2010 Seattle Century Finish Line with the Bike Friday Tikit Model-T

The Bike Friday Tikit Model-T at the finish line.  The bike performed flawlessly and confidently through the entire hilly course.  The stock 8 speeds provided the perfect range of gear inches for the entire route.  100 miles, 5220 feet of elevation gain, 11 hours from start to finish including rest stops. Good job Bike Friday for making a bike which I not only take on the bus with me every day, but is also a grocery getter and centurion.

Repair kit.

Century grade repair gear.

1. Three new tubes
2. Patch kit
3. Sticker patches (not that these have worked in the past)
4. Extra glue
5. 3 16 gram CO2 cartridges and nozzle
6. Extra seat post pinch bolt
7. Rim tape to replace my front wheel's rim tape when the opportunity presents itself.
8. Two Pedro tire levers.  These are awesome.
9. Stock BF allen wrench
10. Multi-tool
11. Frame pump
12. Small Swiss Army Knife.
13. iPhone (for bus routing and schedules in case of a complete equipment fail)
14. My cycling partner was carrying our first aid kit on her bike.
15. Cash, the ultimate repair tool.

Graceful Dismount

First graceful dismount at the 10 mile rest stop.  Zipped up a wet grassy hill.  Not such a brilliant idea on Kojaks.  They are like glue to pavement, but worthless on every other surface I've tried them on.

Ortlieb Small Pannier. A trunk for my junk.

Sure, it might not be the most aerodynamic thing in the world, but I am not a fast rider and carrying weight low makes for good handling. It's a bit more puffed out than it was on the Century.  I like that this bag yields a smaller wind profile when loaded more lightly.  It's really an awesome bag.  Easy off with one hand, but never falls off in transit even under rather extreme circumstances.

Ergon small dia grips and bar ends.

The Ergon grips made all the difference in the world.  Once the stock bell and shifter were out of the way, these grips, in size small, enabled me to get a secure grip on the bars between the first two fingers and thumb, while giving a nice comfy platform for my palms.  I adjusted the rotational angle of the grips such that, with my padded gloves on, I felt secure and supported while not feeling like my hands were going to slip forward over the bars.  It took a while to get this angle exactly right.

The bar ends helped greatly when climbing out of the saddle. While I normally would opt for traditional MTB bar ends to get me farther forward over the stem, they would have increased the folded size of the bike.  These are a good compromise.  They are full size and are covered in sticky rubber so they are easy to get a confident grip on.

Handlebar water bottle holder so two bottles can be carried onboard

Since holstering the seat post water bottle proved dangerous, I needed my water bottle to be more available.  Also, since some rest stops were 25 miles apart, I needed two water bottles to make it between stops.  I found bits to mount this holder on the handlebar.  At first, the bottle hit my chest when climbing while out of the saddle.  When I rotated the cage away from me far enough for the bottle nipple to not poke me in the chest, the cage pressed on the shifter cables.  This necessitated rotating both the shifter and right brake lever farther forward than was optimal.

I still don't have an optimal solution, but at least this kept the bottle top far enough away for this ride. It also let me carry two full bottles from each rest stop.  After draining the one on the bars, I was able to swap for the spare easily and keep going.

Shimano Alivio Rapid Fire shifter

 

I found the Shimano Rapid Fire type shifter to be much more conducive to handling rolling hills and switching between seated climbing and out of the saddle climbing where going up or down 3 or 4 gears at a time is the norm.  It also  yielded a more secure grip on the bars than the stock gripshift.

Incredibell

The stock bell, while musically pleasant, did not get attention.  The Incredibell solved this, but necessitated rethinking grips (which was the next step anyhow).

Selle Royale 60 degree moderate seat and tail bag for flat repair gear

While seats are a matter of personal taste, I found this seat to be the only one I could ride the entire 100 miles with which wouldn't bruise my sit bones or neuter me.  On the balance between the two, this one tilts more toward the neutering side and less on the sit bones due to the squishy surface and lack of a center cutaway or indent.  For me and this ride, it was the right balance.

I kept my tools and flat repair gear in the tail bag as this is most convenient when commuting too.  I carried three spare tubes, a roll of rim tape, patch kit, 2 CO2 cartridges and a nozzle, levers, and a chain master link.  The frame pump was just a backup.

Tikit rear rack

The Tikit rear rack let me hang my small Ortlieb pannier on the left to hold my junk on the ride.  It's a solidly made rack, but the pannier's rear clip has to be mounted behind the rear crossbar to avoid heel strike.  Since I only use the one left pannier for my commute and on long rides, I'm satisfied with it's compact low slung design and associated limitations.

Oh, this rack is awesome to set the bike on when folded.  The rubber hoses on the edges keep it from sliding up the aisle on the bus when the driver slams on the brakes.

Schwalbe Kojak tires and quality cloth rim tape

Replaced the stock Schwalbe Marathons with Schwalbe Kojak tires for significantly lower rolling resistance and a quieter ride.  While I was at it, I installed high quality rim tape to protect the higher pressure tubes.  Definitely worth it.

These tires are fast and sticky, but only on pavement.  They are not as versatile or pinch-flat resistant as the stock Marathons.

Tire pressure indicating valve stem caps.

Indicator valve caps let me know if the pressure drops below 80PSI.  I keep the pressure between 80 and the rated 115 PSI of the Schwalbe Kojak tires.

Double front chain guards prevent chain drop

After having the occasional issue dropping the chain while flying the bike, I bought a TruVativ 52 tooth chainguard online and moved the stock chain guard inboard with five 3mm spacers and five new stack bolts. Hasn't come off again.  And, the new chain guard looks great.

SRAM PC850 chain with PowerLink

It may be my imagination, but I think chain is a tad quieter than the stock one.  The powerlink shown makes it a field replaceable chain.

Fuel sticker and more frame reflectors.

I just love this sticker from Fuel coffee company in Seattle.  Had to have.  Also added more lime green side reflectors.

Side reflectors

Side reflectors both in the wheels and forks for a bit more night time visibility.

Frame mount pump

After having been stranded out in the boonies last week after exhausting my two CO2 cartridges, it was time to add a frame pump.  There's something to be said for unlimited air.  This one is a double extender and mounts on the two water bottle mount brazons. It tucks neatly between the seat post and the water bottle holder.  It is completely unobtrusive when riding or folding.

Specialized water bottle holder

This holder works well with my platypus type water bottles and also holds the bottle a little lower which lets me extract it while riding and clear the seat bag.  Of course, reholstering any water bottle in this location while riding is a bit suicidal.

Clipless Pedals

Added my old Shimano 747 SPD clipless pedals.  These have powered five previous century rides and probably have more in them.  I have them dialed a little loose and they have a few degrees of float which makes them easy on the knees.  If you haven't committed to a system yet, I'd highly recommend the SpeedPlay Frogs instead however as they have a lot of free float and are super easy to unclip from.

Bright stickers

Since the bike only came with one rear reflector which conflicted with the seat bag and water bottle holders, I found these reflective stickers which also are attention getting during daylight hours.  Or, so I hope.

Front fender stays

 From a LBS, I obtained a plastic fender mount and two wire stays which I was able to cut and bend to secure the front fender.  Now, it's much more secure.

Standard issue kickstand

I love that the BF team chose to build in a mount for a standard kickstand.  After seeing so many bikes falling over at the rest stops on past rides, it was quite a luxury to bolt on a standard $6 kickstand.  The kickstand didn't even require any cutting as the mount is the same distance from the ground as on a "normal" bike. 

Even the fancy pants road bikes don't have a place to mount a kickstand this good.  You'd think that if some of the other riders could afford a $5000 bike, they could also afford a $6 kickstand to keep it of the gravel. 

Stainless steel seatpost and stem pinch bolts

The very first thing I replaced was the pinch bolts for both the seat and stem.  From REI, I bought two high grade stainless steel bolts to ensure the clamps wouldn't "let me down."