For the previous few weeks, I’ve been pedaling all over the world’s tiniest folding Bosch ebike as my children (8 and 10) regard me with mingled delight and disgust. My son tried to journey away on it, with the convincing argument that this isn’t an grownup bike, it’s a child’s bike. I lock it up on the identical rack subsequent to my daughter’s mountain bike, and she or he notes that her bike is taller than mine. I ignore all of them. I really like this tiny bike.
Oregon-based Bike Friday hand-builds folding bikes of each selection, however as a small individual (I’m 5’2”), I’m a selected fan of the corporate’s tiny, gentle, folding bicycles. The bikes have gone up in worth significantly since I first reviewed the Haul-A-Day in 2020 as one of many extra reasonably priced household electrical bikes. Since then, the corporate has been slowly repositioning itself as a premium, custom-fitted ebike producer, at a corresponding worth. The All-Day is much more costly than the electrical Brompton G Line.
Nonetheless, the motor is highly effective, it’s lighter than the Brompton, and you’ll be able to customise it in each means—together with in quite a lot of playful colours and cables! I’m a giant advocate for a tiny bike which you could carry, fold, and lock up wherever. This one feels as large as you may want.
No matter You Need
{Photograph}: Adrienne So
As befits a custom-built bike, Bike Friday consulted with me beforehand on what choices I most well-liked. Not solely are you able to choose what shade you need your bike to be, however you can even choose the parts (flat or drop handlebars? Fundamental 9-speed? Shimano hub or Rohloff belt drive?). Be warned, nevertheless, that selecting your coronary heart’s delight will add as much as a staggering worth. I requested the 14-speed Rohloff hub with the belt drive, and it added a cool $3,290 to the $5,200 worth.
It has a 600-watt Bosch Efficiency SX mid-drive motor with a bit of Purion show that’s suitable with the Bosch eBike Stream app. Total, it is a shockingly highly effective motor and long-lived battery for a motorbike this dimension (as compared, the Brompton G-line has a 250-watt motor).
It arrived swaddled in lots of layers of paper stuffing and bubble wrap. Whereas Bike Friday is direct-to-customer, that buyer will not be exactly the identical individual because the one who would possibly purchase, say, a direct-to-consumer Lectric or an Aventon. Bike Friday is a specialty model for bike folks, and I did need to know what I used to be doing, in addition to have entry to my very own Allen and pedal wrenches. In the event you had been much less assured in your bike-building abilities, I’d counsel contracting with a store.
{Photograph}: Adrienne So