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04-23-2010, 07:31 PM
I told the group I would get back to them when I decided what to do with my new (lightly used) Bike Friday Pocket Crusoe. There were 3 things that I found wrong with it after my week trip. My hands hurt, my privates hurt, and it was too slow. I bought an adjustable stem and the hands are fine. I bought a saddle similar to the one on my road bike, and now that area is fine.
Then I needed to deal with the gearing. Since it had a double in the front (53/39) and mountain bike cassette in the rear (11/32), I thought it would behave like my road bike. But the 'gear inches' are different due to the small wheels. The BF had more low gears than I need and not a high enough gear so was too slow. I bought 2 larger chainrings (56/42) for the front, and although it is not quite as fast as my road bike, it is much improved. I realized (after the fact) that Bike Friday had solved this issue with the Capreo rear cassette and hub which has a 9 tooth sprocket, but it was too expensive for me to change all those parts. From a previous thread, you know you are into bikes when all you can think of wanting for your birthday is new chainrings.
So, now my DH need a BF so he can travel with me. Again, we kept looking at craigslist. Today, we went about 100 miles away to pick up another (lightly used) BF New World Traveler. A woman had only ridden it 100 miles and she was 6’ tall (hubby is 6’2”). There was no picture, but the specs were right. This one even had the Capreo setup and the road bike tires. We got there, and it was green and looked just like mine! Now, we don’t usually go in for the cutesy matching thing, but see the picture below. Did you ever get the feeling that your name was on something before you bought it?
Then I needed to deal with the gearing. Since it had a double in the front (53/39) and mountain bike cassette in the rear (11/32), I thought it would behave like my road bike. But the 'gear inches' are different due to the small wheels. The BF had more low gears than I need and not a high enough gear so was too slow. I bought 2 larger chainrings (56/42) for the front, and although it is not quite as fast as my road bike, it is much improved. I realized (after the fact) that Bike Friday had solved this issue with the Capreo rear cassette and hub which has a 9 tooth sprocket, but it was too expensive for me to change all those parts. From a previous thread, you know you are into bikes when all you can think of wanting for your birthday is new chainrings.
So, now my DH need a BF so he can travel with me. Again, we kept looking at craigslist. Today, we went about 100 miles away to pick up another (lightly used) BF New World Traveler. A woman had only ridden it 100 miles and she was 6’ tall (hubby is 6’2”). There was no picture, but the specs were right. This one even had the Capreo setup and the road bike tires. We got there, and it was green and looked just like mine! Now, we don’t usually go in for the cutesy matching thing, but see the picture below. Did you ever get the feeling that your name was on something before you bought it?