Folding Bikes - Aftermarket Folding bars?

Anybody know of a folding bar set I can buy as a separate item? What I want to do is fit something that will give me the equivalent of a removable or folding stoker bar, any ideas?

Bike Friday makes removable bars (http://store.bikefriday.com/index.php?cPath=3).

You can buy theirs or send in your own for them to cut. If it's a stoker bar, can you get away with just using a flat mountain bar? (<--easiest and cheapest solution IF the stoker is ok with it.)

Bike Friday makes removable bars (http://store.bikefriday.com/index.php?cPath=3).

You can buy theirs or send in your own for them to cut. If it's a stoker bar, can you get away with just using a flat mountain bar? (<--easiest and cheapest solution IF the stoker is ok with it.)
Thanks, while I wait for them to get back to me, do you know how they work?
Does the center section stay in the clamp and the outer pieces clip to it?
Or do you have to take it out of the clamp?

Thanks, while I wait for them to get back to me, do you know how they work?
Does the center section stay in the clamp and the outer pieces clip to it?
Or do you have to take it out of the clamp?

I am afraid that I don't quite understand your question.

Here is my description:

The exterior of the two halves meet at the center. The bars have a male female connection. The stem clamps on both halves of the bar keeping them together. Check out the videos on the Bike Friday site on how to pack/unpack a bike. In there, they separate the bars and put them together. It should give you a good idea of their construction.

-G

EDIT: Here is a link to the BF page on packing and folding. You can find the videos there.

http://www.bikefriday.com/foldingpacking

Don't think thats gonna work for me, I want to mount a bar off a seat post on an Xtracycle, for passengers. Without a QR clamping stem, the bike friday bars don't really help.
Maybe I should have asked about a QR stem that can be modded with shims to fit the seatpost. One guy has put on a regular threadless stem on his seatpost, then clamped on a short section of bar, into this, he inserts short, stubby grips which clip in by button locks. He got the grips from those little laser scooters. This is ideal but I'm trying to find something that I can just order as a finished item without any machining on my part.

Why don't you just leave it on there? I ride my tandem with no stoker fairly often, and don't notice the bars at all (usually after dropping my son off somewhere, or on the way to pick him up).

I'm not really sure I fully understand what you want but is this helpful?

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=289231

Here the first link from that thread http://www.pacy-faltrad.de/p26/detailGalerie/pages/CC%20Bild0454.htm

Don't think thats gonna work for me, I want to mount a bar off a seat post on an Xtracycle, for passengers.
I feel you. I finally bought a real tandem stoker stem for my Xtracycle and am waiting for a shim to arrive to fit my seatpost, but it will be a *permanent* mount.

As far as what you're looking for, I'm not aware of anyone who has made a quick release stem for this sort of application. However, it may be possible to use a quick-release seatpost rack and somehow hose clamp some mountain bars to it, or maybe drill a hole in the bars and rack and bolt them together.

Then you can install a book holder on the rack so your passenger can read while riding. :)

Here's a reasonably priced seatpost rack (http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=112&subcategory=1079&brand=&sku=14916&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=Shop%20by%20Subcat%3A%20y">Ls) you can try.

The exterior of the two halves meet at the center. The bars have a male female connection. The stem clamps on both halves of the bar keeping them together. Check out the videos on the Bike Friday site on

IH, I have one of their touring STI bars.

It is cut at the center, but one of the halves has a tube inside that protudes maybe 2-3 inches into the other side. It's glued or something inside one half. Then the two halves join, and the cut sleeve goes over this, and then the stem clamps all of this together.

A bit annoying for me on the STI is that the handlebar tubing is still mountain bike size, making it a little more challenging to clamp on road drops or use this in a road stem.

Thanks for the ideas guys, the chinese/german thing looks good if a bit heavy and expensive, the seatpost rack idea is neat too but I think I am going to try and track down an old razor scooter and get the tools out to copy the idea on the xtracycle forums. As is usually the case, when I try the easy way I just make more trouble for my self.:)