I've gone on reasonably long tours with a folding bike (Bangkok to Singapore)

Cycling BKK to SG

Longest day was 200 kms on a dahon smooth hound!

Bike Friday seems to have nailed it when it comes to packability and long distance comfort... my custom built P20 breaks down for travel and the geometry and performance are pretty much identical to my friend's BF NWT.

I have ridden my P20 100 km a day for weeks at a time... I designed it for touring and distance riding and the position is nearly identical to my full size touring bike.

I had a downtube ns8 that I fitted lpwprofile bars on and most of an ultergra groupset to. That basically rode as well as my ultergra 653 road race bike. I then sold the 653 road bike as it was less versatile than my folder.
Done 30 miles on my birdie off road and 15 miles on my upgraded black mezzo. (See avatar)

I had another folder before that is similar to the MU P8, 20 inch wheels and similar fold - Tobukaeru.
That bike didn't have fenders or a rack though. When I packed it in a suitcase; I took off the wheels,
rear derailer, seatpost, handlebar post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUQN...IoDLA&index=26

Looks to me like your super-modded Phillips 20 is a helluva lot more valuable than the $1500 I'm willing to spend on a Brompton! How much more can you really mod a bike after you've swapped out the rear triangle frame and put in a custom rebuilt fork?? Can't deny it though - that's a gorgeous bike you've made for yourself. I'm not at all surprised to hear that it's super comfortable. And I'm loving the three bottle holders - what a great touch!

If you decide to create some clones, I think you would find a lot of willing buyers!

For anyone who hasn't read about Forrest, Sixty Fiver's ultra-modded P20, the story of this bike is not only remarkable, but an incredibly inspiring personal saga of man and bike overcoming a severe, debilitating (to the point of not being able to walk - but still being able to ride this one bike) back injury. And man plus bike continuing the recovery to the point of riding centuries. This would make a very inspiring book.

Another Dunwich Dynomo here, and fairly regular 100 km rides on my mezzo.

I just put it in a soft bag, and trust it's tougher than baggage handlers. So far, so good. 10 trips, I guess.

Thank you.... it has been quite the journey.

There is a little more work I have planned, a custom two piece stem is in the works and I have some 9 speed drive parts on their way to work with the new road double I installed. Will still have an adjustable quill so that I can raise and lower the bars as sometimes we like to get into race mode where more saddle to bar drop is preferred although the drop position is quite good for that.

I should have a front low-rider built in the next couple of weeks too.

I do a lot of 20 modifications here in my shop that range from wheel building to custom brazing although none have seen as much work as Forrest... he sure is a great bike and folks who have gone for test rides have been very surprised at how stable, comfortable, and fast a smaller wheeled bike can be.

Their popularity here is soaring and what used to be an uncommon sight is now becoming a fairly usual thing.

Bike Friday is still your best deal as although they are hand built, they are available in a mass produced form which makes them more economical and you can get into one for less that $1500.00.

I can't really put a value on Forrest but now that I have done the work have a pretty good idea of how much time would go into making him a brother... the chainstay swap really did not take that long and came together really nicely and the new stays were sleeved to the old stays and we cleaned up some of the original welds when we brazed them in.

The past few years have seen a decline in my riding... I want to get out and do some multi day tours this year and will take Forrest on any trip where I will be sticking to the road as he does not cyclocross very well.

I did 70 miles on my Tern Link c7 folding bike from palo alto to San Francisco airport and back.

London to Glastonbury, 200km by the route I took. Bike Friday Pocket Llama (the world-turned-upside-down one here).



It was a wild ride, man.

Looking forward to the one coming up next month. One year I saw a whole swarm of Bromptons. Don't think my currently active folder (a Dahon Presto Lite that never goes more than about 20 miles) is comfortable enough for the smoke-to-the-sea extravaganza.

I broke my own record last weekend and rode 79 miles on my three speed Brompton. it went fine, except I got beat up by a headwind for the last third (the upright position didn't help).

I'm in the market for second "roadier" bike (oh no, folderitis!) for these longer rides. I'm currently looking at a Tern Verge P20 (light, stiff, built for speed), or Link P24h (heavy, kitted out for touring).

I've done 100 miles on a Pocket Rocket. I love the fact that I have a bike that fits, and I don't have to worry about shipping, disassembly, getting bike back home after a trip.

True test likely in August when I take it on a 1400 mile trip in the Pacific Northwest .

I also detach the deraileur (not the cable) and place it inside the rear stays. I regularly pack my Speed P8 and my wife's MuP8 in "airline legal" suitcases for travel on Amtrak.

I know, Amtrak accepts folders on as carry on luggage, and I do that often. But if I'm going from Denver or Santa Fe to southern Florida changing in Chicago and DC, or central Illinois to San Diego, changing in Chicago, Portland, and LA, it's more convenient to check them.

Which silk? The current year with the Nuvinci?

And is it the geometry that you find comfortable or the geometry and the drivetrain?

Im in "Bike Friday research mode"

I just got a Bike Friday Pocket Rocket this fall, and I could do a century on it no problem if I wanted to. I'd choose my standard road bike because it's carbon etc., but it would be no problem. I love my Pocket Rocket. And packing/unpacking quickly becomes no big deal, especially for trips longer than a day.

It's a modestly customized variant of Bike Friday's "Road" build of the Silk. It's mainly the geometry that's comfortable and differentiates versus other (non Bike Friday) folding bikes. As I would on any bike, I've toyed with interface (choosing a seat and pedals I like + swapping the stock handlebars for Nitto Noodles).

I've got an Alfine 11. Motivations: adequate gear range and acceptable weight. Haven't tried the Nuvinci. Two main reasons for getting the Silk's drivetrain over those of other Bike Friday models were not comfort: maintenance frequency and reduction in greasy gunk (huge value on a bike that I have more than once packed into a suitcase on the carpeted floor of a business-grade hotel room while wearing a suit).

The longest single day on my Bike Friday New World Tourist has been 67 miles. I have done the Hilly Hundred weekend ride on this bike several times. That is two days of hills and about 50 miles per day.

I just did my longest ride on my "new" Birdy: 79 miles.

I'm 6'/240. Have done a lot of 60 - 100 miles rides. Absolutely no problem. The only thing that I don't suggest is to ride rough off-road stuff. That's something the Brompton isn't made for. Also, if you intend to ride steep hills etc. get a 6-gear/BWR hub model.

So I just got my BF PR Pro last week (STI with 105 components). I did a 58 mile trip yesterday as a test, I rode up to Portland, ME from my house, caught the 12:45 train back to Dover, NH and rode the remaining 8 miles home.

This was really a test ride. It was almost the hottest day of the year up here too. I rode the Eastern Trail which is a mix of road routes and an actual hard packed trail system. Also did about five miles of unpaved road due to construction.

The he geometry is dialed in, I could have done a century easily. I intend to put many miles on this bike, since I do unsupported centuries, I think my Bike Friday is the ultimate, if something goes wrong, I can always find some kind of transportation (even up in Maine) with the bike folded up.

I had terrible back pains when I first got my brompton,so bad I had to give up riding until the pain subsided.I tried everything ,soft saddle,saddle with springs,increased the post hieght, moved the seat forward/backward ,increased then decreased the air pressure,moved the bar forward and back. Nothing helped until I ran across an article online that many problems come from not the bike but the fact the rider is not in good shape,or the muscles of the back/legs are what support us and cushion our spine from road shock.It suggested back strengthing exercise using free weights. After just a couple of weeks the pain disappeared and never came back and now do a lot of riding( I will say I came to like my Brooks saddle with springs alot and that is what I have on my brompton now)
The point is you should be fine on a brompton just start doing some basic back exercise .

Why'd you get a Bike Friday? Are you traveling there in Maine? (Or travel from Maine?)

I bought the BF for the long term. My wife and I are 46 and now 9 years out from "semi retirement" where we plan to live out of an RV for a number of years. The PR will fit that lifestyle perfectly. In the interim, I will use it for limited regional multi-mode rides, short credit card tours, and business and vacation trips.

The bike should easily last me twenty years. I think of it as an investment in my future health and sanity.

Yesterday was the 8th annual Tour de Perogy and I gave Forrest the day off deciding that I wanted to get my '66 Moulten out to earn it's small C, the ride distance was 124km / 78 miles round trip.

Even though I have been experiencing some severe hip and knee pain while walking and descending stairs the ride was excellent... despite being rained on for most of the ride. The highways were as smooth as glass but the bike really shines on the secondary roads which are chipseal and fairly rough in places and Forrest manages this well on 20 inch wheels @ 65 psi and no suspension while the Moulten rolls on 16 inch / 85 psi Comets with that brilliant suspension design.

I did pretty well to keep up with my friend on his Catrike and know he did not have to burn as many calories (aerodynamic efficiency)... I was most amazed as he was recently treated for thyroid cancer and has been experiencing auto-immune issues and despite that, he rode when a lot of people would have stayed home.



I think I could have ridden 160 km with no issues but a cold front was rolling in and that rain had turned to snow by this morning so I called it day when we got back. On a nicer night I would have gone and knocked out another 40 km since the bike is well lit and I did not have any fatigue issues, the NOS Wright's I was breaking in was rather comfortable from the get go and I can only expect it to get better.

Forrest got some upgrades in the form of a new 9 speed rear wheel and indexed bar ends with some new tape... I acquired a set of OMM low riders which fit up nicely so probably won't have to build any.

I'd like to get in a century ride before winter hits and might take the little guy bike camping...

Snow...! This time of year?

Sheesh, I think my trip to Vancouver in 3 weeks might be all snow??

Doubtful... this was a once in a 20-30 year event and our temps will be back into the 70's by the weekend (normal) and the coast will be warmer with temps in the 70's and even 80's.