I personally dig the blue bar tape. Then you get bored and go purple or green or orange or spotted. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
Candies pedals come in a variety of colors so you don't even have to mess that up.
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I personally dig the blue bar tape. Then you get bored and go purple or green or orange or spotted. :DQuote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
Candies pedals come in a variety of colors so you don't even have to mess that up.
Thanks, and actually I have Speedplay pedals on my bike now, so don't have to worry about pedal clash. However, I also have a blue Lady Gel Flo saddle now and all the red Arkel bags, so I probably wouldn't go for purple or orange bar tape, but red would be cool. Still, I'm kinda partial to the blue I have on there now. I didn't really intend to go so patriotic, but once it all came together, I liked it. It was a nice contrast to the raspberry Aegis road bike I had at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
I love everyone else's Friday colors too! Agonizing over my color choice was about the toughest part of my Friday order.... :D
For anyone else considering one - I wouldn't pay for the upgraded paint again...
Mine has to be re-painted because the paint is literally peeling off and was when I got it (BF has agreed to do this for free), but I really didn't think about the fact that it would be going in and out of a case. For me, at least, it would have been better to have base paint I'd worry less about:)
And Emily's bike is adorable - it was really adorable as she zoomed off on a ride (her first after her fracture) and left me in the dust - with me on a road bike:):)
CA
Here's a photo of my Princess Pink Petite Cruscoe Bike Friday in Ireland a few months ago. I bought her back in 2004 and have logged 5,400 miles on her on various tours in the US, Italy, Ireland, Cambodia, and more.
Jaclyn - How adorable!!!
I actually discovered the company many years ago when I was in law school and DH was supposed to have a conference in Ireland. The conference organizer went belly-up, and we didn't get to go to the conference. I sadly still haven't gotten to go to Ireland, but I finally did get the bike!
I, for one, would LOVE to hear more about your travels!
CA
Aw, thanks, CA! :) I haven't had any problems with my (upgraded) paint, but I got mine in 2004 -- wonder if they are using different paint now? I'm so sorry to hear that you're having chipping problems. I sure did with my Aegis, but not the Friday.Quote:
Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
What a darling bike and such a perfect background for the color!Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaclyn
I am so envious. I bought my Petite Crusoe in 2004 also and since our upstate NY tour in fall of 2004, all she's done is local rides. Sure wish I could say that I'd ridden all over like you! Maybe someday...
I tried to convince DH we needed Fridays after reading about Phil Liggett's love of his. We will get them one day but not anytime soon. They are just so cute and practical for our travelling lives.
Mine's white, too, so OF COURSE, yours goes without saying:).Quote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
I also like the Downtubes and Dahons. I considered a SpeedPro several years ago but ended up with a Dahon Matrix instead. I should have gotten the SpeedPro, though. I would love to see a Brompton in person and ride one, but so far I've only seen photos.
Jaclyn, you should have on a pink outfit standing by the pink Friday and the pink flowers. So pretty.....
And, Emily, yours is quite colorful with the bar tape, pedals, and bags. You can have a different color scheme for each season!
Folders are soooo cool! Now I want one after seeing all your great bikes. I love the versatility. Maybe one day.:)
odd question..are folders the type of bikes that students at uni would want to steal? I will be biking to uni when the semester starts & am looking at purchasing some sort of bike.
I could paint my current roadie odd colours & use it. That means getting a new bike :D
Definitely. Triskeliongirl on this forum had her blue Bike Friday stolen off a college campus a few years back. :( No bikes seem to be immune from being stolen, sadly.Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycanuck
I just got an email from Bike Friday that says if you order one before Dec. 5th , you can get $400 off! That's significant. Some of y'all that were thinking about it might take a look. www.bikefriday.com or 800-777-0258.
That is great Doody, now I only need about $2400-400 to be in my couch. :p
Champagne tastes, huh!:D
I went more onto the cheap side as much as possible when I got mine.
Well I want a mountain goat. My dream is to have a climbing machine for a folder so I can go on vacation and ride. I rarely vacation in the flatlands. Then I can put a compact double on my Cannondale and zip along the Jollyville Plateau I live on. ;)
I went the Champagne route, but the moderate Champagne route. I knew that I could change the components if I wanted down the road, but I could not change the frame. So I compromised. I got the nicest frame (this bike will be with me for decades, just like my Luna) and got the 105 components.
I did splurge on the paint, but really, at this point, $100 more made no difference. Result: Pocket Rocket Pro with 105. The bar-end shifters are cheaper than the integrated shifters, but that's not why I got them (I prefer bar ends).
This, of course, meant that I could not get a kayak this year, and probably not next year. If my Luna could have couplers put in it, I might have gone that route, but it can't. But I'm so happy to have my little bike and travel case because I can go places with it.
You know my thought was to just take the 105 triple on my road bike to build up my climber then put a compact Ultegra or SRAM on my Cannondale. Leaving the rear on the Cannondale because I want my climbing bike to be set up with mountain gearing so I can't use my entire drivetrain. If I did that I could get a Friday for about $1500 with Sora and swap around parts. Or even better, I could contact Friday tell them my intent and see what they can do. I want drop bars, I want STI (I think). Right now it is all just a pipe dream, I should start saving though because a Friday makes sense as a travel bike and a frame with couplers is $2,000+. We have our eye on a RV as the next big purchase but my parents have one we can borrow so maybe we should get travel bikes next summer. It makes more sense.
Tulip- Did you have the build to order for you? Was it a good experience?
The gearing on Fridays is different to accommodate the wheel size, so I don't think that the drivetrain from your old bike will work. I'm not sure about this, but if you call them, they will tell you all you need to know.
I had them build it for me based on the measurements of my Luna. They were great to work with--very patient as I kept changing my mind about things. In the winter they build faster since there are fewer orders. I got mine in about 4 weeks, but usually it's longer than that by a few weeks.
While it was alot of money to spend, I'm grateful that I could swing it. I could not have taken my Luna to France with me, and that was a very important trip for me to take with a bike (my first long bike trip was through France when I was 15, and my ex-husband is French and so it was important for me to go there on my own terms to deal with all that baggage, yaddayaddayadda).
I've also brought my Bike Friday with me in my little car on other bike trips and even on work trips when I was able to squeeze in a bike ride here and there while out of town.
Do they not use normal crank sets and brifters? That would be the things to pirate from the Cannondale. I am seriously considering this for next summer but it is DH's bonus so he gets to call how to spend it and he fancies a travel trailer (as do I). Even though he always says "we are married it is our money".
I'm thinking the chainrings and cogs are different, but you'd really need to call them to get the story right, as I only pay half-attention to these things. I found them to be very nice and patient with my questions.Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama
I will as soon as DH warms to the idea. He likes travelling so we are half there. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
The cranks are normal. The brifters are normal. The only funky thing you can opt for is the rear hub/cog set. To get a great top end range, there's a product called a capreo hub. It has a 9 tooth cog on it. To use the cassette, you have to use the hub. It's available from other places (it's a shimano part), but it's the only really strange component on mine.
CA
PS - For those who don't know, Bike Friday does a referral program. If someone helps you decide, you can give BF their name and they get a gift cert when you purchase:) Since we have lots of helpful Bike Friday owners on here (Tulip!!), thought those looking at purchasing might want to know.
Another cool thing about Bike Friday is that they will work with your LBS even if they aren't BFriday dealers. That was a great help to me, as I needed my local guy's input on some components. Also then I don't mind calling on him to help me if I have a problem. BF gives them like a "finder's fee" for helping a customer. And then when it was shipped to my LBS, I had help putting it all together. As for components I even went down to Sora with the idea I could upgrade later on. I think it's a great company. They even worked with my LBS even though I was in Eugene and went by to have them do all the measurements to be sure it was spot on. Then my LBS actually ordered it for me.
And Tulip is right--they are super nice on the phone and very helpful.
For anybody who's thinking about one - they're doing a "Black Friday" 15% off deal through tonight at midnight - all black bikes. Just FYI:-)
CA
Not always. Because of the small wheels, often a larger "big crank" is used. My Friday has a "tandem" crankset, which has a 53-tooth big ring. My DH, who is a really strong rider, has a humongous 62-tooth big ring! I think his other two rings are larger than normal too (mine are standard -- 42-30). We both have XT mountain gearing in the back for loaded touring, rather than a road crankset.Quote:
Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
Just another datapoint!
Interesting - I thought they had stopped doing that with the advent of the Capreo cassette. Hmmm...food for thought.Quote:
Originally Posted by emily_in_nc
I just told Walter at BF what my gearing is on my Luna, and he took it from there. Of course, it wasn't that simple because my Luna has a compact double and my Friday has a triple, but we got a spread that works for me just fine.
About my white bike--I love how it looks, but it does show dirt, and more importantly, grease. Folding and unfolding results in the chain coming off (unless you're really good at it) and the white bike shows more grease than some people might like. I like black bikes. My partner got a black one (but don't pay extra for the Black Diamond--it's more of a dark grey. The stock Black Ink is really black).
Yeah, I guess that a standard crankset is used with a Capreo cassette. However, we didn't want the Capreo (which they did have even back in early 2004, when we ordered our Fridays) as we both wanted that 34t huge XT cassette in back for steep climbs while fully loaded. On our upstate NY unsupported tour, I did have occasion to use my 30t ring in the front with that 34 in the back several times since I was hauling four panniers, two racks, a Tailrider, and a front bag up some VERY steep hills. The hills around the Finger Lakes make our hills here in the Piedmont of NC look like the gentle rollers that they are! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by CA_in_NC
For unloaded riding, I agree that a standard crankset and Capreo cogset would be just fine, but we bought our bikes specifically for loaded touring. Unfortunately, we've only done the one tour, but hauling a heavy load of groceries has also warranted use of mountain gearing! :D
Agreed completely -- my white bike shows grease and dirt really easily. It's really nice when clean, but black is certainly more practical.Quote:
Originally Posted by tulip
I've never been known for being practical. :D
Here's my Birdy!
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp...rmal_birdy.jpg
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp...mal_birdy3.JPG
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp...packbike21.JPG
And on some of my business trips:
Singapore
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp...ereservoir.JPG
Calgary
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp..._calgary02.JPG
Cambridge, MA
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp...al_harvard.JPG
St. Louis
http://paularickert.net/albums/userp..._stlouis06.JPG
msincredible, your birdy is just darling! Thanks for posting the great photos! :)
Great new bike MsIncredible! I love the color! Looks like you're having fun exploring together.