I have purchased a Bike Friday. For those who are not familiar with the Bike Friday here are some facts:
The bike is made in Eugene, Oregon and is a folding bike that fits into a suitcase for traveling. The model that I bought is the Pocket Rocket (sounds fast.) I have made one trip to the factory to test ride the different models. At that time Bike Friday took my measurements and the measurements from my road bike which I had brought along. They custom make each bike.
I picked up the bike on 1-6-2000. Now all I need are some dry days so I can go for a ride. I do have full rain gear so I am not worried about getting wet myself but how can one let a brand new bike get full of MUD. I will let you know how I like the bike as soon as I get a few miles under my belt.
My first test ride.
Lois has a meeting in Eugene, Oregon so I thought I would ride down. This would give me a chance to see how the new bike would handle. I was worried about the weather but the day before I was to leave it turned great.
The ride to Eugene was great. Both days were with cloudless skies and a great tailwind. It was not hot as I wore my windbreaker all day. I did ride in shorts. On Saturday, while Lois was in her meeting I rode around Eugene. I did 55 miles on Eugene's bike paths. Stopped at Bike Friday and had a nice visit, met Allen the founder.
We then drove to Paradise where Lois took care of stuff for her mom while I rode around the area. Now is was warm, almost hot (low 80's), and with still blue skies.
Here are the stats:
- 3-30 to Salem 63 miles, found $1.26 (includes 111 pennies)
- 3-31 to Eugene 75 miles found $1.01 and 1 nice screwdriver.
- 4-1 ride around Eugene 55 miles found $0.47
- 4-2 drove to Paradise
- 4-3 rode around Chico 59 miles found $0.46 and 1 very large pliers (16 inches long)
- 4-4 rode around Paradise 31 miles (15 miles up in the hills above Paradise and then back) found some very nice roads, found $0.83.
- Total: 283 miles and $4.03 (I always like to try and find a penny per mile.)
The new bike rode wonderful and was a lot of fun. I had many people yell out their car window "nice bike." Even through Lois drove I still loaded the bike as if I was on tour, alone, just to see how the bike would handle, there was no problems at all.
Two REAL pluses for this bike are: It is the quietest bike I have every ridden. Being a folding bike this is outstanding. There were no rattles or squeaks. Over the years I have owned some very up scaled bikes and everyone has had some noise(s). On one of my bikes that was equipped with "Campangnolo Ergopower" the shift levers rattled so bad that it was not fun to ride. It took me six months to get Campy to fix this problem. Second this new bike rides great loaded. On several of my old touring bikes it was hard to stand on hills when the bike was loaded due to the sway. This Bike Friday showed NO signs of a sway. Needless to say I am very happy with this bike. Just for the record my Cannondale T-1000 which I took on my coast-to-coast tour also rides great.
It's was hard to come back to our weather. We have light rain and it's COLD (51 degrees).
Now let take the bike on an airplane (July & Sept 2000).
The reason for buying this bike was so that I could go along with my wife when she travels and not just sit in the hotel.. This year she had two trips one to Philadelphia and another to Washington, DC. This would gave me a chance to ride in 4 new states, NJ, DE, VA and MD. Also to ride in Washington DC.
Philadelphia
I packed the bike into it’s suitcase and off we went to the airport. The suitcase has wheels so it was no problem to pull it along. The Oregon delegation was staying in King of Prussia. After checking in I assembled the bike with few problems and was off for my first ride within 30 minutes. Just a few miles from the hotel is Valley Forge, a great place to ride. The next day I rode the bike path into Philly and crossed over into NJ. The following day I made a ride into DE. My three rides totaled 155 miles. Not only did the bike travel and ride well it also caused a lot of comments.
Washington, DC
Off we went again. We stayed in a hotel in VA. My first ride was down to Mount Vernon on a wonderful bike path. The next day I took a ride into MD. The following day I rode all over Washington, DC. On all three days I did a lot of sightseeing and I will tell you there’s no better way to see our Nations Capital than by bike. At times I had a hard time to find a place to lock the bike where I was not worry about it. Most of the time I was able to lock the bike where one of the many police in the area could keep an eye on it for me. The only place that was a real problem was at Mount Vernon. Also I was not allowed to ride my bike through Arlington National Cemetery. The total of my three rides was 197 miles. Again the bike traveled great and made me some new friends.
O’ahu, Honolulu - 2004 and 2005
In 2004 the security at the Portland airport opened the bike suitcase for inspection. I was able to stand near by and watch. They found two items which they did not like - CO2 cartridges and White Lightning oil. The cartridges and the oil were taken out and tossed. When the inspector tried to re-pack the bike he had a hard time. Since I was watching, he took his time and did not just jam everything back in the suitcase. The bike arrived OK. On the return trip the suitcase was not opened.
This year, 2005, I was very careful to be sure that there was no items that would not pass inspection. Also I have traded in my old Bike Friday suitcase for their new one. This new suitcase is a little deeper and makes packing the bike a lot easier. The bike was inspected again but this time I could not watch since they put my suitcase aside so that they could finish inspection others whose flights were about to leave. I stood by for about 40 minutes but they never got to my suitcase. I finally had to make my way to my departing gate. Yes, I was worried, but mainly if the bike would make it on the plane - it did.
The new suitcase does have one problem. The crush-protector is just a hair short which causes it to shift and fall apart. At first I thought that maybe the inspector had not put it back correctly, but the same thing happened on the flight home and the suitcase was not opened.
My reason for going to Honolulu is because my best friend from the 4th grade lives there with his wife. Honolulu is a very unfriendly place to ride your bike. There are only a few places that are fun to ride. The other places have heavy traffic - which seem to hate bikes, bad and narrow roads and lot of glass and thorns to run over. The visitors from Japan, as well as some others, seem to like to walk on the right side of the bike paths, walking towards you and they refuse to give you the right of way. Of course the reason for this is that in Japan traffic flows in the opposite direction than we do here in the USA. But we are not in Japan. Just be careful.
I even had a local bike rider heading towards me on a very busy one way street (he was going the wrong direction on King) at full speed without a helmet. He was crazy. Also don’t trust the bus drivers they won’t give you an inch. Many ride on the sidewalks even through it’s not legal (I did at times). Ride very defensively.
Good places to ride: The loop around Diamond Head which includes Kapi’olani Park is nice but only about 5 miles long (depending on the location of your hotel). Add to this loop the ride out to Hanauma Bay and back for a total of 25 miles. If you like hills then the loop in the mountains using Tantalus Drive and Round Top Drive is a must(take the side trip up to Punchbowl). The Pearl Harbor bike path is also very nice but only about 10 miles long - round trip. To find these places pick up a copy of “Bike O’ahu” map available at most bike shops.
Bottom line: it’s a great bike for traveling.