Spaced-OoooO-Out

The Brompton Mean Machine

Tue, 10 Apr 2007

Being a commuter I have a mission to find the best way to get in to work. In fact, being a GIS lecturer seems to involve a mandatory long commute. I live about 60 miles away from Kingston and am the closest of the GIS group. And for all of us this means traversing across London where we all converge on Waterloo for a speedy South West Trains trip to Surbiton. So one of the key elements of the journal is getting across London. This aspect of the journey, in particular, encouraged me to get a folding bike and, specifically, a Brompton.

The Brompton is the grand-daddy of modern folders and produced by a "traditional" small engineering company. The quality of the product is excellent and, importantly, it quickly folds and unfolds. Not only that, but when folded it has the smallest volume of all standard production folding bikes. Important when on the train. And on that note, all rail companies in the UK accept folding bikes in the rush hour.

In terms of riding, it takes a little while to get used to the small wheels and consequently tight turning circle. However it is very manouvorable, important in heavy traffic. I've since added the extended seatpost (as I'm 5'11"), mini-bar ends and clipless pedals which increase the speed of the bike. So all in all an indispensable part of the commute that probable saves about 30 minutes in commute time!!

James O'Brien wrote at 2007-04-10 16:47:

Ahh the Brompton... it's a legendary piece of equipment... and like all legends it doesn't live up to the hype.
The fact that it's made by a small engineering firm contributes to most of its faults. The bike is heavy for its size largely because the majority of the components are bespoke. Therefore lighter versions of stems, handlebars and seatposts aren't available unless you buy Brompton lighter parts (made from Titanium) at a much greater expense.
The standard Brompton design with the handlebars shown above has a great deal of flex despite the protestations of riders (aka Brompton evangelists). The smaller wheels meant to aid acceleration only increase punctures and decrease the cushioning effect of the tyres.
If you watch someone ride a Brompton (as opposed to a normal bike) you'll see that they have to move their body from side to side to maintain a decent pace - which isn't an optimal pedal stroke.
There seems to be a reluctance among the Brompton riding fraternity to accept criticism of their marque (and make critical comments to Brompton themselves). There appears to be a sense of "I paid Ł600 for this - I have to make it seem worth the money".
The Brompton design is a compromise to make it fold into a small package and the compromise is too great. Other manufacturers have demonstrated that it's possible to make a bike that folds and has fewer compromises (e.g. Airnimal) - but folding bikes are (despite their widespread use) really nothing more than toys that clutter the doors and aisles of trains.

About

Categories

Links

Calendar