Bike Friday Tikit warning

Bike Friday tikit stem SAFETY WARNING:
Stop riding your tikit immediately

[http://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/...break.new.jpg]

An important Safety Warning from Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz

Dear Bike Friday tikit owners:

It is with much concern that I write to you today. We have found that
your tikit could be dangerous to ride. I want to tell you in the
strongest terms we recommend all Bike Friday tikit owners to stop riding
their bicycles immediately, until we have fully determined which tikits
are at risk.

We have learned that two tikit stems have broken. A stem break is a very
serious issue. Should your stem break while you are riding it there is a
high risk of losing control of your bike causing you to crash with
serious injury or even death as a result.

In August, 2012, an owner of a Bike Friday tikit sustained injury when
his front stem broke while riding. Earlier this month, in September,
2012, a second stem failure was brought to our attention.

We received the first bike for inspection [PHOTO ABOVE, right. The
second is still unavailable to us] 10 days ago, and upon reviewing the
results of that inspection we acknowledge the potential exists for front
stems to crack, and ultimately break.

Because of that, we recommend you do not ride your tikit until we can
conduct enough tests to isolate the problem, the extent of its potential
for failure, and implement safeguards to make your tikit safe to ride again.

Please follow this link to our website to fill out a registration
formhttp://www.bikefriday.com/momentum/tikit_register so we can keep
all tikit owners updated as we work through this issue. We will follow
up this email with more information on how to inspect your tikit for
potential problems.

We are very serious at Green Gear about this. Many of us are regular and
extensive tikit users. I have ridden a tikit since the first weeks of
production in spring 2007. I rode it to work daily and on tours -- even
doing several century rides on it until it was stolen last year. My wife
and two of my daughters own and ride tikits regularly.

The tikit is an important transportation solution for my two daughters
and neither owns an automobile, relying on their bike for most travel. I
understand that this will also be true for many of you.

I say this so you understand how deeply I apologize for the
inconvenience this causes for you not to ride your tikit until we have
come up with a safe solution for you.

At this time our engineers and designers have been working to replicate
the problem so we can develop solutions. We have stems being tested
around the clock. I promise we will share our findings as soon as we
have enough information to draw conclusions and offer solutions. Until
then, please do not ride your tikit and make sure you register your
contact
informationhttp://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/stem%20cracks.4.jpg
with us.

This safety warning only affects Bike Friday 16-inch wheel tikits. We
have suspended production and delivery of tikits. It does not affect any
of our 20-inch Pocket Bike Fridays.

I appreciate your patience in this matter. We have nearly 4,000 Bike
Friday tikits located around the world, and getting this important
message to all tikit owners is our priority at this moment. I hope you
can imagine the challenge for a company of 33 cycling enthusiasts here
in Eugene.

Sincerely,

Alan Scholz, Co-Founder, Bike Friday

PS, If you know others who have tikits please be kind enough to tell
them to ensure that they have this important Serious Warning and that
they can sign up for updates if we have not yet been able to reach them.
In the interest of doing this as quickly as possible it is going out to
everyone at the same time but everyone may not get the e-mail and we may
need to hunt for them. We thank you. The Bike Friday Community thanks you.


ALERT CODE: 1933


BIKE FRIDAY. PERFORMANCE THAT PACKS
Bike Friday has set up a special toll free number for you to call with
questions or concerns. Please understand that we have no additional
information to share at this time, and when we do, we will contact
everyone again through email.

tikit owners Hotline NUMBER: 541-683-0175 or Int'l +1-541-683-0175

email:

Please be patient. We are a small company and we expect a high volume of
calls. We have hired additional help, but you might still experience
long wait periods before you will speak to someone.


Community
Pagehttp://bikefriday.dreamhosters.com/community/the_bike_friday_community
| Bloghttp://bikefriday.dreamhosters.com/blog/ |
Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQscBxx7wLE |
Twitterhttp://twitter.com/bikefriday |
Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Bike-Friday/177147215204


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sep 28, 1:23*pm, Frank Krygowski
wrote:


snip

contact
informationhttp://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/stem%20cracks.4.jpg
with us.


http://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/stem%20cracks.3.jpg

snip

Frank Krygowski wrote:
Bike Friday tikit stem SAFETY WARNING:
Stop riding your tikit immediately

Horrible news, I've been wanting one of these since they were
introduced. I hope the August injury wasn't serious.

---
Lars Lehtonen

On Sep 28, 2:23*pm, Frank Krygowski
wrote:
Bike Friday tikit stem SAFETY WARNING:
Stop riding your tikit immediately

[http://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/...break.new.jpg]

An important Safety Warning from Bike Friday Co-Founder Alan Scholz

Dear Bike Friday tikit owners:

It is with much concern that I write to you today. We have found that
your tikit could be dangerous to ride. I want to tell you in the
strongest terms we recommend all Bike Friday tikit owners to stop riding
their bicycles immediately, until we have fully determined which tikits
are at risk.

We have learned that two tikit stems have broken. A stem break is a very
serious issue. Should your stem break while you are riding it there is a
high risk of losing control of your bike causing you to crash with
serious injury or even death as a result.

In August, 2012, an owner of a Bike Friday tikit sustained injury when
his front stem broke while riding. Earlier this month, in September,
2012, a second stem failure was brought to our attention.

We received the first bike for inspection [PHOTO ABOVE, right. The
second is still unavailable to us] 10 days ago, and upon reviewing the
results of that inspection we acknowledge the potential exists for front
stems to crack, and ultimately break.

Because of that, we recommend you do not ride your tikit until we can
conduct enough tests to isolate the problem, the extent of its potential
for failure, and implement safeguards to make your tikit safe to ride again.

Please follow this link to our website to fill out a registration
formhttp://www.bikefriday.com/momentum/tikit_register so we can keep
all tikit owners updated as we work through this issue. We will follow
up this email with more information on how to inspect your tikit for
potential problems.

We are very serious at Green Gear about this. Many of us are regular and
extensive tikit users. I have ridden a tikit since the first weeks of
production in spring 2007. I rode it to work daily and on tours -- even
doing several century rides on it until it was stolen last year. My wife
and two of my daughters own and ride tikits regularly.

The tikit is an important transportation solution for my two daughters
and neither owns an automobile, relying on their bike for most travel. I
understand that this will also be true for many of you.

I say this so you understand how deeply I apologize for the
inconvenience this causes for you not to ride your tikit until we have
come up with a safe solution for you.

At this time our engineers and designers have been working to replicate
the problem so we can develop solutions. We have stems being tested
around the clock. I promise we will share our findings as soon as we
have enough information to draw conclusions and offer solutions. Until
then, please do not ride your tikit and make sure you register your
contact
informationhttp://www.bikefriday.com/userfiles/stem%20cracks.4.jpg
with us.

This safety warning only affects Bike Friday 16-inch wheel tikits. We
have suspended production and delivery of tikits. It does not affect any
of our 20-inch Pocket Bike Fridays.

I appreciate your patience in this matter. We have nearly 4,000 Bike
Friday tikits located around the world, and getting this important
message to all tikit owners is our priority at this moment. I hope you
can imagine the challenge for a company of 33 cycling enthusiasts here
in Eugene.

Sincerely,

Alan Scholz, Co-Founder, Bike Friday

PS, If you know others who have tikits please be kind enough to tell
them to ensure that they have this important Serious Warning and that
they can sign up for updates if we have not yet been able to reach them.
In the interest of doing this as quickly as possible it is going out to
everyone at the same time but everyone may not get the e-mail and we may
need to hunt for them. We thank you. The Bike Friday Community thanks you..

ALERT CODE: 1933

BIKE FRIDAY. PERFORMANCE THAT PACKS
Bike Friday has set up a special toll free number for you to call with
questions or concerns. Please understand that we have no additional
information to share at this time, and when we do, we will contact
everyone again through email.

tikit owners Hotline NUMBER: 541-683-0175 or Int'l +1-541-683-0175

email:

Please be patient. We are a small company and we expect a high volume of
calls. We have hired additional help, but you might still experience
long wait periods before you will speak to someone.

Community
Pagehttp://bikefriday.dreamhosters.com/community/the_bike_friday_community
| Bloghttp://bikefriday.dreamhosters.com/blog/ |
Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQscBxx7wLE |
Twitterhttp://twitter.com/bikefriday |
Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/Bike-Friday/177147215204

--
- Frank Krygowski

Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.
DR

On 09-29-2012 08:46, DirtRoadie wrote:
Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.

Worse problems occur when engineers AREN'T involved.

I wouldn't hire an engineer to remove a tree, and I wouldn't hire a tree
remover to design a bicycle.

--
Wes Groleau

“Two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity.
But I'm not so sure about the universe.�
— Albert Einstein

On Sep 29, 6:43*pm, Wes Groleau wrote:
it! On 09-29-2012 08:46, DirtRoadie wrote:

Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.

Worse problems occur when engineers AREN'T involved.

That's certainly the spin the engineers would like to put on it.
However some engineers (with agendas) would have you believe that ONLY
marketing people were EVER involved in bicycle design.
Since it seems to be momentarily relevant, look at Bike Friday for
example. Lots of hype! Incompetent design! I feel sorry for the any
of the poor ignorant slobs that bought into it!
And worse yet, NO freaking down tube!
Frank made clear long ago his erroneous belief (proven wrong by
counterexample, SlingShot, Klein Mantra, Trimble) that a bike without
a downtube is urideable.
If he were honest (he is not), he could have 'fessed up that he owned
one!

DR

DirtRoadie wrote:
On Sep 29, 6:43 pm, Wes Groleau wrote:
it! On 09-29-2012 08:46, DirtRoadie wrote:

Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.

Worse problems occur when engineers AREN'T involved.

That's certainly the spin the engineers would like to put on it.
However some engineers (with agendas) would have you believe that ONLY
marketing people were EVER involved in bicycle design.
Since it seems to be momentarily relevant, look at Bike Friday for
example. Lots of hype! Incompetent design! I feel sorry for the any
of the poor ignorant slobs that bought into it!
And worse yet, NO freaking down tube!
Frank made clear long ago his erroneous belief (proven wrong by
counterexample, SlingShot, Klein Mantra, Trimble) that a bike without
a downtube is urideable.
If he were honest (he is not), he could have 'fessed up that he owned
one!

DR

DR,
I didn't see any smileys, or other indicators, showing which parts of this
post you meant seriously.
Yes, there sometimes are problems when engineers are involved. There
sometimes are problems when engineers are not involved. If engineers were
not involved, you would have to do without lightweight, durable, bicycles
and components, and you wouldn't be able to complain about engineers on this
forum, as you wouldn't have a computer, or electricity to operate it, nor,
unless you live in an unusual area, water to drink, nor nearly everything
you come in contact with every day, except nature.
Kerry

On Sep 29, 9:00*pm, "Kerry Montgomery" wrote:
DirtRoadie wrote:
On Sep 29, 6:43 pm, Wes Groleau wrote:
it! On 09-29-2012 08:46, DirtRoadie wrote:

Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.

Worse problems occur when engineers AREN'T involved.

That's certainly the spin the engineers would like to put on it.
However some engineers (with agendas) would have you believe that ONLY
marketing people were EVER involved in bicycle design.
Since it seems to be momentarily relevant, look at Bike Friday for
example. Lots of hype! Incompetent design! *I feel sorry for the any
of the poor ignorant slobs that bought into it!
And worse yet, *NO freaking down tube!
Frank made clear long ago his erroneous belief (proven wrong by
counterexample, SlingShot, Klein Mantra, Trimble) *that a bike without
a downtube is urideable.
If he were honest (he is not), *he could have 'fessed up that he owned
one!

DR

DR,
I didn't see any smileys, or other indicators, showing which parts of this
post you meant seriously.
Yes, there sometimes are problems when engineers are involved. There
sometimes are problems when engineers are not involved. If engineers were
not involved, you would have to do without lightweight, durable, bicycles
and components, and you wouldn't be able to complain about engineers on this
forum, as you wouldn't have a computer, or electricity to operate it, nor,
unless you live in an unusual area, water to drink, nor nearly everything
you come in contact with every day, except nature.
Kerry

Thanks. You support my my point completely.
Please tell Frank that he, as an engineer, is not endowed with some
sort of undeniable universal truth and/or knowledge, as there are
others in his profession that have and seek different goals and have
different perspectives. They are the ones moving forward, allowing and
creating "tech" evolution . Looks like Frank got stuck in the 80's.
He is, at best, just another poor schmuck riding a bike. An ignorant
schmuck at that.
DR

On Sep 29, 5:43 pm, Wes Groleau wrote:
On 09-29-2012 08:46, DirtRoadie wrote:

Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.

Worse problems occur when engineers AREN'T involved.

I wouldn't hire an engineer to remove a tree, and I wouldn't hire a tree
remover to design a bicycle.


I know people who have gone to school and obtained engineering
degrees, are "trained" in the functions and procedures, and can even
"engineer" things (to a degree), but are simply inherently incapable
of thinking about things from the angles that will lead to a well-
engineered solution.

On Sep 29, 8:18 pm, DirtRoadie wrote:
On Sep 29, 9:00 pm, "Kerry Montgomery" wrote:



DirtRoadie wrote:
On Sep 29, 6:43 pm, Wes Groleau wrote:
it! On 09-29-2012 08:46, DirtRoadie wrote:

Well, there you have it. There's no end to the problems that can pop
up when engineers have been involved.

Worse problems occur when engineers AREN'T involved.

That's certainly the spin the engineers would like to put on it.
However some engineers (with agendas) would have you believe that ONLY
marketing people were EVER involved in bicycle design.
Since it seems to be momentarily relevant, look at Bike Friday for
example. Lots of hype! Incompetent design! I feel sorry for the any
of the poor ignorant slobs that bought into it!
And worse yet, NO freaking down tube!
Frank made clear long ago his erroneous belief (proven wrong by
counterexample, SlingShot, Klein Mantra, Trimble) that a bike without
a downtube is urideable.
If he were honest (he is not), he could have 'fessed up that he owned
one!

DR

DR,
I didn't see any smileys, or other indicators, showing which parts of this
post you meant seriously.
Yes, there sometimes are problems when engineers are involved. There
sometimes are problems when engineers are not involved. If engineers were
not involved, you would have to do without lightweight, durable, bicycles
and components, and you wouldn't be able to complain about engineers on this
forum, as you wouldn't have a computer, or electricity to operate it, nor,
unless you live in an unusual area, water to drink, nor nearly everything
you come in contact with every day, except nature.
Kerry

Thanks. You support my my point completely.
Please tell Frank that he, as an engineer, is not endowed with some
sort of undeniable universal truth and/or knowledge, as there are
others in his profession that have and seek different goals and have
different perspectives. They are the ones moving forward, allowing and
creating "tech" evolution . Looks like Frank got stuck in the 80's.
He is, at best, just another poor schmuck riding a bike.

But only if it's not going to rain, and preferably in the company of
helpless dolts who will admire his brillliance, courage, and unequaled
competency.

snip