Can a 6’5″ rider really feel at home on a folding bike with 20-inch wheels? Ted Johnson wrote in to say: absolutely yes!
After 20,000 km on his Bike Friday Pocket Rocket, he’s got thoughts—on speed, fit, travel, and what it’s like to tour on a so-called “little bike” when you’re anything but. For any tall riders eyeing a folding road bike, this one’s worth a read.
“I wanted to offer a review from a tall guy so that prospective buyers in the vicinity of my size can have some assurance that a Pocket Rocket will work for them. I also have comments about the PR that should apply to any rider.
My adult bike riding started on road bikes designed for speed. I then got interested in bike touring but was frustrated because my overloaded carbon fiber bike kept suffering broken spokes. I realized I needed a different bike for touring but still wanted to go fast, and also wanted something it would be easy to carry on overseas trips as I travel a lot. Research led me to Bike Friday.
I perhaps should have gotten a New World Tourist, but was a sucker for the “speed” marketing of the Pocket Rocket and thought it would be adequate for the touring I was then doing, which was not “credit card touring” but also not fully loaded. I was concerned whether I’d fit on a “little bike” – I’m 6’5″ (196cm), have a 36″ (91cm) inseam, and weigh 215lb (98kg) – but the BF people told me I would, and I decided to take the chance.
About 20,000 km later, I’m still thrilled with my Pocket Rocket and still ride it a lot even though I have a stable of four bikes. I fit on it fine (I have the largest model and a long stem) and have used my BF-PR for city commuting (mostly Tokyo), fast rides, and many thousands of kilometers of touring in multiple countries.
Most of that touring has been moderately loaded (bike & “civilian” clothes to last a week or two, laptop, camera gear, etc.) and a couple of trips have been fully-loaded touring (including tent, ground cover, sleeping bag & cooking equipment). The PR has held up beautifully in all applications even though it’s not marketed for what I most used it for, moderately loaded touring and city commuting.
I get a lot of “circus bear” comments and people asking me if I have to pedal faster to make the wheels spin fast enough to keep up with others (no!) but I’ve loved riding the bike. Hopping on it generates a special smile that I don’t get with my non-BF bikes (which I still love too).
The only negative I see to the PR model is tire limitations. Tires for a PR are hard to find (the other BF models use 20-406, the common BMX size that can be found anywhere, but PR’s use the elusive 20-451’s). You need to order 20-451 tires online and always carry a spare or two because you are not going to find these tires in 99% of retail locations that sell tires.
Further, you basically only have two widths available: 1 1/8, which feels a bit like a 23 on a 700cc tire and leads to a tight sporty ride where you feel the painted lines on the highway, or 1 3/8, which feels plush after riding 1 1/8 and is fine for fast rides but is narrow for touring purposes (it feels about like riding a 30 on a 700cc tire). With only narrow tires available, a PR is only suited for tarmac or the gentlest of packed gravel or similar paths.
So, while I love my BF-PR, because I’ve become increasingly interested in loaded touring and wanted greater capability to get off pavement with wider tires, I looked into the All-Packa (not suitable for someone my height) and recently bought a Diamond Llama (too early in the relationship to review).
The last comment I’ll add is that I’m mechanically inept and not a person who enjoys tinkering on bikes, but even I got so I could quickly tear down and build up my BF for travel, carrying it in a Samsonite suitcase and, occasionally, in only a vinyl cover. The first tear down and build up probably took me 3 hours each as I studied each part and began to figure out bike components, but after doing this a few times it became a leisurely paced 30 minutes on each side of travel and a good way to keep up with ensuring that all is in good working order.
My BF-PR has seen flights to multiple countries and been tossed around on trains and buses, but it has been indestructible so far.
