A problem and a great response

28 November 2008. The Tikit had been feeling a bit "soft" and I hadn't been able to rectify that by tightening various parts of it. Unfolding the bike when I got off the bus this afternoon it was clearly sick and I could finally see why. On the drive side of the black bottom bracket shell you can see where a weld has broken. It's clearer on the second photo taken after separating the two parts of the frame.


There were also signs of the crack in one of the stays supporting the main seat mast. This has now been reported by others and Bike Friday have issued a retro-fitted brace for all Tikits of that generation.


An emailed set of photos and a quick phone call to Bike Friday got the right immediate response - that it shouldn't have happened and that they would fix it up for me. They would follow up with details in a few days. A few days later I called and they advised that because of the distance between Eugene and Brisbane (Australia), they would simply send a new frame - what colour did I want? Full marks to Bike Friday's customer service.

Now I've always liked fixed wheel, but I wanted to hedge my bets with the bike. I've said before that the Tikit is the closest bike to one bike for all purposes. Rob English mentioned that, not only had he developed an adjustable dropout for the Tikit, but also had just prototype a variant with a derailleur hanger. Ever happy to be a test pilot, it sounded just what I wanted.

(...and I chose black)