Comments on: A Saturday morning folding bike breakfast

By: Eric Nye (ericnye@hotmail.com)

Eric Nye (ericnye@hotmail.com) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:35:29 +0000

Re: Bike Fridays, I have a new New World Tourist that is really nice except for the gears. I have drops with bar-end shifters and Tiagra front and rear derailers. A Sora triple crank. I have trouble finding a straigt-running gear with little chain cross. Tuning chain rub out of the front derailer is a constant chore. I”m going to try a 50 instead of the stock 52T outer chainring. Any suggestions?

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 23:26:42 +0000

Thanks. Those are some great photos. I ended up ordering the Origin-8 Space Bars, which appear to be clones of the On-One Mary bars. I also have a SRAM S7 and rim on the way to do an internal gear conversion on one of my Tikits.

By: christian

christian — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 19:55:50 +0000

hey– just came across this photo of the Jitensha/Nitto bars actually mounted http://www.cyclofiend.com/cc/2007/cc389-rayshine1007.html

This photo gives a better sense of the stem one might need.

p.s. definitely noticing the front end flex in my Tikit now that I”ve taken it on some longer rides. It’’s odd, but I think (hope) it’’s safe. Let me know if you come up with some stiffening solution.

By: christian

christian — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 17:12:52 +0000

Hey– the stem is 12cm. It has a 17 degree rise. I have a size Large tikit. A shorter stem with no rise mounted higher up the riser tube would have gotten me in the same position. It’’s another part I already had. One nice thing about the Mary bars is that they don”t bring your hands much closer to your body than a straight bar might. I don”t know if that would be the case with the Jitensha/Nitto stem. I don”t notice much flex in the front-end (possibly because I have the riser tube all the way down inside the head tube), but the rear end sure is bouncy (fun, after you get used to it) in contrast with what I”m used to riding ( Surly LHT with 700×40c Marathons).

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 03:17:05 +0000

Thanks. I didn”t know about the Jitensha/Nitto bar and it looks like a good option. The price is great too.

How long is your stem? What size Tikit do you have? It seems like they sell the bikes with longer top tubes and shorter stems to keep the fold compact.

By: christian

christian — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 22:28:39 +0000

here’’s a folded shot http://www.flickr.com/photos/halibut5000/1572688768/ You can see how the bars stick out a bit (part of the issue is that I need a long-ish stem to get comfortable). I”ve found them to be pretty manageable so far. I”ve also considered something like these Salsa bars http://www.salsacycles.com/images/zoom_motoAceflat.jpg which have a 17 degree bend and would make for a more compact fold, or these from Jitensha Studio http://www.jitensha.com/eng/flatbar05.html. I already owned the Mary bars, so I”m going to stick with them unless they become awkward.

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 14:24:33 +0000

Thanks for posting that photo. Do you have one of it folded? I”ve been thinking about trying out those bars on a Tikit because it”ll be a cheaper way to integrate an internal gear hub.

By: christian

christian — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 03:38:04 +0000

here’’s my Tikit with Mary bars:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/halibut5000/1563228728/
I really like the wide bars on this bike. The stock straight bars weren”t working for me at all. The width doesn”t interfere with the fold, but the forward extension makes it about as wide as if I were using drop bars. I haven”t taken it on a city bus yet, but it’’s been fine on my employer’’s shuttle van to the commuter train station.

By: AlexWetmore

AlexWetmore — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 01:25:36 +0000

Joe — I”ve carried about 20# on the front of a tikit, but with my older rack. It handled pretty well. I can”t ride no hands with a load, but I can”t really ride no hands on the Tikit anyway. I haven”t measured the geometry, but plan on doing it soon.

The Soma Sparrow looks exactly like a Nitto Dove. Both are the same width. It”ll have the downside that Christian mentioned of requiring a long stem.

By: Brian Loudon

Brian Loudon — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 23:30:10 +0000

My problem with Mary bars is the width – 64.5cm. I”m used to 44cm drop bars and the Marys give me a very “driving the bus” feel. I currently have a set mounted on a Swift Folder and it feels a bit ridiculous.

If I ever revitalize the Swift or otherwise have a need for non-drop bars I will be considering some Soma Sparrows (http://store.somafab.com/sosp490bar.html). 49cm and compatible with bar-end shift/brake levers.

The B601 and B617 versions of Nitto’’s Promenade bars are even narrower (45cm) and have grip points in the same orientation as drops, but the rear sweep may not be compatible with a bike’’s cockpit length and folding style.