srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Really? I find a Brompton much easier on rough or unmade roads than any road bike. And you're wrong about security, too - I've been riding Bromptons for 20 years and have never, ever locked one up.
Can't afford a Brompton ..
- Thread starter cycle_bug
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srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
[QUOTE 4536892, member: 45"]If I were to arrange a CC ride I think it would be fair to you to start close to your place of work. Give me your work address and I'll see what I can do...[/QUOTE]
Too far from Somerset - and both offices have decent security arrangements.
Too far from Somerset - and both offices have decent security arrangements.
I'm retired now, so don't travel the country with my folder any more, but for over ten years I trained and biked to training venues everywhere. I used a City Express, a 7 speed, ally, 16", mid folder which didn't take up much more space than a brompton. But punctures were no problem, and maybe less frequent because I could have 1.9" all-terrain tyres which probably handled bumps, sharps and ridges better. I never found out if I could take it on the London Underground because I cycled between main-line statrions so easily and quickly, so that's what I did. And the City Express, when unfolded, has a neat flat bar which I could sit on if all seats were taken!
It was a great folder, and I never felt the need to follow the favourite, but there was one aspect of the City Express which beat the Brompton....... it cost £169 with £10 for delivery. Now this feature removed any feelings of worry because I could lock it to a bike stand, go shopping (whatever) and forget it, because Bromprons might get nicked, but City Expresses don't because almost nobody knows about them.... no 'must have' aspect. And it was small enough to come with me into training and hotel rooms.
I changed it last year for a City Zoom, described in folder reviews as 'very odd', but this happens to ride beautifully and is better for me because I can bend the bottom bracket bar partly and reduce the bike's length by a couple of inches so that it fits in the plasti-bin outside my home. I chain bolted to thr bin's floor is its security.
Bromptons are without doubt the A+ folder but they don't do well on unmade or rough roads, or soft ground, have increased security risk because of their popularity and cost more than five (or more!) of my folder.
Call me cheapskate if you like!
The beauty of bikes (and lots of other things too) is in the diversity of them. What fits and is good for one person is bad for another and vice versa. Your bike sounds fab - for you. I'm lazy, I must admit, and I could afford a Brompton, so I bought one. I don't care that it costs loads, only that it works. It works - for me.
Vive la velo!
dim
Guest
- Location
- Cambridge UK
I bought my teenage daughter a Brompton a few years ago .... I bought it 2nd hand, but it was in mint condition, and I paid £650 for it
She used it for a few months, then one day she decided to stop off at Tesco and quickly run in to get a bottle of water. She never had her lock with her and left the bike close to the main door. She was in and out of Tesco in a flash (perhaps 3 min max, as she ppaid for the water at the cigarette conter)
Bike was gone .... CCTV showed a guy wearing a hoodie casually getting on the bike and cycling away. The guy was never caught, and that was the end of that bike
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
There are two - one lime green and one black - which are often locked up in our Guildford bike sheds. Beats me why anyone would do that outside an office which is pretty secure and, although not palatial is also not miserly for space.
Fair enough...... and it does seem that amongst the membership of this forum that folder-riders are heavily, massively, overwhelmingly in favour of ............. Bromptons!
....but many other folders can be fitted with larger, wider, fatter tyres which cope with bad surfaces more easily. I don't think that Bromprons can........ just sayin'........
It's good to hear that you've never had to lock up your bike, presumably because you've never left your bike, but if a survey was taken among Brompron owners to discover their security arrangements and choices about leaving Bromptons on, say, cycle stands, or trying to wheel/carry them around various shops, etc.... who knows, you might be surprised to find yourself in a minority?
- Location
- The TerrorVortex
Pale Rider
Legendary Member
One of the many strengths of the Brompton is it's possible to get full use from it without having to lock and leave it.
Apart from the ease and compact nature of the fold, I found I could wheel it into places in which the staff probably wouldn't have been so keen on me taking an ordinary bike.
Riding something that looks like a clown bike has its advantages.
Apart from the ease and compact nature of the fold, I found I could wheel it into places in which the staff probably wouldn't have been so keen on me taking an ordinary bike.
Riding something that looks like a clown bike has its advantages.
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
TMN to me!
srw
It's a bit more complicated than that...
Take a search on this forum. You'll discover that, if we're a representative sample, I'm firmly in the majority. There was, for a while, a thread about "places you can take your Brompton into" - until it fizzled out because the answer was "just about everywhere".
Not bad...... 7/10
Unlocked bikes do get nicked. But this thread is all about 'Not being able to afford a Brompton' and one tiny aspect of that is that some folks might not be able to 'risk a Brompton'. A rider who is visting many premises in one journey might not want to fold their bike and take it into premises. Some premises will not want folded bikes... any folded bikes, brought inside. A Bromptron might be worth, say, £200 to a thief, whereas another, lighter, slightly more bulky folder might only be worth £50. Which of those two bikes, wired to a rail, do you think a thief might use cutters on first?
And so, apart from riding on rough surfaces, or the price, or the security risk, some people might not be able to choose a Brompton.
Of course, that equation might never even arise if a buyer simply likes another folder better, and since there are hundreds of folders out there, all being sold, then that must be a factor?
So, let me get this absolutekly clear: neither you nor the majority of Brompton owners on this forum have any locks, bolts, bars, chains or any other security equipment to protect their folders, nor need they particularly bother with risk-transference services with regard to bike theft. Correct?
Well, that's strange, because out there in the BWW I often see a couple of Bromptons secured to bike-frames, the same two bikes I expect, but that's the only two that I notice in our high street.
