pampera

Today I have discovered the Bike Friday Haul a Day, didn't know it existed months ago when I was trying to carry both kids on the Dahon Speed TR and wanted a 20" carry-all bike. Then, on March 2014, I bought a Velonom Prana, but still kept the idea of a smaller bike.

Anyone here riding a Haul a Day to share impressions?

Anyone knows if my Speed TR could be a donor bike to a Bike Friday frame? (Just an idea... but in order to have the minimum number of bikes at home could be interesting).

Regards!

edwong3

I seen that two days ago on their website. It seems that this is an entirely new model that has not yet seen a full serial production, but there are enough of them out there to get some input. It seems like a great idea and I wouldn't mind owning one myself.

Bikefriday has a page on "Kickstarter" in a bid to raise the funds for further R&D and to set up an efficient production line for the "Haul A Day". The good news is that they seem to have exceeded by far the sum that they were seeking to raise on Kickstarter.

I don't know the answers to your other questions but maybe someone who actually has one will chime in.

Edward

fietsbob

They Build from Raw Materials in Oregon, and use parts bought wholesale , So the transAtlantic shipping cost for old bike parts is not in your Favor,
like shipping an AlAn to Italy for repairs was Too Much from Oregon.

Not sure if they are shipping yet, they have an Email communication, ask Directly..

pampera

I know, it's just and idea for now, as I'm happy with my bikes, and also don't discard the idea of attaching an electrical assist to the Velonom, but maybe for the future, if I go to USA again and can bring a Bike Friday frame with me or maybe ship only the frame if I dont travel. Just thinking aloud about this and asking for impressions to ponder if it could replace the Velonom and the Dahon for example.

Users impressions and opinions means a lot to me, as they save a lot of cut and try.

One of the reasons is metro (subway) travels here in Madrid: folders and disassembled bikes can travel all day long. Full assembled bikes have severe travel hour restrictions (aroung mid day only). This model of Bike Friday could be the best of the two bikes in one. Or not. ; )

Foldable Two

You can go onto the Bike Friday website and read owner's reports for the new Haul-a-Day. There are like 50 of them out there, now. (See link below.)

BF Engineer, Willie Hatfield, won both the Portland and Eugene Disaster Relief Trials this year on a Haul-a-Day. There were like a dozen of them entered in the Eugene, OR event- see Willie at finish in Pic below. . We attended both, and it was very impressive.

https://www.bikefriday.com/bicycles/...es__haul-a-day

I test rode one this last Summer. It was unloaded at the time, and felt just like my NWT.

Lou

fietsbob

Foldable 2 gets around much more than I Do.. the transit is unwieldy, Round Trip, for the Carless between here and Eugene ..
North to westbound , The busses dont Synch so a Layover in PDX is required Overnight.



You may want to research that further.. I dont believe the Haul-a-day breaks down in length**,
I read they made the main frame tube a reach adjustment and the HB & Seat mast are adjustable in height for 1 product fits most-all sizing..

So for the Metro, keep that folder Intact..


** The pictures below seem to Confirm That..

smallwheeler

these look awesome. many configurations possible it seems. adjustable toptube. the spacing on the increments looks like it adjusts from 54-60cm effective tube length.

Foldable Two

The frame is not "foldable", but can be shortned horizontially via its OSATA design. I seem to remember the BF folks confirming it will fit on local area bus racks.

Lou

invisiblehand

I assumed that someone else shared this but here is the Haul-a-Day kickstarter.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...o-bike-built-f

pampera

You're right. It's not a choice between folders, it's a choice between cargo bikes. (Whenever I can, I wait until the next "setting" is riding until selling/giving the older setting, where setting means combination of bikes/child seats/display of the bike).
Maybe time helps me to choose, if the years to come put me weak for a big bike like the Velonom, for example, or if any of the bikes shows an extra or absolute needed skill.

pampera

No wonder so many people backed a so much needed design!

Cant understand why mainstream bike companies didnt do this design before. They make 20 models almost identical, no choice for kids/cargo/small people/big people, difficult hills. Also cant understand why main companies dont offer a basic choice of two or three frames and then personalize your bike as you wish, it could be cheaper for all if they dont offer real different models.

I didnt know about the Haul a Day when bought the Velonom and also I dont regret because it's a great bike, but if knew then maybe I would have made another choice.

southpawboston

I was one of the kickstarter pledgers, and I'll be receiving my 8-speed Hauladay in about a month!

bendembroski

I'm on the verge of selling my Vaya, and ordering one of these.

smallwheeler

that was a smart move.

CliffordK

There are quite a few cargo bikes available. Bike Friday is pretty dedicated to making their bikes in the USA, unlike other brands such as Yuba.

As far as customizing their bikes, BF has created a model where they take orders, then build the bikes up (from scratch?) to the customer's specs. And, I think most of their sales are factory direct.

Trek now has a "Project One" which is also supposed to customize their top of the line bikes.

For those companies that have chosen to ship manufacturing overseas, I would think it would be possible to do custom builds.... but everything seems to be about bulk large scale mass production. Shipping small orders from Asia to the USA is always a problem, but not insurmountable as many e-bay sellers have found.

Of course, a company could also do 90% of the manufacturing overseas, then paint and assemble here.

Azreal911

I don't think that's really profitable or would raise the pricepoint quite a bit with an overseas factory were they are originally setup for mass production of the same item. having different settings for each and every bike that passes by would require alot more calculations and setup time to make sure everything is right and also it becomes alot more complex than just welding the same parts with the same jig over and over without any change. For them to start doing that you will find the bottom line isn't that great anymore and you don't really ship containers of bikes when doing that, individual packages would easily tag on $100+ on each and every bike right off the top. Bike friday is really a niche market here as well as Bromptons where you can do custom orders, hence the higher price because they can only put out soo many bikes a day vs the 100's or 1000's in a typical factory in China.

Probably why Trek is only doing this with their high end market to make it worthwhile because they will price it high also. Doing custom jobs for low end bikes is just not feasable, buyers looking for low end cannot be too concerned about custom bikes else they would be paying for that category of bikes.

bendembroski

For their 'standard' models it's more about being able to quickly change a design or add a feature into production than it is about custom builds.

CliffordK

Everyone points to cheap labor in China as the reason why products are cheap too.

I'm not sure what the average wages are... I assume they're increasing, but at least in some markets, it might be $10 a day for moderately skilled labor. For that, one could pay a person to get a custom build sheet, and build a bike from spokes up to the customer's specs... for pennies. With a well designed process, a factory could build 100+ semi-custom bikes in a day, say 1 or 2 day turn-around. Fill a connex box, and ship them off for redistribution in the US at a negligible cost for extra labor. One might not get the same packing density as some boxed bikes, but one could save on the final assembly and tuning in the USA. And, one could do a lot with bubble wrapping bikes without boxes. Labor would not be the limiting factor.

One of the problems that occurs, however, is the marketing of quality vs cost. It is often seen in wheels. People complain about poorly build wheels, cheap spokes, straight spokes, etc. With enough care, quality products could be made.

How many people are willing to wait for a custom build (and pay extra) vs picking it up off the shelf at Walmart?

Of course, I'm happy to see companies that are dedicated to US manufacturing as well as their employees and the community.

wajg3

I for one am not only willing to wait (and pay extra) for a quality bike rather than one off the shelf at Walmart. In fact my wife and I not only purchased a BF but drove down from Canada to try them out and then go back to pick our bikes up. I am willing to pay a bit more to keep our economies working. If the USA economy tanks Canada is not far behind. In addition I have a warranty for life and to date great customer service. I wish I had the room and cash for a Haul a Day as I would buy one. They look like a blast.
By the way I was in Walmart in my area yesterday and checked out their bikes. Many of them had loose spokes and the brakes were not set up right. You get what you pay for.