We have a history of riding bikes in far away lands. In Cambodia my bike was more rust than metal and we had tons of fun exploring the Cambodian back alleys. Via Backroads we have visited Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary, France and many more countries. So we wanted to continue the tradition of riding while aboard but realized our current bikes were too large for the boat.
Backroads in Slovakia
NYC ride in the “old” days
Jason riding Triathlon Bike
Another major life decision, a bike purchase, required spreadsheet organization to choose the proper ride. The bike’s purpose is to be a road bike for exploratory rides on what will most likely be challenging road surfaces. The bike should also be able to transport groceries because we were forced to leave our car back in NYC. I thought they said catamarans had tons of space, but I could not fit the Prius in any of the lockers? Lastly, the bike needs to fold down into a small space to fit into the lazerette and the dinghy for trips ashore. We did not want the folding conversion to involve wrenches and other crazy maneuvers as this would curtail bike riding. Over 12 months of shopping, we changed our minds a few times on what was the perfect bike. Here is the list of bikes we considered, starting with the first bike and ending with the one we bought.
Brompton
British Folding Bike
This ubiquitous London commuter bike is perfect for riding 10 miles, then folding up in 30 seconds to board the train. It folds small enough that your fellow commuters will not avoid you in favor of sitting next to the smelly guy talking to himself. Bromptons have a VW bug-like fan base that race the folding bikes while wearing suits.
Why we did not buy it: Unique spare parts are not great for long distance cruisers. The wheel size is a bit smaller, making the bike more likely to tumble after encountering a pothole. By the way, the bike industry uses the euphemism “wheel deflection” while it should be “face plant” or “wipe out”. The price of the Brompton also discouraged us.
Dahon on eBay
Gail tried to buy a used folding bike of any make or model but was outbid. The eBay used price for Mariner Dahons got close enough to a new bike that she said no thank you. Back to the drawing board.
Bike Friday
Bike Friday
I was told about Bike Friday by another Antares owner whose boat is behind Two Fish in the factory. He also has a biking problem and has bought several Bike Friday creations. Their build philosophy is to try to recreate a full size bike. They use the standard off the shelf parts for high end bikes which means you can ride in comfort for hours as if on your normal road bike. This is a great idea. I can become one of those smug guys passing people on full size bikes while riding a folding bike. But alas I pass few people on my road bike today so this smug feature would be tough to use.
Why we did not buy it: These bikes get crazy expensive. We started to become worried that bikes would not fit aboard and we would have to leave them in BA. Later we have confirmed there is a nice place for the bikes in the central cockpit locker. Not sure about where the rest of our stuff will go? Two Fish is having a yard sale the day after we try to move our stuff aboard. Secondly, the salt air will attack the bikes and I would likely replicate my Cambodian biking adventure by riding a rust bike. Kind of hard to justify a costly rust bike. Finally, I don’t like the Bike Friday font. Okay, that is pretty fussy of me.
Test ride on the folding bikes from Two Fish on Vimeo.
Tern
We are at the end of the post, so this was the winner. Tern has an usual history as it was started by the ex-wife of the CEO of Dahon. That must be a bitter separation. Tern have improved on a few things from the Dahon. Smaller fold, nicer look and great attachment point for front bike bag.
His Tern D8
Her pink Tern D8
We enjoy 20 inch wheels because they offer a more stable ride and are easy to find since they are the BMX bike standard. We chose a model with 8 gears in the rear derailleur which offers a very wide range of gearing. More gears does not always mean more range – do the gearing math before buying. We avoided having a front derailleur and will then save on future repairs. All the bikes we looked at weigh in the range of 24-29 pounds. The Tern is at the higher end of that range. But the lighter bikes would not have luggage racks and fenders. You can see from the photo that Gail has an easy on/off front bag and I have a classic pannier attached to the rear luggage rack.
Water bottle fender
We also added some custom features. The black bike has a GoPro camera set up and the pink bike has more pink stuff such as a pink bell and pink water bottle. I am still kicking myself for paying for a fender as an old 1 liter water bottle seems to work for the rest of the world.
How does the bike ride?
Speed: 15% slower than my carbon fiber road bike. Both the wide tires and upright position slow the rider’s progress. It is nimble and I do not feel tippy or worried about passing over uneven surfaces. It is sort of halfway between my road bike and mountain bike on several ratings. In traffic you feel confident as it is easy to look around and potholes are not deadly. I have not tried a high speed descent yet, but I am legendary for wimping on descending, so no need to hear my review.
Build Quality?
Good but not perfect. The fold handle needs motivation and the famous fenders became crooked. The bike store that sold us the bike was not the greatest on service.
Transport to Argentina
The best way is to return to the bike store and ask for your bike to be repacked in the original box. Should cost very little and you have cheap one way transport. We were not quizzed by customs upon entry but the bike was used and had plenty of mud to prove it.
Accessories
We already had one pannier from Gail’s mountain bike and one handlebar bag. We bought a second handlebar bag. We also bought a simple nylon cover that stores under the seat. This will prevent the bike from damaging the dinghy and make it easier to stow. Lights, water bottles and such were the other additions. We did not bring custom pedals so we are biking with only sneakers. That will take some getting used to.
We will post some of our more exciting bike rides as recorded by our Garmin bike computers.
Jason
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