I’m sitting here a couple of frambozenbeirs to the wind and considering my current line up and reflecting that, as I live in a certain city beginning with a ‘B’ where bikes are to the locals what shiny stuff is to magpies and hubcaps are to scousers, I lack a bike that can go from here, to the pub/offy/shops and still be there when I come to ride home.

This, combined with the fact that I am probaly swiftly advancing to old fartage leads me to suspect that the next bike purchase may be foldable.

One thing remains unclear, however: If one attempts to bunnyhop a Brompton up a kerb, do bad things happen? Does it spontaneously fold? And if it does, is there a way to unfold it en route to terra firma, ’cause if there is it could add a whole new dimension to tailwhips.

They do fold quickly as they’re made in Brentford where Pikeys drink 😉

You can get special clips to stop them from folding when doing bunnyhops etc. But they’re so resellable that they are nickable too.

Kingsdown Vaults on foot for me, I think.

Ah, but the thing is that I’ll be carrying it. Anyone trying to nick it will have to fight their way though a hail of kebab meat and wrench it out of my sweaty, ill tempered, 230lbs grasp 😀

Useful to know about the clips, cheers. Will see if i can get a test ride on one. Dahon Uno also looks interesting, but folds worse.

All Bromptons are now fitted at the point of manufacture with a catch to stop the foldy thing happening unless you want it to happen (ie when your are folding it). IMO (being a fairly newish Brompton owner), they are quite simply the best folders you can buy

Newer Bromptons have the clips that keep it unfolded when the back wheel is lifted. They’re retrofittable to older ones too.

Consider carefully whether you’d bother folding the thing up and carrying it in with you to the pub/shops/whatever. If you don’t think you will all the time, just get a cheap old bike to tool around on.

they are quite simply the best folders you can buy

As the owner of an Airnimal I disagree wholeheartedly 😀 though it really does depend on what exactly you want your folder to be. I loved my old Strida – it was great for a 1-2mile dash across (flat) London but would be useless on my current commute. I need a folding bike to be able to take it onto the trains every morning due to the rail company policies – IMO the Airnimal (or Bike Friday) is as close to a ‘real’ bike as you can get yet is still foldable in under 60 seconds – not as fast (or as small) as a Brompton or Strida or Dahon but it will sit in a carriage luggage compartment. However I’m not sure I’d want to cycle 25 miles of hilly Kent/Sussex countryside on either of those two with their diddy wheels…

Coincidentally I had a Dahon MU-XL before the Airnimal and it started to fall apart after 3 months.

Folding takes seconds once you are used to it – it’s no bother to fold at all

Oh, and buy British!!!

Simon – it has been made clear to me that there’s no space for another bike (not even a BMX), a brompton however will fit in the cupboard. Just the job for a lot of things for me I think. Saw an airnamal this evening on the way home and was quite impressed, but I’m more after a city bike i think. (I’ve got a proper roadie already)

Edit – Cheesyfeet, that’s part of the thinking – it’s why I’m convinced im turning into an old fart, about to order another pair of loakes on that basis…

the only bike Ive had stolen was a Brompton 🙁

had to blow the excess on the insurance to replace – couldnt live without owning one 🙂

If you’re happy to be an old fart I’d wholeheartedly recommend them. I’m on my third after having had the last two stolen (well-locked, in broad daylight, with loads of people around). As Cheesy and Simon say above they all come with the clip now so no need to worry about spontaneous folding.

I have no doubt that an Airnimal is a better bike for riding – I came close to buying one myself – but if it’s not going to be used for long rides then for me at least the Brompton’s foldability outweighs the Airnimal’s rideability. But I know of others who swear by their Airnimal, or for that matter their Birdy, both of which are much more like proper bikes.

Just, whatever you do, don’t lock it up anywhere. I don’t even carry a lock any more when I take my Brompton to London – it’s a pain to carry it everywhere but less of a pain than walking back to the station.

And if you ever have cause to go to Paris on the Eurostar I can’t recommend taking the Brompton with you highly enough, even if they do now insist on you sticking it in a bag. It’s such a great feeling to cycle off across the city from the Gare du Nord, and few things so strongly reinforce the mad Englishman stereotype as turning up at a hotel on one!

Airnimals come in several types so they are worth checking out – 2 different types of road based bikes and a few MTBs. Mezzo folders are also worth checking out as they have more standard parts than Bromptons, so if something breaks, you can hunt down parts in any bike shop – no waiting days for special orders.

I would also say consider carefully how keen you are to carry a folding bike rather than locking it. Even small ones are much heavier than they look, even Bromptons. Try picking one up! I guess a 20lbs plus bike might be easier for a bloke to carry for longish periods though. One of the bikes I considered was a Brompton but the weight plus special order parts put me off in the end.