I bought a model new Bike Friday New World Vacationer folding bicycle simply two shorts weeks in the past… and since that point I’ve unpacked the bike, packed it up once more, flew with it to Aruba, put the bike collectively for the second time, spent seven days using the bicycle across the island, acquired 1 flat tire, packed up the bike once more tonight… and tomorrow I’ll be flying house, the place I’ll as soon as once more put the bike collectively in order that I can journey it round city. Whew!
It seems like a whole lot of work, however you already know what? It was truly fairly straightforward!
In comparison with what I used to should do with my full-size touring bike after I traveled by aircraft, touring with my Bike Friday has actually been a breeze. And better of all, I actually just like the bike! (However extra on that later).
Since I first talked about that I used to be getting a Bike Friday, dozens of individuals from world wide have written to me, asking me how straightforward it’s to pack up the bike within its suitcase. So right now I’m going to try to reply that query.
The evening earlier than I flew to Aruba I sat right down to pack up the bike for the very first time. I moved slowly, studying the instructions as I went alongside, and located that the take-apart time was fairly darn quick (about 15-20 minutes). However as soon as I had all the varied components eliminated and the bike folded down, I needed to get the bike and its trailer within the suitcase… and that’s the place I had some hassle.
For the following hour I delicately organized the components, moved items round, reread the directions, after which someway managed to squeeze the bike within its case. I couldn’t consider that it took me 20 minutes to take the bike aside and a whole hour to rearrange the bike within its suitcase. I assumed it was going to be quite a bit simpler.
However then tonight I packed up the bike once more. I’m nonetheless in my lodge room in Aruba and I’m going to be taking a taxi or hitching a journey to the airport tomorrow, so I figured I’d pack up the bike now and save myself the stress of attempting to pack up the bike on the airport.
As soon as once more, it took me about 20 minutes to take the bike aside, get the water bottle cages off, deflate the tires, and many others. However after I tried to place the bike and trailer contained in the suitcase this time, it went in on the very first strive! What had taken me an hour and a half the primary time had simply taken me half-hour on my second try!
I’ve produced a time-lapse video that exhibits me packing my bike for the very first time inside my rental in Park Metropolis, Utah. Click on the play button beneath to observe the video now.