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My Dahon foldable bike makes a huge noise whenever I fold the frame and unfold it. I tried spraying a lubricant into the joint. I do not know if the problem is continuing because the lubricant went around the joint and didn't enter it, or because I used the wrong lubricant.
Has anyone else had problems with the fold across the frame with their Dahon bikes? How did you lubricate this fold?
For similar things on cars I use white lithium grease (e.g. this stuff on Amazon)—it is a good lubricant and sticks around the joint that you apply it to.
Any similar thick grease should work for this joint, but the crucial thing is getting it into the right place. Taking the joint apart and applying grease to the mating surfaces is the best bet.
Whether or not you used the wrong lubricant depends a lot on just which lubricant you used...
A large load bearing joint like that deserves some teflon grease or some pedro's grease, I don't think regular lubricant is going to cut it here. Head to your LBS and ask what type of grease they have for you and how much to apply ( it shouldn't take much ).
I took my bike to two different bikeshops, to hear what the professionals had to say. They both said that the joint was out of alignment. No lubricant will fix the problem. Furthermore, because the joint was welded to each half of the bicycle, I cannot install a new one. The bicycle will break if I continue to fold it and unfold it. They recommended that I leave the bicycle unfolded.
