Bike Friday New World Tourist: How Fast Is The Fold?

Posted on by Darren Alff
27
Feb

The Bike Friday New World Tourist is a folding bicycle capable of world travel. The folding characteristics of the bike allow it to be checked as regular baggage with most international airlines, thereby eliminating the excess baggage fees that are usually required when flying with a full-size bicycle.

The Bike Friday New World Tourist is a great little bike for fully-loaded bicycle touring, but one of the most common questions I get about the bike has to do with the folding and unfolding process. People ask, “”How long does it take to fold and unfold the bicycle each time you decide to use it?”

The truth is, the Bike Friday New World Tourist is not a “fast-fold” bicycle. While there are other Bike Friday and folding bike models that fold and unfold in a matter of seconds, the New World Tourist is not one of those bicycles – nor is it intended to be.

The first time you put the New World Tourist together and take it apart, it may take you anywhere from 30-60 minutes. After a few times of practicing the fold, however, folding and unfolding the bicycle becomes a whole lot easier and the time required for putting the bicycle together or taking it apart can be reduced to as little as 5-15 minutes.

Watch the video above and you will see how the New World Tourist is put together with the use of two quick releases and multiple Allen wrench connections.

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Darren Alff

My goal as the "Bicycle Touring Pro" is to give you the confidence and inspiration you need to travel by bicycle anywhere in the world. I'm here to help you plan, prepare for, and execute your first bike tour and remove all the guesswork, wasted time and frustration that plagues so many first-time bicycle travelers.

4 thoughts on “Bike Friday New World Tourist: How Fast Is The Fold?”

  1. Brimstone says:

    Thanks Darren for the honest reportage on folding the NWT. The (relatively) slow fold/unfold of this bike is often downplayed by BF enthusiasts. Some may be fooled into thinking it’s a good bike for everyday commuting and they can quickly pack it for carrying onto public transport. It’s not ideal for that use (but possible). Rather it’s a folding tourer. Now in your video you didn’t just unfold the bike; you unpacked it. I’d think simple folding/unfolding after it’s assembled must be much quicker than 15 min.

    It’s not necessary to deflate the tires for air travel (though it may be necessary to fit a bike into a case). They won’t ‘blow up’. I pack several pairs of disposable nitrile gloves for assembly/dis assembly. Sucks to start a tour with greasy hands. Disposable plastic shopping bags work, too.

    Have you found any solutions for storing a hard travel case when arriving and unpacking? What kind of suitcase is that? A BF standard case? Have you tried the BF case/trailer?

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