I've had a Bike Friday NWT for many years and have been extremely happy with it. I've toured on it extensively, commuted on it, and use it as my everyday bike. I'm curious if anyone here has gone from a NWT to the NWT Lite? (It's a lighter frame for riders up to 150 lbs/68 kg.) If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts about the NWT Lite. I'd also welcome comments from anyone who has the NWT Lite but hadn't previously ridden a NWT. Thanks.

They used to call the lightweight series Petite, with a rider weight limit of 125 lb. Now I don't see Petite anymore, but they have Lite with a 150 lb. limit. Same thing? I dunno.

I have a couple Petite series Bike Fridays - an Air Glide and a Pocket Rocket Pro. I also have "regular" (i.e., non-Petite) Pocket Rockets so can draw some conclusions.

The Petite series was made with lighter and thinner wall tubing. Is the difference between a Petite and a non-Petite noticeable? Of course. Not that the non-Petites are a kludge, more that the Petites are snappier and zippier than their standard brethren.

The benefit of the lightweight tubing is offset by a little less resistance to dents and dings from the thinner walls. If you stuff your Lite BF into a suitcase a lot, it might be more susceptible to trauma while in the suitcase when subjected to rough handling. Something to think about.

Have a Pocket Llama*, thought about a new NWT 'silk', frame fork Etc,

to gain the new chain tension IGH option , where the Llama needs a chain tensioner, but,

I may lose my headlight mount for my eDelux, dynamo lighting ..
They are inflexible about some things..

and it's a lot of money , buying new,

and taking a loss Re selling what's left after stripping the bike I have..

to move it over..

*at 100kg, now.. wasn't light, or bantam weight at half my age..

OTOH, the Heavy Rider option is an actual Front Triangle ,
Its a better lock up the bike, secure, option, because of that triangle..

they initially made all of their early models with a triangle main frame..
tubing diameters were smaller, so that helped keep the weight down..




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Thanks for your comment. Next time I speak with someone at BF, I may ask them if the new Lite is similar to the older Petites.

I've always been more concerned about damage to components (e.g. derailleurs) when packed in a suitcase than to the frame itself, but anything is possible I suppose. I've flown with my NWT a lot and I've never had any significant damage thus far.

One of my Pocket Rockets got a slightly bent seat mast tab while the bike was packed in a suitcase from Chicago to London. Found the damage while unpacking in my London hotel room.

Crush protector was in place and everything was properly situated. How it happened is a mystery. I wonder if the case had been opened and played with by TSA or their UK counterpart, but if it was, no one left a note, and back then, they typically would. I suppose if everything were not arranged back in the way I packed it, something like this could happen, but I wasn't paying as much attention when I was unpacking it because I hadn't seen the damage yet. That's what's so weird.

I always have detailed photos about how the bike goes into the case, along with my name, phone # & contact info, taped to the inside cover of the suitcase in a sheet protector as a friendly gesture toward those inspecting. I go out of my way to make sure whoever is inspecting realizes that as far as stuffing the bike back in the case, there's only one way it works without damaging the contents.

Back in my London hotel room, I was able to straighten out that tab very carefully and resume my trip as planned, but that experience made me much more cautious about how I expose the frame, and how I pack around it. No guarantees.