Sarah dropped by for a bite to eat and we decided to grab some Vietnamese food. It was a bit too far to walk in the time we had so we jumped on the Tikits. The low frame makes riding in a long dress possible and of course we just folded them up and brought them in with us. The staff was a little perplexed by two folding bikes, but once they actually figured out what they were the response was all positive.I love riding bikes and not having to carry a lock or worry about what's happening to my bike when I leave it outside.
13 comments:
Hi Vik,
I was "introduced" to you via the Surly Long haul Trucker owner's group and we have exchanged a few emails here and there (I think it was abut bar-mounted mirrors).
So, I have thoroughly enjoyed all your bike-related blogging. You are certainly a man with similar biking interests as mine as I have (among others) a Surly LHT, a Bike Friday NWT, and I'm lusting after a Tikit and a Big Dummy in a major way.
Anyway, I have a few Tikit related questions for you:
1) Do you have any thoughts on the front hub? I have heard that BF had some custom made narrow hubs made for use on the Tikit. What do you think of yours?
2) You often mention touring with your Tikit in your posts. This surprises me as it seems much more like a commuter bike than a touring bike (especially when you own a Surly LHT). What sort of touring do you have in mind? Will only 8 speeds be enough for you?
The Nexus Seasons Tikit looks super cool. I'm not sure when I will get around to purchasing one, but when the time comes that will likely be my choice... Sadly this will likely be long after the Seasons makes it to full production.
Have a nice weekend, and thanks for all the great posts,
Jeff
Regarding the Season Tikit being in full production - I believe it already is. Before I ever read about Vik's Season Tikit, I called Bike Friday and asked about the feasibility of building a Tikit with a Nexus hub, and they basically said, "Oh yeah - we're calling that the Season Tikit". I placed my order a couple days later, and it's supposed to arrive any day now. The production model seems to build off the model T Tikit, with a twiddly knob for the handlebars instead of the cable release.
Mike,
That is good to know. Thank you... So, I will revise my statement:
...Sadly it will likely take me ages to convince my wife we need another bike in the family!
Enjoy your new Tikit. Just know that I am suffering from bike envy. And in an effort to appease the suffering, I have to ask: what color did you go with?
-Jeff
Jeff,
Clearly you have great taste in bikes....hahaha...glad to hear from you..=-)
"Do you have any thoughts on the front hub? I have heard that BF had some custom made narrow hubs made for use on the Tikit. What do you think of yours?"
My Tikit's front hub has been trouble free so far under quite a lot of rough riding and abuse. I often forget I'm riding a 16" wheeled bike when I launch off curbs or slam into obstacles. I have had several "OMG did I just do that?" moments this year, but upon inspection the Tikit's wheels remain untouched by a spoke wrench. Perhaps this isn't that surprising as a 16" wheel is inherently very strong. So back to the front hub...I wouldn't worry too much about it other than to ensure I checked it before a long tour or trip. I doubt it would implode so as long as you take care of it there should be no issues. Having said that using a non-standard hub does make getting spares more challenging, but I think we have to accept that when dealing with a folding bike like the Tikit. You won't walk into a normal LBS and get a 16" tire or rim either.
"2) You often mention touring with your Tikit in your posts. This surprises me as it seems much more like a commuter bike than a touring bike (especially when you own a Surly LHT). What sort of touring do you have in mind? Will only 8 speeds be enough for you?"
I don't want to be one of those guys who relentlessly cheerleads for a bike he likes against all logic. So let me say right off the bat the Tikit will not be as capable a touring bike as a NWT or a LHT. I should also say that my comments about touring on my Tikit are a bit theoretical at this point. I see some potential for a unique and fun touring bike in it. I'll make a real assessment later this year/early 2009 when I get a rear touring rack for it and actually do some touring.
To answer your question more specifically I think the Tikit will be a good choice for tours that have some multi-modal travel in them and tours were you might have to transport your bike to the start on a plane/train/bus or maybe in your family car as part of a shared holiday. The multi-modal part probably makes sense to you as you can picture taking off the bike's panniers and rolling in onto a subway car or street car. OTOH the NWT would make a better travel touring bike wouldn't it? I'd say yes, but for the city commuter who owns a Tikit yet wants to do the occasional tour buying a NWT may not be in the cards.
The 8 speed hub will limit what you can climb. How much I'm not sure I'll need to try it out with a camping load, but I'd say you need to accept some walking. If you wanted to tour on a Tikit and climb like a goat I think you'd have to get a Rohloff hub or dual drive.
"The Nexus Seasons Tikit looks super cool. I'm not sure when I will get around to purchasing one, but when the time comes that will likely be my choice... Sadly this will likely be long after the Seasons makes it to full production."
I'm loving the Nexus 8...I have to admit I've been thinking about swapping the rear triangle from the medium Seasons Tikit onto my large hyperfold Tikit so I can enjoy the Nexus 8 on frame that fits me. I probably won't bother to really do it [I'm a bit lazy!], but I have IGH lust for sure.
The good news about waiting a bit is that BF is bound to continue tweaking and improving the Seasons Tikit so it will be even better by the time you get one...=-)
Mike,
Glad to hear you have a Seasons Tikit on the way. You'll love the Nexus 8...it really is a good fit with the Tikit.
Yeah. I guess I'd be interested in finding out if this narrow hub is available from sources other than Bike Friday. It's not that I'm not interested in supporting BF (quite the contrary), it's just nice to know there is a source of them if BF can no longer can supply them. Because sure, you can't usually walk in to the LBS and grab a 16" tire or rim, but they can order it!
And Vik, perhaps your first Tikit tour can be an "ES-Two-Four-Oh":
http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/Petersen_S240s.pdf
Sorry, I should have known that that link would have been chopped.
If you are interested, just search for "s24o adventure cycling".
The result should be a pdf of an article from the "Adventure Cyclist" mag (NOV/DEC AC 2003)
By the way, s24o = sub-24-hour overnight
Dahon and some of the other folding bike companies use narrow hubs on the front of their bike which I believe are compatible so you'll always have more than one option for replacements.
Funny about the S24O - I'm doing one tonight on the LHT, but on principal I can't take a fun overnight tour and reduce it to a 4 letter acronym...=-)
Good point. It does make it sound like a TPS report or something.
Enjoy the Trucker.
"And in an effort to appease the suffering, I have to ask: what color did you go with?"
I went with all black. I like the bike, but I'm not crazy about the two-tone color scheme. If I could have gotten the entire frame in one color, I'd probably have gone with racing green.
So when is Sarah going to get her own Tikit?
Hi Ken,
She has a Dahon Speed D7 folder so I don't think a Tikit is in her future. She'd like to have a Tikit, but the D7 was already more than she wanted to spend on a bike.
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