By Graham McDermott
The Bike Friday Web Pages are always an interesting read - but be warned they can be expensive! Last February I was browsing on the site and saw details of a new Bike Friday: the Air Glide. It appeared to be very similar to the Air Friday, but to me had the advantage of taking the standard 406 (20") tyre (loads of choice) and the facility for front and rear carriers, mudguards and a wide range of gears - the Sachs 3x7, of which more later.
A quick phone call to Vince Mackenzie at Valley Cycles and five weeks later I was the owner of the first Air Glide into the UK.
My first impressions were very favourable, with the bike giving a quick and lively ride. My only slight reservations concerned the Sachs hub gear. Although it gave a superb range of gears - 24" to 112" - I had two problems with it. With the 21 gears, I always seemed to be in the wrong one. Secondly, I felt that the added weight, and the slight drag I felt the gear gave, were not in keeping with the nippy ride I felt the AG should give.
So I decided to change the supplied gearing for a more standard Shimano 105 set up, with a 52/39 chain ring and a 12-30 block giving me something in the upper 20s to 90ish top gear. This was ideal for my kind of riding, and the bike was as if transformed. The weight fell by 2lbs to 25lbs, and I experienced the ride I expected: fast, lively and extremely comfortable, thanks to the suspension on the bars and seat post.
At Folder Forum, in May, my Air Glide covered over 200 miles. I am sure that 100 of those were done by people test riding the bike: it seemed everyone wanted a go! All said how comfortable the ride was. On a day ride someone pulled up next to me and said “Are you worried about that beam you are sitting on moving up and down as you ride along?” “No,” I replied, “I would be more worried if it didn’t.”
After 1000 + miles, I feel that the Air Glide is Bike Friday’s ultimate touring machine. It is comfortable, has great luggage capacity and takes a wide range of tyres (the bike comes complete with three sets of your choice). Okay, it’s not a commuting bike inasmuch as it doesn’t pop into a bag in a minute or so. But for the longer tour where quickness of fold isn’t your primary concern, the ride quality more that makes up for a couple of extra minutes dismantling the bike. And do remember that together with the Bike Friday carry on bags you can actually take your Air Glide onto a plane as carry on luggage. Now how many other top class tourers can you say that about?
The AirGlide also featured in an article in the latest issue of A to B Magazine (1). Rather oddly, the picture accompanying the article seems to show an Air Friday, rather than an AirGlide, but the article itself certainly relates to the AirGlide - in fact it is Graham McDermott's machine that was tested. The report comments that “First impressions are very good ...”, and they found plenty to like about the bike, and little to dislike.
1. “Impressions: Bike Friday AirGlide”, A to B, Issue 7, August/September 1998, pp 28-29.
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Last updated: 1 September 1998
Copyright (C)1998 Graham McDermott
URL: http://www.whooper.demon.co.uk/bfriday/newsh01/airglide.html