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 THIS IS a loose collection of customer and in-house movie clips and slide shows of Bike Fridays being folded and packed "in the field". Use this information in addition to the manuals and look for others on the Bike Friday YouTube channel. Due to the custom sizing and specification of a Bike Friday, there are no hard and fast rules on which order to fold or pack, but rather, overall guidelines. |
 The 'EasyPack' telescoping seat mast available on all Pocket models First introduced with the now-superceded Pocket Tourist and Pocket Pilot, the removeable EasyPack seatmast is standard on the 2009 Pocket Companion, Pocket Sport, and Pocket Expedition, and an option on all Pocket Models. The EasyPack was designed to make the bike easier to pack than its hinged (folded) counterpart, and is painted the same powdercoat color as the main frame. The picture shows an optional titanium upgrade. |
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 MOVIE CLIPS YouTube | (Quicktime player for Mac | Windows) Folding the EasyPack | (4.3 Mb download) Click on the above link to see Walter Lapchynski folding the EasyPack NWT equipped with rear rack and ThudBuster seatpost. Left: Pocket Rocket upgraded with titanium EasyPack seatmast. |
 Left: New World Tourist upgraded titanium EasyPack seatmast. Why opt for an EasyPack? The EasyPack makes Pocket Bikes essentially, less of a folding bike and more of a travel bike. If you're a dedicated multi-modal commuter - you need to hurriedly fold the bike and jump on a bus or train often, the standard folding seat mast is probably a better choice, as it stays intact with the bike, and you won't be dealing with two pieces of bicycle. Better still, buy a tikitTM Otherwise, the EasyPack is simpler to use and yes, easier to pack! As the movie clip shows, if folding the bicycle into a soft Travelbag,you might like to keep a couple of felt bags inside to protect the frame from being scratched by both the detached mast and handlebar stem. Talk about these options with your friendly Bike Friday Sales Expert. |
 KEEPING THE CHAIN ON - POCKET BIKES ONLY - updated April 2007 With the exception of the tikit, Bike Fridays are travel bicycles, designed for ease of packing with full sized performance, rather than constant folding and unfolding as i required of a commuter folder. This keeps the basic Bike Friday design simpler and lighter. However, with the tips below you can keep the chain on, or, easily re-engage it without dirtying your hands. Putting the chain back on : front chainring models A dropped chain is not the issue - in fact, it's better to put least strain on the chain when transporting it. Re-engaging it keeping your hands clean is the goal: Stand on left side of your bike. Push the front derailleur over to the largest ring. Grasp your bike by the seatmast with your left hand, lift up the rear end, grasp left pedal with right hand and start spinning it rapidly forward several rotations. Quite often the chain will jump onto the teeth of the larger ring and re-engage. You may need to hold the bike more vertically, from the seat mast to make it easier. Clean hands! Some might prefer to do this standing on the other side of the bike. If it does not re-engage after several attempts, you may have to do it manually. You need to create some slack in the chain by pushing the rear derailleur arm forward. Some people use a stick or the BF z-wrench kept in your water bottle cage, to pick up the chain without using their hands. For those who prefer to keep the chain on, the movie clips below concentrate on folding the bike and keeping the chain on. MOVIE CLIPS on YouTube + Quicktime download SINGLE chainring Bike Friday with some extra tips | Download it (2.9) This discussion assumes you are already familiar with folding and unfolding your Bike Friday, and you haven't installed a chain retainer (see left fold article). The trick is to stop the cranks from spinning backwards when you unfold the bicycle, which is what throws the chain off. This article will also appear as a series of step by step shots in the Spring 2007 edition of the Foldable Flyer. Note that to restore a dropped chain without getting your hands dirty, you can use a gloved hand as Walter demonstrates in the Single Chainring clip, or use your foot, or even easier, use the Z-wrench from your water bottle cage as a hook! FOLDING A POCKET BIKE WITHOUT DROPPING THE CHAIN: 1. Make sure the chain is on the small front chainring (if you have a double or triple chainring Bike Friday) and the smallest rear cassette cog. 2. Stand on the left side of the bike. Undo the seat mast quick release and free the seat mast from the hinge. 3. Put the left pedal down. 4. With the right hand gripping the back of the saddle and the left hand on the handlebar stem, lift up the bike and allow the rear to swing forward on the left side of the bike (that's why it's called a left fold). 5. You can turn the front wheel to the right 180 degrees if you want a slightly smaller package or simply keep it facing forward. Complete the fold: Undo handlebar stem quick release and take off the handlebar stem. Of course,if the bike is then bumped around in teh back of a car the chain might still come off, but this approach reduces that chance. UNFOLDING without dropping the chain: 6. Install the stem in the head tube and tighten down quick release. 7. Hold stem with left hand. 8. HOLD THE LEFT PEDAL/CRANK WITH THE RIGHT HAND stopping the cranks from turning backwards, and let bike UNFOLD. 9. The chain should stay on. Lift the rear of the bike by the seat using your right hand, take hold of the cranks with your left hand and spin them forward, sothat the chain is seated completely on the chainring. This is not a fool-proof method but works most of the time. The trick is to take a bit of care with your Bike Friday - glance down at what the chain is doing as you fold, be aware of anything catching and any resistance before forcing, as this can lead to bent derailleurs and so forth. Remember the Bike Friday was originally designed as a travel bicycle, not a compact folder. If you need the convenience of super fast and compact folding, buy the new tikit. The Chain Retainer further helps to make sure the chain stays on. Read more about that on the Left Fold article. Picture: Hanna Scholz demonstrates a Bike Friday fold to a visiting class. |
POCKET BIKES (Note: the folding clips below apply to the newer left-folding models, since June 2002 * INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEO: Exactly what you'd get if you ordered a bike today! * FOLDING A METRO (753 Kb): Hanz folding a Metro in the BF showroom. In this clip Hanz turns the front wheel 180 degrees, which makes the folded bike slightly more compact. * FOLDING A NWT (544 Kb) | YouTube video Lynette folding a New World Tourist. In this clip, note that the left pedal should be rotated forward at the outset to avoid problems. Lynette does not turn the front wheel at all, which makes the folded bike slightly less compact. It is a fast fold and in many cases, sufficient. * PACKING A PRO PETITE (7.3 Mb): Hanz packing a new (left fold) Pocket Rocket Pro Petite in around 4.5 minutes. Note that the older (pre-mid-2002) "right fold" bikes go in the case 180 degrees to what is shown here, that is, with the main tube against the side with the handle. Since I ran out of video card, a few seconds of themovie are missing: the part showing the stem being popped into the side of the case, and the bike going into the smaller, older Samsonite. I have taken the liberty to shows the larger Carlton at the end because if it fits in the Samsonite, it'll fit in the Carlton! |
AIR BIKES * Air Bike Instructional Video. Just like the DVD that comes with the bike! * PACKING AN AIR FRIDAY (7.2 Mb): Hanz packing his personal Air Friday in around 4.5 minutes. Note that this is Hanz's personal bike and he has devised his own rapid packing method. |
tikit * Folding/packing (YouTube clips): See the tikit page for Quicktime versions and more information |
TANDEMS * Family Tandem Instructional Video covers the Triple, too. Same as the DVD that comes with the bike. * Traveller XL Instructional Video covers the Q, too. Same as the DVD that comes with the bike. * Tandem TwosDay Instructional Video. Same as the DVD that comes with the bike. * Photo Gallery of Randy Benson and Linda Tay's touring Twin Air being packed. * Packing an off-road Twin Air tandem, featured on the new Twinair page * Packing a BF Tandem in the Samsonite F'lite suitcase Thanks to Mark Hoffmann * See also Tandem Primer |
* 2006 SatRDay folding movie clips * Pre-2006 SatRDay: FOLDING (2.1 Mb): Hanz folding a Sat R Day in a folding race in Philadelphia |
ACCESSORIES * The incredible folding Stelvio tire - and how to fold a non-folding tire. |
 OTHER LINKS OF INTEREST * How to Travel With Your Bicycle an RBR/e-book by BF owner Alan Bragman * Left fold explained since 2003, all Bike Friday Pocket Bikes fold to the left. * The new Samsonite F'lite case with Travel Trailer * Airport Experiences with a BF * Accessorizing your Bike Friday including chain retainers, racks and shock seatposts. |
TRAVELCASE/TRAILER TIPS A travelbag+suitcase tip on the Gal's gear page thanks to Andrew Bell Bungeeing a bag to your TravelCase Susan Boatright's tip |
Shift into the middle ring in the front and the high (small) gear in the back. To stand the bike back up, basically reverse the steps. There are two keys to me keeping my hands clean. The first is to unfold the rear end slowly. I can snap it into place in under two seconds if I'm in a hurry, but the chain usually falls off when I do. If I take more in the neighborhood of 5-7 seconds I can watch to make sure that the chain tension is maintained, watching for anything that the chain might be hanging up on to create slack. A few extra seconds here goes along ways to keeping the chain on. I'm probably up to about 85-90% on my bike now at keeping the chain on. Practice in your drive way a few times before racing the morning train the first time. The second key is to have "insurance policies" in place in case something goes wrong and the chain falls off. By putting the chain on the middle ring, if it falls off, you've given it the chance to fall onto the small ring. This happens more times than you'd probably think. The big ring doesn't allow enough slack but the middle should if you are on the small cog in the back. The next line of defense involves having something other than your finger to put the chain back on should it fall off. I keep a 2" x 2" or so rag to wrap around my index finger in my tool bag for this purpose. Many of our customers use the wrench that is attached to the bottle cage as a hook. Either way, hook the chain below and behind the front rings and pull it forward and up onto the rings. The nice thing is that if this happens, its usually as you are getting off the train and so not as pressed for time if it happened as you were trying to get on. Of course the ultimate solution to this issue is to get a second Friday, and have it specifically built up as a commuter bike. If we reduce to one chain ring in the front, we can add a protector ring and chain retainer that would virtually eliminate the issue of chains falling off. There are still ways to get as many gears as you might need, although the bike may be a bit heavier. |