Tag Archives: India

Seattle Bike Show review

The Examiner did a  story on the Seattle Bike Show. Check out the photos. Bike Friday is well represented.

Bicycle Times Haul-a-Day review

 

The February 2015 issue of Bicycle Times has hit the newsstands, bike shops and homes, and it has their review of the Haul-a-Day in it. Check it out!

Reviewer Adam Newman says:

“I enjoyed the practicality of the Haul-a-Day because when unloaded it didn’t have the massive cruise-liner feeling that many cargo bikes have. The majority of the long-tail bikes I see here in Portland are ridden by women with children on the back, and Bike Friday says it is targeting these customers with a bike that is lighter, more maneuverable and less intimidating than a “full-size” cargo bike…

“That’s not to say it isn’t up to the task of serious carrying capacity. I used it to shuttle hundreds of wooden stakes around a cyclo-cross course and the saddlebags easily accommodated the extra-long cargo. As further proof of its bonafides, the Haul-a-Day made a splash at the Portland Disaster Relief Trials, a day-long competition for cargo bikes and riders to simulate the (sometimes crazy) support that a human-powered machine can provide when disasters strike. Tasks include carrying a wooden pallet, five-gallon buckets of water, and a carton of eggs. Bike Friday engineer Willie Hatfield took the win on a Haul-a-Day with a wild paint job.”

Here is Adam’s  online review

Test Ride a Haul-a-Day in Chicago!

Bike Friday is proud to announce we will have two new dealers in Chicago, Green Machine Cycles and J.C. Lind Bicycle Company.

The Haul-a-Day is available for test rides now at Green Machine Cycles.

J.C. Lind will have a Haul-a-Day soon!

Haul-a-Day offers solution

Here’s a blog post from Ride Adelaide Cyclists in South Australia about choosing the Haul-a-Day as a solution to transport children.

One Customer’s Bike Friday Experience

A fleet of eight Family Tandems sat in the Bike Friday Showroom awaiting delivery to the Northwest Association of Blind Athletes.

Want to know what it’s like to stop by Bike Friday to check out folding, travel and cargo bikes?

Read this blog! It’s called HinesSight: How Things Look Through Oregonian’s Eyes

Just Deserts

The desert scenery swept into my view like the opening scenes of a good old fashion Cowboy Movie.

The subtle pastel colors of sand and towering Saguaro cactus against a brilliant, nearly cloudless blue sky felt as comforting as an old pair of jeans.

As my tires left the hum of pavement behind and dug into the sandy gravel with a confident crunch, all my senses spiked, like coming home again. Sights. Sounds. Smells.

I’ve been lucky enough to pedal the Haul-a-Day up the hellish grades of Seattle down at Pike Place Market, zip along with traffic through San Francisco’s busy Market Street, and enjoy Eugene’s Willamette River Bike Path.

While the bike certainly appears perfectly suited for those typical urban challenges, those trials don’t necessarily mesh with my true dreams.

No, my idea for a Haul-a-Day is out and away from the places most people would envision for a Cargo Bike.

So during my week-long stay in Arizona for El Tour de Tucson in November, I got the opportunity to take a Haul-a-Day for a spin on my terms.

That meant four hours of riding the bike path until it ends and hitting the open roads to head out of town, away from humanity, heading for the hills.

Since people often ask about how far you can ride any of our Bike Fridays, I wanted to give it a real test. The endurance test.

Any bike can feel good for a block or two. Or a mile or two.

Once minutes turn to hours, I feel the true test of a bike begins.

Let me toss in right here that I spend most my riding hours on a Bike Friday Llama, previously donned with 2-inch Schwalbe Big Apple tires that have been replaced by 2.2-inch Maxxis Holy Rollers with knobbies. To summarize, light bikes with low friction don’t appear on my radar screen. Results may vary for others.

Aside from the fact I was riding on flat pedals instead of my usual clipless pedals and shoes, the ride was as good as any. As Bike Friday dealer Mike Jacoubowsky said when he returned from a short test ride with the Haul-a-Day, “It has that smooth Bike Friday ride.”

When the road began to rise, I thought, like many, it would be a chore to lug this much bike uphill (the Haul-a-Day starts around 32 pounds, and with everything on my version including my load, it was probably pushing 40 pounds). It didn’t feel that way. That my tires were a slick 1.75 (thin for me) might have had a lot to do with that. Still, it felt sweet. Smooth.

Bouncing on and off the gravel on the side of the road proved to be a breeze (one of the reasons I like wider tires — giving me the ability to make a quick dive if necessary, and yes, I did have to do that way out in the desert). The longer wheelbase took away the chaotic sensation of hitting gravel. I felt totally in control.

By the time I rolled back into town, I had a new goal. Get way out, and way away.

On my drive back to Phoenix, the Saguaro National Park offered the perfect opportunity.

I parked at the Visitor’s Center (I’ll insert here that a Haul-a-Day fits perfectly in the back of minivan without having to take off wheels or shorten the handlebars or saddle) and pedaled back down the road to the dirt Bajada Loop.

As soon as I hit the dirt, my regard for the Haul-a-Day launched into the sky like a rocket.

Although the 1.75 tires weren’t quite wide enough for the deepest gravel and sand sections, the bike performed better than I expected.

Riding down the roller-coaster hills felt more like being on a toboggan as a kid back in Wisconsin. Charging up the hills felt normal, although I mistakenly expected the weight on the back rack would help give me a little more traction than a typical mo9untain bike would.

As I rode I could imagine my camping gear strapped to the back, and my black lab running alongside. That’s my Haul-a-Day vision.

Bike Friday IT Recycles on Haul-a-Days

Members of the Bike Friday IT department, left to right, are Walter Lapchynski, Noah Young and Eamon Walker.

When it came time to back up their talk with action, Bike Friday’s IT department looked to their Haul-a-Days.

With an every growing pile of old technology equipment piling up, a trip to Next Step Recycling was in order. Enter the Haul-a-Days.

The IT boys packed up three Haul-a-Days to the gills with used equipment.

Walter made good use of the front frame mounted plate.

Then they hit the road.

You can watch the video here!

Bike Friday Staff has Ideas for a Haul-a-Day

Bike Friday’s Walter Lapchynski worked on his hefty load, with more than 200 pounds of equipment strapped on his bike.

Our crew making our Cargo Bike the Haul-a-Day has Bike Friday employees dreaming of “Their Idea for a Haul-a-Day”

Bike Friday Commuter in the News

Bike Friday owner Scott Bernstein made his local newspaper, The Journal News, talking about his commute to Manhattan on his Bike Friday.

Here’s an excerpt:

“His route: Bernstein commutes by bike about four days a week and takes local roads in Westchester. He weaves through Yonkers and the Bronx, crosses the Henry Hudson Bridge and winds up in Riverside Park. He rides the bike path before cutting across Manhattan to the hospital on First Avenue.

“Total trip time: 1 hour and 30 to 45 minutes.

“Total ride distance to work each week: 120 miles.

“Getting home: Bernstein takes his folding bike on Metro-North in the evening. He rides his bike to Grand Central Terminal and home from the Tarrytown train station.”

Sounds like an adventure!

Read the story here

LA Times Gift Guide

If you are looking to stay fit on the road, the LA Times has a great gift guide for you.

Check it out