Affordable Folding Bike Recommendations and Advice?

[WD]

I am only a novice rider and I don't know too much about cycling.  I live in San Francisco and I commute across the Bay to Oakland for work. I cannot complete the whole commute by bike, but I can bike to the transit station (BART).  The problem is that BART only allows folding bikes during commute hours. So here are my questions:

1. Is there a basic class that can teach basic bicycle maintenance in case I would need to fix something during my commute?
2. Anyone have recommendations on a affordable folding bike that is of decent quality?

[Nancy]

I have a Tern C7 folding bike, and it's been great. It cost me $400 about a year ago. It is a seven speed with 20-inch wheels. It weighs about 27lbs without fenders or a rack. I can easily pick it up and hold it against my hip with one hand, but other people have remarked that they find it heavy. You can also hold the seat and wheel the bike around while it's folded.

As for bike maintenance, I Googled San Francisco bike maintenance classes and found an article from 2010 listing local businesses and non-profits that had such classes. Do a bit of research to see if they are still being offered.

[ScottEric]

I bet the Bike Kitchen can help you out!

http://bikekitchen.org/

Also, folders, I hear decent things about Dahon for reasonably priced bikes.

[capital]

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/bshare/indxbishare.htm
Bikeshare is coming.

Dahon (and their spinoff Tern) makes good folding bikes, new or used. '80s Dahons aren't fast for bikes but are much faster than walking and darn cheap:
http://sanfrancisco.craigslist.org/eby/bik/3798745841.html

[Kayano_55]

I picked up a single speed Dahon for $150 at Performance Bicycle (Boardwalk was the model) during one of their big sales.  If your commute doesn't include a ton of hilly terrain, this bike is cheap and works great. 

[markstache]

You certainly can't go wrong with dahon or turn. Downtube, Xootr[/url], and Citizen also are worth a l look.

[ralay]

Another vote for Dahon. 

I went to a bike shop specializing in folding bikes to test ride a bunch of models (as a 5'6" rider).  Most models didn't have a seat post that can be safely extended to accommodate full leg extension for an adult.  Given their geometry, folding bikes need much longer seat posts than regular bikes.  A long seat post needs to be very well supported and made of large diameter, heavy-walled tubing to keep from bending under the weight of a furiously pedaling adult.  Quality folding bikes (Dahon, for example) have a super heavy duty seat post, allow a full leg extension, and are as comfortable to ride as a traditional bike.  LOTS of other folding bike manufacturers have a flimsy, short, little seat post that won't extend anywhere close to the leg length of an adult.  You won't be able to swap the seat post for a longer one as a longer post also needs to be of greater diameter.  They're initially cheaper, but truly less than worthless as a bike that's too small will be harder to ride and quickly cause knee pain.  I'm sure there are other good models beside Dahon, but there are a lot of crap models.  Make sure that you can test ride whatever you buy with a special eye to proper fit without having to pay return shipping for what turns out to be a clown bike. 

As for repair lessons, look up your local bike co-op.  If you have one, they are one of the most Mustachian places on Earth - used bikes, used parts, free/lowcost tool use, and generally free training in exchange for volunteering. 

[¡™£]

I recently read that BART is allowing full size bikes (with some restrictions) during rush hour between july1 and dec1 of this year

http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2013/news20130523a.aspx