Originally Posted by
Ron Damon
There have been a handful of FSIR threads discussing those and other aspects of the bike going back to 2018. It's all in the channel archive. Relative to a hinge bifolder, it folds larger, but it actually folds and is self standing when folded, and it was 9.6kg in weight stock, out of the box. Last time I weighed mine, it was 9.5kg. Again that's in the channel archive.
The issue of sizing and reach is overstated. One reason is that unlike, say, a Birdy, Brompton and the Frankenstein Swift, the FSIR takes standard, non proprietary handleposts which come in a range of lengths and angles, including banana shape handleposts. These inexpensive, ubiquitous handleposts further allow the installation of extending stems, if needed. Beware the outdated notion of the channel gurus that there is flex in these handleposts or its mechanism. That's no longer the case in 2024 and for several years now. It's a concocted non-issue today, and a reflection of their bikes and their knowledge.
FSIR: Thanks, I'll look.
Stems: There is most definitely rigid stems available, and I would even go so far as to say, most folders have them. Bike Friday has stayed with their skinny long steel stems and long steel seatposts. The seatpost, I think they actually want the aft flex as a semi-suspension, and it allows custom (standard size) top ends, like for suspension. Also, the skinnier frame seat tube gives a lot more room for the front derailleur to go way inward for a triple crank.
The stem, I think it relates to their folding strategy, as the stem comes out for folding. Otherwise, there's tons of more-rigid aftermarket stems available that they could use, copied from Dahon or Brompton designs after patents expired, I would imagine, that are very nice looking forged or swaged tapers, thick at the base, quite optimum structurally. BF is famous for customer accommodation, I'm sure if a customer desired a modern folding stem, they would provide a fork with a bit longer steering tube, sans external threading and headset nut, with internal threads, to mate with a modern stem and preload bolt.