Tag Archives: becoming a bicycle

Becoming a bicycle, part 5

Posted on February 2, 2011 by

Welcome to final assembly. You’re at the end of the Bike Friday tikit production line (and because the operation is so compact, you could still hold a reasonable conversation with someone at the start of the line). The frame is … Continue reading →

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Becoming a bicycle, part 4

Posted on January 29, 2011 by

The tubing has been bent, cut and connected. The steel heart of the bicycle has been painted. Decals have been applied. This is the frame of the Bike Friday tikit at rest, in pieces. To underline the obvious, this is … Continue reading →

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Becoming a bicycle, part 3

Posted on January 26, 2011 by

The most important attribute of any bicycle is its color. There are those who will disagree with me, and I will shortly disagree with myself, but for now, believe me, color is more important than quality, durability, suitability—any of the … Continue reading →

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Becoming a bicycle, part 2

Posted on January 23, 2011 by

When I was a full-time bicycle mechanic, I didn’t necessarily look up to professional bicycle racers as the best representatives of the sport. Greg LeMond, after all, was Greg LeMond, a guy who took his prodigious talent to France to … Continue reading →

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Becoming a bicycle, part 1

Posted on January 20, 2011 by

While Green Gear, the company that makes Bike Friday bicycles, uses the Toyota Production System, people used to video of modern automated automobile factories might not recognize the bicycle maker’s version of it. One reason: none of its bending or … Continue reading →

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