Tikit on the Way, But no Clever Pun

[Washington, DC] In breaking news today, Steve announced that his Bike Friday Pocket Crusoe will soon be joined by a Bike Friday Tikit. That's right. It's a cream soda blue, stock size large Tikit. It is making its FedEx way across the You Ess of Eh as we speak.

The Tikit will have eight gears, is used, and appears to be of the "Just the Tikit" model from the Bike Friday line of Tikit folding bikes with 16" wheels.

Incredibly, Steve had no puns about the name Tikit. No clever rhyme or insertion of a catchphrase containing the word Tikit; no careful play on the name to suggest speed or lawbreaking or anything. "I guess I just want the bike!" exclaimed Steve over a steaming cup of Starbucks Mocha Grande Latte Exp Post Facto Caramel Vente coffee. Hah! No, he hates coffee and Starbucks. Starbucks is the "Evil Empire" according to Austin Powers, remember.

So here's a post about the Tikit without some lame "it's just the 'Tikit' to my commute", or "I'll be speeding merrily along on my 'Tikit'" nonsense. These things are almost as bad as haircut shops with clever names like "A Cut Above the Rest" and "We've got Chops" and crap like that. No! You'll find none of that here. Just the facts.

This Tikit is a size large, and I'm curious how it will fit me. If I were starting from scratch, I'd be working from a medium frame size. But, I talked at length with BF and we think with the arrangements we've made, it will work just fine. I'm getting handlebars that are a little more swept back to ease the reach. They are also throwing on a shorter Ahead stem. Also, there is room to play with saddle height, of course, but perhaps more importantly, some playroom in the steerer tube/ stem riser. It would be easy enough to just lower the seat, but two things can result from that---inefficient pedal strokes due to sitting too low; and having a riding position that is too upright for my tastes. I like saddle and handlebar near level for commuting and the saddle a little above the bars for riding fast. My Pocket Crusoe has the saddle about an inch or so above the bars. I created this by sliding the stem down the stem riser about an inch.

So, I anxiously await the bike. It has departed Portland, Oregon, and is somewhere from the mountains, to the prarie, to the oceans white with foam. I'll hopefully soon know! Happy riding everyone.