Right now there is more flex than I'd like. I think that Bike Friday is working on this and plan on reporting on my blog if they have a solution.

It is worse with drop bars (which have a greater reach from the riser and thus a longer lever arm) than with flat bars. With the stock bars and a good hinge it is pretty good. With drop bars and a bad hinge there is too much flex.

In August I had the bike with me on a trip to the Catskill mountains in NY. One morning I decided to climb and picked a random dirt road and just headed up (hoping to get to good views, never did find those). I climbed about 1300' (based on maps that I looked at when I got home) and the steepest parts of the climb were around 20% grade (based on experience with steep climbs elsewhere). I can't ride that stuff in a 30" gear while sitting, so I was out of the saddle and working hard and the Tikit did fine.

That is the long answer. The short answer is there is flex, but the bike still climbs out of the saddle. I'd just like to see less flex.

There are two approachs to reduce the flex:
1) Differently designed stem hinge that is stiffer.
2) Using steel instead of aluminum for the stem riser. That is 1 1/8" OD tubing, so steel would be stiffer (but heavier).

alex