invisiblehand

Was this ever passed along?

David Lam tests the tikit ...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=zW5ALx_XjyM&feature=related

Note that this is just part one. You can find the other parts linked in "related videos".

vik 

Quite funny videos. Lynette is pretty amped about her Tikit.

rhenning

If you have ever spent time with Lynette she is pretty amped about life in general. Roger

Dahon.Steve

Lynette has another one on U-Tube where she was allowed to bring her bike inside stores and a resturant. I still think the Tikit would have a tough time being allowed inside commuter buses during rush hour.

awetmore

I've taken my Tikit on commuter buses during rush hour. It was on the 545 even, one of the busiest buses in the Seattle/King County system. No one blinked an eye, and this was when I ran the bike with drop bars so the fold was even larger than stock.

I couldn't take my Swift Folder or NWT on rush hour buses, but drivers let me on when the bus was mostly empty.

vik 

I have no doubt about that at all!....

makeinu

It you watch the videos it appears that, when in stores, she prefers to park the bike somewhere instead of keeping it in hand. To me that kind of defeats the purpose. Seems like it would be easier for someone to walk off with it while you're looking at merchandise than if you locked it on the other side of the glass (outside).

All in all it seems that the way she is using the bike she'd be better off with a Brompton. She'd have more success sneaking past guards with the smallest possible package. Likewise for stuffing the bike under the table at restaurants or under store displays. Apart from differences in ride quality it seems that the Tikit's greatest advantage over the Brompton is the ability to roll the bike when completely folded, making it easier to keep in hand. The fact that Lynette isn't keeping it in hand makes me suspect that perhaps it isn't easy enough (too unbalanced? too heavy to hold upright without a stand? just too big to be next to your body in a store aisle?).

Foldable Two

Lynette is a slightly built, 5' tall woman!

Bacciagalupe

She's also in the employ of Bike Friday. She's basically paid to be amped....

awetmore

Well, she did get that job by being amped first, then being hired. She is naturally excited.

makeinu -- I think the goal of the trial is to show that the Tikit can get into most buildings and spaces as easily as a Brompton despite the larger fold. The argument is that the larger fold is a tradeoff for faster folding and a better ride.

You can read all about it here:
https://www.bikefriday.com/tikit/trial07

scarabeoguy

You know I agree with you. I think this Lynnete Video is a Bike Friday conspiracy to take away Brompton sales. Yeah it's to heavy, unbalanced and you certainly can't hold it upright without a stand. Also, I'll bet the wheels are even hard to turn. And guess what, like you, I know all this and I've never even riden one. Wow!!!!!.

makeinu

Are you sure your view of my posts isn't being obstructed by your axe grinder because if that's what you think then you certainly don't agree with me.

Sheesh.

vik 

I'd put down anything I'm carrying when I'm shopping. Why wouldn't you want to have two hands free? Being able to roll the Tikit around is convenient, but that doesn't mean you're going to want to keep one hand on it 24/7 when you are in a shop. The fast easy fold means you can and will take care of loads of errands on your Tikit - folding and unfolding as necessary to ride between stops.....rolling for short distances between stops or inside a large store.

My friends recently became Brompton dealers and I could have had a Brompton at their cost, but I declined. Although the fold is very small - the way you have to fold and unfold it was more cumbersome than the Tikit - making me less likely to want to fold/unfold it multiple times on a single trip. The ride was fine for short distances, but I wouldn't use it for a commute with a long cycling leg like mine [25kms]. The Tikit comes in multiple sizes for a better fit. And the Tikit is handmade in the US by a small company that I can call up and talk to the bike designer/production folks if I have a question or a suggestion.

Don't get me wrong the Brompton is a very nice bike and a great design, but the design goals/choices between the Brompton and Tikit are significant. If you need the smallest possible fold by all means get a Brompton - that is certainly not the Tikit's forte. However, it seems to me folded size is only one part of the equation. How the bike folds, how you can maneuver the folded bike around, how it unfolds, how it rides and the price are also important considerations.

Back to the video Lynette would have a whole lot more success sneaking bikes in if she wasn't wearing bike clothes and a helmet!

makeinu

Well, yeah, but in one of the stores I saw she didn't put it down next to her...she left it at the door!

Yeah, but my point was, if you aren't going to maneuver the bike (for example, by leaving it at the door), then what difference does it make how it maneuvers? I personally could get a lot of use out of a very maneuverable 16"-20" folder, but I wonder: If Lynette doesn't find the Tikit maneuverable enough to keep it by her side then will I?

You have a Tikit, don't you vik? How do you find it?

Yeah...it seems that most of her failures were at the beginning. I wonder if this is why.

rhenning

Makeinu if you look carefully at the videos the pink bike she left out side is not a Tikit. That is the Bike Friday she normally rides. If I recall correctly it is a Pocket Crusoe Petite. My wife rode it last summer and was impressed enough to buy one of her own. Roger

makingmark

I met Lynette during this "tikit on trial." She's definitely not a paid shill. I mean that in the sense of yes, she works for Bike Friday, but she's not a cheerleader/politician (particularly compared to some of the people I work with - I work for a Fortune 500 company that you all know and with whom many of you are probably a customer). She's just getting the word out for what the tikit does well and doesn't tear down other products (like my Brompton).

I got to wheel the Tikit around while folded. Unfortunately I do find it somewhat unbalanced on the wheel - meaning I had to exert some arm strength & attention to keep it balanced while rolling. I've also ridden the tikit and the Brompton and the former has the better ride to my mind. For my purposes the fold quickness (advantage tikit) and size/shape (advantage Brompton) are both good enough.

It seems possible to me that if you were to wheel around a tikit for a while while folded, it would feel less unbalanced - much as my Brompton doesn't feel quite so heavy to hoist about as when I first got it. If you're interested in the tikit and that particular aspect (rolling while folding) I'd definitely encourage you to try it for yourself, and I'd love to hear whether owners get "used to it". For now, I'm sticking with my Brompton, in which I've invested quite a bit. Were I on the market with no current folding bike, I might have gone for the tikit. It's a bit more versatile, and I like that it rides and rolls better.

makeinu

I was referring to trial video "Part 5":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFT6OJt12ko

vik 

Well I can't speak for her, but basically I'm not going to carry or move anything more than I have to. What that means in a given situation depends on a lot of factors. I was in a local outdoors store with my Tikit recently. I rolled it in to the cycling dept and put it down out of the way then shopped for a bit. I grabbed it and rolled it to where they sold headlamps and put it down while I browsed. I carried it up to the second floor so I could shop in the kids' section..etc... Rolling it is no big deal OTOH I'm not going to push a 25lbs bike around if I don't have to.

You mean the rolling functionality? Well it is the best method for rolling a folded bike that I've seen or tried - keeping mind my entire folder experience is a Dahon Speed D7, a Tikit and two Bromptons. You can move the bike around easily for long distances. OTOH you are moving a 25lbs bike around and it does take some effort. I'm not sure how to quantify that any better. When I was in Blockbuster I rolled the Tikit around the whole store without a second thought while browsing since I didn't need two hands and I wasn't in any one section for a long time. I wouldn't turn down a Tikit that did everything this one does, but rolled around as if it weighed 5lbs, but I really don't have any suggestion for what you could do to improve how it rolls???

If how the Tikit rolls is critical to you I'd definitely test one out just to make sure you are happy with it.

I have no doubt that is what it was. A person walking around with cycling gear and an odd sized package is bound to draw attention vs. a someone is casual clothes and a package. In the second instance there is no reason to assume the package is a bicycle while in the first case that is the natural assumption.