Combing my hair….

Have got my Brompton up and running and am now officially in training for the World Championships. I am riding for the Barnsley Hospice A Team. It has not been explained to me whether the ‘A’ stands for Ancient or Ace. If you feel so inclined you can find more about the team and sponsor us here

One of the things I so like about riding a bike is that it is a personal experience but at the same time inherently sociable in a way that driving a car never could be. Arriving at Sheffield Station yesterday morning I was asked by another cyclist what I thought about the Brompton. Tim, a fellow member of Cycle Sheffield, told me he was thinking about getting a folding bike and had narrowed it down to a Brompton or a Bike Friday Tikit and what did I think?

Now given I have two and a half years of riding Tikits and over 2000 miles in the legs and one afternoon (25 miles) and yesterday (8 miles) on the Brompton there is no way I could make an even handed comparison, but I have already spotted a number of differences, advantages and disadvantages.

Focusing on the positives:

The Brompton

Folds smaller and the head tube feels more secure than the hyperfold Tikit
Is potentially lighter than the lightest Tikit
Is less expensive than the Tikit (in the UK at least)

The Tikit

Folds faster (but there is not a lot in it) and doesn’t move the saddle height or alignment when it folds
Rides better – in part this is down to the fact it is available 3 sizes and the fact that you can adjust handlebar height and stem length to get an optimal position
Uses more standard components, so is more readily upgradable – the Tikit’s choice of 8 speed Alfine hub and 8 speed derailleur are markedly better than the Brompton 6 speed set up

Are these differences significant? On balance I favour the Tikit and if buying new today would probably go for the impulse fold (which uses a twiddly knob to secure the headtube) rather than the hyperfold. However if space was at a premium I could see a strong argument for the Brompton and if I lived somewhere flat(ish) I could understand the attractions of the Brompton 2 speed model. In the end however, if you are using a folding bike as a means of commuting, I believe it is reliability which trumps all other measures. And there, I cannot make direct comparisons at this stage.

The Planet Bike front mudguard that comes as standard on the Tikit is fixed to the bike in only one place, on the fork crown. The short forks combined with small wheels send shocks to the fork crown and the mudguard has a tendency to vibrate. In my experience this has led to two mudguards dropping off while riding along. Without a front mudguard spray hits the bottom bracket area (and the lower half of the rider). So I took the bike Chris at Tony Butterworths and asked him to do his best. And his best turns out to be pretty damn fantastic. Using a standard SKS mudguard, the fixing point on the right hand side is the only fixing which is standard. At the crown he fixed the new mudguard to the remaining tab of the Planet Bike mount. This has the advantage of ensuring that the mudguard can be fitted and removed without risking the need to reset the headset.

On the left hand side he shaped the stay so it clears the disk mechanism.

Nice! I’m pretty confident this set up should last.

Four weeks that is – And here is Julia back on the bike – two flat circuits of Rother Valley on her Tikit, very chilled first thing on Sunday morning – with a cap from Roots adding a jaunty Canadian touch to the outfit.

Just under a year since I got it, I’ve reached a 1000 miles on my Alfine Tikit. It has been a cold, icy winter and at times it has felt like you were cycling along the beach with the amount of grit and salt that has been spread on the roads. The bike has been out in the salt spray then back into a warm office and then back in the spray and back into a warm house on a daily basis since mid December. Ideal conditions for corrosion. Let’s start from the road up. Read the rest of this entry »

I believe that cycling safely in traffic means being part of the traffic. This includes occupying the lane rather than hugging the kerb and asserting your right to be there. This isn’t always easy and in hilly Sheffield you do have to recognise that climbing some of the hills requires a measure of defensive positioning – if you are moving at 7 mph and cars are passing you at 30mph there is little choice.

Descending fast needs good brakes. Initially my first Tikit caused me some concern in this respect, but with advice from the Bike Friday Yak group I swapped out the pads for some Kool Stop Salmons. Highly effective, but tough on the rims. The disc brakes on my Alfine Tikit are just the business, enabling me to confidently descend at speed. The importance of this is illustrated in the video where you see I need to leave a bus lane on the left, occupy the main traffic lane and then rapidly turn right.

The video was recorded at 8am on 29 January before it was fully light – a first test of the GoPro HD Hero mounted on my helmet. Quite impressed. It captures what you can see looking forward, but the vertical range of your eyes is far wider than the camera and when you look to the side your eyes swivel but the camera doesn’t!

Cycling home on my Tikit on Friday evening in the dark, I thought I had run over something plastic with my back wheel. Daylight revealed it was the front mudguard, which had snapped at the single mounting point. It had fallen off and I had ridden over it none the wiser. This is not particularly upsetting, it is a small piece of the bike and wear and tear is to be expected. At first I thought that I wouldn’t bother replacing it. However given the dirty roads we have at the moment, it is clear that the front mudguard protects the hyperfold cable and its routing through the bearing at the bottom of the head tube and so it might be wise to.

My wife essentially only rides her Tikit in good weather, so I think I know where the mudguard is coming form.

Rain (photo by Amir K on flickr)

My usual response to this question is that it doesn’t actually rain that often and anyway it doesn’t really matter if you are well prepared. This month I have seen the first part of this answer severely tested. Apparently the wettest November since Novembers began, it did start to get a bit tiresome.

However it give the opportunity to test out my preparedness. And full marks go to:- Read the rest of this entry »

…it’s where the rain gets in. With apologies to Leonard Cohen a short video about keeping the rain out of your frame.

Weatherproofing the Tikit Seatpost from Gareth Dent on Vimeo.

Tikit in hotel bedroom

…Tikit securely folded at the end of the bed. This is when having a folding bike really comes into it’s own. No worrying about is the bike still locked to the post in the deserted car park.  This is also about the third time I have rolled up to hotel reception in helmet, hi-viz jacket and wheeling my Tikit and been asked my car registration number. Automotive hegemony or wot?

Incidentally the flash from the cameraphone really shows off the reflective walls of the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres and the Scotchlite tape I fixed to the rear mudguard.

Alfine Tikit waiting for Sheffield Supertram

Following my post about the issues I was experiencing with my Alfine Tikit, Jordan Bishko, Bike Friday’s Head of Customer Service rang me on Friday evening. He accepted that the bike could go to the local bike shop and Bike Friday would pick up the bill. I am pleased that Bike Friday have accepted my suggestion on this.

So this morning, I wheeled it (somewhat noisily) to the tram stop and delivered it to Tony Butterworths. Chris took a look and is confident the wheel can be trued. The issue with brake calliper will take some investigation.

The trip to the shop allowed me to try out the new handle for pushing the bike. It is a clever design, neatly executed and Read the rest of this entry »