Bike Friday Crusoe ultralight compact bicycles for women

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The Ultralight Crusoe

"Me? Ride a bike? Oh, sure, when I was a kid...."

If there's one thing that almost every man, woman, and child has tried at some time in their life, it's rideing a bike. Why? Cycling is probably the only activity that lets you do it all: keeps you fit, gets you from A to B, doesn't use gas, doesn't eat parking tokens, is quiet, and can be as social or unsocial as you like. And above all, it's fun.

But for some, particularly woman, smaller riders, novices, and older people, biking can be awkward, uncomfortable or just downright scary.

For starters, your average bike is big, weighty and designed for the dimensions of the average male body. Women's bikes are often just "pink versions" of these, and ignore the fact that men tend to have longer arms and shorter legs. This leads to an inefficient, stretched out position that within a mile or three can create back, wrist, knee, and motivation problems for the women cyclist.

Enter the custom Crusoe. Weighing from just 16 lbs., excluding saddle and pedals, it's the lightest and latest offering from Bike Friday, makers of the world's leading performance travel bicycle. To give you an idea of this astonishing achievement, the average big-wheel bike weighs at least ten pounds more, and the lightest aluminum mountain bikes, though weighing in at a sprightly 17-20lbs., neither travels easily nor is the frame readily repaired on an overseas trip.

And the ride? Snappy and agile comes to mind - it feels like an extension of your hands and feet. The frame is constructed from the same tubing as the elite ultralight road model, the Pocket Rocket Pro, but comes standard with flat mountain bike bars and twist shifter.

The Crusoe is the leading lady of the new Bike Friday Petite Series. It is smaller, lighter, and it folds in about 30 seconds to take on a bus, train, or throw in the back of a car. Like all Bike Fridays, it also packs down into a checkable hardshell suitcase for airline travel. Anyone who has tried to take a regular bicycle on an airplane will immediately see the advantage of a Bike Friday.

The suitcase can be used to stow your belongings and towed using an optional trailer kit. The resulting trailer tows well on all types of terrain. Shuttling your luggage like this makes a lot of sense, particularly for touring where you touch down at one destination and depart from another.

For someone who wants to do some light touring, fitness training, or sport riding the Crusoe is perfect - throw a rack and panniers on the back, or pull the trailer. Front rack braze-ons don't come standard, though these can be added. However, in the spirit of "LITE is RIGHT", if you want to carry front bags, you probably want the more sturdy New World Tourist model. Or carry less.

Lightness is something which you may or may not consider important. For some it is not so much the riding as the folding and carrying from A to B where it becomes an advantage. Hauling the bike from place to place, in or out of its suitcase, is where you appreciate less weight. Especially if you are small or not very strong.

For those who are new to the world of travel bikes, the first thing to notice is Bike Friday's signature 20" wheels. The 26" wheel size of a regular bike limits how small the frame can be reduced before the geometry, and therefore fit, is compromised. Small wheels allow a Bike Friday frame to be custom sized to fit riders from as small as 4'6" to as tall as 6'4". Owners include members of the Little People of America, and the odd NBA star who cannot be named but who cannot be missed either, especially when he pedals his Bike Friday to practice!

Small wheels... doesn't that mean you have to pedal more? A common misconception to those new to the world of small wheeled bikes. The answer is no way! The choice of gear ratios is simply adjusted to match the effective ratios of a regular bike. Put another way, one full turn of the pedals on either bike covers the same ground, the wheels of the Bike Friday simply turn more, and though there is a little extra wear on tires, the advantages far outweigh this factor. A large range of high quality tires are now available especially in the Bike Friday touring and mountain models.

Another advantage of small wheels: they're stronger, faster, lighter, and they also accelerate, climb, and turn better. In fact, Bike Fridays have won several time trials and races, including the recent 2001 World HPV Championships (Brighton, United Kingdom).

The second thing to note is the frame design. The low step-over height makes a Bike Friday particularly easy to get on and off, which is perfect for petite, older and novice riders. It´s the "person-friendly" bike.

Like most Bike Fridays, the Crusoe is custom-built to fit the body and riding style of the rider. If you happen to already have a bike that fits you perfectly and would like your Crusoe to ride similar, crucial measurements are taken off your bike and used for sizing. If you don't have a bike that rides well, you'll get a bike that fits you, perhaps for the first time in your life. The fit is guaranteed.

In terms of lightness the Crusoe configurations range from a 20lb, 7-speed model with high quality componentry for around $1100, all the way to the 16lb Crusoe Elite 9-speed for $2145 which boasts ultralight delights like a carbon fibre seatpost and top shelf DuraAce/Ultegra componentry. There are also 14,18 and 27 speed versions too, including a model with the ground-breaking Rohloff 14-gear speedhub, depending on how many mountains you intend to conquer.

To own a Bike Friday is to join its worldwide community of almost 10,000 fanatical owners. The company has a 24 hour hotline to assist you even if you are out in the boonies. "I might be asleep when I answer it, but I'll answer it," says company co-founder and designer, Hanz Scholz. "We can ship parts almost anywhere in the world within 2 days."

See www.bikefriday.com/thecrusoe for sample model configurations of the ultralite Crusoe. The full range of road, mountain, touring, tandem and recumbent Bike Fridays are showcased on www.bikefriday.com.

Call a Bike Friday sales consultant on 1-800-777-0258, email info@bikefriday.com. The Bike Friday Travel Team will help you design your personal Crusoe - the bike for all riders great and small.

www.bikefriday.com
3364 W 11th Ave Eugene OR 97402 USA
Email: info@bikefriday.com
+ 1-800-777-0258 USA & Canada +1 541-687-0487 Elsewhere +1 541-687-0403 Fax