jyl

My friend has a Bike Friday New World Tourister that he no longer rides, having converted entirely to the e-bike Darkside. I can probably buy it for a friendly price.

I rode it a bit, and kind of like it. However, I’d like it to be more of a roadie bike, as it is a bit too upright for me. The reach (bar to saddle) is also rather short. The bike is also not particularly light.

So I was thinking of
- shortening the handlebar post an inch (or installing a negative rise stem)
- fitting drop bars and Campagnolo brifters
- mounting the skinniest, fastest tires available in 406 mm
- installing a setback seatpost (and maybe shortening the seat tube, if that’s practical - I don’t need the current length)
- maybe changing the current triple crank for a double (though I don’t mind triples)
- clipless pedals (maybe the kind with platform on one side and SPD on the other)

I figure that will give me a lower, more stretched out position and a faster roll.

I don’t see much scope for taking weight off the bike. There are carbon 406 mm rims and wheels, but they are very spendy and I doubt they’d make much difference.

Thoughts?

It occurred to me that a Pocket Rocket would be more like what I’m after, but this NWT is what’s available . . . unless I can find a Pocket Rocket for not too much.

seat_boy

If it has a clamp on threadless stem, you should just be able to slide the stem down on the stem post to achieve a lower position.

My experience (after several folding bikes, including a BF Crusoe that I ride a lot) is that smaller wheels need bigger rubber to somewhat make up for the smaller size. 32~38mm or so. Skinnier tires are no faster, anyway.

Pedals, bars, seat... whatever you like to run on your normal bike.

My Crusoe is based off the Pocket Rocket frame, so it's a bit lighter and livelier than the NWT series frames. At least, that's my experience after having ridden both. So maybe the NWT isn't the ideal BF starting platform, but it's cheap and available, so give it a go!

Duragrouch

Because most BFs (with straight handlebar vertical stems) use a conventional clamp style top stem, you can easily fit a longer one to get a more stretched out position, if it doesn't bother the steering characteristics too much. One of the drawbacks of my Dahon is, that is not the case, the handlebar clamp is integral with the tall stem. What I do like is that the Dahon stem is closer to verticle (inclined more forward than BF), so that I don't hit a more aft stem when climbing out of the saddle. I think Bike Friday uses a conventional (old style) headset with external threading on the fork tube; If that was internal threads like a Dahon and others, you could fit a folding stem, which are available aftermarket.

EDIT: I like the high bars on my Dahon (fixed height stem, not adjustable), but I added clip-on aero bars (mostly to take pressure off my hands on long rides), which also give me a more forward/tucked position if windy. I recently added a "mid-cable" brake handle on the clip-ons for the front brake, in case I need to brake quickly. The mids are all designed for short-pull road brakes, and mine are long-pull v-brakes, but if the brake is well adjusted, I still have enough travel in the lever, and a plus of it having a better leverage ratio, more powerful.