bolt in the opposite direction (see below)




Turn the latch bolt to the left to loosen


The main frame hinge clamping mechanism (arguably the most important component on a folding bike) which Dahon call the "ViseGrip Hinge" didn't need to be adjusted. However, I thought I'd include a couple of photos to show how to adjust the main frame hinge clamp.

The working principle is exactly the same as for the handlebar hinge. Simply turn the latch bolt in small increments (Dahon recomend one sixth of a turn at a time or 60 degrees)




Main Frame Hinge ( Dahon ViseGrip)


This direction loosens the clamping mechanism:




Turn the latch bolt upwards to loosen


And this direction to tighten it:




Turn the latch bolt downwards to tighten


The ViseGrip Hinge is correctly adjusted when it closes firmly but without needing excessive force.

According to Dahon specifications:

Steel framed bikes 29 - 59 N
Aluminium framed bikes (like my CONOR INDIE) 49 - 59N

It took about a minute to adjust the handlebar post folding hinge.

As always, if you have any questions please leave a comment below and I'll try and answer as best I can.

How to Repair an Ariston Oven Door

The door of my friend's 15 year old Ariston electric oven has 2 problems:

1. The oven door doesn't stay shut (old hinges with weakened springs).
2. The inner glass has come partially unstuck, this means that the door lets heat out and that it is impossible to clean the door properly since the glass will likely come away completely.

I decided to break this post down into 3 key stages:

How to Remove an Oven Door

How To Replace Oven Door Hinges

How to Replace The Door Glass of an Ariston Oven

NOTE: Since the oven is about 15 years old I wasn't surprised when my local Ariston dealer told me that the hinges are no longer available. A few minutes searching online later I sourced replacements online. When the hinges arrived they turned out to be slightly different; They have only one spring instead of 2 and are fixed by 3.5mm screws instead of 4mm. Saying that they fit perfectly and work fine (as you can see in the photo above of the repaired oven).

How to Remove an Oven Door

This post explains how to remove an oven door. We removed the door in order to replace worn out hinges and the window glass. You might also want to remove the door in order to clean the oven really thoroughly.

Oven Door Removal Step 1.

Open the door fully to reveal the small metal flap on each door hinge.

Oven Door Removal Sep 2.

Lift the metal flap using a screwdriver and rotate it to the fully open position.

Oven Door Removal Step 3.

Partially close the oven door until the Small meta flap causes the hinge to remain blocked open.

Note: The original photo taken while removing the door wasn't very good so we used a door hinge which had been removed from the door to illustrate more clearly how the hinge blocks open

Oven Door Removal Step 4.

Lift the door clear of the oven (Upwards and Outwards at 45 degrees)

Oven Door Removal Step 5

Replacing the door is the reversal of the above process. Once the door has been correctly seated on its hinges make sure that the flaps close fully.

NOTE: The illustrations show the hinges used on Ariston ovens and some other makes. There are other types of hinge but the removal method relies on a similar principle: Open the door fully then block the hinge open in order to lift the door clear of the oven.

As always, if you have any comments or questions please comment below.