I just got a Birdy and my wife got a Brompton. We are first time bike riders in Manhattan, and first-time folder riders.

Some pretty intense shopping, riding, web searching, etc. Don't take this post for a serious review or comparison----just some key, personal reasons for our choices.

I'm 6'1" and the Birdy had a nice fit. Brompton's fold-up dimensions beat every other bike I looked at, but once out of that "class-by-itself," the Birdy is one of the smaller folded bikes, also lighter. I narrowed my choice to the BF Tikit and Birdy. I did consider a Brompton for myself because it's likely that I could have "overcome" the initial feel; I also seriously considered the Dahon Mu XL Sport----much less money, nice internal hub, didn't feel as tight.

The Birdy is smooth and responsive. It feels better at high speed that the Brompton. At least one reviewer dinged the Birdy at highest speeds saying it didn't perform as well as it should have. I didn't notice this and I'm not likely to spend much time at speed pressing the bike. The Birdy edges deeper into the touring category than the more commuter Brompton. The bike looks cool in the basic, high-quality, low-glitz matt grey, "New York Birdy" configuration sold by B-fold Bikes.

About the Tikit: IMO, Bike Friday's business plan is very clever, but somewhat overwrought. Every option that I would decide against seemed like a loss of functionality; but to say yes to everything that sounded cool, ran up the tab beyond what seemed appropriate. This could have been because of my newness to the smaller format and appropriate limits of folders. Also, the bike was slightly heavier and less compact than the Birdy.


My wife's Brompton makes good on all the raves that the brand garners. There are obvious reason for its popularity. Chiefly in our case: small folded size, lower end of the weight comparisons, brilliant assortment of bags and accessories.