I amd 76 and do not ride hard. I fell off of my Bianchi Volpe a few years ago and broike my hip. I bought a Bike Friday NWT 8 monthts later; not for the foiding aspect but because I could swing my repaired leg through the bike rather than try and ge my leg over the saddle. Being closer to the ground and having wider tires helped me feel more secure. I have nver had the chain come off but again I ride like an old man. I am back to doing 20 mile ridees out in the country on Sundays when there is less traffic. I love the bike and can even adjust my rear gears. The front derailler is another story. I am not a mechanic. I live in Salem Oregon and ride all year round although not in the rain or at night. We rarely get much in the way of snow and wehn we do the bike stays inside
Hi Brian. You probably have already explored this, but just in case; Bike Friday does make custom length one-piece stems that don't have that clamping section at all, powder-coated to match your frame. So it just has the lower quick release with the push button lock. It looks like they start around $110, and can be purchased separately. They can be found on their webpage by searching for "elective service options at factory". That's the option I'm pondering. It seems it would fold down to the same size, but I gather it would just take a few seconds longer on the rare occasions we might want to ship it, since you would either remove the stem with the handlebar (two bolts) or remove the stem's faceplate (four bolts). Just a thunk.
Hello Brian - Thenk you for discussing briefly what happened on the BF. I was eager to hear about it too. Sorry about your accident. I have a Diamond Lama as well, and will be careful about the steering. Thanks again for talking about the folding bikes. It is very helpful. Patrick 😊
First, I am NOT a "Performance Rider"! Prefer riding slower thru trails in woods. I have 3 Folding Bikes. Have ridden others. I suggest you do a REVIEW of the Polygon Urbano Folding Bike. Search for "bikesonline" and "polygonbikes". The Polygon Urbano (IMHO) is almost a Folding Version of my favorite bike ... the Polygon Zeta 2 (Fullsize, Non-Folding Frame with 20 inch wheels). I would not trade my Polygon Urbano for any others I have seen. Not even for a Brompton. "Probably" for the BikeFriday All-Packa. 🙂 Just a suggestion for your Future Reviews. FYI ... I purchased the Zizzo Forte largely based on your videos! Nice bike, but steering column "rattles" at joint ... which has not been problem with Urbano.
I returned a cheap folding Zukka bike from Walmart that had a poorly engineered frame hinge, but it had a handle bar shaft with a channel in it to keep it aligned. I'm surprised to see that feature on a sub $300 bike but not your Friday.
I'm almost 65 years old. In my college days, I tore my ACL playing a silly game of volleyball while inebriated. I had to have an operation. My soccer playing days were over. I took up hiking and bicycling. I eventually got used to the knee but it has always restricted my activity and even caused pain in the other knee because I have favored that side all my life. Occasionally I get the thought that I shouldn't have played volleyball drunk that day, and I know that is a futile thought now. But if there are any young people out there who think a quick thrill from some risky activity is worth the potential for a life altering injury, please learn from my experience. It's not worth it. Don't take things to the limit. Always err on the careful side. Who am I kidding? To be young is to throw caution to the wind...
That's a serious design flaw. The Dahon stem is adjustable, but has a U-shape canal in it, to prevent this malfunction. I was thinking about a BF bike, but I will look elsewhere.
Thanks for sharing your experience with the diamond llama. What I find interesting is if you watch Bike Friday's intro video on RU-vid for this model, riders are going off jumps. Check it out. So I would expect the bike should be rugged. Obviously, your experience is different. I value your opinion also. I had the wonderful opportunity last summer to test a prototype All-Packa. I'm a Dahon Boardwalk owner so the test riding opened my eyes to how a folder can handle dirt roads and easier trail. I loved it and felt comfortable from the get go. I see it has the same stem setup. I personally would lean towards the diamond llama, just because the style would suit me better. I'm not an agressive rider but their stem seems more stable than my hinged dahon stem.
Ride my bikes quite aggressively as well. I own a Velo Orange Neutrino, and I love how a fix frame rides and how much abuse it can take without being huge. Yes, it's not a folder, but it can be packed in a BMX case for travel.
I never understand people wanting to turn fast. Unless you are in a race. No need save the pace for the straights. Ive never come off my folding bike in 7 years. And I average 17mph on it.
You can be glad nothing bent. The stem on that tube us just clamped too. If you want this harder these are your options: 1. Put Loctite (or a competitor's product) in. 2. Make the slot 15mm longer and add a clamp with a second screw.
Good to see you riding and posting. I have had some similar problems with classic bikes and a quill stem during a crash. The difference is the quill stem shifted upon impact with ground not a pothole during motion. Brompton gets around this by adaptability with handlebar height rather than stem. The trade off with Brompton is that you don’t get micro adjustments in bar height. I hope everything works out for you and Bike Friday. I want you both to succeed.
The chain coming off can be solved by getting an item some bike shops stock. It's a small plastic clamp you attach near the front sprocket and keeps the chain in place. Like a front derailleur but just a rounded nub. OR. Chain tentioner. OR. A front derailleur.
Good too know, thanks for sharing. I love my single speed Pocket Rocket, I normally don't turn on the Bike Friday aggressively or on a bad pavement. Hope you recover to 100%. Let's be careful out there but set backs happen. But let's enjoy every moment we have riding our Bike Friday. I used to have Brompton, loved it. But I wished they had the option for a drop bar. Also, use a normal hub/sealed bearings not proprietary ones. Other than that, I would love to get another Brompton; there's no bike in the world that folds like Brompton.
If they stopped the telescopic steerer tube from twisting, the stem would twist on the steerer as it does on any other bike in an accident. That may have actually been what happened.
sorry if you have been asked about this before or commented on it but have you considered buying a brompton with an M or H type handlebar? i recently discovered your channel and been catching up on your videos and it strikes me that the ideal bike for you would be an M or H brompton rather than the S types you have/has. keep up the content i really enjoy it.
You have just broken a Brompton seat post, and now a Bike Friday? How do you do it? Well that way! But I have a chain guide, from the frame on top of my Brompton chainwheel in front, which make it mostly impossible to not stay in place. And besides that, as an old man of 75, I'm not aggressive when riding. I have all the time in the world! Finn. Denmark
Hmm, the engineer in me wants to weld an offset bar to the back of the upper and a slot to the back of the lower. Still adjustable in height but will not let it twist.
When the steering clamp is totally undone , how loose is the steering post ? I had a similar issue with a stem extender. It had 2 clamp bolts and only 1 was actually clamping. The other was at the top of the slot and all the torque was being used to close the slot rather than clamp it to the steerer tube. I lightly sanded then applied a paper thin layer of epoxy resin to fill the gap, then sanded the epoxy down to the final thickness. It was a long process but worked as it also increased the static coefficient of friction. You might be able to use a layer(s) of paint to get a similar effect ? Having one clamping bolt subjected to such a large torque is just a moronic design. I wonder if the designers actually ride the bikes ?
If your going to keep the bar at that height maybe a Tex screw in the back will stop the tube turning. Some wet hand wipes good for putting chains back on.
Brian, feel well. I’m so happy that I sold my bike Friday pakit, cause I ride aggressively. Still have their tandem though. Their customer service is also suck.
I don't think the packit was designed for hard riding of any type. That's what green gear has diff models. My NWT has Jones bars on it, as i like to ride more upright in my older years. I did go ass over tea kettle. On the Sacramento River trail. Hit curb at full speed and flew over bars. And landed on grass so no harm to me or the bike. I notice that the stem is different to mine 2009 build. Maybe that's the diff why my stem did not twist.
I was told this many years ago, not the steering tube issue, but the ease of the small wheel twisting or getting you into a situation like you had. The small diameter wheel is more prone road condition stopping and twisting the front wheel, as you experienced. I have a solution but I doubt most would like do it to their expensive machines.
Like you said 95% will likely not encounter this. As I use my BF for touring, the upright seating position and heavy panniers make me slow down on bends. My handlebar also once move position when the bike fell. So I know what you meant. BF new world tourist, pocket and llama has a tendency to drop chain. My solution is I Oder a internal gear hub and carbon gates belt.
Good point Brian! You'd think the amount of money they want for a BF bike, they'd fix this thing. It brings back horrible memories of twisted quill stems, chopped-liver knees and broken bones.
i get emails from BF to look at their new bike, ALL-packa, but hardly impressed since the price is sky high for what they offer. D.llama looks like a feeble concept bike, and these issues you outline should have been fixed before production. I'm interested in their response, because they owe you one. i expect to jerk my shaft as hard as i want without ending up in the hospital!
Brian I’m 75. I do not wear sunglasses. The pineal gland requires the blue spectrum of sunlight in order for it to function properly. Sunglasses are a new invention.
You are right, but I am unable to find a narrow wide chain ring in 54 or 58 tooth. All the ones I have found have less teeth. Maybe I’m not looking hard enough?
@@ibikeunfoldedSram force have a 54. You can also get a wolftooth up to 58 I believe. I run a 46 wolf tooth on my folding roadbike tern X18. And I've never had a single chain drop with it in 3 years..
No, it’s a design flaw. I’ve talked with folding bike shops that agree the steering is an accident waiting to happen. The steering shouldn’t shift no matter how hard you ride….
@@ibikeunfoldedis shop professionals will sometimes agree with you if you won’t drop the “design flaw” narrative to get you to calm down and shush. It’s gentle parenting for you touchy consumer-types. 😁
@@ibikeunfolded The problem is that if you take that point of view, you need to design a tank. You look like a smaller guy (?). They design their bikes for guys up to 350 pounds (though excess weight sometime nets out power). But say the upper end is Eric Heiden. Then you correct everything else about the bike for that level of force. And while we are at it we correct the other design flaws like small wheels, and forks made out of seat stays. Before you know it you are riding a non folding, non clown bike, that doesn't make airline check in weight. Steering used to shift on the old stems that wedged inside the tube. Modern users are spoiled. Still, if they can fix it, they should...
The roads have little impact in my opinion. There used to be a whole literature on how bike accommodations actually raised bike car accidents. What does mater is the culture. Of course if one has hard barriers like the bike lanes are walled off in a different time zone... But if the cars can hit the bikes, and it is all just lines on the road... Toronto has been working as hard as it can to ruin bike car culture by setting them against each other. But it used to be great. I remember a transit strike, way back, and I thought I was fine because I rode my bike from 401 to King every day. What a surprise! Lunatic drivers who were used to transit hit the roads, and tried to kill everyone, unintentionally. I had switch to my car... I then realized how much I owed other drivers in my usual cycling commute.
@@tdgdbs1 NO..NO....NO, .the idiot struggles with it turning while riding. I would fix that and the problem would be solved with no damage to anything. But, you go ahead and struggle your way...I will fix the problem and move on. This is a cheap, bull crap bike that is unsafe and should be made safe and my fix would do that....period.
@@jimmywarren6685 Huge stress riser, I would not do that without it being FEAd by someone with skills. I don't think BF has that capacity, though maybe, if they are smart, they have their designs reviewed by engineers. Before going off half-cocked, I would want to know how common a problem this is. BF seems to have a liability, regardless, but from a rider perspective there was a lot wrong about that decision. If that is the only way to initiate the failure, I would not worry about it.
@@tacticalskiffs8134 It would be NO issue...that would have no practical effect on the strength as far as a riser as this riser doesn't have much stress on it at all.
Brian, feel well. I’m so happy that I sold my bike Friday pakit, cause I ride aggressively. Still have their tandem though. Their customer service is also suck.
