Despite that I'm no where near finished building up the frame I bought in August into what is supposed to be a dream, do-it-all bicycle, I find myself looking at folding bikes, pricing them, spec'ing them out, weighing the various merits of each type of frame, weight, gearing and purpose. I've found some really nice folders, which appear to solve the one problem that plagues all traditional bikes: Transporting them.

Bike riding where I live is nearly impossible, given there are just better than five contiguous miles of multi-purpose trail and exactly zero bike lanes in 32 square miles. I've taken to loading my current, 35-year-old bike in the back of my car to ride a trail I particularly like along the Delaware River. But with my new bike, which shan't have a scratch on it, I'm reluctant to just pile it in the back. So I've been pricing various racks -- top, hatch and hitch -- to move the bike from place to place. This could add about $300 to the price of the bike, which is already approaching or, likely, exceeding $2k by the time I'm done.

Folders, by their very nature, render this transportation problem moot. Fold them bitches up and go. That's kinda the whole deal. I've found some really nice ones, too. The nicest in my opinion, is a Bike Friday Pocket Llama. The company that makes them is based in Eugene, Oregon, and makes all of them custom, which is really cool. Steel frames, nice components, solid builds. I've never ridden one, but many say after a minute getting accustomed to the twitchy steering, it feels like a full-size bike.

I may end up with one of these. I'm going to try a less expensive folder first, maybe a Zizzo Urbano -- about $300 used -- before leaping into the Bike Friday, which runs near $2k, all said.