Bike Friday NWT 1 Year Review

My Bike Friday NWT

I rec’d my Bike Friday New World Tourist folding travel bike in early Jan 2009.  So It’s not really a year old, but I’ll be gone to Baja over it’s birthday so I thought it would be appropriate to share my thoughts so far about this bike:

• This bike has lived up to the hype on the net about Bike Friday’s travel bike line up.  It’s a time proven design that is stiff and fun to ride with the obvious benefit that it folds when you need to store or transport it.
• Does it ride like a full size bike?  Mostly.  I was impressed how stiff the frame is.  When I’m cranking out of the saddle from a stop sign or up a hill I don’t think for a second about the fact I’m riding a folder.  I just hammer and the bike goes forward.  The smaller wheels and short wheel base [for a touring bike] make it very maneuverable without any hint of instability.
• My Tikit is a folding bike that’s awesome – my NWT is an awesome bike that folds.
• The NWT fold is very useful for storage and travel, but unlike the Tikit I wouldn’t want to have to fold the bike multiple times a day.  The NWT’s fold is not effortless, but as a result you get a stiff frame which seems like a fair trade.
• I haven’t toured on this bike yet.  2009 wasn’t much of a touring year for me.  Hopefully I’ll get out on this bike in 2010 for some loaded touring action. I have ridden the NWT around town on utility rides with loaded panniers and it handles very well with some weight on the frame.  My friend Amy bought a Bike Friday Pocket Sport [similar to the NWT] and went on her first ever bike tour [Lake Louise to Vancouver] a couple weeks later.  She cannot stop raving about how great her Bike Friday is.
• The 8 speed Nexus 8 IGH drivetrain has been flawless.  I have it geared really low for touring and I should probably swap in a bigger chainring for about town use.  OTOH I can do 30kph+ on it at the moment and that’s pretty good for a city bike.
• I should make special note of the JTek Shimano IGH bar end shifter.  This works very well and has been a great addition to my NWT.  I started with a gripshift attached on the end of a HubBub drop bar adapter.  It worked, but nowhere near as ergonomically as the JTek unit.
• I’ve got the front derailleur and shifter on the bike even though I only have 1 chainring.  I’ll be dropping this extra gear, but I just haven’t been motivated to strip it off the bike and wrap the bars again.
• Dynohub and LED headlight are a great addition.  I always have light without thinking and even run the light during the day as a daytime running light.
• The Greenspeed Scorchers TR tires I love on my Tikit have proven to be a good choice on the NWT as well – fast, comfy and no flats so far.

So what’s not to like?:

• a custom NWT isn’t cheap OTOH neither is a custom frame from any other US builder.
• the Bike Friday front rack uses some plastic spacers to achieve the correct offset when mounting the rack.  This puts the mounting hardware into a bending moment situation vs. shear where they would be stronger.  This rack has been used lots by other people without issue so perhaps I’m just being picky.  I haven’t had any issues carrying groceries and such.  Time will tell.
• small 406 wheels are strong, but you feel rough pavement more than you do on larger 700c wheels.  The Greenspeed Scorchers TRs go a long way to evening out the score on this issue.
• the folded bike does not stay together very well unlike the Tikit.  Bike Friday does include a velcro strap that you can wind around the folded frame which does help a lot.  This isn’t an issue as long as you bought the NWT as a travel bike.  If you want to fold the NWT 5 times a day+ you’ll get frustrated.

I have quite a few nice bikes and it’s always interesting to see what sort of riding I end up doing on which bikes.  Since I didn’t get up to much bike touring the NWT mainly saw action as my about town bike when I wasn’t doing lots of errand stops.  It’s a fun nimble bike to ride and with fenders, racks and a dynamo light it’s always ready for whatever the day may throw at me.  If I was going to stop lots I’d take my Tikit instead for the hyper fast fold.

My Bike Friday New World Tourist photos.

Amy’s on a roll this Friday!

Amy aboard her new red rocket Bike Friday!

Amy lives nearly 2hrs from me so we’ve been trying to figure out a good time to connect so she could grab her bike.

Amy's Pocket Sport is nicely setup for commuting and touring...

It was raining on and off, but we managed to find some dry-ish time to get the fit dialed in and go over the basic controls.  This is Amy’s first bike since she was a kid so we talked about how to shift and brake as well some fit items [seat and stem height] she may want to play with as she gets use to riding her Bike Friday.

Rolling through the woods...

We were able to go for a short ride to get some practice with gear shifting and braking.  I adjusted her seat height again.  Since Amy is virtually brand new to biking her riding position may change a bit as she gets used to the bike so I gave her some tips on what to look for and what she could adjust.

A tale of two Fridays...

Eventually my time ran out and I had to say goodbye.  Amy was super excited with her bike and based on her other hobbies, like marathon running, I’m certain her Pocket Sport will look well worn when I see her next.  If our schedules workout we’ll try and get in a 2-4 day bike tour at the end of July.

I’m a bike commuter…

My Bike Friday NWT daily commuter!

How can a guy who works at home be a bike commuter?  Easy you just need a girlfriend who has much nicer place to live than you do so you stay there overnight a lot and have to bike back to your home office in the AM.  It may be a self-imposed commute, but it’s a commute nevertheless!  It’s only a 2km ride, but I forgot how much I enjoyed getting on my bike every morning for a ride before starting work.  Fresh air, bright sunshine and crazy motorists – smells like victory!…=-)

Kona Wah Wah BMX pedals

I needed some BMX platform pedals for my Surly Big Dummy and my LBS Bow Cycle was sold out of the NRG Slabalanche BMX pedals I have on a few other bikes so I had to settle for some bright white Kona Wah Wah pedals.  Not afraid to bling out my Bike Friday NWT I took the black NRG pedals from the NWT and swapped in the white Konas.  A bit ridiculous? – sure, but if you can’t have fun with your bikes what can you have fun with?  Just like you’d expect the Kona’s are comfy, versatile and grippy.  I tend to commute in a pair of 5.10 Impact low bike shoes so staying firmly attached to the bike is not an issue.

Ortieb panniers on my Bike Friday rear rack.

I haven’t toured with the NWT yet, but carrying enough wine, beer and ice for a sunny afternoon in the backyard is a decent test of the rear rack and panniers.  The NWT is rock solid with a heavy rear load.  I love how fast I can adjust these Ortlieb panniers to go from one rack to the next.  Although my feet are fairly large 11.5-12US I don’t have any heel strike issues with this rack  & pannier combo.  I even have an additional inch of adjustment if I wanted to move my panniers further back, but I prefer to keep the load as far forward on the bike as I can without hitting my feet on the panniers.

The Bike Friday rear rack provides lots of ground clearance.

Without any bags on the rear rack the Bike Friday rack looks like it sits excessively high, but once you have full size rear panniers on it you can see the extra height is needed to get a reasonable amount of ground clearance with the smaller 20″ wheels.

Urban Assault NWT

NWT getting down and dirty in the Big Smoke!

My NWT is a touring bike, but I only tour once in a while and have a few touring bikes to choose from so it has to serve multiple purposes.  I didn’t really have a clear vision of what the NWT would be when not on tour, but it has naturally become my choice for all urban assault missions that don’t require folding.  Of course if it has to fold my Tikit is the obvious choice.

What makes a good urban assualt bike?

• quick & nimble
• reliable = IGH
• tough
• all weather = fenders
• comfortable
• can carry stuff easily
• lights
• fun to ride
• easy to store transport if needed

My NWT meets all of the criteria above without breaking a sweat.  The 20″ wheels make darting around obstacles easy & fun while at the same time being strong so crashing through potholes isn’t an issue.  Since the NWT is built for touring it’s tough and reliable.  With a Shimano Nexus 8 IGH it’s also low maintenance.  With a dyno headlight, 2 LED tail lights and fenders it’s ready to ride day or night – rain or shine.  Front and rear racks mean I can carry a week’s worth of groceries or a month’s worth of recycling easily.  Bike Friday dialed the fit for me so well I find I’m grabbing the NWT a lot just because it feels so good to ride.  I love the drop bars, Brooks saddle, BMX pedals and Greenspeed Scorcher tires.  They all work together to make hopping on the NWT a pleasure.  As a bonus if I need to throw the NWT in a car trunk or hop on transit I can fold it in a minute or two.

I’ve been feeling extremely lazy when it comes to bike related projects lately so the full coverage fenders are still sitting in the corner waiting for some time to put them on.  The Bike Friday travel fenders work well enough it’s not a huge issue – although I am looking forward to the functionality and aesthetics of the SKS 20″ fenders I have ready to install.  I also think I’ll add an AirZound horn to help get my road rage on when motorists don’t drive like normal human beings!…=-)

NWT Update

My NWT resting by Nose Creek in Calgary.

With the weather finally solidly dry and warm-ish I got the NWT out for a 15km bike ride to drop off a car in the NW part of Calgary and then ride back downtown.  The NWT folds up easily and makes throwing in the trunk a breeze.  This was my first longer ride with the new gearing, Greenspeed Scorcher tires and JTEK Nexus 8 bar end shifter.  I must say they all worked fabulously.  In fact it feels like a whole new bike – faster and easier to ride than previously. I could have used one more gear at the top end, but it wasn’t much of an issue and I want to keep this bike setup for loaded touring.

My final upgrade/modification will be to install some Planet Bike full coverage fenders this week.

What lock?

NWT MK3

My NWT as it rolls at the moment...

I’ve made a few more changes to my NWT getting it ready for spring and the start of touring season.  It’s a sharp looking bike…=-)

How long will the tape stay white?

I removed the Shimano Nexus 8 twistshifter and replaced it with a JTEK bar-end shifter designed for the Nexus8/Alfine IGHs.  It seems like a very well made product and the shifting is precise and positive.  I’ll report more about this shifter in another post.  I messed up the bar tape when I installed the JTEK shifter so I threw caution to the wind and went bling with some white bar tape.  It may not stay white that long, but it looks sweet for the moment!

Greenspeed Scorchers 40mm-406

I love the Greenspeed Scorcher tires on my Tikit so I got a set for the NWT.  I’m hopeful they provide the same fast and comfortable ride in this size.  I picked up the TR version which is supposed to resist flats well.  I haven’t had a single flat on my Tikit which is running TRs so it seems to be working.

Sugino 46T ring

I’ve been adjusting the gear range on my NWT trying to get it just right so I can tour with only a single ring up front.  A Sugino 46T ring gives me a warranty legal 2:1 ratio with my 23T cog at the back and *fingers crossed* gives me a nice blend of low end and top speed.  Only time will tell and it’s really sloppy out at the moment as spring tries to arrive so the NWT is grounded until roads are dry.

In-line barrel adjuster.

The JTEK shifter has no cable tension adjustment so I added an in-line barrel adjuster near the hub.

NWT Gearing Redux

The search continues...

In aid of my dream to run my NWT with a single chainring and a Nexus 8 IGH I’ve tried using a 23T cog at the back with a 43T ring up front.  The resulting gear range was too low so I tried a 21T cog in the back.  Unfortunately that cog is too small to work with my Surly Singlenatortensioner chain in the push up mode [pictured below with the 23T cog].

Surly Singlenator just works with a 23T cog

So I put the 23T cog back on and I’ve ordered up a 46T front ring which will hopefully get the gear range where I want it. I’m pretty close!

Speaking of gearing I rec’d my JTEK Alfine/Nexus bar end shifter and I have installed it on the NWT.  I’ll post details separately.  It seems to work great, but since my NWT drivetrain is in pieces at the moment I haven’t road tested it yet.

NWT Upgrades

406 Shimano Dynohub Wheel

I had this wheel built up for my Challenge Fujin SL recumbent, but I’m not riding that beast much at the moment so I stole it and installed it on my NWT.  It’s a Velocity Razor 32H 406 rim and a Shimano dynohub.  I took the Schwalbe Marathon off the stock NWT front wheel and mounted it here.  It’s dark in the AM and gets dark early in the PM still so having a dynohub equipped bike will be nice.  The drag is slightly noticeable on a 300km brevet riding a high performance recumbent.  On the NWT I don’t notice a thing.

Solidlights 1203D dual LED dyno headlight

This Solidlights 1203D dual LED headlight is also from my Fujin.  It’s not as bright as the latest Euro dyno headlights [although I may take advantage of their upgrade offer once winter's darkness has passed], but it still casts lots of light in a wide beam that is very user friendly.  I’ve been mainly using Dinotte 200L-AA headlights on my city rides and they work quite well, but my rechargeable batteries are getting old so even on flashing mode I’ve had them die early or not work at all several times in the recent past.  I’ll be buying new batteries for them soon, but it will be nice to have a light that will always work no matter what.  I’ll leave it on during the day as well for extra visibility.

Shimano 105 cranks & BB with a single 43T ring

I had this 105 crank and BB in my parts bin so I threw it on to add to the Zebra colour scheme I seem to have on the go!  I removed the 59T big ring and will just run the 43T smaller ring.  I left the front derailleur, cable and shifter in place in case I find a single chain ring insufficient.  The swap back will be much easier.  If all goes well I’ll pull the unused parts.

Surly Singlenator in "Push Up" mode

I got a Surly Singlenator and installed it in “push up” mode to tension the chain.  This provides a bit more chain wrap, but mostly I just prefer the cleaner looking drivetrain since nothing is hanging down.  Note that I do have to drop the chain off the front chain ring to fold the bike, but that seems like a reasonable price to pay for a slick drivetrain.  More importantly if I forget to do so the chain just comes taught, but the chain tensioner has enough flex that it cannot be damaged.

I swapped the 16T cog for a 23T

I had a 23T Nexus cog in parts bin so I threw in on in place of the 16T that came with my NWT.  It will provide lower gears that I need for climbing mountains with a loaded bike.  Will a 43T x 23T give me a high enough top gear to keep me happy?  I think the answer is a definite maybe!…hahaha…I’ll need to ride it a bit more to be sure.  I could easily setup my chain with 2 SRAM powerlinks and run a higher gear for unloaded riding around town.  For a tour it would a simple matter of swapping a bigger rear cog and adding a few links of chain.

Salsa 80mm 115 deg stem

I swapped in a Salsa 80mm 115 deg rise Moto Ace SUL stem.  It will give me a slightly higher bar position, but primarily it’s job is simply to Zebra-fy the NWT a touch more…lol…I’m a fashion victim!

This bell keeps the NWT legal on the Calgary bike paths.

I threw on a bell so the By-Law officers can’t bust me on the Calgary bike paths.  I was stopped, but not ticketed recently riding through the Stephan Avenue pedestrian mall downtown.  I figured my luck may not hold so best to be prepared – besides I might run into someone on the paths that needs a stern bell ringing…=-)

Blackburn Mirror

I use this model of Blackburn mirror on all my drop bar bikes.  If I can see behind me easily I am able to ride much more aggressively.  I like the fact it removes with little effort and can survive a bit of abuse without breaking.

an old Trek Seat bag

After trying several seat bags in my parts bin this old Trek model fits the Brooks B-17 on my NWT best and is just big enough to hold everything I need to fix a flat or make a minor adjustment.  It has a tab for a LED light which is nice, but these tabs never allow you to aim your LED properly which is critical for effective performance.  Because of this I use these tabs for a secondary rear light to compliment a properly aimed primary LED.  If you have any doubt about this turn on your bike’s rear LED and try viewing it from a variety of angles. Your light will be much brighter in a narrow range of angles and much dimmer when viewed beyond this range.

A properly mounted and aimed rear LED is essential

Here is a well designed rear light mount that allows me to aim my LED both up/down and side to side for best results.  If you want to be even more visible use two of these mounts one aimed at close range cars and one aimed for cars that are farther away.  The Planet Bike Superflash light is my favourite at the moment for brightness, cost and functionality.  I normally run two on the back of each bike by buying extra mounts and swapping the lights as needed.

Bike Friday New World Tourist – Part 4

Bike Friday did a great job on the white paint...

Sorry for the delay in posting a NWT ride report.  I wanted to get some more miles on this bike before I commented.  Although the weather has not been ideal I have been out and about.  Sadly the minty freshness of this bike is somewhat tarnished by road grime, but that’s a price I’m willing to pay to keep the blog posts flowing…hahaha!

I’m a member of the Bike Friday Yak List and I’ve read lots of NWT owner comments that the New World Tourist rides just like full sized touring bike.  I figured that must be a bit of an exaggeration since a 20″ wheeled folding bike has to be different than a 26″/700c wheeled bike.  Well I must say I see where they are coming from.  Other than having slightly faster handling and feeling bumps a little bit more the NWT fits and rides a lot like my Surly Long Haul Trucker.  I find that pretty amazing.

Speaking of amazing I must give Bike Friday credit for dialing in the fit on this bike for me so well.  All they had to go on were some measurements from my Tikit as well as some general riding preferences.  I just wanted to make sure we were in the ballpark and I figured I’d do the rest once I got the bike.  To my surprise the bike fit me like a glove right down to having a long TT and a short stem.  I haven’t had to adjust a thing – sweet!

One of the reasons I think the NWT and the Tikit ride so well when compared to other folding bikes is that Bike Friday allows you to customize your frame to fit you.  This is more than just pushing your seat back and adding a longer stem to make a small bike fit a large person.  Anyone who has ridden a bike like that will agree the feeling of having your weight too far over the front wheel is not pleasant nor confidence inspiring.  The effective TT on my  NWT is around 59cm which allows me to keep my weight well back of the bars and allows the bike to handle very pleasantly.

Between the handling and the fit I’m really looking forward to doing some touring on this bike.

The NWT feels a lot like my Surly LHT…

The NWT is a lot stiffer than I expected.  I knew it would be a stronger frame than my Tikit, but I’m very happy how solid this bike feels. Even when I’m out of the saddle hammering to beat a light or crank my way up a steep hill the frame just takes the punishment and drives the bike forward.  The stem/bars in particular are rigid which gives you lots of confidence bombing down hill at high speed.  Keep in mind I have not tried it fully loaded so l my impressions are of an unloaded bike.

In terms of handling the NWT’s high speed manners are excellent.  A little faster than my Surly LHT, but not a great deal.  I was bombing down a steep bridge with a heavily gusting crosswind and the NWT was easy to keep on line.  I suspect that a fully loaded NWT will descend mountain passes very confidently with some front panniers slowing down the steering quite a lot.  The bike is a real pleasure to ride at slow speeds since it’s quite maneuverable and slowing to a crawl & track stands are easy.

The bike accelerates well both in the saddle and standing on the pedals.  Since my foot was feeling good and the bike responded well to hard sprints I found myself racing between lights.  I eventually had to remind myself this is a touring bike made for cruising not criterium racing!  The NWT climbed competently [although it reminds you it's not a featherweight road bike] when the road turned uphill.  I enjoy climbing on tour so I just settle into my comfy cockpit and churn away at the pedals while the scenery rolls by.

The Nexus 8 twist shifter mounted at the right bar end position is a new configuration for me.  I found it intuitive to use and easy to grab without looking.  I do prefer a true bar end shifter so I’ll be replacing it with a JTEK Nexus 8 bar end shifter, however I have to say it if you are thinking of mounting a twist shifter on a drop bar bike this is not a bad way to go.  I’ve been using bar end shifters for years so perhaps if I stuck with the twist shifter longer I might grow to like it more.  The Nexus 8 is as much a pleasure to use as the other two Shimano IGH I’ve got running.

My earlier post about the NWT gearing closed noting you can do all the online gear calculation you want, but ultimately the real test is on the road.  After putting the NWT through its paces I’ve come to the conclusion the 39T x 16T is great for an unloaded bike, but too high for touring.  I didn’t even bother using the 53T chain ring as I wasn’t spinning out one of the longer steeper hills in town – although it must be said I’m not a kamikaze descender.  The easy way to lower the gearing is to swap in a bigger Nexus 8 cog as they run $8 each at full retail.  I’ll play with this and post something when I’ve got it dialed in.

…slow speed handling is excellent.

Just a few random component notes:

• NRG Slabalanche BMX pedals are great on this bike
• Brooks B-17 is comfy out of the box like all my other Brooks saddles
• I threw on some salmon coloured Koolstop brake pads
• the Tektro drop bar v-brake levers and Shimano v-brakes stop the bike silent and with authority using just two fingers on the levers. I’ve been finding the hood position of the Tektro levers a bit uncomfortable.  I need to see if it’s the angle they are sitting at or if it’s the unpadded gloves I’m wearing.  This seems a bit odd as I have some identical Cane Creek branded levers I’ve enjoyed on another bike.
• the Bike Friday fenders work and are easy to install with one bolt each, but I’m a fan of full coverage fenders so I’m going to see if I can find a set I like and try them out.
• The Schwalbe Marathons are solid rugged touring tires, but they are heavy and not so fast.  I’m going to try and get a pair of Greenspeed Scorchers in the 40mm-406 [20"] size to try out since they have treated me well on my Tikit.

That’s it for now.  I’ll be getting the NWT out every chance I have to ride dry roads, but that may not be too often until March rolls around.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get this bike out for an early weekend tour in the mountains and post my Part 5 Touring Review sooner rather than later.

Lazy Rando Command Centre Video Tour

I’ve had a number of requests asking for some details about how I store/live with 8 bikes in a small downtown apartment.  This video is your answer!  I make no claims about being a video master so keep your expectations low and you won’t be dissapointed….=-)

Bike Friday New World Tourist – Part 3

Shimano Nexus 8 w/ 16T cog & 53T/39T chainrings

I calculated the gear range for my NWT’s current drivetrain as follows:

53T Chainring & 16T Nexus 8:

• High = 99″ or 47kph @ 100 RPM
• Low = 32″ or 11kph @ 70 RPM

39T Chainring & 16T Nexus 8:

• High = 72.8″ or 35kph @ 100 RPM
• Low = 24″ or 8kph @ 70RPM

I don’t need super low gears on my touring bikes – even in the mountains and I don’t pedal downhill on steep descents so I don’t really need a super high gear either.  On my 700c LHT I spend 95% of my time in the 38T ring up front and the 12-34T cassette.  I’m also not too worried about maintaining a specific RPM.  I tend to change gears infrequently and just vary my RPM a lot.

I’ve got a new 53T/42T Shimano 105 crank & BB sitting in my parts bin that I could setup with only the 42T ring for a really simple drivetrain on my NWT.  I’d remove the left bar end shifter/cable and the front derailleur.  I’d also swap in a push up Surly Singlenator [assuming it fits with the NWT's chainstays] which would give me a bunch more clearance from the ground to my drivetrain in back.

I calculated the gear range for this setup as:

42T Chainring & 16T Nexus 8:

• High = 78.5″ or 37kph @ 100 RPM
• Low = 25.6″ or 8.5kph @ 70 RPM

I think I’d be satisfied with this gear range and would be stoked to have a simpler cleaner bike.  I don’t expect to use the NWT for exteremely heavily loaded touring and my usual touring loads are quite modest.  I enjoy a light bike on tour so I don’t think the lack of extermely low gears will be an issue and I am certain that a top speed of 37kph is satisfactory.  Beyond that speed I’ll just coast happily.

Of course this is all a paper excercise to this point.  I don’t want to spend anytime changing the NWT until I have validated a single chainring will make me happy.  For a start I’ll load it up with 4 panniers and a simulated touring load then hit some steep climbs to get a feel for the bike’s current gearing.  I’m not in top touring shape at the moment so it will be a reasonable assessment of my performance on an off day on tour.

Bike Friday New World Tourist – Part 2

The fully assembled bike

Specifications:

Bike Friday NWT frame [~58cm effective TT] in Premium White power coat

• 20″ [406] Velocity Aeroheat rims 36H with 40mm Schwalbe Marathon tires
• Rear hub – Nexus 8 Redband 16T with twist shifter on Hubbub adapter
• Front hub – Shimano Deore
• 170mm unbranded cranks 53T/39T
• Pedals – unbranded BMX platforms
• Shimano Sora front derailleur and Ultegra bar end shifter
• Shimano Sora rear derailleur used only as a chain tensioner
• Origin 8 drop bars
• Tektro v-brake drop bar levers
• Tektro v-brakes
• 80mm unbranded stem 105 deg rise
• square taper 118.5mm x 68mm BB
• KMC Z-50 8 speed chain
• Brooks B-17 saddle
• Bike Friday front & rear racks
• Bike Friday fenders

Planned Upgrades:

• NRG Slabalanche low profile BMX pedals [same as on my Pugsley]
• Salsa stem – once I’ve dialed in my riding position 100%
• Shimano 105 53T/43T cranks & BB [have a set in my parts bin and they are black so I may try them]
• Greenspeed Scorchers 40mm 20″ tires [because I love them on my Tikit]
• JTEK Engineering Nexus 8 bar end shifter

Not so little from this angle!

Other mods:

I’m sort of keen on simplifying the drivetrain by settling on a single chainring up front then removing the front shifter and derailleur.  I’d replace the Sora rear derailleur with a Surly Singlenator pushing up to tension the chain.  The result would be a very clean bike, but the question is can I tour fully loaded with only 8 gears and the range of a Nexus 8?  I’m not 100%, but I think it may work.

Bike Friday New World Tourist – Part 1

All the ingredients for a Bike Friday New World Tourist

It probably comes as no shock to anyone that I got a Bike Friday New World Tourist [NWT].  I’ve been a big fan of their Tikit and have been interested in their line of custom travel bikes for a while now.  The NWT is a classic design that has seen touring duty all over the world.  I wanted to see what the slightly larger and stiffer NWT would be like to tour on compared to my Tikit and my full size touring bikes.

One of the hardest parts of the process was deciding which Bike Friday model to get.  I like their Air Glide and Pocket Llama models as well as the NWT.  Although the titanium beam Air Glide is a cool design I ruled it out as it costs quite a bit more than the more conventional Bike Friday designs and it doesn’t fold as easily.  The PL and NWT are fairly similar with the PL having clearance for wider tires and being a bit more rugged.  I chose the NWT as I don’t see myself doing any unpaved tours with this bike given the very capable full sized touring bikes in my stable.  I also liked the 1.5″ lower BB on the NWT plus it’s such a classic design.  Walter @ Bike Friday was very helpful in providing information and answering my questions as worked my way through the options.

frame/fork & rear wheel/bars

Since it was a custom bike I decided to go with a Nexus 8 IGH drivetrain mated to a double chainring upfront.  I spec’d drop bars for long distance comfort.

The rest of the bits...

I settled on a white powder coat since my bikes always seem to be black or dark green.  The NWT has fenders and front/rear racks so it’s ready to tour.

I love the personalized name plate!

If there is any doubt that this bike was custom made for me the personalized name plate should put the matter to rest…=-)