bigdummy27

I just got a Tikit this week and been looking at replacing the handlebars. It comes with straight bars and since I don't have a road or touring bike yet I will be using the Tikit not only for errands and commuting but also recreational riding and after about 1 hour the straight bars start to show their disadvantages. I was thinking of drop bars so I can get more hand positions for those longer rides. Does anyone have a tikit and can u tell me what size the stem is because I might have to swap that out too to get the right fit.

Btw, has anyone swapped out their straights for something else?

feijai

Walter recently blogged about fitting the Tikit with Civia Colfax 25-degree bend bars, sort of a version of an On-One Mary Bar. I needed a bend (wrist was hurting from straight bars) but finding ones which don't significantly impact on the tikit's folded size can be a challenge. These work great with the existing stems. Because Civia didn't have any black ones in stock (anywhere in the country) I bought silver and spray painted them matte black. Look and work great.

vik 

I've seen all sorts of bars on a Bike Friday Tikit from drops to city style swept back bars, Bike Friday H-bars and flat bars.

In order to preserve the folded size I'd start with adding Ergon Grips and bar ends to the stock bar and see what you think. That will be a big improvement over stock and may be all you need.

My next move would be to try the Bike Friday H-bars and then drops.

https://www.bikefriday.com/service/se...library/85/129

Take note of the need to change your brake levers and shifter with some bar types which can get expensive and be a hassle.

fietsbob

Ergon GC 3 or GR 2 integrate the bar end and grip into a single bolt.
[unlike the combination above, via 2 different companies,
there is a smooth transition between the 2]
Come standard width (140) or a gripshifter (105) width. and a larger/smaller hand size.

tried the GC3 gripshifter width, it felt cramped, on a BF 3Pc. straight bar ,
since there is room, to just put the grip shifter further inboard
I'd recommend that. I put the grip shift GC3 on my Brompton M bar.. seems OK, but..
the long bar end interferes with the fold down latch, so Im ordering a GR2
with its shorter bar end , spec , standard grip, intend a mix and match combo.
to fit the standard width grip, and the longer GC bar end, on The BF.

In the meantime , the ITM 'Freetime' figure 8 bend Trekking bar setup
is hard to top for practicality, and multiple hand holds.
other than knock down packing.. of the 3 piece bars..
.. their H bar which I took off, and exchanged for the Ergon grips.

Like the Ergon set on their bent offset bar better than the H bars.

1 pinch bolt holding the grip and bar end on makes removing them easy,
to swap back to the Trekking bar.

Avid levers and the R'off grip shifter.. and the Grip Bell ..

Quiwi

In addition, most brakes that mount on drops won't work as well with the tikit's standard linear pull v-brakes. You could add a travel agent or swap out to a different brake.

fietsbob

2 sources of V brake compatible drop bar levers, Tektro and Cane Creek.

bigdummy27

Thanks everybody for all your advices. I looked into each one of your suggestions and learned a lot in the process. Vik, I agree with you, I'm going to try to replace the grips first because all the other options involve much costlier changes in terms of down time and money and they might alter the fold and I wouldn't even find out unless I attempted it which would mean a possible waste of money. I'm assuming that all of you have or had a BF tikit? How do you like the bike? I switched over from a Brompton and love the ride, but not so much the fold. I store the bike in my trunk( a compact size car) when i don't use it and found that it is a little cumbersome trying to get it to fit through the trunk opening. The main problem is the protuding parts like the handlebar that gets caught on something or other. and the handlebar always seem to come out of its catch. Any advice for how to get around this?