I am considering a NWT, but I prefer drop bars to flat bars for anything other than pure mountain biking. It seems like flat bars would be much easier to fit into a suitcase, but was curious about people's experience packing BFs into the F-Lite suitcase with drop bars.

Does splitting help? How reliable is splitting the bars?

You need to take off the handlebars from the handlebar stem and place them in the suitcase as best you can..It helps enormously if you have plenty of cable length..Easy enough to loosen the front brake cable and the rear brake cable..Putting the drop handlebars in a suitcase is much easier with bar end shifters because they generally have a long cable run anyway..more difficult with STI shifters..

The split and shimmed bars work just fine. I've never noticed any appreciable flex when riding, but I'm a lightweight. If you're really hammering on the bars, say on a climb up a steep hill, you might notice it, I'm not sure.

I have seen non-split bars on a Friday fit within a suitcase. Much depends on the shape of the bars and which suitcase you're using.

Split and shimmed bars work just fine in a suitcase. It takes a little more effort to position them precisely within the case - typically toward the corners - but otherwise it's not a big deal. I'm with you, I don't like flat bars, so all my Bike Fridays are set up with drop bars, even my Tikit.

I have an older Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, with vintage Ultegra 9s brifters. It is a bit of a pain to pack... Stripping stem, bars, pedals, and wheels. But, with some practice, perhaps 10 or 15 minutes on each end, maybe less.

My BF also has the split bars. There is a pin on the inside, and the split. Then the custom BF stem is extra wide. I haven't put a lot of miles on the bike, but it seems secure enough.

I'm not sure if BF is still making split bars, or if they've gone to an open faceplate and solid bars.

I have a pocket rocket with non-split bars. There is a trick to it involving tucking the curved part under the rest of it on the top of the case. But once one knows the trick, it works.

I have the split bars and they take a bit of practice to fit easily. The flat bars on the wife's BF are very easy to pack. If I did it again I would buy a compact road bar and have Bike Friday split them. No problem once they are set up on the bike.

My Pocker Rocket in the case with split drop bars. If you look hard you can see them. Roger

Splitting makes it considerably easier to fit, IME. As long as your bar is 25.4 or 26.0 and aluminum, I think they can split the bar for you. I know a few people that split Nitto bars through Bike Friday.

I have their split MTB bar.. there is a tube in the center inside both sections , and a split tube on the outside ,
that the stem face plate grips..

so 3 layers thick .. for the 4" of width..

with oversize bar stems, your tube out side diameter is 1.25"




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