[Yak] 20-speed custom Tikit

[Andy Heath]

Packing my tikit takes about 10 mins.
Packing the NWT about 30 mins (used to be longer).

Tikit:

Take front wheel out
remove handlebars
fold pedals
fold it, turn a screw (i have an early model) and bung it all in.

Extra steps with NWT:

Take pedals off
Take rack off
(in the old days with the smaller case I had also to dismantle the rack 
- very fiddly and slow).
Fiddle around more because a) the fit is tighter and b) I guess I worry 
more about the NWT - its a bigger part of my life.

Don't remember about bottle cages - I think I have to take them off both 
- they are really quick to take on and off anyway.

The difference is such that for a short trip of a couple of days or one 
where I have to pack/repack the bike several times and wasn't carrying 
much luggage I would definitely take the tikit but might not take a bike 
at all otherwise (who can afford the hours pack/unpack 8 or more times 
on a short trip (minimum is 4 times)).

andy
> Alex - maybe I'm just a slower packer than you! If I compare what I
> need to to do pack the Tikit vs. the NWT, the breakdown is pretty
> similar:
>
> * Remove front and rear racks and fenders: about the same amount of
> time on both, but slight advantage to the Tikit because I'm using
> Planet Bike fenders on the NWT and removing the stays and the bolt at
> the chainstay bridge takes some additional time. I initially thought I
> could get the Tikit in the travel case with the rear rack attached but
> I couldn't figure out a way to do it.
> * Remove lights: identical
> * Remove bottle cage behind the seat mast: slight advantage to NWT
> because it has one cage that can be left mounted, whereas I can't get
> my Tikit in the travel case if I leave the cage mounted behind the
> seat mast.
> * Remove seat post: identical
> * Remove pedals: identical
> * Remove front wheel and install fork spreader: identical
> * Remove handlebars: slight advantage to NWT. My NWT has split
> handlebars so I don't need to completely remove the stem cap, just
> loosen it; for the Tikit with unsplit bars I need to remove the 2-bolt
> stem cap and then reattach it.
> * Remove stem riser: slight advantage to the Tikit because my NWT has
> the new folding stem riser, so I have to loosen the wedge, remove the
> insert, and then tighten up the wedge again.
> * Put padding on exposed parts: identical
> * Fold bike and put in travel case: identical
> * Nestle parts in among the folded bike: identical
>
> I agree that the Tikit wins for multi-modal commuting and other
> circumstances when you need a fast fold, but I don't see a clear
> advantage in speed of packing. If you have time, could you point out
> the major differences in your experience? I am using the same
> Samsonite Flite case for both, which may make a difference, though I
> can't think of any other part on my NWT that I could  remove that
> would make a difference in packing.
>
> Brian
>
> On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 8:14 PM, Alex Wetmore<alex at phred.org>  wrote:
>
>> I'm surprised by your statement on the packing time.  I found my NWT to take about 2-3x as long to pack as my Tikit (including racks and fenders on both), but I was using the smaller case for the NWT.  The number of bolt-on bits for the Tikit is smaller.
>


Cheers

andy
-- 
andy heath
When you can pedal, walking is a bit pedestrian