raybo

I spent several months riding the Bike Friday on training rides before I took it on tour. I wrote an article about my first impressions of it.

The things I liked about it (easy to unpack and set-up, easy to mount the bike by stepping over the crossbar) at first I like even more after my tour.

The things I didn't like about it (twitchy steering, unstable when standing over it) didn't improve with touring experience. I got accustomed to the steering, but I applied my brakes at much slower downhill speeds on the Bike Friday than I would have on my other touring bike. I tried everything I could think of to try and straddle the bike while I was taking a photo. Nothing seemed to work and I simply learned to step aside when the front fork twisted, usually for no reason, and let the bike fall down. This is enough of a problem that the next time I tour with the bike, I will try various methods to prevent the front fork from turning too sharply. In the end, it was a bother but not a show stopper.

While I have no way to verifying this, I think the Bike Friday climbed a bit easier than my other, diamond frame, touring bike.

When I was done, I was very pleased with the Bike Friday. It takes about 45 minutes to unpack and set-up and about 30 minutes to pack. The case is easy to maneuver around though carrying it, instead of rolling it, is a bother.

The only unforeseen problem was the shelf I bought to hold a large gear bag and add weight to the front of the bike. While the Bike Friday has eyelets for a low rider rack, the small wheels (20 inches) make that a bad idea. Instead, I bought a small shelf that attached to the brake arms. This is unstable and it took me a while to find a method to stabilize it. In the end, I had to tie rope around the shelf, the bag, and my fork to keep it from falling over. This solved the problem.

I look forward to touring again on the Bike Friday and would recommend it as a touring bike with only the qualifications I mentioned above.