An Affordable Alternative

The $1,395 Pocket Llama

For most, a travel bike is a second or third bike. Your money is sunk into your primary mountain bike, with maybe a second standby off-roader or a road bike for training. This doesn't leave $3,000 laying around for an Air Llama. The Bike Friday Pocket Llama is an affordable alternative. A Softride suspension stem replaces the Action-Tec front suspension; a Tamer suspension seatpost replaces the titanium beam. The drivetrain is downgraded to a Sachs 3X8 system (single front chainring, eight rear cogs and three-speed hub). Avid in brakes and levers and Shimano Rapidfire shift pods are attached to a two-piece handlebar assembly that slides into the modified Softride stem. Run-of-the-mill 20-inch wheels and tires round out the mix.

We liked the suspension seatpost, but we would be willing to trade the Softride stem, with its funky motion and sloppy bushings, for a normal, rigid stem. The Sachs three-speed hub worked well but will not shift under load. Overall gearing with this system was a little high for technical singletrack climbing. Still, the result is a usable and much more affordable traveling mountain bike.