It is now eleven days that I have owned a Brompton folding bicycle and I thought I would write a little review.

Why buy?
The streets of Bath are full of Brompton bikes whizzing around and yet it was only last summer that I first ‘became aware’ of these snappy contraptions as someone at the office I was working at suggested I borrow the office bike, a Brompton, to use to get to a talk I was going to in Bristol which was a few miles from the train station. After the talk I cycled around (not too familiar) Bristol visiting Clifton Suspension Bridge (photo2) and the recently developed part including @Bristol.

I was taken with the bike, liked its strong functional side and eccentric character, so I hunted on ebay thinking of buying second hand. As the price was not far off the new price, especially for six speed, I figured I should get a new one. When I later got sponsorship this was an option, and in March this year (spending part of the sponsorship) I ordered one from AVC. At the time my reasons were:

• Going to Bristol more often, largely for talks
• Want to go to talks in London
• Want to go to London for the odd weekend
• Want to explore other UK cities - am not well travelled in the UK
• Want to explore more of Bath, for example Larkhall has recommended bakers and butchers
• It would be very eccentric to have
• Cycling to placement this summer (would allow me 50+mins at home for lunch)
• Cycling to work next year after graduating
• Longevity, should last 15+ years.
• Brompton is British, largely manufactured in London.

Why this brand?
There are several folding bike manufactures but they do have different purposes and Brompton is fairly unique really, one of the best proper and portable bikes you can get. There are folders for which portability is not important, and there are folders only intended for occasional use. Other brands include Dahon, Bike Friday, Strida, Moulton, Airnimal, even Pashley, Airframe, Riese und Muller (Birdy), Neobike, Gobike. I really like the Moultons and Gobike.

Brompton
Starting life (photo 3) in Andrew Ritchie’s bedroom in 1975 the Brompton bike was born and through shear determination kept alive for a decade until properly manufactured. Their order books have been full ever since.

Reproduced with permission from Olivier Pascaud.

The Brompton bike sells itself as “a proper, practical bike which is also super-compact” (Brompton bikes). The bikes are hand built (photo 4) in London, giving claim to the fact they are the last form of transport to be manufactured in London. Many of the components are Brompton specific and come from the UK, Europe and Taiwan.

Reproduced with permission from Olivier Pascaud.

Brompton sell about 20,000 bikes a year, of which two-thirds go overseas.

AVC shop
Tucked behind the train station is Avon Valley Cyclery, a folding bike specialist selling all major folders. They also sell town, road and mountain bikes. I recommend them for being friendly, knowledgeable and always keen to help.

My ALC Brompton
Bromptons are available as standard models or as à la carte custom orders (now called Bespoke). I chose à la carte as I knew what I wanted:

• M- type handlebar: for the classic look
• 6-speed gearing: most gears. Standard ratio (AVC recommendation)
• Mudguards: stay clean and drier
• Rear rack: required for ‘Eazy-wheels’
• Colour: orange, as I like it
• Marathon reflex tyres: Kevlar lining (AVC recommendation)
• Brooks leather saddle: for the old man look, and goes well with orange
• Lighting: no dynamo as poor lighting and have to pedal against it (AVC recommendation)
• Eazy-wheels: allows the bike to be pushed along as a trolley
• Brakes: dual pivot (AVC recommendation)

Small bike, big wait
When I ordered I was told that officially there is an eighteen week lead in time however as AVC are ‘well connected’ with Brompton (they pre-buy slots) I might be lucky. At eight weeks I enquired after my bike to be told it would arrive at week twelve (start of June). Week twelve I am told there has been set backs from the paint suppliers for some colour ranges, should arrive week sixteen, which it did but AVC spotted defects with the paintwork, namely bubbling on the rear triangle. Brompton collected the bike next day and returned it two days after that, brilliant service. However AVC spotted more sub-standard paintwork, hassled Brompton who eventually took it back again. I phoned Brompton to ask about overall quality of my bike, Emerson Roberts put my mind at ease. Bike arrives back week eighteen and AVC ready to sell the bike but I query a chip (photo4) and scuffed saddle which AVC say is still sub-(Brompton)-standard, and they email Brompton photos of the chip and saddle.

End of week eighteen AVC tell me that Brompton refuse to take back the bike. Week nineteen I phone Brompton again to understand the seemingly mixed messages about having high standards and yet refusing to keep them. Brompton say they will phone back. End of that week AVC forward me an email from Brompton which stated that the bike left in perfect condition and was damaged in transit and that they “therefore suggest that this bike is offered to the customer at a nominal discount to cover these small imperfections. I presume this is something you have to do from time to time on all makes of bike that might have been slightly damaged in transit.” They point out that “a third trip would make a nasty dent in our profit…” and finish with:

“I hope, therefore, that AVC will be able to persuade Mr.Rieder that he can accept the bike, maybe swap the saddle for a new one (from us), but we are not prepared to replace the RF [rear frame] once again.”

Week twenty the engineering director of Brompton, Will Butler Adams, phones me to find out how I am feeling and answer any questions I may have. In short our twenty-six minute chat, including a few laps of a few circular conversations, ended amiably. A few hours later I bought the bike.

Nuisance
Nuisance bike, or nuisance customer? More like nuisance manufacturer!

I resent, what I believe to be, the implications of Mr. Butler Adams’ reasoning: I was a problem customer. In the phone call Mr. Butler Adams said Brompton do not want to take back the bike as they feel it is not getting anywhere, are worried that taking back the bike again would not resolve the problem as it might never be right, mentioned a case before where the customer was never happy, and thought we might be able to solve the problem by another means.

I said I felt that the paintwork is substandard and was confused why they would not take it back yet keep saying they have fantastic standards. I mentioned the other paint defects (namely photo 19).

Mr Butler Adams said that Brompton is a business and must have limits, that this could go on and on. In his five years at Brompton he never knew a bike to come back more than twice (except once or twice…). If they did that for all 20,000 bikes they make a year they would be bust.

To which I pointed out that if it was so rare to have a bike returned then it would be extremely unlikely for mine to go back again (if they were to take it back). This assumes that the ‘probability of return’ of my bike is unrelated to its history of returns, which I assumed as I think the problem lies with their courier, yet Mr. Butler Adams does not assume this which (I think) implies that the problem is me, that I will kick up a fuss about the smallest imperfection.

I thought they should take back my bike even if they make a loss on this one, very rare, bike out of the 20,000, so that their standards and reputation are maintained, and I get a bike I am happy with. After all Andrew Ritchie says “the last thing we want is an unhappy Brompton owner” (Brompton bikes). And consider the ‘Sales of Goods Act 1979 (As amended)’ states that “goods must be of satisfactory quality, including appearance and finish, that a reasonable person would regard as satisfactory taking into account price and description” (see legal links below).

Mr. Butler Adams did reluctantly agree to take back the bike if that would please me but maintained he did not think that would be the best solution. Perhaps we did not agree but his gesture won me over - I did not like feeling that I was the problem, I wanted Brompton to concede, as AVC thought, that the bike has substandard paintwork.

Mr. Butler Adams gave me a précis of Brompton’s powder coating process mentioning that their standards are higher than those of Mercedes-Benz. I asked of the future: how are they going to reduce their lead in times? I was told they are growing as quickly as they can with no compromise on their high standards, for example it takes a year to properly train a brazing technician.

Anyway, enough of this bad part, suffice to say that Mr. Bulter Adams was very generous sending me orange touch up paint and a Brompton Cover with saddle bag (photo 17), for which I am grateful.

Cosmetic
During the entire saga of my bike going back and forth I was acutely aware that the damage was largely cosmetic and was at odds with my outlook that striving for perfection is nonsense. In engineering we have fictitious perfect mathematical models of engineering designs yet know that the truth is far from that. In life the presence of some imperfections is actually good, the moles on one’s face add interest, spice and quirkiness. If everything were absolutely perfect life would be mundane. I still wanted to send the bike back for it to return perfect, well, what I consider reasonable given its price, the high reputation Brompton has, how meticulous I am at looking after things, and how long I exptect this bike to last me.

Review – the bike, the ride
Having paid I cycled out of AVC buzzing with excitement, headed back to work, and took about fifteen minutes to fold it in reception.

Folding it:
I am now well versed and quick at folding, as would anyone be given some practice. First the bike is parked (photo 16 & 1). This is easy as the rear triangle is never fully attached to the main frame (photo 6):

The front tucks away once two clasps (photo 7a, 19 & 21) are unscrewed making sure the right pedal is out the way. The front wheel hooks onto the (folded) rear triangle and the stem pops into a thing on the fork (photo 7b).

Then the saddle drops down, preventing the bike from unfolding, and far enough it will act as a brake.

Unfolding (photo 1) it is quicker and more entertaining as you can swing both wheels out simultaneously. Guys at AVC can fold it in just under ten seconds and I am almost there.

Riding it:
What a gas it is to ride. The bike is lightening quick off the blocks and very (overly?) agile. The steering is sensitive but is easily learnt. Within minutes of riding my own I noticed how very flexible the whole bike is. This is due to it’s soft tail and very long stem. I am now accustomed to this and don’t pull on the handlebar as I first had.

It would appear that Bromptons are made for my height, 5′ 10”. Extending the seat post till it stops is perfect and the reach is good. There are seat posts available that extend further but I really do not understand why Brompton do not offer different sized frames such as medium and large.

The gears (photo 23) are super slick although I only learnt after a day that the hub gears should only be changed while freewheeling or pedalling softly. The gear shifters are fun little things (photo 9) with the bell built in which is a lovely touch. The act of changing gears is unusual, for example getting from gear two to three requires changing both shifters simultaneously to avoid going 2-4-3.

The gears may shift sweetly but that does not help their limited range when riding an acclivity [ed. excuse me getting in one of my learnt words from reading the dictionary. An acclivity is an upward slope]. I made a point of asking AVC if I could ride up Widcombe Hill (long and steep) for example, to which they assured me I could. And I did, but only just, and had to honk most of the way (as demonstrated in photo 10 on a mild acclivity). Six gears is the most you can get. Paying a small surplus allows you to change the ratio, presumably by just changing the chain ring and chain. Perhaps as I am rarely in gear sixth I would have gone against AVC’s recommendation and opted for the lower ratio.

Having scaled Widcombe Hill I steered towards the brow of Bathwick Hill (about 1.2km long) and wondered how far I could get without using the brakes. I was bombing down the hill and seemed to reach terminal velocity at over 30mph. I know this as I set off the little warning thing (photo 11). Approaching the bottom my thoughts turned to the quality of the brakes.

Thankfully the brakes are super. Cannot fault them.

Having said the steering is sensitive I feel I should mention it is ultra sharp when coasting down big hills.

Cornering is a hoot (photo 12). This said I have caught the pedals on the road a few times, although not to worry as the pedals are shite (even if the left one folds).

The pedals (photo 13) are cheap (well the right one is), having high turning resistance. I would like to see sealed bearings.

The saddle (photo 14) is nice, admittedly I prefer looking at it than sitting on it. The leather is slippery so fine adjustments were needed to get the tilt just right, preventing me from pushing myself back either through the pedals and/or handlebar.

Out and about:
I took the Brompton to Sydney Gardens (photo 15) to chuck a disk around with Han.

At the video store (photo 16) my Brompton waits patiently while I dither over what rubbish to watch next.

In the supermarket (photo 17) I push the Brompton around in, what I call, it’s trolley mode. Turning is by either lifting or pushing down on the handlebar. I prefer to take the bike with me as it is quicker than locking it up but mainly as I am overly concerned about theft.

Trolley mode uses the ‘eazy-wheels’ (photo 18) which could be slightly bigger but do run nicely. I expect to replace them as and when.

The eazy-wheels are mounted on the rear rack (photo 18) which I have not used other than for a Frisbee. My little feet (size 7) kept catching the Frisbee, which was pushed to the back of the rack and about the same length as it so I am not sure how people ride with the available rear bag. The bungee cords are cool and the rear rack has little stops for them, another nice touch.

The Brompton has had a huge impact on my commute… At a comfortable but brisk pace walking took 8min 38sec, while riding takes 3min 39sec (including unfolding / folding). A saving of 57.7% in journey time, or an extra 23.3% at home over an hour lunch break (an extra 9mins 58sec). The accuracy of these percentage figures is erroneous as I usually grab an extra 10mins.

Getting the bike up four flights of stairs is too much, so I now take the lift. At about twelve kgs it is light to lift but to carry, especially through things like fire doors, is a nightmare. I use the eazy-wheels as much as possible, however I have plans for making a bag for carrying the folded Brompton, both as a rucksack and under arm, and which will fold away to pocket size. Watch this space.

Paintwork:
The paintwork on my Brompton is less than impressive. Already shown is the main chip (photo 5) but there is another on the stem clasp (photo 19) and there is some bubbling in places (eg photo 20) and very soon after purchasing the paint flaked off at the frame clasp (photo 21). The bubbling is indicative that the paint is too thick and/or there is trapped air which might eventually lead the paint to flake off. Remember this is a steel frame.

In a few places minor pitting is evident. Oh, and Brompton stuck their logo on slightly skew.

Interest
Over these few days two dozen people, strangers to friends and work colleagues, have taken a large interest in my new toy, making humorous comments or in awe and curious to ride it. Be it at P’zazz, Waitrose, traffic lights, work, home, the bike shop, the pub, my bright Brompton has turned heads.

Conclusion
I doubt it is clear: I adore this bike. I reckon one of my best purchases.

As a bike I have used it to get around and explore my city. As a folding bike I will take it to other cities, via trains or car, to get around and explore some more.

I have been on my Brompton between two and six times a day: commute; pop out for lunch; get milk, nearby supermarket; get bread, bakers other side of town; or fresh air on an evening cycle.

Brompton bikes are super functional and a joy to ride.

I may have got shoddy paintwork and mixed customer care from Brompton but I believe that my experience was unusual.

Me being me… I already have a wish list: halve the weight (impossible); double the number of gears (why not a six speed hub? Cost?); better pedals; improved trolley mode.

Brompton are a victim of their own success: more demand then they can currently meet. The long waiting times has been worsened this year by both their powder coating people having refurbishments (or something). Thankfully Brompton are growing as fast as they can and without compromising on quality of production. Here is to their future!

The Good
Brompton reputation, British manufactured, very compact which is good for sowing in flat or taking on train, easy folding/unfolding, available colours, available accessories, slick gears, ‘parking’, ‘trolley mode’ (easy-wheels), longevity, comfortable and nippy ride, soft-tail.

The Alright
Weight, value for money.

The Bad
Only six gears, going up steep hills, very long order time (currently).

In fact, I think this bike is sex on wheels.

Acknowledgments
Thanks Han for taking lots of photos.

Further reading

• Brompton Bicycles
• Avon Valley Cyclery (AVC)
• Why I ride my Brompton, and why you should too
• Independent Brompton FAQs
• Flickr photos
• YouTube videos
• Wikipedia
• James May reviews his Brompton
• kinetics.org.uk reviews
• Bikethatfolds.com review
• The Folding Society wealth of outdated information
• BBC guide to ‘Sale of Goods’
• Department for Business, Sale of Goods Act