Why I need good brakes on my Tikit
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!
Have you had any trouble with using disk brakes on the tikit? I had planned to get disks on mine, but was dissuaded by the BF salesman who said that they could be trouble. I assume you think their benefits outweigh their potential trouble.
The salesman mentioned that a customer had damaged a disk while riding and couldn’t continue. I imagine they’re more exposed to hazards on 16″ wheels. I think he also said that they needed frequent adjustment due to regular folding/unfolding. I also read the experience of a rider with a different folder but with hydrolic brakes who had trouble because the brake lever was not designed to be stored upside down for prolonged periods (when folded).
-Ben
Ben
2 Feb 10 at 11:22 pm
Hi Ben
My brakes are Shimano hydraulics – they are very effective and that does take a little getting used to – however they modulate well and I have grown to love them. They have stainless steel mesh encased pipes and I haven’t had any problem with folding and unfolding. There remains a question mark over my first frame for this bike. I suffered catastrophic fork failure after emergency braking and Bike Friday replaced the bike immediately at no cost to me. You can read about this elsewhere on my blog if you are interested. Undoubtedly disc brakes put different stresses on the frame, but possibly I would have had the accident with V brakes if it was wholly down to a poor weld. Hope this helps
Gareth
Gareth
3 Feb 10 at 6:24 am
It does. I read about your crash. I was most convinced by the hypothesis that the cause was a faulty weld and that additional stress on the crown while disk-braking may have encouraged the fault to fail. Thanks.
Ben
3 Feb 10 at 1:54 pm
[...] For a 16 inch folding bike, the Tikit rides well – far better than a Brompton. Stuff breaks if you use it, that’s to be expected but the headset issue is a pain. The Alfine internal hub gear and front hub dynamo are fabulous, perfect for the daily commute. The SLX hydraulic discs have incredible stopping power, modulate well and stop the bike getting covered in black gunk. So all told the bike has worked out well for my commute. [...]
Alfine Tikit: 1000 mile review | Combing my hair....
5 Feb 10 at 1:06 pm