This is a quick report about my first business trip with a Bike Friday "Q."

The "Q" can be both a single or a tandem. Details about it can be found at https://www.bikeforums.net/tandem-cycling/43411-tandem-family.html.

Basically, I wanted to see if it would be easy enough to take the bike on a conference trip and do some riding. I spent three days and nights in Spokane, Washington, and got in two rides around conference duties.

To begin, here's a pic of the "Q" in single form:

To prepare, I posted a message asking for cycling advice in Spokane, and I got some great help and suggestions from local Spokane riders. See the thread at https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/49201-where-ride-spokane-wa.html.

Packing the bike at home as a single took about 90 minutes, because it was the first time I packed it for travel in its case. I went slowly, watched the video that came with the bike, and cleaned grease and dirt off the bike as I packed it. I had extra room, so I packed my cycling shoes and all the tools for the bike in the case as well. My helmet and cycling clothes went into my second bag that I checked in separately.

At the airport, the only surprise was that the bike case weighed in at 49.5 lbs. For my Horizon flight to Spokane (two prop), I had missed the weight limit by only .5 lb. Ugh.

Here's a pic of what the case looks like:

Getting the case from the Spokane Double Tree Hotel was no big deal. They happily tossed it into the shuttle.

The best part of staying at the Double Tree is that it was right on the waterfront of the Spokane River, which has the Centennial Trail. My plans were to ride as much of the trail as possible right from the hotel.

Here's a pic from my room. The paved trail is on my side of the river:

I rebuilt the Q the night I arrived in the hotel room. It took about 75 minutes, and I took my time regreasing the connections during reassembly. It should be noted that the Q has a slide apart design, which is slower to work on and a bit more complicated than the "swing" designs of most Bike Friday bikes. This is part of the cost of having the single/tandem capability.

Damage from trip: I was disappointed to see that my cog set had penetrated the felt wrappings of the seat tube and chewed up the paint some. I had a plastic cover over the cogs, but it had slipped aside. For the the return trip, I changed my approach and doubled the plastic coverings on the cogset. For penance, I'll order some touch-up paint.

Also, I noticed that my seat mast had deformed some from the clamps of the telescoping frame connectors. I was warned at the shop that if you overtighted the seat mast clamps that this could occur. I thought I had been careful before, so I may have come this way (I bought it used), but I'll keep an eye on it. If the seat mast becomes too crushed or deformed, I doubt that a replacement tube would cost much (it's just a single straight tube I would need, painted the correct color).

The weather was a bit rough in Spokane. On Wednesday morning, the skies were nice, but it was a bit cold and windy, and the forecast was for rain.

For my first ride, I headed out for an hour at lunch on Wednesday. It was blowing pretty hard at times, and I tried heading west on the trail toward the more scenic areas west of town. Unfortunately, I didn't have a map of the trail and thought it followed the river on the south side. This got me lost in downtown Spokane, because the correct route was to cross the river for a couple of miles and follow a city bike route.

Anyway, I had fun cycling around downtown Spokane, stopped by a great bike shop, but they didn't have a map of the trail for me. I dinked around and got in eight miles before returning to the hotel to do the superman thing and get back to the conference sessions.

Here's a view from the Howard Street Bridge I stumbled across:

On Thursday, I managed to work out a 2.5 hour break over lunch, and I took to the trail again. The weather was very overcast, and sprinkling rain, windy, and a bit cold, but what the heck.

I went East on the trail instead of West, and found that it was much easier to follow. I rode from mile 23 of the trail to milepost 15, clear out the east side of Spokane toward Idaho. The path followed the river on a combination of dedicated path and on-road path, and I saw some great sights on the river, a wild quail, some industrial areas, and a one fairly stinky area around a mill... It was fun.

I also found the map I wanted for the trail mounted on an information board, and from it was I was able to figure out how to go west on the trail. I headed back to mile post 23, went across the river at Riverfront Park, onto the city on-road paths, to a large bridge back over the river to a beautiful part of the trail that was all off-road and through woods and hills along the river going west and north. Wonderful riding-- it went for miles. I had to turn around at mile post 28, to get back to the conference, even though the wonderful trail went another 9 or 10 miles.

So, I got in 26 miles, but I wished I had went West for the whole distance. Oh well-- something for next time. Also, it was good to see both sides of Spokane.

Here's a picture of the trail from its website:

On Friday morning, check-out time was noon. I could have done one more ride, but I would have missed all the last conference sessions. As it was, I missed just one and took the time to repack the bike for the trip to the airport.

Repacking the bike took about 75 minutes, of which 15 minutes right off the bat involved cleaning the bike. I got a surprising about of dirt, mud and grit on it from riding in the rain and on wet pavement.

Here's a pic of the break-down process:

The hardest part of the breakdown process was removing the main crank. It has a single bolt removing system, but it took a fair amount of muscle power to remove it for shipping (even with the extra long allen wrench provided by BF shown below). This was also the case when packing it at home.

The video showed putting the frame in the case as shown below when removing the crank. I tried this and found I couldn't get enough leverage. I removed the frame and put it upright on some newspapers so that the crank on the opposite side could hit the ground as I removed the main crank. The left side crank arm (and timing chainring) stayed on the bike for transport.

I believe most Bike Fridays don't need to have either crank removed for transport.

The rest of the packing job went faster than at home, because I was doing it for the second time. The one step I forgot, however, was to release half of the air pressure from the rear wheel before burying it as part of the packing process. I've read that doing this could prevent problems with pressure changes on the plane, and I haven't checked yet if the tire popped on the way back. As it was, I didn't have time to undo my packing to get back to rear wheel. I did drop the pressure in the front wheel.

Here's a pic of the packing job almost done:

Conclusion:

This was a fun trip with the bike, but not without challenge. In addition to finding time to ride, there was the time needed to build and repack the bike. This was bit tough with the conference duties as well.

On the other hand, as I built the bike on Tuesday night, I was thinking "this is a lot more fun than watching the hotel cable channels." Also, I got to see a lot more of Spokane than by just walking around. Also, I got in some good exercise to offset some of the restuarant food consumption.

Next time to Spokane, I know where I want to ride first, and I want more time to ride.

As for travelling with the "Q," I'll likely check it but not unpack it, because I'm taking it on a second trip this Wednesday to Washington DC-- for riding in the city and then the Eastern Shore. Again, balancing the logistics with getting work done and time to ride will be a challenge, but I should have more time open on this trip.

One other note: for the next flight, I'll likely pack all the tools in my regular luggage, so I'm not .5 lb short of the weight limit again.

One last pic-- Nine Mile Dam near the west end of the Centennial Trail. I hope to see it next time:

Very nice report!! Great looking cycle too!!

I never release the air in my tires when I fly with my bikes - no problem yet! I'm sure that your tires are fine...

Hope you have many more happy trips with your Friday - I love mine!

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www.denisegoldberg.com

I wonder what sizes these bikes come in.. The bikes I own are 56 inches..This bike is what size..? How tall a person are you? Seems for a taller person, such a small traveling case would not work..

Denise, I think you might be right. My rear wheel is fine. I think I read the "half pressure" advice back when packing full sized bikes into airline boxes, but it may have been as much for more shock protection than anything else.

From now on, I'll pack with full pressure, and blame you if anything goes wrong.

I'm 6 foot, and my road and touring bikes are about 58-59 cm. The bikes disassemble or fold so much that all of them use the same case size.

The Bike Fridays are unique, because most are custom-made, and even then they are very adjustable. On mine, for example, the seat tube can telescope in and out of the frame for a broader range of sizes, and the stem can do the same. Even if you bought one used, they could cut and paint a different sized seat tube and stem for you.

It does seem strange when riding that the seat tube and stem are so extended, but I don't notice it much unless I'm hammering out of form and feel a bit of flex between saddle and bars. In normal or good form, I don't feel it at all. Co-motion has a tandem with a similar "periscope" design.

Check out the website at https://www.bikefriday.com. They claim to be able to build frames for the very large and very small, and they supposedly use heavier tube sets for heavy riders.

On the other hand, deflating then re-inflating the tyres isn't really a huge effort, and can avoid arguments when checking the bike in. Out here they have a bit of a habit of opening the package before they load it up, and if they see that the tyres are still fully inflated, it might not arrive at the other end.

Still, looks like some nice riding over in Spokane. I might have to add that to my growing list of "places I simply must ride one day".

Thanks for the update!

When I got my Bike Friday, I immediately took it to a shop that sold Bike Fridays and asked them to show me how to put it together. That really helped me to understand the process of packing it. We'll see if it's that easy when the time comes I need to repack for my trip (late May). Right now, my bike is at the bike shop being upgraded with Ultegra components. I have the packing video, and I plan to practice packing and unpacking until I can get it down to 5 minutes or so (I have the Pocket Rocket). We don't have to take off the cranks for that bike- just the pedals, the front wheel, and the seat, then take down the handlebars and fold the bike in half. It's not bad at all, which is perfect for me, especially on those days when I'll want to jump a train when I'm in a foreign country, and they won't allow me to take a bike unless it's packed. And that case is genius! Converting it to a trailer to ride away in will make my life a ton easier. I can't wait until I start my first tour with it!

Koffee