The Green Zebra at Wrigley Botanical Garden
Taking two different folding bikes on our trip was super cool (in a slightly nerdy way) because it provided an opportunity to compare the performance of the two in very similar circumstances, as well as to appreciate the way each company has created a different design solution to the problem of creating a fully functional bicycle that also folds down into a handy traveling package.
The bikes fold and ride quite differently, with the primary fold difference being that the Brompton folds on the main frame to become shorter, and requires you to retract the seatpost and bars, while the Tikit has a super-quick fold that wowed me when I first saw it in 2007 and continues to please me now that I own one. Seriously, is that not one of the coolest things you’ve seen, ever? If you didn’t go watch the video, go watch it now. It’s only 17 seconds long. I can wait.
Interestingly, the fold speed wasn’t actually a big factor on our trip. If I have to take off my pannier, fold the rack, and adjust other miscellaneous accessories, it takes me almost as long to fold and unfold as it takes Brian. But given my lack of grace, I imagine I’d be worse off with the Brompton, which is more fiddly, so I’m still happy about the fast fold.
The Brompton folds small and compact, with all the pointy bits on the inside, which you can get an idea of from this picture, taken at Sunstone Winery. It has small wheels to roll on and can be easily picked up by the saddle when fully folded. It also has a nifty half-fold that makes it stable when standing (flip the rear wheel under).
Smurfy at Wrigley Botanical Gardens: stable, halfway folded.
It’s lighter than my Tikit (although it might not be lighter than every Tikit — mine is pretty heavy). To get it on the plane, Brian bought a padded bag (the Brompton B-bag), removed the bag mount (a few screws) and used a couple of worn-out socks to cover some of the sensitive bits. The normal fold is fine for the plane and on larger aircraft it fits in the overhead bin. He fit his helmet, jacket, and a few other accessories in the bag as well.
To get mine on the plane, I bought a 31″ Samsonite F’lite suitcase, had to remove all the accessories (rack, fenders, bottle cage), take off the front wheel, cover everything sensitive with cloths/socks, and remove the seatpost/saddle and stem from the tubes so they could be placed at angles in the suitcase. It takes me about 30 minutes (although I should be able to do it in under 15 when I’m as cool as Rob English). We joked that Brian got back all the extra time spent folding by not having to disassemble/reassemble for the flight.
When folded, the Tikit is larger and oddly shaped, as you can see at the top of the post and in this picture, and the pointy bits (pedals, bars) are on the outside of the fold, so I ended up with bruises all over my legs from banging it around. (Did I mention lack of grace? And lack of folding pedals, which is my own choice — I wanted the quick-release ones instead.) I was also having trouble rolling it with the rack — Bike Friday has since contacted me with a note on how to fix that — so I was picking it up a lot and it’s heavy.
However! When actually riding the bikes, mine was more capable on hills, more stable, and generally worked better mechanically. Aside from a few hiccups with the newness and needing rust-proofing, it did great and I absolutely adore riding it, especially with my cut-down Civia bars, belt drive, and the lovely steel frame absorbing lots of shock. The Brompton’s handling is twitchy — I personally don’t feel comfortable on it — and Smurfy was having shifting and pedal issues. Stock Bromptons also have only 6 gears, while mine has 11 — while riding up the hill on Catalina, Brian and I joked “This bike goes to 11!”
Overall the Brompton was definitely better suited for this trip, where we rode mostly short distances, didn’t ride many hills, used air travel, and moved from place to place a lot, requiring the bike to be folded down to fit in comfined spaces. This is consistent with the best comparison I’ve read of the Tikit and Brompton, from Anatoly Ivanov: if the fold is your priority, buy a Brompton. If the ride is your priority, buy a Bike Friday.
Either way, you’ll enjoy the flexibility that a folding bike brings you. I’m looking forward to lots more “folding bike dates” with Brian in the future!