Re: [yak] Digest for yak@bikefriday.com - 7 updates in 4 topics

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Alister Sharp

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Dec 15, 2022, 12:16:10 AM12/15/22
to y...@bikefriday.com
I don't yet need to reduce my stable, but if I had to reduce to a single bike, Yes, I would keep my Bike Friday Crusoe.

Admittedly, smaller wheels are slower on soft surfaces such as sand and gravel (the BF trailer, with 12" wheels, is such a drag on such surfaces that I no longer use it), but you can do a lot better than Marathons if you can accept the trade-off with durability.

Looking at the Schwalbe catalog (https://www.schwalbe.com/en/reifensuche) I see that you can get a huge range of tyres for Bike Friday 20" (406 ETRTO), in widths ranging from 1.10 to 2.25" in width.

But I believe weight is only one of the problems with Marathon; the other is the relatiely stiff sidewalls: lighter tyres, with more flexible sidewalls, seem to roll more freely.

Cheers, Alister


Alister Sharp
Mob: 0422 468 108, Tel: 02 9879 3664
11 Martin St, Hunters Hill,
NSW 2110, Australia


On Thu, 15 Dec 2022 at 13:26, <y...@bikefriday.com> wrote:
Rick Mason <rick.a...@gmail.com>: Dec 14 08:43AM -0800

I need to reduce my number of bikes due to my current housing. If
possible, I'd like to have only one bike, so I'm interested in knowing how
many of you have a Bike Friday as your only bike. What compromises you
needed to make? What you miss (or don't)? Things like that.
 
I do know what my uses are. The ones most on the "fringe" would be faster
club rides, and gravel (loose gravel as opposed to crushed limestone like
used on rail trails. I do understand that no one bike, small wheel or large
can do everything perfectly. I'd just like to see from the forums
collective wisdom, how close I can get on a Bike Friday.
 
For club rides, my experience tells me that I am OK up to the limits of my
"motor", though there is *some* speed loss from smaller diameters. I know
thinner/lighter tires will help.
 
For Gravel, I have ridden some shorter stretches (a mile or 2) using
40-406 Marathons. Acceptable, though not as stable as my full size touring
bike on 700 by 35 Marathons. New disk brake equipped NWT bikes can fit
larger diameter tires; I believe >= 48-406. Do any of you have experience
using a Friday with fatter tires? Do you see much difference.? Yes, I know
a NWT will never be a mountain bike. I'm mostly looking for what you folks
have experienced first hand.
 
I do recognize that the too above uses are somewhat opposed to each other,
but I assume tires will make a difference, and for this, I am not opposed
to having 2 sets of wheels or barring having 2 wheel sets, changing tires.
 
Thanks for your thoughts here.
John Thurston <y...@thurstons.us>: Dec 14 08:17AM -0900

If I had to pare my stable down to a single bike, my Friday (a V-brake
Llama from the previous century) would be on the short-list of
candidates. I currently have it rigged with 44mm tires and drop bars. It
easily handles any surfaces I'm comfortable riding. When once I hit a
+20% downhill of washboard covered with 1 1/2" gravel, it wasn't great,
but those conditions are rare.
 
It is heavier than my preferred road bike. It doesn't roll over
obstacles as well as my larger-wheeled trail bike. But any single bike
is a compromise, and I think it makes a reasonable compromise.
 
https://flic.kr/p/LzM9cE
 
Your NWT will be lighter, and have a lower bottom bracket, than my
Llama. So yours will probably do better on the road than mine, and less
well on the trails than mine.
 
I'll get out my soap box, once again, and say . . "tires". Did I mention
tires? If you really want a one-bike stable, ditch those Marathons! Get
yourself some lighter, wider tires. Some candidates are:
 
* Tiogo Powerblock https://www.tiogausa.com/bmx-tires-main.html
* Tioga FastR https://www.tiogausa.com/bmx-tires-main.html
* Maxis DTH https://www.maxxis.com/us/tire/dth/
* Maxxis TORCH https://www.maxxis.com/us/tire/torch/
 
I've ridden the Powerblock, which is my second favorite tire. I want to
try some of the others, but can't justify the experiments until I burn
up some more of my inventory. My all time fav (Schwalbe Shredda) is no
longer made.
 
I've preached on-list before about tires. I'll let you search the archives.
 
--
John "Go wide. Go light. Go soft." Thurston
Juneau, Alaska
 
On 12/14/2022 7:43 AM, Rick Mason wrote:
Geof Gee <geo...@gmail.com>: Dec 14 01:11PM -0500

For a few years, my Bike Friday was my commuter and club ride bike.
Eventually I started doing enough club rides that I picked up a road bike,
but my times on the training routes in Arlington changed as one might think
with a 5-7 pound lighter bike ... hilly rides were a few minutes faster.
 
Out west, I used the Bike Friday with 47 mm wide tires sans fenders on
"fire road" rides and it did well. Not sure if I would do better than
modern gravel bikes -- I do very little sport riding nowadays so I don't
have one -- but at a minimum it's serviceable over a broad range of
surfaces. Given the usefulness of folding and packing, it would be my
do-everything-bike.
 
-G
 
 
--
 
"Sometimes I forget things. Who I am. Where I am. Unimportant things.
But I'm not insane. "
Squire Black <apb...@ownmail.net>: Dec 13 08:25PM -0800

I noticed this on Craigslist Atlanta:
 
https://atlanta.craigslist.org/nat/bik/d/atlanta-bike-friday-pocket-rocket-pro/7567433132.html
 
Bike Friday Pocket Rocket Pro ...
Shimano 105 10 speed
Rim Brakes
 
Includes suitcase $900
 
I am *not* the seller, and have no connection with them. If you are
interested, follow up using the above Craigslist link.
Squire Black <apb...@ownmail.net>: Dec 13 08:19PM -0800

I bought a Swytch kit for my wife's Pocket Rocket. Hence, mine is a 451
wheel, not a 406. But the hub spacing will still be 100mm, so you should
not have any trouble.
 
Note that I *did* have to file the sides of the axle that came with the
Swytch kit, got get it to fit in the front dropouts. This is actually
*good,* because you can make sure that the wheel fits snugly in the fork
blades. This is essential, to stop the axle from rotating.
 
Incidentally, my wife didn't like the whole electric bike thing, so my
Swytch kit will be for sale, as soon as I take it off her bike. Send me an
email if you are interested.
 
Andrew Black
Portland, OR
Robert Kaminski <robertw...@gmail.com>: Dec 13 06:47PM -0800

Thank you Walter for answering that question
 
On Tue, Dec 13, 2022 at 6:26 PM Walter Lapchynski <w...@bikefriday.com>
wrote:
 
Walter Lapchynski <w...@bikefriday.com>: Dec 13 08:14PM -0800

No problem.
 
I should elaborate: dual pivots are necessarily lighter because they don’t
need brazed on mounts and so the fork and rear end does not need to be
beefed up to handle the extra heat.
 
The calipers themselves tend to be lighter, too. For example, Origin8 makes
dual pivots that are about 30g lighter than their linear pull brakes. Even
Tektro Mini-Vs (short pull like the dual pivots so shorter arms) are still
heavier.
 
On Tue, Dec 13, 2022 at 18:47 Robert Kaminski <robertw...@gmail.com>
wrote:
 
>> Green Gear Cycling dba Bike Friday
>> direct line (text ok) +1 541-995-0541
 
> --
 
Walter Lapchynski
Sales Consultant | Information Services Assistant
Green Gear Cycling dba Bike Friday
direct line (text ok) +1 541-995-0541
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Peteholden

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Dec 15, 2022, 8:48:57 AM12/15/22
to alister...@gmail.com, y...@bikefriday.com
As I am downsizing, I have gotten rid of several (and been 'relieved' of one, involuntarily - what a headache!).  The BF is the one I will keep.  Compact (for my new digs, and for transit).  Foldable.  And versatile more than the Brompton.

I do most of my riding on streets and highways.  Having a Llama, I was dissuaded from mountain biking the first time I dipped into a rut (and almost didn't come out).  Small wheels in those settings are not optimal.

As for tires, you will have to pry my Marathon-Plus out of my cold, dead hands.  Not having to constantly (monthly or more!) deal with flats is a game-changer.  I'll give up 'performance' (use it for exercise anyway) in favor of increased certainty that I"ll get where I'm going on-time.  Thank you, Marathons!


.     _/\_
Peter Holden

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