My comments on your article:

It is completely different to my other bikes but a Brompton’s riding position is pretty close to my others. I’m 6’4″ so it’s telescopic seat-post and straight bars. (With 6 gears and mudguards but no rear rack, this is known in Bromptonspeak as an S-6-L.) Of course the wheelbase is pretty close in length to standard non-folding bikes too.

Trains great; buses too (I have an over-60 free bus pass.) In the jargon, “multi-modal”. So express bus from home (Northampton) to Leicester, train Leicester to Derby and onto a Peak District station – and I’m enjoying a day’s cycling in very different countryside. Or Manchester – great place to cycle around.

Or, as yesterday home to station, train to Euston, cycle from station concourse to the Cutty Sark, join Greenwich Cyclists for a ride along the Thames Path (both banks, crossed at Woolwich Ferry and Millennium Bridge) back to Greenwich, then return to Euston, train to Northampton, cycle home. 47 miles of cycling pleasure. Puncture, breakdown? Hasn’t happened to me yet but when it does – hop on bus, train, whatever.

Another London advantage – you can take a folder on the Docklands Light Railway. Non-folding bikes not permitted.

For the Olympics? Folder brilliant (especially as many train companies are banning non-folders for the duration of the Games (inc. off-peak trains) – the buggers!

And quick, last Wednesday, left English National Opera (very welcoming, “Ah, sir, we have a special cloakroom for folding bikes!”) and within 10 minutes (!) I was at Euston. Beats tube, bus, taxi, walking! And earlier that day, in the National Gallery, the cloakroom, which doesn’t accept bicycles, accepts “bagged and folded objects”.

There are some very good athletes at the Brompton World Championships and it’s great to take part in a world-class event! Where else could a 63-year-old race against Michael Hutchinson? Loved it! I’ve also ridden my B around the Manchester Velodrome!

But it’s not a spare bike for friends. Not at the cost! OK, you might lend it to your partner but then he/she will be so impressed, they’ll just get one for themselves. But I reckon the current new price for an S-6-L with front luggage is £1,050.

Oh, and did I say, you won’t want a cheap folder – ease of carrying is very important and the B is just so well balanced. People say the titanium models (standard body, forks and rear triangle in titanium) are lighter not for speed but for carrying. Extra £500 or so. But I have had no problem carrying my standard model.

Hope this persuades you to join us Bromptonauts!

Cheers,

Ian

The Open University inventors course explored fold-up bikes in some detail http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=433764