Would you park a bike of £2000.00 at an open train station cycle park?

[Gbola]

I cycle through Woolwich every day so I know the area well, dont leave a bike there please. The place was quite badly damaged in the riots and still bears the scars in the town square.

Here is my plan for you. You could cycle to London Bridge, about 10 miles, park the bike in this secure bike park (link below). Then take the tube to work. http://www.onyourbike.com/stylesheet.asp?file=7_1_1_cycle_park

Once you have built up your stamina you may find 17 miles do able.

Well said mate

 

[gaz]

My
My place of work is about 17miles (West London) from my home (South East London) and I think it would take too long for me to get to work considering traffics and the nature of my job. While the train station is about 4 mile from my house which would be give about 8 miles of cycling per day, that I consider reasonable.

I cycle 17miles each way 5 days a week through london. It's certainly doable but you do need to build up to it.

 

[Brandane]

What about taking one of your current bikes and making it a bit less attractive to a potential thief? I am thinking along the lines of painting the frame by hand in a non attractive colour (Hammerite green would be my choice) and make sure it looks dirty and generally worthless. Disguise the components by removing any "Shimano" (or other known brands) labels. Under the skin it is still the good bike that you know it to be......

Edit: Oops, not got the hang of the new site format yet and missed 2 pages of replies! RedLight beat me to the above suggestion .

 

[Bromptonaut]

Brompton would be my suggestion unless you decide to ride all the way. Wouldn't leave any on my current bikes at a station and certainly not one in Greater London.

As to whether the B is fast or light have a look at Brompton's website, there are lots of options!!. You're not going to match a good road bike for speed but my M6R keeps up in London traffic and is equally at home on an exercise spin round the lanes in Northants.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Brompton would be my suggestion unless you decide to ride all the way. Wouldn't leave any on my current bikes at a station and certainly not one in Greater London.

As to whether the B is fast or light have a look at Brompton's website, there are lots of options!!. You're not going to match a good road bike for speed but my M6R keeps up in London traffic and is equally at home on an exercise spin round the lanes in Northants.

The perception that small wheeled folders are slow per se is a false one. the fact many ride slowly on them whilst wearing street/office clothes, thus travelling at a speed below the sweat threshold, probably strengthens the myth. But we need to be wary, both, 'fast' and 'light' are highly relative and subjective terms. My new brommie is heavier than my SS MTB but easier to carry, especially up stairs (the railways take a dim view of me riding it downstairs) and much quicker. It is lighter, just, than my geared mtb but again it is much faster on the road. It is slower than my fast-tourer and I think a little heavier. But none of the full sized bikes can go under my desk, or be admitted to the trains I want to travel on in winter. I have ridden it from office to home once, over the same route as I commute in season, and the time it took was within bounds. I'd put a Brooks on, and firm up the suspension with a jubilee clip, if I was going to ride 2 x 20 km cross country every day on it.

 

[Twanger]

A brompton is as fast and light as you'll need in a commuter. My commute is 10 miles each way, and it takes me 5 minutes longer on the Brompton that on my old Sirrus hybrid (which I gave to a friend so don't have any more). OK, I'm not the world's most speedy commuter. But assuming that commuting rather than time trialling is your aim, the Brommie is fine.

Sometimes I cycle in and sling the Brompton on the train on the way home.

At the moment I am slinging the Brompton on teh train both ways because I am having an attack of lazysoditis. I cycle a total of two and a half miles each way ...so light and easy I wear normal clothes.

I keep the bike, folded, under my desk at work. No lock. I keep it at the foot of the stairs at home. No obstruction.

And luggagewise, the Brompton is superb...it has the easiest, most practical way of mounting light luggage I have ever seen.

Change the pedals. SPDs, or toeclips (I go for clips), which will bugger up the carrying, but doesn't relly affect the fold badly, and you have an utterly useable commuter.

I agree with the poster above about the Brooks. Also, get the firm suspension block rather than the regular, or you will bounce like a pogo stick (I do, anyway).

 

[Gbola]

I am now convinced the best option is a Brompton, we will wait and see.

 

[ianrauk]

I am now convinced the best option is a Brompton, we will wait and see.

One still for sale in the For sale section of the forum

 

[Gbola]

I would probably wait till February before thinking of buying.

 

[I like Skol]

I am now convinced the best option is a Brompton, we will wait and see.

Use the Peugot as you already have it (I assume the broken hanger got fixed) but scruff it up a bit and keep it dirty. The peugot brand isn't 'sexy' like some other mainstream brands so shouldn't show up on the radars of the thieving scum that scour the bike racks for easy pickings.

EDIT: I see the Peugot has gone.... nevermind.

 

[Bicycle]

I am now going to write something most sacrilegious:

I really don't get the 'folder' thing.

I resisted MTBs, but then I got it and love it.

I resisted fixed-gear, but then got it and love it.

Brompton-type folders just leave me cold. I've tried to love them, but they do not touch my soul.

Luggage is great and bicycles are great, but I'm not sure about making a hybrid of those two things.

A Brompton is fun to ride, but not as much fun as a nice, steel road bike.

I giggle on the Paddington train as people clamber on between Moreton and Reading with their Bromptons... It's a expensive way to buy the right to clunk other passengers in the shin.

I lose time by having to go to the rear of the train and get my bike, but despite being a rat, it is lovely to ride. A Brompton is a thing of wonder, but it is not lovely to ride.

I used to use 4x4s in my work (L/Cruisers, Defenders and so on). They are fabulous off-road, but just a dull, unresponsive, thirsty, noisy drag on-road. I would never think of driving one on tarmac unless there was no choice.

Similarly, whilst I love luggage when its function is to be luggage, I would not think of going out for a ride on it. It is luggage.

My advice (which you will not regret following) is to get a ratbike and keep it at the station in good but inconspicuous condition. Keep two if you want; one at each end.

Buy a Brompton if you must, but it's like plating football with a rugby ball. Amusing in its own way, but slightly missing the point.

PS. Although this is my sincere opinion, I confess that it is written with a smile not entirely without a slightly wry quality.

 

[steve52]

NO<NO<NO<NO

 

[Gbola]

Who knows I might be able to commute all the way with my new road bike or train with my bikes in the evening after returning from work. Time will tell

 

[Twanger]

A folding bike is a tool. People buy them because they do the job.

People who commute on train services that allow non-folding bikes do not need to take folding bikes.

People who have bike parking at home, or whose partners do not object to the tourer in the hall or the MTB in the bedroom do not need a bike that folds. People who live in the modern bijou style of London accommodation, or whose significant other likes to use the bedroom for other things, can use a folder.

People who have secure bike parking at work (we do, actually!) don't need a folder that will go under their desks.

A Brompton is a damn elegant bit of design. It is rideable. It does not give the electric joy of facing the open road as a great road bike does. But it is a joy in its quality and cleverness and usefulness.

If you set up a Brompton properly, which means:

- the right bars for you
- the right seatpost length for you
- the right pedals for you
- the right saddle for you
- the right suspension block for you
- the right gearing choice for you

then it is its own pleasure to ride.

 

[Norm]

If you mean Rugby Football, then I guess you are not wrong.

No, I think he would still be wrong, as I think he meant to type "playing" rather than "plating".