An Ode to Murphy and Tiki

Murphy and Tiki were our first rides. From the line of Raleigh foldable bikes, we stumbled upon them one fateful Saturday afternoon in a bike shop along Thomson Road. Ever since Gwyn and I moved to our own place in Upper Thomson, we had always wanted to pick up cycling as a new hobby. An hour, a couple of test rides and some deliberation later, our minds were set and we made payments for our first ever rides.

The next couple of weeks would be fanatic. We hit the road with Murphy and Tiki almost every other day. We embarked on our own Free and Easy itineraries, we tagged along a group of cycling enthusiasts for their weekly rides.

Here's Murphy checking in at the Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands.

Being of the make Raleigh Broadway 20, they had 20 inch wheels and bore a 7 speed Shimano gear box. The 7 speed gear served us well, enabling us to tackle most of the slopes we've encountered thus far. Designed after the Dahon, they folded reasonably well, though not as compact as they could have been. As a gauge, only one of the them could fit into a SMRT taxi boot. The other had to go into the back seat.

At $350 a piece, I would consider them reasonable entry level bikes, suitable for the new rider looking to try out cycling as a hobby before taking the plunge to higher end bikes.

On 15th July 2011, we sold our first bikes to make way for the new Bromptons. We did get a little emotional after the transaction. Afterall, they were our first bikes and we have got a bit of those sentimental genes. Nevertheless, we're glad they found good owners and like they say with every ending is a new beginning, you just don't know it at that time. The only difference was, we knew it then.