Originally Posted by
invisiblehand
I was thinking that a world class athlete probably has exceptional coordination and balance. Moreover, I think that a lot of people would have more difficulty picking up the tikit in the manner that Rob does at the end of the video; i.e., he is probably relatively strong as well.
Anyway ... I think that this discussion should really drive the point that Mr. Smith should see a bike in person and diddle with it. Or take a risk with a seller with a satisfaction guarantee. I assume that there has to be some Birdy and Dahon dealers that will match Bike Friday's policy. Note, I think you loose shipping costs.
Precisely. I may fly into LA this weekend and stop by a bike shop to see what's going on there. I am leaning further and further from the Dahon and Birdy. The Dahon seems fine and functional, but not all that refined. I have performed analysis of fatigue and dynamic loading and I can't imagine a hinge performing that well over time especially loading the bike near the limits. (I'm a 200 pounder) There has to be some loosening in the connection as the frame stresses hit more and more cycles. The Birdy I imagine causing me to curse as I fumble with it trying to fold it and get a tire track down the arm of a freshly pressed dress shirt just before a meeting. All the Youtube videos I've seen with it show people sort of awkwardly manuevering it into its folded position similarly to a Charlie Chaplin film. I have also attempted to contact Birdy to no avail. Bike Friday seems to be the way to go. The frame design is much more fatigue friendly and simpler to fold. I will likely be ordering one from them and am in discussion with a sales rep to do so.
I greatly appreciate all the advice. The truth is there is no peak product in this category of bike. It's all fairly individual and a little personally frustrating that no one has yet combined the virtues of all of them. An ideal bike to me would be one that had a suspension system like a Birdy, the fold ease and strength of a Bike Friday, the component selection of a Dahon, and the folded size of a Brompton.