9 Lightest Folding Bikes 2026: From 8.4kg to a Proper Ride

A folding bike you can't actually lift onto a train luggage rack isn't really a folding bike, it's just a bike that happens to bend in the middle. Weight is the whole point — the difference between "I'll cycle to the station" and "I'll just drive." Here are nine non-electric folders worth carrying, from an 8.4kg minifold to a full-size 27.5-inch bike that still packs down. (If you want the electric versions, I've done those separately — a motor and battery change the weight maths completely.)

Under 10kg

Dahon K3 — the lightest thing here

8.36kg, 14-inch wheels, $699. This is about as light as a folding bike gets without switching to titanium or carbon — and it still folds down small enough to slide under a café table. The trade-off is the tiny wheels: it's a bike for short hops and last-mile commuting, not a 20-mile ride. See it at Dahon →

Brompton P Line — the proper commuter at under 10kg

9.86kg for the 4-speed, £2,399. Brompton shaved nearly 2kg off the classic C Line by swapping the rear frame and fork to titanium and fitting a carbon fork and CNC-milled aluminium pedals. Same 16-inch wheels, same famous fold, same handmade-in-London build — just noticeably easier to carry up stairs. See it at Huckleberry Bicycles →

10–12kg: still light, properly rideable

Tern Verge X11 — built for actual distance

10.2kg, $2,999. Small 451 wheels but a full SRAM 1x drivetrain and hand-built Kinetix wheels, so it rides more like a proper road bike than most folders its size. Folds in under 10 seconds. This is the one for someone who wants to actually cycle on it, not just carry it. See it at Tern →

Strida LT — the one that doesn't look like a bike

10.63kg, around $650. Single-speed with a clean, grease-free belt drive and a fold that turns it into a narrow triangle you can wheel along like a trolley rather than carry — genuinely useful if you're walking it through a station. Not for hills, and the upright riding position isn't for everyone, but nothing else on this list folds this differently. See it at STRiDA →

Riese & Müller Birdy — full suspension, still light

From 10.8kg, prices from around £2,069. Germany's answer to the Brompton, and the only bike on this list with front and rear suspension — the small wheels feel far less harsh over cobbles and potholes than most folders. It holds the world record for fastest fold, at 4.9 seconds, which is a genuinely odd thing to be famous for. See it at Cycle Heaven →

Brompton C Line — the one everyone already knows

From 11.4kg for the 2-speed up to around 12kg for the 12-speed, prices from £1,215 (12-speed 2026 models from £1,599). All-steel, handmade in London, and still the bike most people picture when you say "folding bike" — for good reason. Not the lightest here, but the most proven, with the biggest secondhand market and parts supply if anything ever needs fixing. See it at Tredz →

Vello Rocky — the longer, faster one

11.9kg, from €1,690. A longer wheelbase than most folders here and a proper 10-speed Shimano Deore XT groupset, so it rides closer to a normal bike than a compromise. Folds to 57 x 79 x 29cm — not pocket-sized, but this is the pick if you want a folder that doesn't feel like one once you're moving. See it at Vello →

12kg and up: full-size folders worth the extra weight

Tern BYB P8 — smallest fold on this list

14.3kg, $999, folds to just 35 x 81 x 52cm — 30% smaller than a standard 20-inch folder, small enough for a hallway cupboard or a train luggage rack side-on. It comes with an integrated transit rack with trolley wheels, so you roll it rather than carry it once it's folded. Heavier than everything above, but the fold size is the whole selling point. See it at Tern →

Montague Paratrooper Elite — a proper mountain bike that happens to fold

12.2kg, $2,449. Full 27.5-inch wheels, Shimano XT drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes, RockShox Recon suspension fork — this is the only bike on the list that doesn't compromise on wheel size to fold. It rides like a normal mountain bike because, apart from a hinge in the middle of the frame, it basically is one. Not a bike you're sliding into an overhead locker, but if you actually want to ride off-road at the other end, nothing else here comes close. See it at Montague →

The verdict

Dahon K3 if you just need something to bridge the last mile to the station and back, and don't care about riding it further than that. Brompton P Line if you want the full Brompton experience without the extra couple of kilos of the classic C Line — or the C Line itself if you'd rather save over a thousand pounds and don't mind the weight. Tern Verge X11 or Vello Rocky if you actually want to ride distance on it. Strida LT or the Tern BYB P8 if fold size matters more than ride feel. Montague Paratrooper Elite if you want a folding bike that never reminds you it's a folding bike.

---

Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them, the brand may pay Velorution a small commission at no cost to you. It never affects what we recommend. More on how Velorution works here.