The lower seat mast part of the tikit frame. Both Site #1 and Site #2 are on this part of your tikit.
Several tikit owners have reported a crack forming on their tikit frames that is potentially dangerous to the rider. DO NOT RIDE YOUR tikit UNTIL YOU HAVE CHECKED FOR THIS CRACK or HAD IT CHECKED AT A BIKE FRIDAY DEALER.
If your tikit DOES NOT have a crack it is safe to ride. We will be mailing you an upgrade kit soon.
If your tikit DOES have a crack then do not ride it until you get that piece replaced. See directions and pictures below.
There are two sites to check for a possible crack. Site #1 is right below the joint of the straight arm of the lower seat mast. It is the area we have had the most reports from. Site #2 is at the “keyhole” of the seat mast. We have only had 2 reports of a crack developing here out of all the tikit we have made.
The customers that have reported these cracks tend to be taller and/or heavier than average and ride their tikit a lot.
Bike Friday co-founder Alan Scholz has been riding his early 2007 tikit daily for commuting, as well as long (80+mile) tours through the mountains with 50mph descents, such as on Cycle Oregon last year. We destruction test our bikes, but also ride the *!@#* out of them ourselves!
Since we have found a potential safety issue please take it seriously and check your bike. The chances of your bike having this problem is very low but we don’t want you to get hurt!
Potential crack site #1. The crack area is usually right below where the straight leg of the seat mast begins. This picture shows a crack there. We will be sending a special brace that can be easily installed on your tikit to prevent any crack forming in the future.
Potential crack site # 2. This crack begins from the round hole and travels outward. There is no crack in this picture. The 2 cases that have been reported were traced back to a very unusual manufacturing process problem. We have made adjustments in our process to eliminate those factors.This change was made on tikits built after April 20, 2009.
This is the crusher machine specially built to reproduce the problems reported by our customers.
If you do not have a crack then you can safely ride your tikit until the safety upgrade arrives (we are sending it soon). Then you or your local dealer/bike shop can install the brace that will prevent any crack from happening in the future. It is a very simple and easy process.
If you do have a crack then give us a call or e-mail and we will build you a replacement seat mast. 1-800-777-0258 or safetyupgrade@bikefriday.com
Please be aware of the weight limits for the tikit:
– Weight limit for Small and Medium tikit is 190lbs/86kg.
– Weight limit for Large tikit is 220lbs/100kg.
– If you are over these weight limits then you need a heavy rider upgrade available for up to 260lbs/118kg.
General caution for all folks riding any bike regularly (not just Bike Fridays):
You may be aware of several bicycle and bicycle component recalls going on right now in the industry. With this reminder about possible bike part problems it is a good time for a general safety reminder.
Bicycles are one of the most highly stressed commonly manufactured products in the world. A typical bicycle is asked to support about 10 times its own weight with little maintenance and in an extreme open environment. There is a conflict in regular bike design between light weight and durability. We all like a light bike to go with our low horsepower motor. Bicycles are one of the wonders of the world but you must care for them. The more frequently you give your bike a check over and needed tune-ups the longer it will carry you safely. . Click here to see an ABC bicycle maintenance list
Let Bike Friday Customer Service know if you have any questions about how to deal with this issue. safetyupgrade@bikefriday.com
Safe summer riding!
Hanna Scholz
General Manager
Bike Friday
BIKE FRIDAY. PERFORMANCE THAT PACKS
3364 West 11th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402 USA
Phone 800-777-0258 | Fax 541-687-0403
The Lazy Rando Blog... 
No cracks on mine (sigh of relief). I am interested in seeing what this brace will look like and what will be involved with installing it.
Just another example of the highly satisfying BF customer experience that they are sending every (pre April ’09, anyway) Tikit owner one of these braces.
I have two tikits. The first one cracked in the keyhole slot. This was a horizontal crack. The replacement aardvark (The name BF gives to this part) was made from thicker walled tubing.
My second tikit has a vertical crack in the same area.
I am their testing machine! 210# of lean biking muscle 😉
/kemal
Another keyhole crack here. My tikit was built with the heavy rider option and I put about 3k miles on the bike last year. Just called BF today for the seat mast replacement.
My Seasons Tikit has no cracks, but my older hyperfold Tikit has a thin horizontal crack on the aardvark. I’ll be sending it back to BF for repair as mine is an older model they can’t just send me a part to fix. BF has been very helpful and although I’d prefer no trouble with my frames it’s good to know that BF will stand behind their products and resolve any issues that might occur.
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