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Photo by Jason DeVarennes

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

At Long Last the Winner of the Tikit is...

Apologies for the delay in announcing the winner of the Bike Friday Tikit. If you've been reading the blog in the last month, you are aware of my little set-back. Between surgery and PT and a little riding, I have had lots of time to read through all the blog comments, and really appreciate all the kind words. It has been cool to hear from some long time readers as well as pick up some new ones.

I am curious now that Google Reader is gone what folks are doing for their blog reading. I've switched over to Feedly. I'm really looking forward to their Android Widget coming soon, but so far the basic functionality I seek seems to be working well both on my phone and laptop.



BTW, in addition to taking away Reader, Google has also decided to take away the "support my blog" feature. For those who view the blog from within a browser, you may have noticed the widget off on the right that says "Buy the Fixie Pixie an Espresso". That will disappear this autumn. To all who have contributed to my espresso habit, a jittery thank you.

Hopefully, this trend won't continue to the point where Google take away blogspot! Since I've started using blogspot, I have been much better at posting about rides than on the website. I'm also slowly working toward moving many of the website articles over to the blog, and someday may retire the website entirely. I probably should spend a bit of time cleaning up the website and getting some more cross references between the blog and the website. Ah, but that takes time away from cycling, and without cycling, I have nothing to post! Catch-22!

Now at this stage, you are saying, "Hey get on with it. Who won the Tikit?"

Oh right, that's what you are here for! Well before I announce the winner, I will mention that my friend Jake, who bought my size-small geared hyperfold tikit a few years ago, has made a very generous offer for the winner. He's willing to trade for the size-large fixed-gear (non hyperfold) model that I am giving away.

It was a hard decision. I want the bike to get used lots, and as much as folks might seem to think they could use it for a brevet or a cross country tour, it just isn't a performance bike, and would soon been abandoned for those endeavors. So I looked through the comments for folks who really seemed to understand that it is a commuter bike, designed for quick-fold and compact storage or multi-modal commuting. Then I randomly selected one of those.

Jules, if you are still in the country, please contact me with your details.

5 comments:

  1. No Tikit for me I guess...but looks like it's going to an excellent home.

    As far as a substitute to Google reader, I've gone over to using the Old Reader. Importing was straightforward, and the layout is pretty similar. I'm not much of a mobile/smartphone person, so I can't speak to it's usefulness in that regard.

    Thanks again for your blog, and keep those ride reports coming.

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  2. Ack! I wrote out a long comment, but then my internet crashed and I lost it. The gist...

    Holy cow, I am SO excited! Thank you!! The bike will be well-loved and well-used. I am indeed on the island right now, but will be back in metro-Boston (I'm a Watertown-ian) on the 9th. I'll email you asap.

    This is my first trip down to the island, and it's so evident how useful a bike will be. Walking is just a bit too slow a lot of the time, but a car is absolutely ridiculously unnecessary. A bike is, well, just the ticket. I foresee getting a ton of use out of the Tikit, both for work and exploring-- I will be that crazy lady who's here on and off and wears the weird toe shoes (I'm a devotee of the Vibram Five Fingers) and rides the funny little bicycle. It'll be awesome. :)

    As for Google Reader, I am something of a Luddite. Though I've tried it in the past, I never found that I much cared for it, so I tend to just visit my blogs individually the old fashioned way. So no matter which reader ends up rising to the top of the pile (though Feedly seems like a good bet), I'll be here regardless.

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  4. Congrats Jules!

    Thanks for the blog, Fixie Pixie.

    Fritz

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