New Brompton special Edition: Barbour Edition 2022

[berlinonaut]

Brompton tooted out a marketing email on Friday about "something new on Sept. 26th". Stupidly the tracking code within the mail included "Email_Global_TEASER_Barbour%20Launch_Sep%202022" - so this was that. How stupid can one be?

Turns out: even more stupid! Google and Bing do have various country sites of Brompton indexed that already show the new special edition, when you search for "Brompton Barbour special edition 2022". A lot of dealer sites as well - but while all the links to dealer webpages end up in a 404 (as the bike will only be officially launched on Monday) Bromptons own country web pages show their underpants: While the special edition does not show in the site navigation yet the according webpage is directily accessible from the search engine links. Here i.e. the Brompton Oman site for the special edition (which is identical with all other country sites) including spec and pics, so if interested feel free to have a look earlier as intended:

https://om.brompton.com/shop/bikes/barbour-x-brompton-c-line-explore

Still waiting for Brompton to hire somebody in marketing who knows what he or she is doing...

The frame color of the bike is btw. "Porridge" despite Brompton calling it "Amble Sands gloss powder coat".

 

[T4tomo]

Presumably has a waxed finish?

 

[rafiki]

I like the look of that big bag although I guess it will be horribly expensive.

 

[brommieinkorea]

Got that e-mail too. Didn't think too much of it. The paint job and the Barbour bags look nice though. Since the only thing they push now is the "M" configuration , I'll pass.

 

[MontyVeda]

These days Brompton are charging far more than their bikes are worth.
Disappeared up their own arses like Martin guitars.

 

[Origamist]

The only thing that catches my eye is the new Marathon Almotion tyre. Is there any info about this 349 version? The larger sizes roll pretty well and would be competition for the Conti Contact Urban.

 

[berlinonaut]

These days Brompton are charging far more than their bikes are worth.
Disappeared up their own arses like Martin guitars.

Sensible opinion, well stated on perfectly well explained reasoning. Especially considering the fact that there is no price communicated yet for the special edition and that on the other hand people pay ludicrous money second hand for former special editions and that Brompton more than doubled bike sales over the last years despite not being cheap.
So in opposite to what you state it seems a lot (and growing number) of people think Bromptons are well worth their price and a lot think they are worth way more than what Brompton sells them for.

Possibly your statement in your user profile is better thought through than the one in the thread

a short-tempered ill-controlled small-minded troll​

 

[MontyVeda]

£800+ for the basic Brommy is overpriced in my opinion. Just because people have more money than sense doesn't mean it's a fair price.
You're paying for the brand, not the bike.

 

[berlinonaut]

£800+ for the basic Brommy is overpriced in my opinion. Just because people have more money than sense doesn't mean it's a fair price.

So basically everyone who has a different opinion than you is an idiot with more money than brain (and this includes every single Brompton customer). Interesting picture of yourself. Maybe you should run for prime minister if you are at such a level of Genius.

You're paying for the brand, not the bike.

I don't. If you do: You don't have to buy a Brompton. Especially not if some other bike can fulfill your needs and maybe even better or at least cheaper. Still no reason to name everbody else an idiot.
And I hope you never buy any "brand" items - from food to clothing to cars to guitars. I'd say in these areas you do pay way more often for the brand and the surcharge percentagevise is way highter than it might possibly be with a Brompton.
Plus, my standard advice: If Bromptons are so overpriced it should be easy to build a better bike and sell it at a lower price. The market demand for folders is there - so why don't you create your own folding bike brand and become a rich man while serving the market with perfect folders cheap as chips? Should be easy if your statement is correct.

 

[Time Waster]

Actually I think you're both being prats here.

Brompton charge a lot more than some other brands for really not a lot more. Dahon and tern offer perfectly useable folding bikes and there's a lot of Brompton clones out there that are producing very serviceable folding bikes the near equivalent of Bromptons for a lot less, but only available in certain countries.

However there are very good reasons to get a Brompton. In my case a lot of folding bike retailers either refused to sell me other brands or doubted they would fit me. I'm 196cm tall which is beyond the max user height of most Brompton competitors.

There's other reasons to accept the higher Brompton prices. However I do not agree with the collaboration models, with premium prices way n above the true value. All they seem to be is a custom paint, which probably costs very little more, and a few aftermarket bags included. It is exploitation of Brompton fans allbeit with complicity of the customers but still exploitation. I hope it sells badly and gets discounted heavily. IMHO people shouldn't support this sales model.

In comparison there's examples of good practise in special edition prices. Frog bikes did a tie in with British cycling to offer a special edition colour and it does not cost any more than original colour options. It didn't cost them more so they didn't add anything to the rrp.

 

[MontyVeda]

So basically everyone who has a different opinion than you is an idiot ...

You can stop putting words in my mouth. No point responding to you any further.

Actually I think you're both being prats here.

...

Opening with an insult. Again, no point responding further

 

[u_i]

Brompton charge a lot more than some other brands for really not a lot more. Dahon and tern offer perfectly useable folding bikes and there's a lot of Brompton clones out there that are producing very serviceable folding bikes the near equivalent of Bromptons for a lot less, but only available in certain countries.

The only valid piece here, that I can tell, is that Dahon offers usable folding bikes, maybe Tern now too. You can get bikes that look like Brompton in some countries and maybe they get to the vicinity of some overseas Dahon models. I get parts for those other bikes occasionally, in experimenting with options for Brompton itself, and very often those parts nearly identical as Brompton's but turn out to be absolute trash. Surprise?!

 

[Time Waster]

You can stop putting words in my mouth. No point responding to you any further.


Opening with an insult. Again, no point responding further

I only meant the way you're both taking umbrage over what is basically a difference in opinions. Value is a judgement as personal as anything else. To argue the toss over it to try and change opinions is a pointless waste of time beyond stating your opinions. It's a little Internet warriorship in nature which is prattish irrelevance at best.

 

[Schwinnsta]

Meanwhile, on our side of the pond, the Pound is 1.09 to the Dollar. This is the lowest that I remember. It was 1.7 ratio for years.

 

[berlinonaut]

Brompton charge a lot more than some other brands for really not a lot more.

one thing is the value of the materials, another is the work, experience and quality of the makeing, and than theire is the value you get from the bike.

If you only refer to the materials you will probably never stop complaining about Brompton's prices. Because you ignore the whole picture. Funnily enough the very same people often pay a premium for more horsepower in their cars which often is just a setting in the engines software - no materials involved at all.

Dahon and tern offer perfectly useable folding bikes

with a traumatic experience regarding after sales services and spare parts. With a product lineup that has the reliability of a lottery bet. With thech specifications that are so unclear that they differ massively between Dahons own country pages. With a resale value that is often (in not most of the time) very low.

and there's a lot of Brompton clones out there

I heard in Thailand you can buy a Rolex on the beach for incredibly low money.

However I do not agree with the collaboration models, with premium prices way n above the true value. All they seem to be is a custom paint, which probably costs very little more, and a few aftermarket bags included.

For one: No one ist forced to buy a special edition. In fact, the earliest ones took quite a while to sell. Now they are gone as soon as they hit the market and people make a fortune reselling them at specualtive prices. You can barely accuse Brompton for that...
Secondly: Did you ever look at the special editions in detail? What you complain about is often claimed but still untrue. If you take *any* special edition, from the very first one until today, take it's price and deduct the additional parts from it like Bags, Saddles etc. you end reliably up with the normal list price of the equivalent base model Bormpton at that time. There is simply no permium charged for special editions from Brompton. Not even an extra Quid for the special colors (obviously apart from the Nickel finish). All they do is charge for the extra bits wht the prices they would sell them for (typically close to the list price of the item).
How do you come to the idea that they would charge a premium?

It is exploitation of Brompton fans allbeit with complicity of the customers but still exploitation. I hope it sells badly and gets discounted heavily.

Why on earth won't you people let choose on their own to their taste?

IMHO people shouldn't support this sales model.

Well - you did not even understand this sales model, given the false claims that you do about it. How can you judge on it then?

In comparison there's examples of good practise in special edition prices. Frog bikes did a tie in with British cycling to offer a special edition colour and it does not cost any more than original colour options. It didn't cost them more so they didn't add anything to the rrp.

No difference in what Brompton does. How come that you praise the one and curse the other?