Urbanis

SesameCrunch, how many bikes are presently in your stable and what number are you trying to whittle them down to? What for you is "too much" and what would be just right?

If you are collecting folders, then I'd say you should sell the Bridgestone as you already have another Moulton in your stable. A good collection should have some breadth within the genre.

On the other hand (to play devil's advocate), didn't your poor mother go halfway across the world to get you the Bridgestone just a few months ago? Are you really going to diss her labor of love so quickly?

On the third hand (now invoking Shiva), if you are serious about reducing the number of bicycles you have, then you probably have way too many and you need to be ruthless. Sell both (as jur suggests). Oh, and then put the proceeds in your retirement fund so you can't turn around and invest it in more bikes.

Sammyboy

I think it comes down to a simple question of what you want the bike for. If you want it for the simple purpose of blatting around for fun, and being part of your collection, the Moulton wins hands down. It's probably dynamically superior, definitely more likely to make you smile just by looking at it, and the BF is by comparison, a frumpy boring cousin.

If, however, you wanted to do something like a tour, then the BF wins. I would not want to be stuck out in some cow-town West of Muscogee, trying to find 369 tubes or Capreo parts! Although, frankly, if that's the plac I might be tempted to go with a Downtube for the sake of even more easy fixability. Sell 'em both, buy a DT, and pimp it through the ceiling!

SesameCrunch

Well, fate has intervened and made the decision for me. I was talking to a neighbor about this and he offered to buy my Bike Friday. It'll be his first folding bike, so count that as another folding bike convert. I gave him a good price in exchange for visitation rights. He travels all over the world for his work, so he will be taking this in his suitcase. Just what the BF was designed for. Kismet, I say.

At the end of the day, I decided that my bike collection is not about practicality. What practical person would need 10 bikes? It is about celebrating the uniqueness and diversity of folding bikes. That's what shifted the decision in favor of keeping the BSM. I also think it's sufficiently differentiated from the TSR to warrant keeping.

I do like the Bike Friday, and hope to find a spot for it in the line-up sometime in the future. Given their availability here in California, I have no doubt I'll find another one when that time comes.

I want to say that I really appreciated the input here. What you said made me think and influenced the decision.

Sammyboy

Me! How else can you be sure you have the right bike for every occasion? I've got a Brompton for regular multi-mode commuting, a couple of Downtubes for throwing in the back of the car or the camper van, an old Raleigh tourer converted to Shimano Nexus 7, for riding when I want a capable bike that nobody will steal, a tandem for when the missus wants to ride with me, a vintage road bike and a single speed road bike for when I just want to be fast, an old Raleigh Roadster for when I want to swan sedately about the city not being in a hurry, need I go on? What one bike could practically fulfill all those needs.

Urbanis

Great job! Now you just have to follow through on Jur's advice and sell the BSM--then you'll only have 8 hungry bikes to feed. ;-)

SesameCrunch

Well, I will try to sell off some of the lower-end bikes, like the Downtube Mini. The BSM is going to stay for a while

Russcoles11

The Bike Friday gets my vote to go. The moulton just looks that much classier.
That and it has am ickle Union jack on it and I'm a Brit

gnome

I vote for letting the Bike Friday go. But I am biased in that I am an unashamed Moulton fan.