Thought that I'd start a thread to answer questions and share information on my New Bike Day!

Folded pic tool, please. Good looking bike.

I have no need of this bike, but I still want one.

One of these came up for sale in my area, but I couldn’t think of where I could hide it from my wife…

Cool ride!
How long have you had it, how many miles have you put on it?
So how do you like it?
I have a Diamond Llama in the queue, should be here in a few weeks, looking forward to a totally new experience..

Nice! What size did you order? Colour, looks like dark green or black? What made you choose the All Packa over the New world tourist? We need more pictures😉

I'm slowly assembling photos and video. Here's another...

I'm up at Minnewaska State Park in NY riding gravel with my girlfriend and her Surly Long Haul Trucker. We're similar in size so we're swapping back and forth. The Surly is a Lincoln Continental. The All Packa is a VW Rabbit. So fun and surprisingly capable. Still early miles with the All Packa but so far so fun.

It's a glossy dark gray. Chose the All Packa over the NWT for the larger tires, 2.4 Odyssey Path Pros that worked great on gravel today

The bike just fit into a suitcase. At the left of the photo you will see the front derailleur and chain just inside the case. On the right, the front disk brake just clears the other side.

The Pocket Crusoe fit much easier in its identical suitcase. That said, I did manage to pack a folding front rack in the suitcase too and stay under the 50# limit. And the 2.4" tires need to be positioned just right to fit.

Other notes:

I decided to remove the front disk and wrap it in some cardboard.

​​​​​​The All Packa has a spring-loaded retaining/alignment clip on the bike for the removable stem extension. It didn't quite fit so I removed it and will reinstall when I put the bike together.

The two-piece Packalope bars are great but they're a bit of a challenge packing. This trip will likely be more road than gravel; I wish there was a slightly narrower version of the bars to help with packing and squeezing through doorways.

I'm sure things will get easier with practice.

Spain, here we come...



Here's the Pocket Crusoe for comparison

Hi, just bought an all packa and want to purchase a suitcase for international travel with it. What is your suitcase size?

Caution: If the All-Packa is like other Bike Fridays, they offer them in different standard sizes as well as custom sizing. So make sure you are comparing apples to apples, whether your frame size is same as the OP. Also seat and handlebar posts I think can vary too, though smaller adjustments can be made in each size.

My buke frame is smal, so no problem there

Congrats on your purchase! Did you get the new model that supports wider tires?

Regarding suitcases, I believe I have a 29" Samsonite Oyster. It is from an older, used Bike Friday that I also purchased.

I wasn't planning on it, but I ended riding to a local mountain bike park for a loop of their trails. Most mountain biking in New Jersey is pretty rocky and rooty and hilly, often at the same time. Six Mile Run is, by comparison, much smoother, with nice flowy trails and fewer roots and rocks. It's fun.

The All-Packa from Bike Friday is a folding bikepacking bike, meant to tackle rugged terrain while carrying a tent and other camping gear. It's not a modern mountain bike, but the bike's designer Willie Hatfield claims that it feels like a 90s era rigid mountain bike. I think he's right. Compared to modern bikes, the All Packa is underbiked, but I had fun.

I'm not currently an off-road rider. By my guess is, versus a 26" rigid, you can run much fatter and cushier tires, while having steering that feels more agile and not weighted down by the larger gyroscopic inertia of both larger wheels and heavy tires. Yes/no?

Yeah, the 20" wheels are super agile on the trail, which is good because I've got to pick my line more carefully, even with the large volume 2.4" Schwalbe tires.

​​​​​I was thinking about it on the ride, larger tires simply let you ignore things and just roll over them. I took a spin on a fat tire bike a couple of months ago and it was a revelation.

The 2.4" tires help with comfort but even on this flowy trail, there are rocks and root sections that I needed to pick my way through. On a 26er and larger, there's less concern for these smaller things, leaving more headspace to go faster.

Still, it was a hoot and I hope to do more.

I'm also really liking the "inner bar ends" (a terrible name!) of Bike Friday's 2-piece Packalope bars. They're similar to riding on the hoods of a drop bar bike and help achieve a more aerodynamic position versus the standard position on the wide flat bars.

The bars are much wider than old school 90s era mountain bikes, which really helps with control on singletrack but are clown-car wide on the road. The inner bar ends are a great alternative hand position. I'll probably buy add-ons for all my flat bar bikes.

I like the execution and welds on those bars, wider diameter for most of center and 22.2mm for both handgrip locations as that is standard for grips and equipment.

My LBS has several sets of BF takeapart H-bars, which I pondered for quite a while, but passed; I used to ride bullhorn bars at same width as drops (40cm), but currently ride an OEM Dahon flat bar at 56cm with bar ends; I find the wider base for the "verticals' is more comfortable, if not as aero. Also, I found oversize diameter bar ends which are easier on my hands. I'd like to find dense foam "grab-ons" in that diameter, but not likely; For now I have closed-cell-urethane sheet foam taped on. My "inner bar ends" will be my aero bars, once I raise them; I need double-clamp risers.

If you are on the inners a lot, you may wish to fit interrupter levers there. I put just one on the nose of my aero bar for the front brake. It's short pull on long pull brakes, but with good wheel true and pad adjustment, they work fine, and I like the stronger power of that combo. Handy for sudden obstruction when I am on the aeros.

I realize this is an older post but I'm hoping John M Flores can answer. You mentioned that the Samsonite Luggage is 29". I believe they made that piece of luggage (older F'lite) in a 28" and 31". Any idea of which it would be exactly? Or, the internal dimensions of the case?

I'm not sure but I think it's the one that's one linear inch larger than allowed. But I haven't had any problems flying with it

I think this is the key to flying with 20" bi-folds. Just get a slightly larger than allowed case. I hear that most of the time, they won't make an issue of it, but if they do, you just pay the extra fee in those rare cases, but have enough room to pack your bike with less disassembly.

super nice, thanks for sharing all your photos

2.5 years and probably a couple of thousand miles later...



The bike's been on a steady diet of upgrades

• Microshift Advent Super Short rear derailleur, cassette, shifter
• Velocity Cliffhanger wheels
• TRP HY/RD brakes
• Brooks C19 Carved Cambium saddle
• Interloc Hollowtech II BB
• Shimano CUES crankset
• DT Swiss RWS ratcheting QR levers
• Jagwire brake cables
• Pedaling Innovations platform pedals
• Microshift front thumb shifter
• Wolf Tooth grips
• Ortlieb fork mount packs

If I could only have one bike, this is it.

Regarding the DT Swiss ratcheting QR levers, I cannot find the following answer on their website or others: So, does the handle rotate in a ratchet to speed clamping, and if so, how do you reverse the ratchet to unclamp? Or, does the handle not ratchet, but simply rotate in both directions, but allow repositioning by pulling outward axially, repositioning the handle, then release? Thanks.

When you need to ratchet, you pull outward and reposition the lever. When done, a spring pulls the lever back towards the bike.