My wife and I first heard about Bike Friday about two years ago, and after a test ride of a couple of models, I was hooked. After some research, and some saving, we finally placed our order for a Traveler XL. I specifically wanted a sport tuned tandem that was stiffer than the folding models. I weigh quite a bit more than the average bike industry expects to ride their bikes, and when I saw that a 240+ rider can get on the XL I was very pleased. We picked up the bike, and after a bit of patient coaching from the Bike Friday staff, we had the bike in the suitcases, and we were on our way home. Our first ride was simple, we put our two kids into our Burley DeLite and went for about ten miles, then back to the house, dropped the wife and kids off and I went on for another ten miles. The tandem XL is quick to accelerate, and very nimble. The light weight is nice when I am towing the family, or just on it by myself, and the easy step over height is wonderful for getting on and off. The staff at Bike Friday has been helpful and accessible. Thanks Bike Friday!

Frustrated at being left out of group rides with the fun-loving adults, my 8-year-old daughter demanded a solution. Road bike? Trailer? Boarding school?

My goal was simple: find a lightweight tandem which would let me (a fairly strong rider, 5'11", 145lbs) take my daughter (4'4", 60lbs) on 20-30 mile rides maintaining 18-22mph. Rejecting tempting solutions from Santana, Cannondale and Burley as way too expensive or too heavy, I remembered Bike Friday and discovered the 34 lb. XL.

My XL arrived on time, configured exactly as I requested. There were no assembly instructions in the carton, however, and at 8:00pm that evening the carefully wrapped pile of tubes and cables seemed intimidating. But by 11:00pm, I had constructed something that could be pedaled with gears that shifted and brakes which braked.

The performance of the XL has exceeded my expectations. In our hilly surroundings, my daughter and I fly down the hills, cruise the flats and climb with determination. Next summer, Italy!

We have a Traveler XL Triple. We took ours to Hawaii last summer and rode 250 miles on the Big Island and Maui. We completely packed and re-packed twice for the trip. Also, ten times during the trip, we broke the bike down and put it in the trunk of our rental car to shuttle to the starting point of a loop ride at different locations on the islands.

Last year we took the bike to Pensacola, Fla., the Smoky Mountains around Gatlinburg, Tenn., and the Eastern Tandem Rally in Gettysburg, Penn.

As a tandem, we took the bike to Dayton, Ohio and Indianapolis, Ind. last year also, as well as Denver, Colo. over Christmas.

I usually don't have a need to convert back and forth between tandem and triplet, I usally assemble it as one or the other. The conversion only takes about 10 minutes. The only problem we had with ours was the chain drop problem, and we solved it with Hanz's help by converting to a full crossover drive system. It has worked well for us. There may be other solutions, but this is what I asked for, and Bike Friday obliged.

Our middle stoker is now 56 inches tall and 80 pounds. I have a write up on our Hawaii trip at http://www.ghg.net/currie/hawaii/hawaii.htm

After we got back, Grandma Currie asked Amanda what her most favorite part of her vacation was, and the answer: riding the bike.

I love to talk and tell people about our bike, so send me a note if you'd like more info.