For the previous few weeks, I’ve been pedaling world wide’s tiniest folding Bosch ebike as my youngsters (8 and 10) regard me with mingled delight and disgust. My son tried to trip 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 specific fan of the corporate’s tiny, mild, 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 inexpensive 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 manner—together with in quite a lot of playful colours and cables! I’m an enormous advocate for a tiny bike which you can carry, fold, and lock up wherever. This one feels as huge as you can 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 popular. Not solely are you able to decide what colour you need your bike to be, however you too can decide the parts (flat or drop handlebars? Fundamental 9-speed? Shimano hub or Rohloff belt drive?). Be warned, nevertheless, that choosing 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 appropriate with the Bosch eBike Movement app. Total, it is a shockingly highly effective motor and long-lived battery for a motorbike this measurement (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 just isn’t 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 should know what I used to be doing, in addition to have entry to my very own Allen and pedal wrenches. In the event you have been much less assured in your bike-building abilities, I’d recommend contracting with a store.
{Photograph}: Adrienne So
