BF sighting in Singapore, 20/7 evening along Buona Vista
 

I was pootling back home from work on my brompton when I saw a Bike Friday shoot past me. It was a blue NWT i think. Was it anyone from this forum?

=D If so, hi there.

,Derek.

"BF shoot past me..." yups, they do tend to that.

Did the frame have cracks?

Eastbiker, your favourite posting seems to revolve around cracks.

For the record, my tikit has NO crack and it does not affect all models. All foldies have their quirks, Dahon with their hinges and handlebar gripes, Brompton with the horrible brakes, Birdy with their inverted weird front brake cable set up. Strida 3 have a noisy crank problem (at least mine did) etc. And they all have their strengths as well!

There is no perfect foldie for everyone and if you have an issue with like a particular one, like the tikit in your case, may I respectfully ask you to stop grinding the issue?Doing so with so much cynicism, it is beginning to reflect quite badly on you. A bit of graciousness and courtesy truly go a long way... there is enough space in this forum for differing views.

BF are not perfect bikes and from time to time do have problems. But I can't say enough of their commitment to customer service and genuinely helping you find solutions. I love dealing with BF for their professionalism, friendliness and genuine desire to truly build satisfied customers. I hope you will have a chance to deal with them one day soon Eastbiker. It may open a whole new world for you and not just get hung up on cracks.

Ride safe! I'm sure a you are very nice guy when you want to be. :)

sounds like you've got something stuck in yours...

to the OP:
Glad to hear about more BF's in Singapore! I occasionally ride my (crack free) Tikit there, but have never seen any others.

So it's perfectly ok to take a dig at Bromptons, but not on BF's?

Well said, Sir :thumb:

EastBiker, there you go again... sigh! I had a lookie at your previous postings and it seems like you are always on "combat" mode. This is a foldie forum where we learn from each other, share gems of wisdom, encourage and support our weird passion and basically, have a good time with each other. The battleground is not here, mate!

Those who are open, friendly and respectful towards one another have found a warm community here. May I invite you to try a different stance? Who knows, you may even find a friend here...

"So it's perfectly ok to take a dig at Bromptons, but not on BF's?"

ps: My Brompton is a 2004 model and I love its strengths but acknowledge its weaknesses as well.

From what i've been reading the last week this is almost sounding as if eastbiker is a brompton fanatic and would take all digs against it as a personal attack.

just be happy with what you ride, and what others like cause not everyone has the same tastes.

heck when I was looking for a folder i've tried the brommie, bf ,strida 5 and a few dahons. with all the bad traits posted on the strida 5 had, I still bought it cause it was sooo different from my full size bike and actually rode better than I thought. It was quite a different ride. also it's 1/2 the price of a brompton in north america! brompton is a nice bike but it's not twice as nice. That could be one of the reasons north americans are more critical of brommies, their price is really jacked up from duties by the time it hits the LBS. In my city alone a brompton is 50% more than a tikit (1000cdn(tikit) vs 1500cdn(3spd) store prices of what they had). Pretty much why everyone always compare it to the more expensive bikes on the market available, to see if it's actually worth that much more or can you get a good value on another brand. funny thing is the brompton is more affordable when you are in the UK though so that changes the whole decisions when you are on the other side of the pond.

Yes

The Bike Friday Tikit is a wonderful bike. I also have a Dahon MU P24 and I am sure one day I will have a Brompton, Xootr, and so on. Here is a picture of mine that I owe ChiapasFixed:-) Long live folding bicycles and may we all get along.

we totally sidetracked the OP's thread here heh. But are BF's common in singapore? Would be funny if the OP was asking about a strida sighting there. Over here in Toronto all i've seen are mostly full size bikes, folders are not that common at all here much less my strida.

I really dig the gearing of your MU24!

BFs are definitely not common in Spore. But it is getting more popular esp the tikit as this is the only model the distributor brings if I remember correctly. More Stridas than BF though but I think the most common foldies in Spore are Dahons. I seem to see them more often on my rides at East Coast/Changi when I was there.

thanks for the pic mup, nice!!!!
looks like we have hijacked this into another version of the controversial "brompton v tikit" thread, cant we at least make it "brommie V Tikit IN SINGAPORE!"? (The Final Showdown?)
OR can the elusive Bike Friday owner that was seen speeding along Buona Vista on 20/7 please stand up?

Yup, how the local boys price the diff bikes will change the value equation. As good as the Brommie is and I truly admire its sterling qualities, over pricing it and for that matter, any bike, will affect its appeal :) Economics 101

Herm. OP is back. Will the real BF rider please stand up?:D

I do like my brommie very much. Much as I like the ride of the tikit, I think it still has a long way to go before it calls itself a commuting folding bicycle. Performance maybe, fun definitely, but not commuting.
Sorry if I've offended anyone, but my experience with the BF hasn't been as trouble free as with the brommie.

And....


Hello Alvin. We have a mutual acq. Doc Mike. Met him only once though. As you may have guessed, I'm on e of the Diginexx riders, and I met Doc Mike when he joined us on one of our night rides. A really enthusiastic cyclist. He spoke fondly of you.

Derek.

Derek,
In your opinion, what does the Tikit have to do to become a commuting folding bike for you? I've been super happy riding mine to work 20 miles each way. I think the only thing I would not like is if I had to take it on a crowded bus.

Respectfully,
John

The reason could be the tikit doesn't have the small foot print a brompton or strida can fold to if you where standing up in a crowded bus or subway. It's folding speed is phenominal but I'm guessing the end size is a bit bigger than he wanted it to be. Even dahons, I've played with my coworkers Dahons and rode them. Their ride is great and alot more speed than my stick on wheels. But once we have to fold them up to carry it's quite cumbersome and the chain on the outside you really gotta be careful with your dresspants. I was pretty impressed how the bromptons thought of getting that chain covered up when folded. quite a bit of thought was put into it.

As a Brommie and Tikit owner like some of you, the Brommie indeed has the better fold and I so love the way it tucks itself in when parked. Never fails to draw a crowd and it reduces its parking print. So in that regard, yes its better than the Tikit in its user friendliness.

However, the Tikit scores in its superior ride and its ability to roll when folded. No doubt the size is a bit bigger than the Brommie, I find it not too big an issue going up buses and trains esp with its easy shower cap feature that meets the "foldies must be covered" requirement.

The front pannier rack also is quite unique in being able to take the days nick nacks in most type panniers, hence no need to buy special bags like Brommie. You can also fold the bike with the pannier on.

Here in Perth, the buses and trains are very spacious so folded size is not so important but I guess when space is a premium in crowded MRTs like Spore, Brommie's compactness may prove useful.

If by "commuting" you mean "able to stash on an excessively packed bus or train", the Brompton is obviously a good choice there.

But for me, "commuting" means "biking a fair distance to work, followed by stashing the bike in my office". And for that the Tikit is a much better bike. Work for me is a good 20 miles away, mostly uphill, and in traffic environments necessitating good brakes. It's not a contest: for any distance over, say, 5 miles, the Tikit's superior rideability is a big deal to me.

A big Hello to you Derek. Yes, Doc Mike and I are great buddies and we share a passion for foldies. We did a trip together at Bintan 200km on our foldies and it was too fun. Write ups here if you are keen to read and see it.

http://lovethefold.blogspot.com/2009...indonesia.html

http://lovethefold.blogspot.com/2009...-on-video.html

Do say Hi to the good folks at Diginexx. I use to ride with them in the early days... :)

Take care and ride safe!
Al

Tikit reigns supreme overall.
I use mine for everything except extreme mountain biking
(I will be building up my airnimal joey for that purpose though, a fully functional hard tail folding MTB, ride till you drop then hitch a ride back to civilization... yeah!)

Speaking abt off road riding on a tikit, I did a bit of that in Pai Thailand, and it handle surprisingly well. My preference leans towards the tikit as you can tell, although I respect the Brompton for its unbeatable compactness.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l2...tdownhillR.jpg

To me the Brompton has the cutest fold. It almost looks like a puppy and It stands alone in its folded footprint. Like Oldy mentioned earlier on, there is very little reason to argue on brands as I have found that every folding bike make compromises due to their design (and so do non folding bikes). I have regular access and often Ride a flyby (Dahon Mu) and a Tikit. I find both to be a bit small and such is the case for the Brompton too. I like BF because they offer different sizing options and I can fit on to one and am in the process of setting up a NWT.

NWT probably has the least elegant fold among the bikes being discussed but I think it will fit my needs extremely well. I suppose thats what matters.