vik 

In my experience helping friends buy bikes [incl folders] the ladies and smaller men can fit more easily on a wider variety. This is due to the fact that most folding bikes are available in one size with stems/seatposts that angle outwards to adjust the cockpit size. For larger riders this means riding a small bike with a setback seatpost and long stem. If you tried to sell one size of diamond frame [small] bike and only swapped in different seatposts and stems bigger folks wouldn't be happy.

As you mention in your post above you can get the Tikit in 3 frame sizes and then you can use any seatpost. stem, saddle and bars you want. The result is you can setup the bike t fit in the same ways you would fit a standard non-folding diamond frame bike. Having tried many folders this is a very attractive feature because it means you can dial the bike in exactly how you'd like.

Having said that not everyone has issues fitting on a typical folder and not everyone really cares about how the bike fits. If you are riding 1km at either end of a multimodal commute you can probably jump on any bike and make it just fine.



I care because I don't ride my Tikit like a folder. I ride it just like any other bike I own. I hammer away from lights. I go up and down curbs. I've commuted 25kms on way on it. Carried bike frames on the rear rack to the post office....

If you are stoked with your Dahon or Brompton - wicked! I wouldn't suggest for a moment you should think about a Tikit. Ride your bike. Have fun...

kamtsa

Speaking of trolls ;-)

mulleady

Ouch lol!

mulleady

Bike looks great Vik Great photo going down the steps. It's impressive you can kerb on it so easily. It certainly shows its versatility.

vik 

Great thing about 16" wheels is they are soooooo strong...add in some fat rubber and you've got a great urban assault rig...

My buddy Kurt abuses his Tikit so bad I cringe every time we ride together. I'm not uber gentle, but at least I know I'm not riding a full suspension MTB!...

vmaniqui

Vik,
have you done any upgrades on your tikit ? have you changed the stem, handlebar, seatpost or anything ? reason i asked is because i am starting to have this upgrade itch again. seeing how easy it is for me to upgrade the ticket made it even worse. now i am looking at adding the 105 crank, hollowtech BB and changing the RD. plus i wanted to change the whole handlepost setup with new handlebar and stem. my upgrade folderitis is surely kicking in. any inputs you can give as far as upgrades are concerned ?

but in all honesty i appreciate sesamecrunch's pushing me to buy the tikit. only now am i starting to see it's versatility. reading all your posts is just plain eye opener for me. glad i jumped into the bandwagon. as usual great pics and useful comments from you...

mulleady

The only dealer selling Tikits in the UK is below:
https://www.foldingbikes.co.uk/bf_tikit.htm

They start at £999 Sterling. Is that way expensive compared to the US? Would it be easy to get a used one shipped do you think? Shipping costs scare me off. Would love to have one!

BruceMetras

Sounds like a perfect opportunity for our globe hopping SesameCrunchie ... put in your order.. he'll hand deliver it to you, use some frequent flyer miles, and probably come back with something sexy in stainless steel ..

Foldable Two

That's about $1,534, at today's exchange rate. The most basic tikit, the Model-T (likely the model you are referring to), is $1,098 in the U.S. - .

Lou

vik 

To be honest my Tikit is one of my least upgraded bikes. I've been really happy with most of the stock bits...even the stock saddle makes me happy which is unheard of in my world!

My Tikit mods:

- Ergon Grips
- shorter 70mm stem
- Greenspeed Scorcher tires
- 2 pannier front rack

...basically stock....upgrade away if you want to and will enjoy the result, but I don't think it's necessary due to any problems with the stock build.

lucille

Tikit is listed at $1,600.00 CDN at the one and only Toronto dealer. Seems insane, since our dollar is on par (or almost).

vmaniqui

or you could drive down new york and buy the tikit there.

vmaniqui

i received the upgrade support kit from Bike Friday and i installed it on my tikit. took me about 1 hour and when it was done and over i noticed that when i fold the seatpost its rubbing the frame. it wasn't doing this when it was not installed. i just decided to removed it altogether. it wasn't right the first time when i saw the metal support that they sent me because the holes don't seem to align with the screws on the seat post.

SesameCrunch

Vic: Do you have pictures of how the safety upgrade should be installed?

vik 

I can take some and post later today or tomorrow.

mulleady

Any Tikits for me Sesame lol?

vmaniqui

I will post later.

SesameCrunch

Hey Mully. With the money I would save you on the Tikit, you could afford to fly me to London for a home delivery! (After the volcanic ash blows over, that is!)

Seriously, though. If you want a Tikit, there are used ones going for around $900 here. I'd make sure to get you an XLarge frame to handle the abuse from your Frankencalves! I'm sure we can work out a delivery mechanism. Summer vacation is around the corner....

vmaniqui

you're not serious aren't you sesamecrunch....

vmaniqui

do you want one picture of how it shows installed or the instructions that BF sent me ?

SesameCrunch

What I meant was - do you have photos from BF showing how the upgrade should be installed, so that you have a visual guide?

vik 

Sorry no photos from BF as to how to install the brace. I can take some photos of the brace installed, but I haven't crossed paths with that Tikit yet. The one I ride has the new seatmast without a brace.

vmaniqui

yes. they did send me the instructions with pictures. i was able to follow it to the dot but once i am done for some reason it seems not right. it made my seat mast rub my bike frame. but when i removed it the folding down went ok (no rubbing). also when i was installing it i have to hammer the round support real hard so that it will slide out for me to be able to put the support.

Alec E

How so?

Stop what? Posting?

How is that worth noting?

This is because you are a troll. They detected this. No warm fuzzies and little fold-up bicycles for you.

Seconded. I assume I would have had a similar experience had they ever answered my questions.

But: do your fellow Dahon dealers smile at you when passing, tossing warm fuzzies into your panniers?

This subforum needs a tweeness filter.

It is such a colossal mess that I wouldn't know where to begin. I tried to look at their selection of bags for concealing the Tikit. I must have gone down three blind alleys and enjoyed two wild goose chases before I found them.

Are you saying this can't be done via email? If so, why? What better format--allowing explanatory links, lists of options, etc--could there be for communicating technical information to someone who'll presumably need to take their time in digesting it? The telephone can only be preferable from the point of view of the salesman, who isn't interested in your digesting--only in your swallowing. We've now seen one or two anecdotes describing this.

In my limited experience--test rides only--they have little in common except that they'll likely end up costing the same once you have the gearing etc that you want, and that they look about equally large when folded. (The Birdy is supposedly smaller, but its larger tubing makes it appear as a sizable hunk of scrap metal relative to the Mezzo or the Brompton. It and the Tikit look like about equally large messes when folded, albeit different kinds of messes. I think the Tikit looks better when unfolded. A lot better, though it took me a while to come to that opinion.) The riding posture of the Birdy seems to me to have little in common with the riding posture of the Tikit. The Birdy is often said to result in a posture like that used when upon a mountain bike. Perhaps this opinion results from a misinterpretation of the Birdy's suspension, and I can't say for certain as I've never once sat on a mountain bike, but I cannot, with the Birdy, escape the notion that I am perched over it, rather settled onto/into it.

As for the Birdy's support, Pacific have been excellent in answering all of my questions about the various Birdy models, and they offer direct sales with lower prices than any reseller, online or otherwise. Their prices include shipping.

I rode a size large and, per the explanation offered above, didn't detect any flex at all.

I didn't see how it could stand by itself at all, and Bike Friday's promotion of it as being easily rolled is tantamount to false advertising. They should leave this possible, half-workable benefit for certain lucky owners to discover for themselves. Promoting it so heavily in their videos, when in reality is works quite poorly, is surely not OK. The bike doesn't feel at all as if it were designed to be rolled. It feels as if it just happens to, a little.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

My problem, with forming an opinion of the Brompton, is that I've had the damnedest time finding a dealer who has the telescopic seat pillar. Now I've found one who has it, but they say it's on their M-type (I'm interested in an S-type), and they say it can't be swapped out. It can't?! Another Brompton dealer has told me that it can.

The standard seat pillar surely can't satisfy anyone with even a 32" inseam, though Brompton's website gives a different figure. I'm amazed every dealer doesn't carry one.

I remain interested in the Brompton only because of how superior their options and coordinate pricing are relative to Bike Friday's. Well, that and the fold. I still agree with someone who said elsewhere on this forum, "A tall person looks daft on an S-type."

Hi, Phil. I've still received no replies to any of the emails I mentioned earlier in this thread. Also, a request: could you offer mulleady a job?

scarabeoguy

Bingo!!!!!!!!!!

I just don't understand why it is necessary to foster a bad attitude. If I were Bike Friday I might just want to stay far far away from this one......