Bike Friday

[blackrat]

I am considering buying a Pocket Rocket folder:

But I would like to hear from anyone - Richard? - who has one to give me some idea how it compares to a regular bike in terms of handling. The gearing is the same as my Scott Carbon but does weigh more, about 6 lbs: Scott 16 1/2 lbs, Pocket Rocket 23 1/2 lbs.
How does it handle hills? Clearly with my 700's on the Scott compared to 20" wheels on the Rocket every rotation of the pedals is going to take me less distance so I will have to be pedaling more to get the same distance on the flat and climbing. So, plusses and drawbacks from any users of the BikeFriday, please?
One plus is that for the few times I will be travelling by air, the convenience of a folder will far outweigh taking a regular bike with hauling around a bike box.
Price is $2,250 here which is an okay cost.

 

[steveindenmark]

I would love one. I made the mistake of buying a Brompton instead.

 

[biggs682]

They always interest me and they fetch good money in the UK

 

[brommieinkorea]

I am considering buying a Pocket Rocket folder:
View attachment 798955
But I would like to hear from anyone - Richard? - who has one to give me some idea how it compares to a regular bike in terms of handling. The gearing is the same as my Scott Carbon but does weigh more, about 6 lbs: Scott 16 1/2 lbs, Pocket Rocket 23 1/2 lbs.
How does it handle hills? Clearly with my 700's on the Scott compared to 20" wheels on the Rocket every rotation of the pedals is going to take me less distance so I will have to be pedaling more to get the same distance on the flat and climbing. So, plusses and drawbacks from any users of the BikeFriday, please?
One plus is that for the few times I will be travelling by air, the convenience of a folder will far outweigh taking a regular bike with hauling around a bike box.
Price is $2,250 here which is an okay cost.

A little heavier, but stiff and fast. Take forever to put in their box, the quick fold is terrible.

 

[blackrat]

A little heavier, but stiff and fast. Take forever to put in their box, the quick fold is terrible.

Do you have a Pocket Rocket and by 'box' are you referring to the travel bag?

 

[blackrat]

Directly from the bikefriday horses mouth:

That is the difference between us and other folders - ours are built paramount for performance, where the others are built specifically for folding. Ours also have a 10 year frame warranty, use standard bike industry components, custom sizing, and are all made one at a time by hand in the USA.
If the fold is more important, than a Brompton might be a good option, and is, for short distance riding. They are also mass produced overseas, one size fits all, and mostly have proprietary parts.
With Bike Friday, you will have a little bit of time folding or packing into a airline legal travel case, but much more time actually riding the bike, where performance and comfort is most important.
Quick folding Diamond Llama (same as the Pocket Rocket)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6EvE_INWs

Bike Friday Packing into a travel case (for commercial airline travels)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKxUI5etm4U

PR review
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDxcMka_HHE

https://bikefriday.com/product/bike-friday-pocket-rocket-road-bikes/

 

[brommieinkorea]

I owned a Rocket for several years. Hell for long time to get it into the case, yes the suitcase pictured a couple of posts up. Ride is outstanding, but I found myself needing a true folder so bought a Brompton. A Bike Friday will out ride a Brompton 3 to 1 , but the Brompton might catch up while the guy with the Friday is packing it away.( took me an hour, when you get good 20 minutes). The quick fold is so awful it is useless.

 

[wakemalcolm]

Do they still do a case that can be tagged along as a trailer? I'm sure I read a crazy guy on a bike blog by a couple who did this.

 

[brommieinkorea]

Directly from the bikefriday horses mouth:

That is the difference between us and other folders - ours are built paramount for performance, where the others are built specifically for folding. Ours also have a 10 year frame warranty, use standard bike industry components, custom sizing, and are all made one at a time by hand in the USA.
If the fold is more important, than a Brompton might be a good option, and is, for short distance riding. They are also mass produced overseas, one size fits all, and mostly have proprietary parts.
With Bike Friday, you will have a little bit of time folding or packing into a airline legal travel case, but much more time actually riding the bike, where performance and comfort is most important.
Quick folding Diamond Llama (same as the Pocket Rocket)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ6EvE_INWs

Bike Friday Packing into a travel case (for commercial airline travels)
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKxUI5etm4U

PR review
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDxcMka_HHE

https://bikefriday.com/product/bike-friday-pocket-rocket-road-bikes/

Interestingly, when one says "mass produced overseas" in the USA it usually means Asia, or China these days. Not exactly a lie, as overseas still covers England, but definitely still marketing.
Can't argue with Bike Fridays performance claims. I have ridden Bromptons long distances though.

 

[Kell]

Clearly with my 700's on the Scott compared to 20" wheels on the Rocket every rotation of the pedals is going to take me less distance so I will have to be pedaling more to get the same distance on the flat and climbing.

That's not normally how that works. By that reckoning, I'd be doing 150rpm on the Brompton. In practice, I actually have a slower cadence on the Brompton than I do on my road bike - mainly due to only having 6 gears, and I'd prefer to be over-geared rather than under.

The gearing is normally expressed in Gear Inches. This is the distance you travel for one revolution of the cranks and is therefore a transferable/comparable measurement between bikes with differing diameter wheels. So the revolutions of the pedals will be the same on both your Scott and the Bike Friday, it's just the wheels that rotate more.

 

[blackrat]

I owned a Rocket for several years. Hell for long time to get it into the case, yes the suitcase pictured a couple of posts up. Ride is outstanding, but I found myself needing a true folder so bought a Brompton. A Bike Friday will out ride a Brompton 3 to 1 , but the Brompton might catch up while the guy with the Friday is packing it away.( took me an hour, when you get good 20 minutes). The quick fold is so awful it is useless.

It rather begs the question of the best or preferred use or even a 'why' of a folder. I can see the convenience for a train commuter - ease of folding and quickness of doing so of a Brompton, for instance - and the relative collapsing to a smaller profile for air transport rather than lugging a full sized bike box around and to and from an airport. But other than that, why a folder?

 

[blackrat]

That's not normally how that works. By that reckoning, I'd be doing 150rpm on the Brompton. In practice, I actually have a slower cadence on the Brompton than I do on my road bike - mainly due to only having 6 gears, and I'd prefer to be over-geared rather than under.

The gearing is normally expressed in Gear Inches. This is the distance you travel for one revolution of the cranks and is therefore a transferable/comparable measurement between bikes with differing diameter wheels. So the revolutions of the pedals will be the same on both your Scott and the Bike Friday, it's just the wheels that rotate more.

Yeah, yeah, I get all that. but it was just a flip comment, no need to go all Einstein on me.

 

[Kell]

Yeah, yeah, I get all that. but it was just a flip comment, no need to go all Einstein on me.

TBH - I've had to explain it to so many people over the years (for real) I never know if someone's serious or not.

 

[blackrat]

TBH - I've had to explain it to so many people over the years (for real) I never know if someone's serious or not.

I take all my questions of a dynamic nature to the local Wiccan, he seems to get it right, mostly.