Review: Bike Friday All-Day Lightweight Electric Bike

For the past few weeks, I have been pedaling around the world’s tiniest folding Bosch ebike as my kids (8 and 10) regard me with mingled delight and disgust. My son tried to ride away on it, with the convincing argument that this is not an adult bike, it’s a kid’s bike. I lock it up on the same rack next to my daughter’s mountain bike, and she notes that her bike is taller than mine. I ignore them all. I love this tiny bike.

Oregon-based Bike Friday hand-builds folding bikes of every variety, but as a small person (I’m 5’2”), I am a particular fan of the company’s tiny, light, folding bicycles. The bikes have gone up in price considerably since I first reviewed the Haul-A-Day in 2020 as one of the more affordable family electric bikes. Since then, the company has been slowly repositioning itself as a premium, custom-fitted ebike manufacturer, at a corresponding price. The All-Day is even more expensive than the electric Brompton G Line.

Still, the motor is powerful, it’s lighter than the Brompton, and you can customize it in every way—including in a variety of playful colors and cables! I am a big advocate for a tiny bike that you can carry, fold, and lock up wherever. This one feels as big as you could need.

Whatever You Want

Photograph: Adrienne So

As befits a custom-built bike, Bike Friday consulted with me beforehand on what options I preferred. Not only can you pick what color you want your bike to be, but you can also pick the components (flat or drop handlebars? Basic 9-speed? Shimano hub or Rohloff belt drive?). Be warned, however, that picking your heart’s delight will add up to a staggering price. I requested the 14-speed Rohloff hub with the belt drive, and it added a cool $3,290 to the $5,200 price.

It has a 600-watt Bosch Performance SX mid-drive motor with a little Purion display that’s compatible with the Bosch eBike Flow app. Overall, it's a shockingly powerful motor and long-lived battery for a bike this size (in comparison, the Brompton G-line has a 250-watt motor).

It arrived swaddled in many layers of paper stuffing and bubble wrap. While Bike Friday is direct-to-customer, that customer is not precisely the same person as the one who might buy, say, a direct-to-consumer Lectric or an Aventon. Bike Friday is a specialty brand for bike people, and I did have to know what I was doing, as well as have access to my own Allen and pedal wrenches. If you were less confident in your bike-building skills, I would suggest contracting with a shop.

Photograph: Adrienne So

The frame is chromoly steel, which is my favorite frame material. It might not be quite as light as aluminum or carbon, but it’s known for absorbing shock and being durable, which extends the life of the bike by quite a bit. My own favorite Surly bikes are chromoly.

Regarding the fold: Technically, it does take about 20 seconds, as Bike Friday claims. But you can’t compare it to a Brompton fast-fold. A Brompton is a miracle of engineering—not only does it fold compactly, but it also locks together quickly and can be picked up one-handed or pushed around on its wheels onto a train. The Bike Friday fold is a little unwieldy. It took me a minute to puzzle out how to do it, and you need to unwind and rewind Velcro straps. It's not a fold you want to do on a crowded subway platform as you're racing to catch the train.

A Brompton is a last-mile bike. In contrast, the All-Day is a traveling bike that can fit into a checked suitcase. On that note, you can’t fly with the battery in checked luggage, so if you bring it with you, you’ll have to ride around like an analog tiny bike.

Teeny Tiny

Photograph: Adrienne So

I am a big fan of a micro bike. If your bike has a motor and you don’t have to pedal tiny 20-inch wheels like you’re a clown in the circus, then the weight savings and the overall convenience are just too powerful to ignore. I really love this bike in particular. The frame absorbs so many more bumps and bangs than you would think, for a tiny bike with relatively tiny wheels.

I can fit it in the trunk of my car or wedge it into the most crowded bike rack for a weekend jazz festival. My burly Hiplok bike lock fits into the tiny frame, and my Po Campo tote works with the tiny folding rack. The tiny wheels are so maneuverable on city streets that I took this bike on outings where a bigger bike might’ve made more sense.

It’s so cute that random strangers warned me that my bike might get stolen when I parked it around my neighborhood, and friends were irresistibly compelled to jump on it when they saw me with it. This might depend on the neighborhood that you live in, but 20-inch wheels are also much less likely to get stolen, since they’re a lot less versatile than normal-size bike wheels.

Overall, if you can overlook how silly you might look on such a tiny bike, there are so many more advantages. The battery life is incredibly long because, well, it’s moving much less mass. While the Tern GSD ate up 50 percent of the battery on a 12-mile ride, the same ride on the All-Day only ate up 15 percent of the battery. (I also weigh only 115 pounds, so factor that in when considering your mileage. The lightest version of the bike also only has a weight capacity of 190 pounds.) You also have the option of a battery extender.

Photograph: Adrienne So

Bike Friday touts this as the lightest Bosch electric bike. Bosch is one of the most reliable systems, and I would pay much more for a Bosch system. Still, the Brompton has a few key advantages. You don’t have to assemble the Brompton. It’s distributed through bike shops, which can also handle assembly and repair. The Brompton is also easier to fold and more versatile.

But if customization was top of mind—and for many bike people, it is—I would probably go with the All-Day, especially if you’re a strange-sized person (extremely small or extremely tall), or you have specific needs. The motor is more powerful if your commute involves a lot of hills, and you can pick a belt drive if it's rainy where you live. I found the process of picking one out with the Bike Friday team to be delightful, and biking around with it even more so.

If you want a convenient, versatile commuter, go with the Brompton. If, however, you find customization and a powerful motor to be more persuasive, go with the Bike Friday. And you can't get the Brompton in purple (yet).