14 ms·

I've spent a long time with folding bikes over the years. My advice: bite the bullet and buy a Brompton[1]. Yes, Bromptons are expensive. But they ride like a

• Gualdrapo 5y ago
  For shorter rides the saddle thing can be no biggie, but on long distances your butt will curse at that thing. Saddles are more important than people would acknowledge.
• user568439 5y ago
  It was a difficult decision for me to spend 1.300 EUR in a Brompton, but I don't regret it a little bit. I have to admit I didn't use any alternative as a long term foldable bicycle, but after 3 years with the Brompton I don't have a single complain. Great quality, minimum weight, nice riding, fast un/folding. Everything you would expect from a portable bike. Regarding the cost, I'm quite sure I could sell mine for more than 800 EUR while any other alternative would lose at least 50% of the value and probably require more maintenance.
  • someweirdperson 5y ago
    I like my Beixo with shaft drive. A bit on the heavy side, but can carry it close without getting dirty.
    • rambambram 5y ago
      Ah, another Beixo driver. I really liked the idea of the shaft drive, but I couldn't get used to the elastic feeling in the drive train. I still somewhere hope I rode an old model and everything is better now, but my guess is it's an integral part of the concept of a shaft drive on a bicycle.
• lisper 5y ago
  > Bromptons are expensive Half the price of a Kwiggle [1]. Seems like a bargain to me. [1] Comparing apples to apples, the base Brompton is a 3-speed for 850 euros. The 3-speed Kwiggle is 1690.
  • gnufx 5y ago
    In which country can you get (a new) Brompton so cheaply?
    • ketzo 5y ago
      When I go their website right now (from the U.S.), I see the base model on sale for 850 pounds.
      • GGfpc 5y ago
        that's like 1000€
      • TylerE 5y ago
        Without shipping or customs... US dealers that sell them seem to start around $1600
      • gnufx 5y ago
        Oh, I didn't realize you could even buy them direct now. I was looking at >~£1200 in shops or ~£1400 for the models in stock where I got mine. (The cheapest used to be single speed, and 3-speed is stretching it for non-trivial hills like the scarp round here.)
• dn3500 5y ago
  I'll second that. My dad had a different English folding bike in the 1980s, got rid of it and got a Brompton that he kept for 30 years. I had a Dahon that was ok I guess but the Brompton was way better. The Dahon had lots of frame flex and the folding headset, folding pedal, and flimsy seat post never worked right.
• mypalmike 5y ago
  Heh I learned about the Brompton from the quirky BBC show "W1A", where it was treated as a kind of strange status symbol.
  • heavenlyblue 5y ago
    Hm, that show just made fun of British corporate culture, and Brompton spearheads this. Although to be fair I never worked for a company where there was at least one Brompton. Having said that there’s something very British about it IMO. But I am not British.
    • arethuza 5y ago
      Worth noting that W1A is the BBC making a comedy series about the corporate culture of the BBC.
  • _tik_ 5y ago
    here in Singapore Brompton and Birdy are MAMIL standard ride.
• bambax 5y ago
  Bromptons are fantastic but there are many folding bikes with gears for much much less money. Decathlon Oxylane 120 retails for €289, with taxes, for example. It's not a Brompton, but for 1/4 of the price it doesn't need to be.
  • frankfrankfrank 5y ago
    What am I missing. I looked at the Bromton and it’s ~$3,800 or roughly 1/12 of the Decathlon.
    • bambax 5y ago
      The Brompton 1-speed starts at £850 (in the UK); the C line is £1350.
    • sooheon 5y ago
      They are abusing intellectual property monopoly.
    • evgen 5y ago
      Build quality and longevity. After five years of daily use you will be able to resell your Brompton for 80% of its initial price, while I would guess you would be lucky to get more than $100 for your old Decathlon.
      • necovek 5y ago
        The most you can lose out on the Decathlon is those €289, whereas 20% of the quoted Brompton price of $3800 is double that :) Resale value is important in the sense that you know you are risking at most X, which with Brompton sounds to be €600 — in case you dislike it or don't have a need for it anymore, or are in a need of cash, so the risk you are willing to take is still larger. Ultimately, as with anything, if Bromptons are really of such a high quality, the best purchase is a used Brompton which you might be able to resell for the same price you got it at. If you really end up using it to the max, you can resell it early and get a new one specced to your liking. For something you'll end up using daily, the most important thing is quality, and then you should look for the best price next.
• samwillis 5y ago
  My understanding is that Brompton have a patent on their particular fold configuration and so no one can copy it. I’m very much of the opinion that that fold is the most compact while keeping your cycling position close to that of a normal bike. Every other compact folding bike is fighting for a design against that patent, and it can’t be done. This looks to me like one of those designs, if the designers had been able to independently develop a fold without infringing Brompton they would have come up with something very similar to them, not this strange contraption. You can see the Brompton influence, one pivoting wheel and folding cross bar with a 45deg hinge. But they have had to compromise in order to not infringe the design resulting in a very odd seat design. I have spent many many hours trying to design a fold as good as Bromptons and haven’t managed too, it’s just too perfect.
  • throwaway81523 5y ago
    That patent was from 1979 so it must be long expired.
    • samwillis 5y ago
      Hmm, will have to dig into it and do some research as, if it is expired, why has no one copied the design? Edit: It seems to have been proven in court that they have copyright (rather than the old patent) of the design. A bit like the coke bottle design I suppose. https://www.farrer.co.uk/news-and-insights/brompton-puts-the-brakes-on-copycats-but-its-not-over-yet/ https://www.farrer.co.uk/news-and-insights/brompton-puts-the...
      • Asooka 5y ago
        Ugh, disgusting. Guess I'm never giving money to Brompton.
        • jacquesm 5y ago
          I did and I didn't regret it for a second, it sees tons of use and is pretty much indestructible. The design is timeless and the second hand market for Bromptons is pretty good, they hold their value better than any car I've ever owned. The first five minutes require some care but after that it's super stable and very low on maintenance given the complexity of the folding. It's small enough that it fits the cargo space in my car where it normally lives so that I always have a bike with me wherever I go. If there is a downside that would be that even though the wheels are quite a bit bigger than the ones of the bike showcased here that the tires are very high pressure and need frequent topping up.
• chews 5y ago
  Buy a Tern (sp edit), better components on a Brompton frame
  • gomox 5y ago
    They are different bikes for different things. The Brompton is a much better folded bike (it's a lot smaller, it actually stays folded, it doesn't have exposed greasy parts when folded, you can use it as a shopping cart, etc). High end Terns (Verge) are more like a normal bike with good components but they are nowhere near as compact when folded (likelihood of walking it into a shop and not getting yelled at is nil, unlike with the Brompton), they don't have as good commuter accessories as the Bromptons and they ride much stiffer (which is good or bad depending on what you are doing with the bike). Source: own both
  • taffit 5y ago
    I own a Tern Verge myself. Got already > 1'200 km tracked, although not using it that often. Beside some ... issues (a pedal broke, the brakes need some adjustments from time to time and one tire (that I changed myself, I have to add) loses some air over time) I really love it. Especially being able to push it and not having to carry it when it is folded is a big plus for me.
• 28304283409234 5y ago
  I got my brompton in 2006. Still bike it almost daily.
• pizza234 5y ago
  > In the past I had an A-bike[2] I've had an A-bike in the past as well, and while I like the idea in principle, it's essentially a scam, due to the extremely low-quality materials - some components in the transmission are made of plastic, and they're bound to break rather quickly (I think it took me just a few months, even with around 20 km/week).
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• codeulike 5y ago
  The A-Bike was a project by Clive Sinclair (ZX Spectrum etc) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-bike https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-bike Had one for a bit, very small wheels, was kindof fun but in London its just easier to have a normal bike and arrange your commute so that you use it, rather than carry a small bike around. I also had a Strida, really nice design and a good balance between usefulness and foldyness https://www.strida.com/ https://www.strida.com/
  • teslaberri 5y ago
    i owned an A bike for like a week. they are unrideable. entirely and totally unrideable on real roads of any kind unless you want to damage your prostate.
• m463 5y ago
  Folding bikes to me have always been "fits in trunk of car". This is an interesting idea, but I wonder if it collides into the electric scooter market. I think dahon bikes are fairly nice, but I have not tried a brompton. I have a dahon mu n360 with a variable transmission that I like quite a bit. https://dahon.com/bikes/mu-n360/ https://dahon.com/bikes/mu-n360/ However recently I bought two bikes direct e-bikes - pretty versatile and go off-road/to parks: https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/e-bikes-electric-bicycles/ebikes-electric-folding-bikes-ef3.htm https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/e-bikes-elec... I wonder how people use their folding bikes?
  • cbm-vic-20 5y ago
    I use mine in two ways: 1) Multi-modal commute. I ride my Brompton to and from the train station on both ends of my commute, about 2 miles per segment. 2) Weekend/vacation cruising, if I'm going somewhere on a car or ferry, it's easy to take the Brompton along.
  • acomjean 5y ago
    I have a dahon mariner bike. I like it even though I lack the boat it’s supposed to pair with (I put it in my car). It doesn’t fold as small as the bromton, but I think the wheels are bigger.. it’s useful to have the bike when traveling, dropping car at shop. I think I like the Danone better than my brothers bromton e-bike (which he won in a raffle.. lucky). Ebikes are great though.
  • brudgers 5y ago
    I use my Brompton as an alternative to walking. It is good enough to be my only bike and practical enough that I have no inclination toward a special wardrobe. It’s a great tool.
  • ansible 5y ago
    I have a Dahon Briza, with 24in wheels. The main thing was that a couple of them can be easily loaded in my car. Otherwise I just ride near my home. I am not totally satisfied, but it is OK. I'll probably change the crank gear to be larger, the very lowest gears aren't useful right now because they are so slow. I also can't ride it without having at least one hand on the handlebars. Having fenders is nice, but they are very flimsy. Price was a lot lower than a Brompton.
• yrgulation 5y ago
  Looks good and its made in the UK from what I gather. I will definitely give Brompton a try.
• mattl 5y ago
  I rode an A-bike for a few weeks and it was pretty uncomfortable but it was faster than walking.
• lmm 5y ago
  Did you ever look at the Strida? It was designed in response to the Brompton, with a simpler fold and the ability to wheel it around on its actual wheels while folded, rather than little casters. It doesn't fold quite as small as a Brompton (it's more golf-bag like), but the footprint is similar if there's something to lean it against. I'm very happy with mine, and it has most of the advantages you list - luggage rack, real bike feel (my longest day is apparently 64km and top speed 64kph). The sensitive steering takes a bit of getting used to the first time but you adapt quite quickly. For me the simple fold (and, sure, lower price) feels like a big advantage compared to the Brompton, which is what several of my friends have.
  • teslaberri 5y ago
    it's either brompton or strida. other bikes are just dumb. tern. dumb. moulton dumb. pacific cycles dumb. dahon dumb. birdie dumb. bike friday , kinda dumb. old raleigh folding tanks ....the list goes on. any bike with under 16"" wheels is also totally stupid . retardedly so, unless it's for some niche clown world where bumps don't exist and you don't ride the thing farther than a mile.
    • makeitdouble 5y ago
      What do you have against bd-1/birdies ? Outside of the lock clip that could be improved, it has very few compromises and can be maintained/upgraded without proprietary parts.
• tormock 5y ago
  It all comes down to what is your reason for using a folding bicycle... I really love my light aluminum non-folding bike that is pedal-powered... but if I would buy a folding bike, it would be electric-motor powered.
• mauvehaus 5y ago
  Yeah, I'm going to second this. Even the 16" wheels on a Brompton are pretty miserable on bumpy roads (Boston); the Kwiggle has even smaller wheels. The fold on a Brompton is just about perfect. It takes no time at all. I'm a little annoyed to find that they're using copyright to keep a monopoly on it, but certainly not so much that I'm going to give it up. I tried out a Tern, a Dahon, and some random ancient thing. I've never regretted spending the extra coin on the Brompton. The fact that all the greasy bits are in the middle when it's folded means you throw it in your trunk without thinking about it. It means you put it between your legs on the subway without thinking about it. The fact that it folds in seconds means you don't miss your train fumbling with it at the fare gate. The only downside I can see is like half the parts on the thing are bespoke. Replacing a derailleur, for instance is not something your average shop can do. Ditto the shifters. It's the Apple of bikes: the tight integration of the components gets you an absolutely magnificent package (at a premium price), but you get some lock-in as a result.
  • theturtletalks 5y ago
    Would you recommend the A-line or the C-line?
    • mauvehaus 5y ago
      Dunno. It looks like you get fenders and a bunch of little upgrades like the folding pedal and a nicer saddle. Oh and a light and the luggage block some standard. The folding pedal is a nice touch, not gonna lie. I've got it on mine. Essential? Probably not, but it's one less thing to clip your shins on as you're running for the train. The package, nice as it is, is still a little awkward. They've reorganized their product lines since I got mine. I've got a two speed with flat bars and fenders, all steel (i.e. no titanium). I'd say that three speeds is probably a worthy upgrade unless you live somewhere dead flat (and the two speeds are spaced too far apart for my liking, I'd add). Even the flat bars are pretty upright if you're used to a road bike. Of other note, if you have a long inseam, you'll be getting a bigger seat post. I'm a 34" inseam, and I had to get the extendable seat post to get the seat high enough.
    • brudgers 5y ago
• owenversteeg 5y ago
  The Brompton is bigger and heavier than this though. The Brompton A line is 25.3" x 23" x 10.6" and 25.6 lbs (64x59x27cm and 11.6 kg.) This is 21.6" x 15.8" x 9.8" and 20.9 lbs (554025 cm and 9.5kg.) Nearly five pounds lighter, 7.2" shorter and 3.7" shorter - that's a big difference for some of these use cases. For example, lugging it around on public transport, or bringing it on a plane, or just dragging it around a city for the day - this thing easily wins, there’s just no comparison. I haven’t rode one of these so of course I can’t say, but the fact that they rode it all around the entire IJsselmeer (one of the largest lakes in the world) - which is a serious bike ride even on a normal bike - is a pretty good sign that this bike isn’t terrible to ride on, even if it may not quite be a Brompton. So the comparison becomes “decent portability and excellent biking” vs “excellent portability and decent biking”. I think that’s a fair tradeoff. If anything, I wish it would go further - give me half the size and a mediocre biking experience and I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
  • owenversteeg 5y ago
    That should be 55x40x25 above - forgot about the italics formatting and now it's too late to edit.
• ridehelix 5y ago
  A discussion about folding bikes would not be complete without mentioning Helix. Helix folds almost as small as a Brompton but has 24” wheels and standard bicycle components such as disc brakes, Shimano/SRAM drivetrain etc. Also the fold is the most compact possible, even more compact than Brompton in terms of maximizing the use of space. It also fits in a standard airline luggage without any disassembly which few other folding bikes can claim. The frame is full titanium including the locking mechanisms. It’s made in Canada and is the lowest cost complete titanium bike on the market, folding or not. https://www.helix.ca https://www.helix.ca Full disclosure, I’m the owner/founder of Helix. Happy to answer any questions related to it or folding bikes in general.
  • raffraffraff 5y ago
    Do you sell in Europe?
    • deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    • tbabej 5y ago
      They do! [1] > What countries do you ship to? > Helix ships worldwide. [1] https://helix.ca/support/faq/ https://helix.ca/support/faq/
  • deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  • nwatson 5y ago
    That's a beautiful bike!
    • ridehelix 5y ago
      Thank you. Designing it was a labour of love. It’s function over form in every detail. No gimmicks, cheap materials or manufacturing short cuts like using castings for example. The welded frame components are all cnc machined from titanium blocks and the frame is robotically TIG welded in an argon chamber in our Toronto factory. We literally spare no expense in making them.
• dheera 5y ago
  I've done lots of touring, including one 1600km trip in China, with a Dahon Speed P8, which has 20-inch wheels, which are likely a bit more pleasant than the 16-inch wheels of the Brompton. It's also a good option if you're looking for something lower priced. If you take the wheels and pedals off and pack it correctly it's possible to fit inside a Samsonite Oyster 29 suitcase which fits regulation dimensions to be accepted as normal check-in baggage on most airlines. That said the bike in TFA looks interesting for multi-modal commuter use in e.g. Singapore or other such cities where a Brompton likely would not be accepted on the subway. There's also the JZ88 (https://jz88.com/shop.html https://jz88.com/shop.html) which is claimed to be Singapore MRT-acceptable but I haven't used it.
• HackerJR124_ 5y ago
  Hmmm interesting do you want me to hack this?
• ranit 5y ago
  Another half bike worth mentioning https://halfbikes.com/ https://halfbikes.com/
• deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
• donjoe 5y ago
  I'd like to add a type of bike which is tiny but not foldable: a Minivelo. I recently ordered a frame on AliExpress [0] equipped with internal cable routing and disc brake mounts, 2.25'' tire clearance. My build looks like a gravel bike. A gravel bike on 20'' with an 11 speed cassette, a drop bar and SRAM derailleur. Of course, not to miss a great carbon sear post. Including pedals and tires, the bike accounts for 10kg. In order to take it on flights, I did sew myself a backpack to fit the bike. Taking the bike apart takes me 10 minutes. It is a tiny bit too large for hand luggage but ideal for being checked in. For me the frame is a great compromise between size, stiffness and maintainability. Velo orange [1] does offer a lovely frameset, too. It's just hard to get by in Europe (at a reasonable price point). [0] https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600169443757/SILVEROCK-Chrome-Frame-Fork-451-406.html https://m.alibaba.com/product/1600169443757/SILVEROCK-Chrome... [1] https://velo-orange.com/collections/neutrino-mini-velo https://velo-orange.com/collections/neutrino-mini-velo
• kwigglebike 5y ago
  The thing is the Kwiggle is not just small but offers a new way of cycling which is much better for your body and uses more muscle groups than normal cycling. You have to ride one to understand :-)
• gmac 5y ago
  I'm sure Bromptons are great, but the prices are just ridiculous, and their marketing grates. I really don't need my bike to be handmade in London. I have a Decathlon foldable. It doesn't fold quite as small as a Brompton, so I wouldn't want to be regularly taking it on public transport. But it's light and solid, folds easily and rides well at about one third the price.
  • bettysdiagnose 5y ago
    Any bike that costs as little as yours does is probably in reality a pretty poorly designed and built bicycle. Bromptons are actually pretty cheap as far as bicycles go.
    • gmac 5y ago
      To me, this comes across rather condescending (and appears to be based on a reference category of: very rich people and/or major cycling enthusiasts).
  • littlestymaar 5y ago
    £850 / 1090€[1] sure it's a bit expensive, but ridiculous really? I find it really funny to find such a comment on a forum where a big chunk of users are fine paying more than twice the price for a laptop. [1]: https://fr.brompton.com/shop/bikes/a-line?color=white&handlebar=mid https://fr.brompton.com/shop/bikes/a-line?color=white&handle...
    • gmac 5y ago
      Perhaps you're right that £850 is slightly below the ridiculous threshold (my recollection was that they were all £1000+). Though it seems that price omits arguably necessary features like mudguards.
      • Aeolun 5y ago
        > omits arguably necessary features Like a macbook pro omits a headphone jack and ethernet ports?
• Al-Khwarizmi 5y ago
  Since you have experience with folding bikes (but anyone's help will be welcome). Do you know if folding bikes are viable at all for a tall person? (about 197 cm / 6 ft 5.56 in) It would be convenient for me to have one due to lack of space in my apartment, but from an external observer perspective they all look like too small and like I would need to ride hunched and uncomfortable, so I haven't really looked into them. But maybe it's just prejudice.
  • iso1631 5y ago
    The easy answer is go to a bike shop and do a test ride. I guess it will depend more on your build - how much height is in your legs vs body for example.
    • necovek 5y ago
      I guess Al-Khwarizmi comes from the near East and from 9th century or thereabouts, so there are no local stores for them to try out, but online shopping works perfect since they deliver to all places and to all times. Being similarly tall with longish legs (especially my thigh bone, important for eg. legroom in cars, airplanes...), I'd be extremely weary of jumping on a bike that's not suitably sized, no matter what claims people make how a smaller bike can fit you. But what matters just the same is your arm length, body length and such: basically, how far down and in the front you can reach when properly seated above the pedals? I've only got "average" arms (my wingspan matches my height), so smaller frames mean hard to reach handlebars. When you can't easily try a bike out, if it's not rated for at least 2-3" (5-8cm) taller riders than you are, I wouldn't get it because your balance and posture will suffer.
      • iso1631 5y ago
        Why would you think that? Looking at comments, they come from western Spain, there's plenty of Bike shops in say Cáceres‎. If I was spending €1000+ on a bike I was going to use for the next decade, I'd want to try it out first
        • 5y ago
• iso1631 5y ago
  Back in the mid 2000s I used to ride a 2 miles, 45 minute train, then 7 miles to work, and back, 5 times a week on a Bromptom. No problems, it was ideal. I then moved and I lived at one end of the Central line in Essex, about a 1 minute walk, and worked a similar distance in West London. Took about 55 minutes for the train to go, always got a seat in both directions. However during summer I would ride on my Bromptom one way in the morning two or three times a week - took about 24 miles, or 2 hours, I'd then fold it up and take it home on the train. My next move was too far to ride (45 miles each way), and less than a mile from the station at each end so didn't do much commuting riding then, and I moved to be a home worker in 2011, but I still ride my Bromptom around the country lanes. Occasionally think I should upgrade to something with more than 3 gears (it's relatively hilly where I live). The bike itself I think cost £520 back in 2005, a new one of the same model is over £1k now, not sure what the second hand value is
  • rexpress 5y ago
    I do a regular 25 mile commute one way across London, train back myself. One of my routes includes Hampstead and Highgate, a decent amount of climb. I tried the 3 speed hire Bromptons, but went for the 6 speed when I purchased one. The upgrade was well worth the money, I doubt I'd be able to get up those hills on the 3 speed.
• MrKwiggle 5y ago
  Just my comment to "but I suspect the overall ride experience to be a bit bouncy and flexy". Kwiggle is a new movement for a flexy human being. Humans have been accustomed to putting their natural flexibility into a rigid posture on a bicycle for 200 years. If you are thinking the bicycle from the anatomically view, you should invent a bicycle, that could be ridden upright with your flexible natural movement similar to the walking. This was the first idea of the Kwiggle. And this is an opportunity to get back to your natural flexibility. After a little get used to, Kwiggle will adapt to your movement and not the other way round.
  • unicornporn 5y ago
    My biggest question is the combination of an extremely short wheelbase, small wheel diameter and, perhaps more importantly, the negative fork offset and the steep head tube angle. It seems it would be extremely easy to get thrown over the handlebars when hitting an obstacle... What's your reasoning behind this geo? Is it only space saving?
    • MrKwiggle 5y ago
      First of all: The fork offset is needed to obtain the same trail as with a normal bike. Large wheels need to bend the fork forward in order to reduce the natural trail for easier steering. Small wheels need to bend the fork backwards in order to get the same effect, because the natural trail of small wheels is to small. Just look on a shopping cart. The fork of the steering wheels is bent backwards too. On Kwiggle you ride upright with a small wheelbase. So you have to adjust a little bit and you should pay a little bit more attention to the road. We have so many customers who have mastered that with bravour, so we stopped worrying about it. Only with this small wheelbase it is possible to get a bicycle folded to handluggage size.
      • unicornporn 5y ago
        Thanks for taking the time!
• samuell 5y ago
  I have had tons of use of Decathlon folding bikes (https://www.decathlon.com/collections/folding-bikes https://www.decathlon.com/collections/folding-bikes), which are waaay cheaper than Bromtons, and still surprisingly bicycle-like in my experience.
• westcort 5y ago
  How about Strida? I had a folding bike and always found that the chain grease in my pants was a limiting factor. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strida https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strida
• kohlerm 5y ago
  Sure Brompton has the most experience with these kind of bikes, but a steel frame on a bike that is supposed to be carried around? If I would spend that amount of money I would probably go for https://www.r-m.de/de/bikes/birdy/ https://www.r-m.de/de/bikes/birdy/ with additional benefit that it is a German manufacturer ;-)
  • dagw 5y ago
    Brompton have both steel and titanium frame bikes, depending on your budget.
  • bettysdiagnose 5y ago
    Birdie, Birdie Touring, Birdie Rohloff, ab 12.9kg, 12kg, 13.1kg, respectively. Heaviest Brompton: 11.5kg. So much for German engineering in this case ;-)
• zeagle 5y ago
  I would wholeheartedly agree with this. I've tried Dahon, Tern, and one other frame I can't recall after pining for a Brompton for years but eventually bit the bullet and purchased one for myself. No comparison. It's my favourite bike for non-snow/slush conditions. Bike Friday was also on the short list but I didn't have the opportunity to try. Good on you for doing 70km! That's about the limit of my comfortable endurance on it too. My record is~100km plus two ferry rides touring on the west coast but I admittedly walked it up the last two hills in the dark and I started to wish I was done around 85km. What do you use for checked airline travel? I have the B&W hard case but haven't tried anything else. I think it is a linear inch or two over regulation if measured but nobody has ever stopped me or charged overage.
  • alamortsubite 5y ago
    Your B&W case is about 4" over regulation, I believe, but I've read that last year many airlines began waiving the oversize fee for bikes (the weight limit still applies, but a Brompton plus the case should easily meet it). So tell the check-in agent there's a bike in the case if they ever decide to measure it. I'm in the process of building aluminum cases for two Zizzo folders my gf and I just bought. I'm keeping them under the size limit to be safe, but because they also convert into trailers (to haul carry-on) and are relatively beefy, I'm bumping up against the 50 lb weight limit for economy seats. Right now I'm scratching my head as to how to incorporate casters and center stands with only 1 lb left to play with. :|
    • zeagle 5y ago
      That's neat! I have an idea that you could try. I have a folding portage cart with light weight removable wheels that attach via pushpin axles into metal receivers. Buy two extra receivers, drill holes in the side of the case, bolt on the receivers, and attach the wheels at the destination. I haven't used it for this yet but plan was I would just take the wheels in my carry on. I also have not work out how to attach the cart to the bike yet. Wike sells the individual wheels, pins, receivers (2) and even a diy box trailer kit(1) using these parts with instructions if looking to visualize this. (1) https://wicycle.com/products/bike-trailers/diy2 https://wicycle.com/products/bike-trailers/diy2 (2) https://wicycle.com/support/replacementparts https://wicycle.com/support/replacementparts
• einpoklum 5y ago
  When I lived in Amsterdam, I rode a regular (non-folding) bike. It didn't have gears - but I didn't need them. If you do in-city riding, and your town is planar, gears are not necessary. And you won't be going 45 kph anyway. On the other hand, if you ride 70 Km a day - why would you even need a _folding_ bike? That means you do serious cross-country riding. Use a regular bike.
• novaleaf 5y ago
  If you are not "made of money", buy a Zizzo: 25% the price. I have a Zizzo and bought one for each of my immediate family members. Everyone loves it. Amazon has reasonable pricing+availability for USA people. I bought 3 Zizzo Forte, and 1 Zizzo Urbano. The Urbano for my 9 yo daughter to make it slightly easier for her to manage.
• jodrellblank 5y ago
  Why are they all so big? Is there no fancy material that can make the frame as thin as a drinking straw and still strong enough?