Monday Bike Style: Bromptons Dwell here

I remember this pic in Dwell years ago when this couple were speaking about how Bromptons find a place in the homes of those where space however small costs 1000’s. And a brompton or two can fit in the cupboard. So in hour of my nifty (not used enough folder)

With most architect-designed homes, the program originates from the kitchen and main living area, but for Londoners Brad Smith and Brian Brennan it was very much what was not to be on show—specifically, their Brompton brand fold-up bicycles—that dictated the renovation of their 648-square-foot former coach house. The couple, who both work on the tech side of finance, bike to work each day, and they didn’t want to suffer the cycle-cluttering-the-hallway scenario that many city dwellers endure. Nor did they want to chance leaving the bikes outdoors; no matter how hefty the lock, a bike left on the London streets overnight will not likely be there in the morning.

Brompton Special Edition: Nickel

i would still prefer the raw lacquer version – or a ti version that they don’t make yet ….

 

FROM BROMPTON:

We are proud to announce the launch of the new Brompton Nickel Edition, our most premium bike to date. The Nickel Edition has a production run of 1,500 for 2016 and is available in all Brompton Junction stores and selected dealers worldwide. You can find your nearest Brompton dealer here.

The Nickel Edition is available worldwide, with each of this limited run of bikes sequentially numbered for added exclusivity. It is made from polished 50 micron high-phosphorus electroless nickel plating and is Brompton’s most advanced finish to date with exceptional anti-corrosion resistance, normally reserved for mining and deep-sea drilling equipment creating a beautiful and striking finish.

Want to see more Special Edition Bromptons? – Click here. 

The bike will also incorporate Black components which include black wheel rims, spokes and seat post. The bike will be available with an S, M or H Type handlebar, 2 or 6 speed. In the UK the bike will be available for RRP starting at £1,310. The Nickel Edition is available in all steel with Black components or as a superlight option with titanium fork and rear frame.

The Nocturne on a Brompton

A friend out in Erbil was just speaking about the desire to buy a Brompton – I showed him this video and now he is …. he is back to Brooklyn tonight so will have to shop for one there. This is the video he loved … if it was me the Raw lacquer version would be my choice.

Morning constitutional

it comes after coffee of course.

  
Post school run with the kids – living only an 8 min walk from the girls school (it will be 4min to high school and also around 8 to glasgow university if they go there) means I rarely use a bike in the mornings. Today is different as I needed to drop off some expensive plugs to get some expensive speaker cables made up for my expensive stereo so I can enjoy priceless music. But the shop only opens at 10am so cycle around then back to a local for coffee

  
Sitting here delaying work and chores is quite lovely. I hope you got a ride (or time outside) today.

Monday bike style: Brompton belle

nice pic harvested from Instagram  

 

In defence of Brompton Man, the cyclist who puts function over style – Telegraph Newspaper

from the Telegraph

It’s easy to poke fun at Brompton Man, with his practical attire and holier-than-thou attitude – but his bike remains one of the most impressive on the road, writes Andrew Critchlow

Left: Andrew Critchlow tests a Brompton folding bike. Right: Hugh Bonneville as Ian Fletcher

Our roads are increasingly home to various tribes of bike rider. You’ve heard all about the Mamils (Middle Aged Men In Lycra) who thunder along the A23 on their way to work on £12,000 racing bikes; and you’ve probably noticed the Single Gear Hipsters, a younger strain of rider whose rolled-up right jean leg revolves furiously around a fixed crank somewhere near Hoxton.

But there’s one tribe that has hitherto snuck under the radar.

Brompton Man has been travelling with his foldaway bike on Britain’s roads and rails for decades. Every morning, he can be seen outside train stations, furiously unpacking his bike after a morning commute before disappearing into the distance, his feet whirling away like a hamster stuck on a circus wheel. And yet, unlike the Mamil and Single Gear Hipster, this figure of comedy has largely avoided ridicule.

Until now. Brompton Man was first deliciously parodied in the BBC’s excellent Olympic send-up 2012, where Hugh Bonneville’s well-intentioned executive Ian Fletcher was all fingers and cut thumbs with his prized Brompton, forever unable to make the bloody thing actually work.

And now we have a real-life embodiment of Fletcher – according to the Daily Mail at least, who this morning have cast BBC creative director Alan Yentob as the essence of Brompton Man. (I would be willing to bet that the corporation’s ‘swingometer’ man Jeremy Vine also has one tucked away somewhere in Broadcasting House.)

So just what makes Yentob and his ilk a true Brompton Man?

First off, there’s the bizarre uniform, which mixes one part office wear with one part luminous Gore Tex. Trouser clips come as standard.

Then there’s the look on his face. Because he rides a Brompton, Brompton Man is imbued with the self-righteous knowledge that although the folding bicycle looks absurd, he owns a true British design classic that puts function ahead of form. Can your flashy Pinarello be stored away in the cupboard under the stairs at home, his expression seems to ask.

He is, in other words, the James May of cycling. (And yes, May does ride a Brompton, in case you’re wondering.)

^{A Brompton S2L-X in its full glory}

Brompton Man probably earns over £200,000 per year as a senior manager in a media company like the BBC, or by overseeing some politically correct department of a government-funded quango.

In meetings he often leaves colleagues baffled with mindless jargon such as getting “buy-in” or “core competency”. Possibly even more annoying is his capacity to drop into almost any conversation the fact that he can carry his Brompton on the packed train to Waterloo from Guildford at rush hour.

Brompton Man will leave his office door open to give the impression that he is willing to listen to anyone – but everyone knows that he really just wants you to see his folding bike stashed next to his desk instead of being chained alongside all the ‘normal’ bikes in the car park outside.

^{The Brompton does its contortionist’s act}

Yes, Brompton Man really is a figure of mockery. And yet … I would happily own one of these made-in-England feats of engineering.

The truth is that I was lucky enough to test a Brompton last year. With all my preformed prejudices hanging from my shoulders like the weight of a 12kg folding bike, I decked myself out in full Lycra and tried to clock a fast time around my local Box Hill circuit on one of the machines.

Guess what? It was superb – fast and yet reliable; nimble yet stable. I rode it at 17mph for an hour, climbing and descending hills en route – and never once felt that I was cycling something that could, in the space of a few quick snaps, fold into something that would fit into the bottom draw of my filing cabinet at work.

The classic Brompton sells for around £1,000 – although in recent years, the company, which is based in West London, has introduced jazzier, flashier models. Instead of showing the bike being pedalled by some media executive in a ill-fitting florescent cycling jacket, the marketing clip for the speedster models features an anonymous racer in tights, who spins away furiously.

You have been warned.

^{A glimpse of the future: Andrew Critchlow test rides a Brompton}

Friday bike poster: the fold

Got to love the brompton fold