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-   -   New BF Tikit Owner (https://www.bikeforums.net/folding-bikes/388472-new-bf-tikit-owner.html)

jss273nyc 02-15-08 10:21 AM

New BF Tikit Owner
 
So I took advantage of the special promotion that they had during January at BF and I bought myself a BF Tikit. I was a little worried about the wheel size at first, but when I went to test drive it at NYCE Wheels in New York, I realized that this wasn't so much of an issue for me. Even though it has the 349 wheel size, it seems to ride like a larger bike.

I test drove the Brompton one more time just to make sure, and I just didn't like the ride as much as the Tikit. It didn't seem as in control or solid as the Tikit. No one can beat Brompton's fold though. Anyway, at the same time I also test drove the Swift again just to be sure. The Swift rides like a regular bike and is so fun to ride, but the folded size isn't the greatest.

When the promotion came around, I jumped at getting the Tikit Model T with the twiddley stem. I figured for a savings of $300, it was definitely worth it as it adds only 5 seconds more of fold time. Unlike my Helios which I rarely folded because it was such a pain in the ass to fold all the time, I fold my Tikit at every chance. The handle is really such a god send and the bike seems perfectly weighted about the handle.

I ordered it on the 3rd of January and it arrived on the 22nd. I didn't really have a chance to ride it till the beginning of February due to the crappy and unpredictable weather in NYC, but I have to say that I am totally in love with the bike. The ride is so smooth, and the bike feels so solid. The steel frame seems to dampen a lot of the bumpiness of the roads here in NYC which was not necessarily the case with my Helios P8 which had a much harsher ride.

The only problem so far I've had has been with the derailleur, which just needed some adjustments as it seemed to slip out of 4th gear quite often. I'm considering changing it out for something other than the standard Microshift derailleur, although since I've made the adjustments, I haven't had too many problems with it.

All in all I'm extremely happy with the bike, and now I understand why so many people love Bike Fridays. This bike is simply a pleasure to ride. Because of the experience with the Tikit, I now am coveting a Pocket Rocket....one can always dream I guess. Anyway, I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

Lalato 02-15-08 10:50 AM

Congrats...

I'm jealous!
--sam

vik 02-15-08 11:09 AM

Enjoy your new Tikit...:)

SesameCrunch 02-15-08 02:36 PM

Two words: EN-VY!

Where are the pictures???

invisiblehand 02-16-08 09:07 PM

Sweet!

BarracksSi 02-17-08 12:45 AM

I was totally impressed by the first Tikit video I saw; I've wanted one ever since.

It would be my first folder, too. I've just gotta get off my duff and buy one. ;)

J B Bell 02-21-08 06:08 PM

My new Tikit (v. Speed P8)
 
I just got a Tikit last Saturday, and I've been going positively nuts on it. Definitely a nicer ride than my 2006 Dahon Speed P8. It's much faster, though to be fair that's probably down to the thinner Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires; and this difference also makes it nicer for climbing. I think the top end is a bit less at the same time, so the gearing is probably a bit narrower and lower, at a guess. Anyway, these things combine to make me dream of being on it when I'm not.

Anyway, yes on the fold! So nice and quick, and not needing to re-tune the saddle and handlebars each time is awesome. I used the lines on my Dahon but grit from riding in the rain quickly ground them off. :( Being able to wheel it around takes care of the "last 20 yards" at train stations where I'd be lugging the Speed.

The only real bummers I note are the grips (plain squishy foam, it's not being nice to my hands) and the saddle (not evil, but pretty blah). Those touches on the Speed are excellent--the Biologic stuff I found really comfort-enhancing.

None of this is to dis the Speed--I think Dahon still offers best bang-to-buck out there for sure. But if you have the cash I think the Tikit is a really superb machine. Budget for after-market saddle & grips if you're going to be putting any serious time on it.

Mr. Smith 02-22-08 12:10 AM


Originally Posted by J B Bell (Post 6208361)
I just got a Tikit last Saturday, and I've been going positively nuts on it. Definitely a nicer ride than my 2006 Dahon Speed P8. It's much faster, though to be fair that's probably down to the thinner Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires; and this difference also makes it nicer for climbing. I think the top end is a bit less at the same time, so the gearing is probably a bit narrower and lower, at a guess. Anyway, these things combine to make me dream of being on it when I'm not.

Anyway, yes on the fold! So nice and quick, and not needing to re-tune the saddle and handlebars each time is awesome. I used the lines on my Dahon but grit from riding in the rain quickly ground them off. :( Being able to wheel it around takes care of the "last 20 yards" at train stations where I'd be lugging the Speed.

The only real bummers I note are the grips (plain squishy foam, it's not being nice to my hands) and the saddle (not evil, but pretty blah). Those touches on the Speed are excellent--the Biologic stuff I found really comfort-enhancing.

None of this is to dis the Speed--I think Dahon still offers best bang-to-buck out there for sure. But if you have the cash I think the Tikit is a really superb machine. Budget for after-market saddle & grips if you're going to be putting any serious time on it.

Congrats! My wife's tikit arrived this week. We now each have one, though she got the "Model T" with the crank to cinch down the handle post. I have the tikit2ride. I highly recommend the front rack and the SunLite "Grocery Getter" bag. Works very well. The one-sided rack makes the steering a little lop-sided on a long ride, but on the plus side it still folds with the bag attached. I wheel it around the grocery store folded and fill up the bag still attached to the bike. I find the tikit to be the best of what's around currently, though I never got to try an Airnimal bike or a Birdy. I saw a gentleman with his Birdy and he folded it for me, but nearly dropped the bike 3 times trying to demonstrate. We move along quite nicely in the bike lanes on our tikits. I'm considering one of their more performance oriented bikes for bringing along when traveling overseas and maybe as a regular ride if it's as fast as they say.

My wife owned a Ciao for about a month before returning it to the store, but she went out and bought a Biologic seat for on another bike after we returned the Dahon. She also wanted a set of the grips. I find I'm now accustomed to the Bike Friday seat and it serves me well. The grips I wish were a little more ergonomic, though I won't bother to replace them until the foam has worn some.

allanmac00 02-22-08 10:52 PM

Perhaps off topic, but does anyone know if it's possible to do a loaded tour with a Tikit?

invisiblehand 02-22-08 11:00 PM


Originally Posted by allanmac00 (Post 6215559)
Perhaps off topic, but does anyone know if it's possible to do a loaded tour with a Tikit?

Well ... Bike Friday sells front and rear panniers for the bike. Small wheels are strong as hell. You might want more gears -- you could go with the SRAM Dual Drive -- but otherwise it should be ready to go.

Oh ... I would ask about the weight limit.

vik 02-23-08 12:28 AM


Originally Posted by invisiblehand (Post 6215588)
Well ... Bike Friday sells front and rear panniers for the bike. Small wheels are strong as hell. You might want more gears -- you could go with the SRAM Dual Drive -- but otherwise it should be ready to go.

Oh ... I would ask about the weight limit.

There is no rear rack for the Tikit at the moment [although one is in the works] and the existing single pannier front rack is barely usable with a loaded pannier as it has really negative impact on bike handling. You could tour with a trailer though or a Carrdice seatbag if you were going ultralight.

I've requested a 2 sided front pannier which should solve the handling issue and combined with a large seat bag would give you a reasonable amount of cargo capacity.

invisiblehand 02-23-08 12:36 PM


Originally Posted by vik (Post 6215876)
I've requested a 2 sided front pannier which should solve the handling issue and combined with a large seat bag would give you a reasonable amount of cargo capacity.

Following an old post from Alex Wetmore -- I think -- I use a Carradice SQR bag on the rear and panniers on the front on my NWT. When I am desperate to hold more stuff, I either mount a handlebar bag or put a saddlebag (above the SQR bag and mounted on the saddle) on or both. The combinations work pretty well.

awetmore 02-23-08 07:25 PM


Originally Posted by allanmac00 (Post 6215559)
Perhaps off topic, but does anyone know if it's possible to do a loaded tour with a Tikit?

I plan on using mine for an overnight tour at some point. I can fit everything that I need into my messenger bag and carry that on my front rack (not the Bike Friday rack, I built my own). I've already used my Tikit for "credit card" touring when visiting other cities by train and the setup was fine.

alex

Mr. Smith 02-24-08 10:33 AM


Originally Posted by vik (Post 6215876)
There is no rear rack for the Tikit at the moment [although one is in the works] and the existing single pannier front rack is barely usable with a loaded pannier as it has really negative impact on bike handling. You could tour with a trailer though or a Carrdice seatbag if you were going ultralight.

I've requested a 2 sided front pannier which should solve the handling issue and combined with a large seat bag would give you a reasonable amount of cargo capacity.

The one sided pannier does make steering a little lop-sided. It seems you wouldn't be able to fold the bike with a two sided rack, so that would break the deal for me. I think for touring I would probably not use the tikit and pick up one of their other bikes like a Pocket Rocket or an Air Glide. I wouldn't hang anything on the tikit handlebars either because the strength of the stem folding joint could be compromised, and again could interfere with folding. All the other Fridays I'm pretty certain have non-folding handlebar stems, so they'd be good and solid. My wife and I plan to credit card tour in Europe in the near future, but probably with only the one sided pannier and the tow trailer if we take the tikits. I really bought the tikit for going to work and running around town on errands. That may mean we try something else, like one of the folding tandems or two more travel bikes. As long as they fold in a few minutes and aren't in pieces that could be dropped or lost when folded, the speed of the fold wouldn't be all that important. The tandems seem like they would probably weigh too much to carry very far, so maybe the individual bikes would be a better option. Help would be appreciated through the Alps, though...

awetmore 02-24-08 08:53 PM

The two sided rack should allow you to fold the bike, just not while the left pannier is installed. However I was told at NAHBS that there are no plans to market a two sided front rack at the moment.

Hanz is working on a really cool rear rack that can hold panniers but folds down to keep the folded size of the bike compact. There is a photo of it in use in the latest issue of Velo Vision.

The rack that I use is of my own design and allows me to carry a rather large messenger bag over the front wheel but it doesn't interfere with folding. The rack has a cut-out that the nose of the saddle fits into. Bike Friday knows about the rack and may copy the concept at some point in the future, but is pretty busy trying to get the rear racks out at the moment.

Here is a photo of my rack with the with my saddle folded down:
http://alexandchristine.smugmug.com/...71_HeSnx-M.jpg

A photo of the rack by itself:
http://alexandchristine.smugmug.com/...42_VPrb5-M.jpg

Carrying a couple of bags (clothing for a weekend, DSLR camera and a couple of lenses, laptop, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, 6 pack of homebrew, loaf of bread):
http://alexandchristine.smugmug.com/...55_BxANE-M.jpg

alex

jur 02-24-08 09:10 PM


Originally Posted by awetmore (Post 6224715)
Carrying a couple of bags (clothing for a weekend, DSLR camera and a couple of lenses, laptop, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, 6 pack of homebrew, loaf of bread)

alex

What do you need all that bread for? ;)


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