Brompton clones

[Kell]

The bike, designed by Biomega in collaboration with Puma, integrates a lock within the structure of its frame. If a would-be thief tries to cut the wire, the bike becomes unrideable, but repairable.

Perhaps best of all, the Boston Bike folds up for easy transportation on the go. According to Biomega designer Jens Martin Skibsted, “The main idea was to get the folding function in the mix & still having a cool & simple object. Most folding bikes are kind of dorky. The inspiration to counter balance that came from BMX & Downhill bikes & American bad boy pop culture.“

Indeed, the bike is everything an urban cyclist could hope for — slick, portable, and impervious to criminals. Want to check out the Boston Bike in person? Take a trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where it remains on permanent display.

 

[rogerzilla]

I bet it climbed like a piece of wet spaghetti. Slingshot mountain bikes were like that 30 years ago. The down tube is in tension but it needs to resist most of the torsion between the bars and the BB, which is huge.

 

[FrankCrank]

View attachment 608478


The bike, designed by Biomega in collaboration with Puma, integrates a lock within the structure of its frame. If a would-be thief tries to cut the wire, the bike becomes unrideable, but repairable.

Perhaps best of all, the Boston Bike folds up for easy transportation on the go. According to Biomega designer Jens Martin Skibsted, “The main idea was to get the folding function in the mix & still having a cool & simple object. Most folding bikes are kind of dorky. The inspiration to counter balance that came from BMX & Downhill bikes & American bad boy pop culture.“

Indeed, the bike is everything an urban cyclist could hope for — slick, portable, and impervious to criminals. Want to check out the Boston Bike in person? Take a trip to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where it remains on permanent display.

There's one up for sale on Ebay, starting at 525 quid. Says the bike is around 25 years old, seems that tensioner cable is an old idea.

 

[berlinonaut]

I bet it climbed like a piece of wet spaghetti. Slingshot mountain bikes were like that 30 years ago.

I've never ridden a Slingshot myself but a friend of mine owns one and likes it very much. Also, contemporary voices from the times when Slingshots were in the market claim the opposite of what you say. I.e. this from 1996:

Unfurled, the bike handles nimbly, as torque normally damped by a stout down tube plucks the cable for a springy ride. And thanks to that built-in elasticity, the rear wheel is always digging in, so traction is exceptional. The bike is quick enough on steady climbs that it feels light, though it actually weighs a slightly pudgy 25.5 pounds.

Or that, from 2010:

On my current 18-mile commute to work, it saved me over four minutes (my record wend down from 48 minutes to less than 44). Some of the improvements can be traced to my fasater tires and my larger (48t) crankset, but I definitely give part of the improvement to the frame. the "sling" really works - I can feel it mostly when I climb, when I find the bike driving much faster than my former bike. It's not as fast as a roadie, of course, but it's still wicked fast for a mountain bike.

However, personally I have never been convinced enough by the concept to be really interested and did not have the random opportunity to ride one either.

 

[Yellow Fang]

Bearing in mind that part of my commute involves a 40mph+ downhill, I certainly wouldn't want to be doing that if I thought the bars might snap. Or the hinge might come apart.

I did have something snap off my Brompton going down hill once. I think it was a pedal or a crank.

I have often wondered what it is that stops the clamps coming apart. It's powerful physics that is.

 

[Kell]

Funnily enough, I was just talking to a fellow Brompton owner yesterday at work and his friend had the handlebars snap on his new Brompton.

I think he had an M3L to begin with, but Brompton replaced it with a SuperLight.

 

[berlinonaut]

Funnily enough, I was just talking to a fellow Brompton owner yesterday at work and his friend had the handlebars snap on his new Brompton.

I think he had an M3L to begin with, but Brompton replaced it with a SuperLight.

Could you try to clarify what exactly happened, when and how? Because if there is an issue with the handlebars it would be helpful and interesting to know. Personally I'm not aware of an issue with Brompton handlebars apart from the one's supplied by Neobike in the nineties and had a tendency to break (which ended up in a recall, new handlebars and the "crossbar") and some rare cases of braking handlebars on bikes that had been ridden many years, way more than a decade and way more than the change interval of 5k miles that is recommended in the manual. If there are cases with different patterns it would clearly be interesting to know.

 

[tinywheels]

my brompton is ridden hard,commuting and leisure.
Yes it's expensive. But it pays its way quickly. As someone pointed out,other more expensive bikes are available.
Most people buy one due to the combination of a quality product, with a unique ability to do what it says on the tin.
Plus the social side of the prod.
I never regret buying it,and it makes me smile every day.

 

[TheDoctor]

There isn't another folding bike I'd go touring on

 

[Kell]

Could you try to clarify what exactly happened, when and how? Because if there is an issue with the handlebars it would be helpful and interesting to know. Personally I'm not aware of an issue with Brompton handlebars apart from the one's supplied by Neobike in the nineties and had a tendency to break (which ended up in a recall, new handlebars and the "crossbar") and some rare cases of braking handlebars on bikes that had been ridden many years, way more than a decade and way more than the change interval of 5k miles that is recommended in the manual. If there are cases with different patterns it would clearly be interesting to know.

I can ask the question when I next see him - but as we're in the office irregularly, it may be a while before I get an answer.

 

[ExBrit]

I've seen a few Brommies up close, but yet to ride one. I have ridden a few 20" wheeled bikes, folding and non. They're great on small journeys, and to bring in the car when traveling. One thing that immediately strikes me is how twitchy things get when wheel size is reduced, and also ride comfort is compromised. When I get back to Reading I ride a MTB with 26" wheels, and even that struggles on some of the potholes and rough river/canal tracks. Sounds like Bommies are very much a niche thing - in a certain situation nothing can rival them.

Hey there Cranky Frank - you are right and you are wrong both at the same time. Bromptons are twitchy but you quickly get used to it and totally forget you are on a folding bike. Then when you go back to your road bike, that feels weird for a few miles. As for comfort, I would say my Brompton is more comfortable than my road bike, probably because of the wider tires and rear suspension. But it can't compare to my full-suspension mountain bike.

 

[tinywheels]

personally I took to the brompton immediately. never thought it twitchy. But I am the guy who spent a decade riding an aluminium cannondale. suspension bah humbug. Guess I like a challenge, hence my obsession with riding the brompton to the places others would baulk at.

 

[dimrub]

I'm on my second Brompton now, bought the first one - an L3 - in 2005, replaced it with an M6L at some point (maybe it was a mistake, I don't know, I felt like I need the extra gears), but now that I haven't ridden it a few years, riding a modern MTB and gravel bike instead, I can't help it, it seems so outdated. I still love it and what it represents - the tradition, the reliability, the ease of taking it on a train or putting it in my trunk to ride it somewhere, but when I think it can probably be made twice as light with easier maintenance and possibly more reliability with some modern components, it makes me sad. I understand the possible considerations of wanting to get it just right, and the chain of supply, and the availability of components, and not wishing to innovate just for the sake of innovation, but when a run of the mill clone is a pound lighter than your most expensive, stripped of gears model - shouldn't that make one worried?

 

[TheDoctor]

It's amazing how many people reckon a Brompton could be made half the weight - yet no manufacturer anywhere, ever, has managed to do so. The aluminium-is-lighter-than-steel Merc weighed more, and didn't last as long. Replace the AW rear hub with a Dura-Ace hub, cassette and rear mech, and you spend a load more money, lose a lot of reliability and save 400 grams...

 

[rogerzilla]

I think they've become a bit porkier over the years, with the new spider crankset and no option for a lighter seatpost any more. The main frame could be made lighter with stronger steel. Maybe half a pound to be saved. Generally, Bromptons have been on the light/cheap side of the light/cheap/strong engineering triangle. Half the weight is ridiculous.