Get in touch and we’ll get one right out to you!  The 15 page, full-color 5.5×8.5″ catalog includes our usual offering, the new standard bikes, ALL of the built to order tikit models, a chart to help your decision making process, and more great stories.  I hope to have a PDF up on the website shortly but it may take a bit as we are in the process of improving the website (yey!).  Within a week I’d say.

Things have been busy here in the Bike Friday showroom!  So busy we’ve actually been selling some of our demo bikes.  Luckily, some of the re-ordered ones are starting to make their way back into the showroom.  Just recently, we finally had our new Season tikit delivered.  I’m really excited about this one because I thought the Season tikit was a really good idea anyways.  However, this one is extra special because it is the very first bike we have ever equipped with a SRAM i-Motion 9 speed internal hub.  The end result is very good.  Shifting is smooth, disconnecting the cable is easy (unlike the Shimano Nexus), the gear range is wider (a standard tikit is 79-31 gear inches, Nexus 88-29, i-Motion 101-30) and the price is only $200 more.  Sound too good to believe?  Get in touch and let me know when you’d like to schedule a test ride and you can find out for yourself!

the team that found the bike: Rainey, me (though I didn't do much), Paul, and Torrent

I’ve received a lot of support over the past month or so from all sorts of people regarding my stolen bike and I’d first like to say thank you.  I had hope– even certainty– that the bike would return, but your kind thoughts soothed my questioning mind from wondering how humanity has come to this.

Those of you that did not notice (and this would be surprising considering how impatient everyone’s been to hear this dan story!), my bike was snatched Monday, March 24th.  Anyone paying attention to my Facebook page surely noticed me rejoicing at its return two days later.

It’s taken me so long to share the story of its trip back home because of my workload as of late has about doubled, due to external factors (good weather means cyclists come out of hibernation) as well as internal ones (Paul Adkins leaving us!).

It turns out though that we must forgive Paul as he was instrumental in the safe return of said bicycle.  And it should come as no surprise that I was at work on Wednesday, March 26th trying to bust out some after hours emails when I get a call from him.  See, Paul and his family of six are carfree and so their Family Triple Tandem is like a Eugenian Escalade.

Paul and his olde kids, son Torrent and daughter Rainey were on the way from their Whiteaker (Eugene’s “ghetto” to the clueless, this is the hip, happening “heights” to the true Eugene downtown) home to Cosmic Pizza to see a performance by Uncle Bunkle.  The kids noticed a tikit riding by– in fact, one that looked a lot like a certain salesperson’s recently stolen bike.  An alarm sounded through the chain of command until, at last, the captain was notified.

BRING ABOUT!  FULL SPEED AHEAD!  The stokers cranked hard whilst the captain steadied the wheel and at last, they were upon her.  Paul explained the situation and the lady who was riding it seemed generally compliant.

She explained that someone, perhaps being chased, had jumped the fence around her relatively quiet southwest Eugene (where the bike was stolen) property and ditched the bike!  She didn’t see it but, her grandma apparently did.  She called the cops and they told her to hold onto the bike until the odd chance happened that they found the owner (really?! this seems fishy).

She was excited that perhaps a free bike had appeared on her doorstep and her husband seemed even more thrilled.  He stripped the bike, removing the decals (again, fishy), the headbadge, even the little plastic logo plate on the FMF cranks.  He then proceeded to remove every accessory except for a white blinky light, including a bar end bell, a Planet Bike light, a Detours seat bag, and a Soma coffee cup holder, an adjustable wrench, a Crank Brothers multi tool, a Quik-Stik tire lever and a Crank Brothers pump, my beloved Park glueless patch kit, my BF double sided front rack, a couple rack bungees, and even my CatEye bottle cage and tikit handle!  Seems like a lot of time and effort to put into making a distinctive bike all the less distinctive, no?

Well, it gets weirder.  So Paul calls me while detaining her and I rush down there with the showroom’s Travel tikit and a BikeRev heavy duty trailer big enough for another.  We agree to meet at a certain location she dictates off Blair and 5th.  Worse yet, when I arrive, no one is there.  I guess they had to move.  Paul almost thought he might need to go into pursuit mode, he later tells me, as she takes off real fast at first but either decides it’s futile or just calms down.  Anyways, I call Paul’s home after wandering around a bit and get redirected to an apartment on North Grand.

At long last, there she was!  I could barely contain myself.  Paul’s magnetic personality had drawn a crowd of interested local folks who were as much amazed by the bike’s engineering genius as its price.  In between appeasing the masses with folding demonstrations, I checked my baby for signs of abuse.  The aforementioned rape and pillaging notwithstanding, she was in as good of shape as when I last saw her.  I made some adjustments to the sizing to better fit her to me.

Well, I was hoping to stick her in the trailer and take off but we had to let the lady ride the bike to some other place where her husband was or something (never quite could make sense out of the story) which interestingly enough was on W 5th Alley, right nearby the locale I thought we were first going to.  Along the way, she road all over the road, in the other lane, no helmet, lackadaisically telling us a tale about how when she first tried the bike she almost got bucked off by the fixed gear.  Then when we get there, as collateral and proof that she would get back to me all the accessories, she gave me her phone number and the holder to her MP3 player.  In retrospect I probably should have demanded the MP3 player, but oh well.

I say this because at first she said she would come visit and never did.  Then when I called she said she was busy and would have to call me back.  Then she hung up on me.  Then I left messages on her voice mail.  Then her voice mail message became a generic message.  When I called the police to report the bike found, I explained the whole story and told them about this so clearly they tried to call the number, with the same results.  I have, to this day, never seen the stuff returned.  But I still have the holder to the MP3 player for evidence, if I could ever convince the cops to do any sort of fingerprinting.  Unlikely, sadly.

There was good that came out of this whole experience.  For one thing, I learned to take seriously everyone’s caution to lock the bike up, despite how short of a time you expect to go in the store or how visible the bike is.  If I’m going in for the long haul, I make sure to fold the bike up before locking it, but I always lock it, even if it is just to itself.  As suggested by one of the folks on the Bike Friday security page, I bought a set of Master Lock Street Cuffs (I use the single link version).  What’s really cool is that fitting it onto the tikit, just ahead of the piece that holds the seatmast when folded, it does not get in the way of folding, and it means that one half of the locking process is already done.

neat pump mount; click for more pics of the change

Secondly, I got a bunch of new bits, including a hyperfold cable again (I think she tweaked the stem clamp when she almost bit it), Dimension moustache bars (WAY cheaper than Nittos), a Detours Digi Midge stem bag, which is perfect for the garage door opener, an Arkel seat bag, and a cool SKS Revo Alu pump with an integrated gauge.  I had some lights kicking around that I fit on and got all the rest of the other bits.  Still trying to figure out what I’m going to do as far as covering the bars is concerned.  That electrical tape kind of stinks.  I’m thinking of getting, despite the vegan in me screaming “NOOOOOO!” the Ciclo Di Cuoio leather sew-it-your-self tape.  We’ll see.

As a final touch a few days ago I finally fitted on the tikit Aardvark Safety Upgrade Kit.  You can see it here in a highly polished version so as to stand out and make it clear what the final product will look like for all you people wondering.  On that note, the kits are currently in production and are relatively simple, so don’t sweat it.  No machine shop or even bike shop needed.  They are currently being installed on all bikes being shipped out.  I believe the plan is to eventually make the upgrade a permanent member on the frame, but Rob’s on vacation and even discussion about that will have to wait until he returns.

Another change is planned:  the new Sturmey Archer S3X three speed fixed gear hub!  At long last it is finally going to be made again.  I talked to the guy who distributes for them in the US and he says they’re going to make a freewheel driver for them first at request of some of their bigger OEM buyers, though I’m not sure why they don’t just get a standard three speed.  In any case, it will be nice to share the joy of some new exciting bike part with my best bike buddy.

As you can see, outside of adding Twitter support (anyone see those commercials about how no one knows what Twitter is?), another exciting feature we have to look forward to with the 1.4 version (codename: King Eider, which you see pictured here) of Adium is IRC support, at long last.  Set your copy to update to beta version when available (under the General tab) and run a check and you’ll be on your way to enjoying this with 1.4b1.

I’ve been waiting for this, so I’ve been sort of neglecting the BF IRC channel.  Today I discovered I’m having some difficulty connecting to the usual irchat.tv server so I’m moving everything over to Freenode.  There’s a handy dandy little Java client that will get you there via any browser or use server irc.freenode.net, port 6667, and channel #bikefriday.  This may be a good way to say hi as I have been REALLY busy– which is why I haven’t yet (sorry) posted up the story about the stolen bike.  All in good time!

Never had this happen to me before, especially since I’ve had the tikit.  I mean, come on, who needs a lock anymore? You just fold it up and wheel it inside.  Today, though, I had to bring the trailer along to carry some bigger stuff. On the way back to work, I stopped by for a brief moment at the bank. Since the trailer sort of messed up the convenience of it all, I left it outside.  Came back and well, ended up walking back to work.

A long time ago I learned that sometimes having nothing is better than being wealthy, that to be truly rich you don’t have to possess a darn thing.  Some of the richest moments of my life were spent in total poverty, with nothing more than a single backpack to call my own.  I remember the day I sold my music collection (I had probably close to 1000 CDs) just to fund my way out of Ohio. I worked tireless hours for those CDs and spent countless more enjoying them. Yet, I felt a remarkable sense of freedom, like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Sadly, though, that’s not what I’m feeling. It’s a funny thing about bikes: they’re like old friends. You spend that much time with anything and they start feeling like that. Worse yet if it’s a bike you built yourself. Then when it’s stolen, it not only feels like a lost friend, it feels like child abduction, a brutal kidnapping. You’re left plagued with thoughts of how they might be torturing, molesting, or abusing it.

I’m not without a certain amount of grace. Like Paul of Tarsas, I know what it is to be in need.  I don’t wish revenge by any stretch of the imagination. I feel sorry for the poor soul who is in such dire straits as to have to resort to such behavior. How foolish, too, that this person stole such a distinctive bike. They won’t be able to go anywhere without it being noticed. Hell, *I* can’t. This surely won’t bode well for their well-being.

Surely, too, I will find peace (and likely a new bike!) should it never return. I suspect, though, it will, as there are countless stories of people regaining their Bike Fridays. They certainly outweigh the ones of people NOT recovering their Fridays. I have hope in the power of a community-based effort. It has certainly worked in other cases.

Which is why I implore you, friends, to help me. Watch Craigslist, eBay, the Internet in general, pawn shops, bike shops. Spread the word. Be on the lookout. Speaking of friends, I am most grateful to Vik Banerjee whose wonderful pictures of my bike show it in nearly its exact present form.  The only differences are the lack of the Power Grips and rear light (fell off) and the addition of a Made In Oregon sticker next to the Made In America sticker on the right hand side. There are older pics here.

For those that can’t tell, it’s a Racing Green/Black Diamond two-tone, a true one of a kind. It should sparkle all the way around, just like Cream Soda Blue does.

And yes, it is a fixed gear on both sides of the rear wheel.

If you have any leads, thoughts, questions, concerns, feel free to comment away or get in touch with me through the many other options available. I ultimately just want my bike back, no questions asked. Thanks in advance for all of your help!

As far as I’m concerned, having Hanz and Alan on the front cover of Time as the world’s most influential people, seeing Sylar and Luke Campbell from Heroes continue their journey on a Family Tandem, or having U2 do a continental tour on a fleet of Pocket Rocket Pros equipped with Shimano’s new electronic shifting Dura-Ace 7970 Di2 wouldn’t be half as cool as this.

Nope, the Bike Friday has made it to the big time:  on the greatest (cycling) comic strip of all time, Yehuda Moon. of which I have blogged around at least once.  Anyways, marvel at the profound glory of the tikit sandwiched neatly between witty word-balloons and careful caricatures of cyclists we surely know:

What a perfect bike the tikit is for this subject of drivers’ attitudes towards cyclists.  Indeed, though the law extends cylists the right to ride, it doesn’t not give us the right to respect and certainly does not demand drivers’ to give it to us.  No matter how much we have tried to follow the rules of the road (hopefully we are) and tried to act calmly when the poor sap getting 10mpg yelled at you for being on his road, we have not yet got to the point where there is mutual respect among different forms of transportation.

There is a solution though:  fold it up and stick it on the bus.  Bring your iPod and enjoy some good tunes while you catch up on your reading.  And get some fresh air, too.  You may think this can be done with a normal bike and the answer is just– in some places at some times.  Even in sleepy Eugene, though, the busses are getting crowded and bikes are getting turned away.  Every bike except folders.

Indeed, there’s a reason we made it to the Big Time, folks.

Remember when I said we weren’t likely to ever see another fillet brazed Bike Friday?  Well, I take it back.

Eric Estlund (bad picture), our brazer, has been commissioned to do a special project:  yet another one.  You can see the work in progress on his blog.

Note that his blog is not personal, but commercial– for his business Winter Bicycles.  He’s got quite a bit of experience hand brazing steel frames and I can tell you that seeing the work up close in progress he knows what he’s doing.  I would recommend his work whether it be on a Bike Friday or not.

One thing I can say is that we are not likely to do this when things get busy so if you want one, now is the time!  And no, they’re not cheap.  And no discounts.

Walk, bike, drive, fly, carpool, take the train or bus, just get your buns down to Eugene, specifically Hutch’s Bicycles at Charnelton and 10th (by the downtown library) on March 6th from 5:30-9:00 p.m. and you can get yourself, among a slew of great offers, 15% off  Bike Fridays!!!

In addition to that, you’ll be able to check out some of the finest manufacturers of bicycles and bicycle accessories in the Northwest, including Chris King, Burley, Co-Motion, Rolf, Castelli, Detours, Redline, Yakima, and Showers Pass.

The local bicycle club, GEARs (run by our very own Paul) will be there, as will Lee Shoemaker, representing the city of Eugene, and one of two certified bicycle schools in the country, from Ashland, Oregon, the United Bicycle Institute.

William L. Sullivan, author of THE BEST guidebooks about the wonderful state of Oregon, will be there as Oregon Adventures.  I’m still bummed I missed his workshop on car free recreation at the Eugene Walking/Biking Summit.

edit 2/24/9: Oops on the above.  Turns out this is the other Oregon Adventures, from Oakridge, Oregon.  They do guided bicycle adventures.  Cool stuff, but not William L. Sullivan, who still is the best.

Music will be provided by Skip Jones, a local boogie piano man, who calls on the likes of Otis Spann, Professor Longhair, Dr. John, Fats Domino, Leon Russell, and James Booker for inspiration.  Ought to keep it lively.

You can meet the mayor of Eugene, Kitty Piercy, who has pushed through resistance from the community (which, despite its hippie/anarchist reputation, is surprisingly about half right-wing) to try to make Eugene a more fun, sustainable, livable space.  She deserves your thanks as it much of our success can be attributed to her support.

There’ll be door prizes and contests.  They’ve got wine tastings, too!

All of this is free!  Seriously, this cannot be missed.

Mike and I should be there to represent Bike Friday so come say hi!

tikit love

..from B. Spoke Tailor who makes that killer vest pack.

The double sided tikit front racks are now available.  They’re easily purchased through the web store or give us a call and we’ll send you one.  If you want it in a special color (not black), you’ll need to call us and there will be an additional charge of $25.

In other news, Hanz just delivered the first folding rear rack prototype, i.e. the one that will take panniers.  Don’t want to say too much yet as this is just the first step in a longer process and much could change but it’s pretty darn slick as is.  I hope to get one of the first, but that will be after some initial testing and then tooling.  Be patient..