To Have and To Fold

Two constant companions during my freight-flying days were my Libra de Potenza (aka Mac Powerbook) and my Brompton bicycle. Okay, there were the other companions - sleep deprivation and boredom. Anyway, the laptop enabled be to write my blog, Skype my wife, and generally keep boredom at bay during layovers. Having a Brompton allowed me to take a bike with me to work and provided mobility and exercise. Rather than sitting in a hotel room all day, flipping channels on TV, I was out riding. A year or so after I left the freight-flying world, I ended up selling the Brompton to finance the purchase of a full-sized bike. Lately I've found a recurring need for a folding bike, so I started investigating a replacement.

The Brompton was compact when folded, but it wasn't particularly light. Bromptons only come in one size and the frame always felt a bit small. I never liked how the Brompton felt squirrelly and unstable while climbing hills. And standing up on the pedals? Fagetaboutit! I already knew Brompton's characteristics so I briefly considered a Dahon Mu. I found Dahon's ride to be very similar to the Brompton, but with a much flimsier, lower-quality feeling. I got a chance to ride a BikeFriday Tikit Model T and liked it very much.

Having sold the Brompton to purchase a full-size Cannodale Road Warrior II, only to sell the Cannondale to fund the purchase of a Stop Cycles belt-drive Proletariat, I realized I had come full circle. And the Proletariat convinced me that my next folding bike would have to be belt-drive.

More research.

I decided to purchase a Bike Friday belt-drive Tikit, variously described on their web site as the Future Tikit and the Future's Tikit. Whatever you call it, I ordered it in February and it arrived last Tuesday. Bike Friday cycles are produced by Green Gear Cycling, Inc. in Eugene, Oregon. That's right, the frames are designed and fabricated in the USA. They seem to be an unorthodox company, in many ways.

Here's some of the un-boxing and assembly.

Held at FedEx for pick-up, the box barely fit in my 1st Generation Insight

Strategically placed ReadMe leads the way ...

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Unfolding the handlebar stem

Unwrapping the bars ...

Installing the handlebars

Installing the front wheel skewer ...

Installing the front wheel ...

Attaching the front fender, some bending required

My pedal of choice, purchased locally ...

A little torque required

All said and done, remarkable little packaging, most of it recyclable ...

My impression of the company is that they are a bit ... quirky. Their web site seems a bit disorganized and purchasing anything requires a phone call. The salesperson I dealt with was nice, friendly, but not what I would call personable. And there were some miscues and missteps.  Virtually all communication with Green Gear was done by email and all but one message was initiated by me. It would take several weeks for my bike to make it through the fabrication schedule, I had some time to think and adjusted my order a couple of times by adding fenders and a rack. The sense I got was that my sales person was less than excited at the prospect of assisting me.

I get pretty excited about bikes and there are plenty of improvements I'd suggest. First, keep customers informed. If someone has plunked down several hundred dollars in advance, why not email them once every week or two with the status of their order. In fact, why not email some digital photos of each customer's bike as it makes its way through the fabrication process?

Second, when a customer calls, the salesperson should at least appear willing and able to assist. I had the nagging feeling that I was a more of a nuisance than anything else. The one thing that really rubbed me the wrong way the response to my request that my bike's wheels be built with presta valves instead of schrader valves. When I made this request I was told it was too late to change, that my bike had "hit the fence" - all the parts had arrived and though the bike was not yet assembled/built, they didn't want any changes. The salesperson offered to include two presta valve tubes with my bike at no charge and, to his credit, he did. Seems like shipping a bike with unwanted material would be counter to Green Gear's philosophy of being environmentally conscious. So apparently it would have been a too much of a hardship to change out the tubes before installing the wheels. Fascinating ... But check out the way this schrader valve tube was installed by the factory.

Bush league tube/tire assembly, oddly out of character for the rest of the bike.

The bike appears very well-made, the power-coat finish expertly applied, the design both clever and functional. After assembly and test riding, I emailed my salesperson saying that I'll most likely need a slightly longer handlebar stem. Swapping out handlebar stems is supposed to be covered under a 30-day warranty. I'm still waiting for my salesman's response ... Odd, really odd.

For a Future Tikit ride report, click here.