Bike Friday Silk to Be Discontinued
08-03-15, 04:23 AM
#1
Full Member
Thread Starter
Bike Friday Silk to Be Discontinued
Anyone else sad to see that Bike Friday is going to discontinue the Silk?
It seems that now that they have the "hinge-forward" option for their New World Tourist (NWT) frame they've determined that there's too much overlap in two different options for running belt drives / internally geared hubs.
An advantage of the NWT frame is that it's better suited for large panniers, but I suspect (although I'm not completely sure) that it is heavier. I also very much liked the looks of the Silk... there was something about it that I found very attractive.
But, I must admit, that earlier this summer I myself was ready to buy, but hesitated because for the life of me I just couldn't decide between the NWT and the Silk.... I ended up deciding to wait until next year. Perhaps that was a common situation they saw with potential customers and decided to eliminate the conflict.
Here's the message from BF:
It seems that now that they have the "hinge-forward" option for their New World Tourist (NWT) frame they've determined that there's too much overlap in two different options for running belt drives / internally geared hubs.
An advantage of the NWT frame is that it's better suited for large panniers, but I suspect (although I'm not completely sure) that it is heavier. I also very much liked the looks of the Silk... there was something about it that I found very attractive.
But, I must admit, that earlier this summer I myself was ready to buy, but hesitated because for the life of me I just couldn't decide between the NWT and the Silk.... I ended up deciding to wait until next year. Perhaps that was a common situation they saw with potential customers and decided to eliminate the conflict.
Here's the message from BF:
We've spent this summer taking a long look at our line of models with an emphasis on simplifying what we offer to make it easier for our customers to understand as well as easier for our production team to deliver.
The introduction of the Hinge Forward frame earlier this year improved our Gates Carbon Belt Drive offering for 20-inch wheels.
You can design a New World Tourist with Gates Carbon Belt Drive that will allow you to do touring with full-loaded rear racks, giving it an added advantage we could not offer with our Silk frame.
As a result, we will no longer be offering the Silk frame design after August 15th, although we will continue to support that design with service and full lifetime guarantees on the frames we've sold.
So, if you have been lusting for a Silk because of its sleek look that made it an immediate strong seller for us, you have until August 15th to place an order.
The introduction of the Hinge Forward frame earlier this year improved our Gates Carbon Belt Drive offering for 20-inch wheels.
You can design a New World Tourist with Gates Carbon Belt Drive that will allow you to do touring with full-loaded rear racks, giving it an added advantage we could not offer with our Silk frame.
As a result, we will no longer be offering the Silk frame design after August 15th, although we will continue to support that design with service and full lifetime guarantees on the frames we've sold.
So, if you have been lusting for a Silk because of its sleek look that made it an immediate strong seller for us, you have until August 15th to place an order.
08-03-15, 09:19 AM
#2
Part-time epistemologist
I suspect that the Silk frame would be a little easier to pack in a suitcase.
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A narrative on bicycle driving.
A narrative on bicycle driving.
08-03-15, 09:32 AM
#3
Banned
when I saw pictures of the Silk , I thought... ' that brace could have an elastomer in it to soften the rear end', but instead it's rigid.
