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This makes Bert Cebular, owner of NYCE, our 'Uptown' tikitTM agent. 'Downtown' is served by folding bike specialist David Lam of Bfold bikes, who also sells and services custom Fridays. Although one can quickly get from Uptown to Downtown on the subway, anyone who knows what a NY minute is to locals will get why two tikitTM agents in NY are better than one! Unfortunately, a 6pm deluge caused all the Friday folk to reneg on their RSVPs except for yours truly, but a stoic bunch of Bert's loyal customers straggled in to his tiny store to demolish a snack smorgasbord and bike suitcase full of ice and beer. "I called up about 200 people, shame about the rain," said Bert. Called? "Yep, we phoned them one by one." Talk about being personal in a world of email, evites and listserves ... A closet party animal, Bert hopes to run regular get togethers like this to spread folding bike cheer. Contact him to get on his mailing list, but you might well get a friendly personal call inviting you along. Local singer Beth Burrows, popped by with her intended, Marcel, to rhapsodize about folding bike life. "I didn't bike for years, we bought Bromptons and now we bike everywhere. We love Amsterdam, there are no hills." "How about Italy?" I ventured. "There's hills there, right?" Ah! Perhaps it's time to upgrade to a folder with some serious gears, like those offered on the new Built To Order tikitTM? "OK, what's so good about the tikitTM?" was the question on everyone's lips as the shop's demo tikitTM was rolled out and rolled around. Well ... folds faster, rides nicer, more sizing choices, goes in a standard suitcase ... that kind of thing. "And?" "Let's watch a video." We all gathered round to watch the lighthearted Round*Up 2007 Fast Fold Showdown on YouTube, where a Brompton, Moulton, Xootr Swift, Bike Friday Pocket Rocket Pro and a tikitTM are put through a fun test. An audible whoop went up at the same place in the movie as always - when David Lam fast folds the tikitTM. "Mmmmm, I'll just stick to my huffy, it gets me around," said one gent, who was lucky enough to be retired and living around the corner. As you can see, there are horses for courses, steeds for deeds, and we're delighted to offer New York commuters another folding choice at NYCE - just as long as they get on a bike and ride. Thank you to Bert and his staff for welcoming Bike Friday to New York City. Look for NYCE from November 1, 2007 under www.bikefriday.com/dealers NYCE Wheels, owner Bert Cebular |
RELATED LINKS Read about the tikitTM Bike Friday's Expanded Mission The tikitTM 's reason for being Bike Friday in NY Little wheels in the Big Apple |