Thanks for taking the time to do this and report back. I love the picture of the Brompton, BF, and Atlantis lined up next to one another!
I'm increasingly leaning toward BF as being the best all-around compromise for my needs. The quick fold option seems just fine for throwing in the back of a car or stowing belowdecks on a boat cruise. The more extensive breakdown is workable for infrequent overseas travel. Your friend's bikes are tempting, but over the years I've spent a lot of money trying to save a buck buying used gear. When I factor in the costs of retrofitting my preferred components/gearing I suspect that I'll be better off just ordering new. Part of this has to do with how custom the bikes truly are though - on their ordering page BF gives the impression that their frames are custom built to your unique dimensions and specifications. Now if their idea of custom sizing is using an off-the-rack frame and swapping in seatposts and stems to suit then I may have to revisit this idea. Kent, perhaps you could weigh in here? I find myself with a free week of vacation this August due to other plans falling through thanks to Covid. I am thinking of setting up an appointment and driving to Eugene for a personalized consultation and fitting. Good idea or overkill do you think? I just noticed that BF is offering a 20% discount for frames delivered this fall, so if I can get in on that I may just go for it. Jay Lonner Bellingham, WA On Sun, Jun 21, 2020 at 10:24 AM Julian Westerhout <westerh...@gmail.com> wrote: > Jay, this thread got me interested in doing a comparison. I own a > Brompton, and have a good friend with a Bike Friday NWT. I asked him if i > could borrow the BF for a few extended test rides and comparison -- he said > sure. > > I've now done a few short rides on the BF, and think it rides well -- > perhaps a bit more responsive than my Brompton, but pretty comparable. > > I then compared the relative fit of both to my 68 cm Atlantis (I'm on the > outer edge of small folder fit) -- I was surprised to note that the seat, > feet, and hands positions are all fairly close for my setups. > > The BF and Brompton are a very small amount shorter than the Atlantis in > saddle to bar distance, although both could be tweaked a little. I will > note that for me both the Brompton and BF fit and ride far better than > other folders I've tried (DaHon, etc.) -- I think in in large part because > they are not too far off "regular" bike fit on the three contact points. > YMMV. > > I've attached a photo that sort of shows the comparison. > > IMHO, the Brompton is amazing for quick, compact folds -- so if folding is > something you'd do a time or two a day it's the way to go. The BF is very > nicely made, and seems to be a very nice machine. > > FWIW, my friend has this one (a large) and a smaller (medium) blue one, > both in pristine condition with cases, and I think he's possibly ready to > move them along (they no longer do bike travel) -- if anyone has interest I > can enquire and post more on them. > > Regards, > > Julian Westerhout > Bloomington, IL > > > On Thursday, June 18, 2020 at 6:41:28 PM UTC-5, Jay Lonner wrote: >> >> I'm interested in building up travel bikes for my wife and me. Our >> intended use is credit card touring in continental Europe and the British >> Isles. We also have a developing interest in cruising the Salish Sea, so >> I'd like something small enough to store belowdecks out of the corrosive >> marine environment, and that would be easy to get ashore via dinghy. >> >> It seems that there are many ways to proceed, ranging from S&S couplers >> to 20" wheel designs like Bike Friday to rinko. All have their proponents >> and detractors. My priorities are comfort, ease of assembly/disassembly, >> avoidance of proprietary/specialized parts, and the ability to fit racks, >> fenders, and lights. I prefer plodding utilitarian considerations to zippy >> performance. >> >> While our daily rides embrace Riv-approved technologies such as rim >> brakes and friction shifting, I am open to other options for these proposed >> travel bikes. When we're away from home I'm really looking for something >> bombproof. Rear derailleurs strike me as a particular vulnerability, >> especially on bikes with 20" wheels. At the moment I'm leaning towards >> designs that utilize a Rohloff hub. >> >> Anyway, so many choices, so many tradeoffs - I'm stuck! What would you do >> within the design constraints outlined above, if budget weren't really a >> consideration? (That's one of the nice things about bikes - even an >> extravagant build is super affordable compared to boats.) >> >> Help me RBW collective, you're my only hope! >> >> Jay Lonner >> Bellingham, WA >> >> >> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6e5f1e68-6085-4a36-82a8-f31271902949o%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6e5f1e68-6085-4a36-82a8-f31271902949o%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. 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