We just bought a used Bike Friday Family Tandem as a way to live up to our claim, repeated often over the last six or seven years, that when gas hit $4 per gallon, we'd change something about how we use our cars. It's not the price - we can afford the gas - but that number provided a nice line in the sand to spur us to action.

We've had the bike for nearly three weeks so far, and we use it primarily for taking our 9-year-old son to and from school, 2 miles away. What's ideal about the Family Tandem, and why we bought it, is the ease with which we can adjust the captain's seat post and stoker's handlebars every day. I'm 6' tall, and my wife is 5'3", so finding a tandem that either of us could captain was a daunting prospect. (It would be even cooler if there were a quick-release adjustment lever and markings on the tubes.)

So far we've avoided driving about 30 miles per week, and as my wife's legs slowly return to the strength they had when we did a long post-college bike trip 19 years ago, we're extending the distance we're comfortable biking instead of driving. And this is in Ithaca, NY, which is known for its gorges (and thus its hills).

This afternoon, for instance, I'll bike 2 miles to pick my son up at school, and then we'll bike another 4 miles downtown to his doctor's appointment, and then 6 miles home (up a massive hill). I know it's not far compared to what serious bikers do, but every mile not driven is a good thing, and for my wife in particular, the health benefits are substantial.

More important, the unusual look of the Family Tandem means that we get a lot of attention, allowing us to explain just why we're doing our commuting on a tandem and telling people how many miles we're putting on the bike instead of the car. Cheers ... - Adam

PROBLEM: My partner is blind. We'd like to find a way to exercise effectively ad enjoyably together
SOLUTION: A Bike Friday tandem - exercise, travel, togetherness

When a freak car accident left Yvonne, an avid tennis player, completely sightless, her husband Dave looked for a new activity they could do together and would provide good exercise. The couple amazed the 120 riders at the 2008 Australian Bike Friday Club Gathering by riding big distances with ease - then neatly packing their Traveler XL tandem into their classic Austin Healy.

"I found an overseas tandem tour on the internet and the operator could only offer us a 20 year old clunker," said Dave, a car restoration enthusiast. "I did more research and came across Bike Friday and I immediately knew we'd found what we were looking for."
What's not to love about performance that packs into a roadster? See the couple in action in the movie clip "An Alternative View", featuring the Thompsons and another blind stoker, Pam and her dog Earl, in the ABFC '08 tour report.

PROBLEM: I can't get a bike to fit me.
SOLUTION: Custom Bike Fridays fit all riders great and small
Bike Friday has proved a great solution for my particular problem of getting a bike that FITS! It's well known that women usually have shorter torsos so need a shorter top tube. This poses even more of a problem if you're a short-waisted woman. I am 5' 7 1/2", but have long legs and arms and a really short torso (I need to wear "petites" when buying dresses, or else the waist hits about 2" below my actual waist). Trying to find a bike that fit from the get-go, or even tweaking components to fit, was really problematic. I'd bought a Trek "woman's" commuter bike a few years back, and after 2 months of commuting had bad upper back and neck pain.

Then I looked at Bike Friday, and discovered I could get a NWT custom made for my measurements for about $1500, nicely equipped (as they say in the car ads).
Cool! My sweetie and I drove down to Eugene, took a test ride, and ordered on the spot. We've had our bikes for about 9 months now and my bike fits! I toured the Oregon Coast on it last year, and ride it a few days a week for commuting/errands/recreation. No back or neck pain!

For me, the fact that my NWT fits me so well was the solution to my problem. That it also is such a great travel bike, for the price of $1500 makes it a "best buy" to boot. And I feel really good about supporting my local economy and buying a bike made locally, from a great bunch of folks. - Lisa Wylie, Portland, OR

Read about Woman on Fridays and Petite Fridays Read more stories of little wheels solving problems on the Bike Friday website