Reader Photos

This is great. I have a few readers who have sent pics. 


#1


Hi,

I really enjoy reading your blog so I thought it'd be almost rude not to reply to your recent request for some info on readers :)

Attached is a pic of me and my Brompton. 

To your specific questions: It's a blue, 2013 S2L. And sometimes an S6L with reduced gearing. I have two back wheels and two chainrings and swap them over, depending on whether I'm off on a tour or just commuting to work.



I use my Brompton for tours (I've done Coasts and Castles, Mont Ventoux, and a trip through France, Belgium and The Netherlands recently). It's not the only bike I own but it's become my goto for tours because it's so easy to fold it up and stick it in the train/ Eurostar so getting to the start of a tour is simple. I find it copes with luggage pretty well and is comfortable over 60-70 miles a day with no issues.

For my commute it has to be a Brompton because the commuter trains don't allow normal sized bikes. And Brompton's fold small, ride like normal bikes and don't fall over at the drop of a hat when the train rocks a bit. I've also done The Nocturne and the BWC as well so I guess you could say I've raced it too? :)
Steve J




#2



My 2 month old, naked Brompton m6e, raw lacquer, no mudgaurds, no rack, no lights, no baggage, telescopic seatpost, love it!

Andy B






#3



My Brompton is the M6R and I use it for commuting into New York City by bus. I also ride daily as much as I can. I am from New Jersey, USA.

James T










#4


No description given so the eagle eyed among you will have to try and work out the spec.

From John B







#5




This is Salvatore from Dublin, Ireland. I'm one of your readers and a fresh Brompton owner: I bought mine in June. Here is the specs:

Model: M3R - Racing green - Schwalbe Marathon tyres - C Bag - no customization - Knog blinder (front and rear - thanks to your review). I use my Brompton for: Fun and commuting (mostly for fun of course).



Why I own a Brompton: I fell in love when I saw one of this beauty here in Ireland. I goggled around, I discovered this new universe and used my saving to buy my jewel.

Let's talk about the picture now: I took it in Dùn Laoghaire, East Pier during my first long ride with my Green Brompton (almost 23 km, kind of a record for me...I'm a rookie, I know!)

I take the chance to send you my compliments for the blog. Please keep writing and posting video on YouTube.


Kind regards.




#6


So glad to oblige and respond to your request.

Posing with my Brommie, a 2012 PR6 with Brooks saddle and Son hub light setup. Main frame British Racing Green extremities Black. My Brompton was chosen because I like to cycle on holidays so the bike goes with us and we ride locally and along the foreshore is one of our favorite places. My wife's bike is in the picture, she rides a Graziella which does not fold like the brilliant Brompton but has the frame style she likes, as we are both in our seventy's I have allowed her that option, after all she is my riding partner.

Kind Regards,

Rex (St Agnes South Australia)







#7



Good morning, Mr. Orange!

Greetings from Czech republic. I reply to your article on your blog.
Here are some photos of me and my Brompton – when we were on our holidays in Germany, visiting Ruegen Island, last month.

I have Brompton M6L, downgraded to 44T, with Brooks Flyer saddle and a C-Bag. But will soon change to 46 or 48T. I use my Brompton for rides around our town and short cycle-trips with my family. I´m using my Brompton for rides to my work and back too. But it is 29 km to work and 29 km back. So I ride once a week, due to weather conditions. But I love that rides, because you ride along the river Labe, nearly all the way.





Why I own a Brompton? Well, I started cycling 1,5 year ago, after a spine injury after falling down from the stairs. I wanted a folding bike. I fell in love with Strida, so I bought Strida Evo III. Wonderful bike, but after 900 km of riding I had a transmission failure. After a repair I sold Strida and bought Dahon Visc P18 – nice yellow/white bike. But I was not satisfied with a bike performance. I´m using Runkeeper app and I found that I was riding slower on my Dahon than on my Strida! And I had left knee pain every time, after 15 km of ride. So I sold Dahon and think of another bike. I found your blog and decided to buy a Brompton. The countryside around our town is very hilly, so choose 6 gear version. I have my Brompton only for 2 months but I rode more than 700 km at that time. Now I´m not riding because I had a rear wheel inner tube explosion on Monday after riding down a steep hill. But new inner tube is on the way.

Thank you very much for your blog. Your articles are very good, and photos are awesome. Sometimes I don´t understand all, but it´s due to my English. Keep on writing!

Best regards.


Milan H




#8


Hi. My name is Daniel,

I've been reading your blog since the BWC and very much enjoy it.

This is my orange M3L.




I use it to commute from Lancing to London everyday and then cycle to work.

I've had it over a year and use it pretty much everyday.

I have become a massive Brompton convert and even got the Brompton symbol tattooed on my ankle the day before the BWC.

 Cheers.





#9



Hello,

I enjoy watching your blog (orange Brompton).
I send some of my Brompton pictures.
I bought it in London, Evans Cycles in Holborn about 4 years ago.







My Brompton spec: Turkish green, P6R, hub dynamo shimano.

I usually ride Brompton for exercising, and shopping (for grocery) in the city. Sometimes when I go traveling I bring the Brompton and ride in the foreign country (Fukuoka Japan, London, Paris)


Thank you.





#10

Hi,

This is my Brompton! SILVER 2007 M6L w/ Shimano dynamo




I use it for going to work, shopping, to the gym... I cycle an average of 80 km per week

I bought one because my previous bike was stolen and Barcelona is a paradise for bicycle thieves. But I have come to realize that a Brompton is much, much more than a bicycle thief-proof.

I love your blog, see you!

Ester C.





#11


Here we go. I have had a Brompton for around 20 years, the first one in cream and black to match the mini we had.

My latest Brompton is H6L, colbolt blue, I think that's right, added a brooks saddle and better grips, I have the same bike in white in the cupboard, but don't ride that one very much.





Used for leisure, and take it on the bus quite a bit as this gives me a longer ride one-way. I live very close to the two tunnels in Bath, some would say they are the gateway to cycling heaven and I ride them all the time, the faces on the first timers through says it all, especially when the music plays.

Regards
John M.







#12


Hello Orange Wordsmith, 

I've attached a couple of photos of my Brompton M6L (now 'R') that I took this morning in Saudi Arabia.

I've a fairly recent Brompton owner, taking the plunge a few months ago after years of deliberation.  Your own blog prompted the final push to go ahead and make the purchase.

I have a feeling that this is the only Brompton in Saudi, the driving standards make cycling off compounds / sports centres a risky proposition to say the least.  

I've added a few extras to the basic M6L:

Brompton Rack, to get the bike to the M6R spec that I wanted for touring.  Brompfication's clamps, wheels and chain tensioner.  Ti Workshop seat post QR and rear frame clip.   Brooks Select B17 saddle. Ergon BioKork GP1 grips. Once I've added a T-Bag and some Marathon tyres I'll be all set to tour.





Plans are being made to take the bike to Thailand towards the end of the year for a short tour or day trips from the house with a longer tour cycling up to Chiang Mai planned for next year.  

I'm currently using the bike every night for 30km of circuits around the compound to get my fitness levels up and short trips to the recreation centre / shop.  It's not the most interesting cycling but the driving standards here have to be seen to be believed.

The bike has attracted lots of attention on the compound, particularly when people see me 'park' outside the shop.  A few friends have expressed interest in the bike and are planning Brompton purchases, looking at the more sporty S2E.  

Thanks for the blog, it's always a good read.  

Best regards,


James W 





#13

Dear Mr O,

Further to the latest posting on your most excellent ‘blog, I have delight in sending you two pictures of my first Brompton, which you might vaguely remember from your visit to Sheffield last year (as being semi-Orange, with deviant green extremities – photo 6 of 45 from your Sheffield write-up shows me on the LHS with a Spanish front-bag not made by Brompton themselves).

It is an M6R purchased in Jan 2013 replete with Brooks saddle and Shimano dynahub (and, whispered, lowered gearing – for I am portly and live near hills). I am pictured on it celebrating National Cycle to Work Day in September last year. I am one of those strange folk that tries to encourage their colleagues to cycle rather than drive, for reasons that I am sure are already known by you. I bought and use my Brompton for when multi-modal transport is necessary (e.g., bike and train combined) since few railway operators make sufficient provision for the carriage of non-folding bikes.






It gives me great pleasure to also announce that last month I acquired my second Brompton, although I am embarrassed to admit I have no photos of it yet (I have reported myself to the Brompton Abuse Squad as a result). It is racing green with orange extremities (the mirror image of the first) and is an S6R – again with Brooks saddle, Shimano dynahub and gearing that must remain unmentioned (I am as portly now as when I bought the first one, and I doubt that erosion has flattened the hills sufficiently in the meantime). I bought a second Brompton (a) because one can never have too many things of both beauty and excellence in one’s living-room, and (b) because a young Brompton employee whom I met at the Scottish Bike Show (who was for a time pictured in their brochure, before they revised it) convinced me that the S-type somehow felt more sprightly. He was right, and I suspect this may be what passes as my mid-life crisis, sports cars being just so very last century, one knows.

I shall endeavour to produce photographs of my newer Brompton in the near future. In the meantime, please accept my gratitude for your marvellous postings which continue to enlighten my days (especially when at work).


Yours sincerely,

Stephen M








#14


Hi,

We haven’t had our B for long so we don't have much pics.

We bought bicycle because the dog is now to old to trek in the mountain more than half an hour. We choose the B because of your blog ;-) because of its practical luggage system and to had the opportunity to take train or bus to join the nice roads we want to travel.

Mine is a H6L, raw lacquer, no lights and my wife's an M6L Green, no lights eider.
Both have easy wheels and the special Brook saddle.




We are very happy with them except for the rolling capability folded, without the rack, even with the easy wheels, it's not so good.

First holidays on the B planed at the end of September, around the Constance Lake, between Switzerland, Germany and Austria. 90% bicycle only roads.

Thanks for the long hours of reading you gave us.

Best regards.

Stéphan S







#15


Hello,

I am István from Budapest, Hungary. I read your blog almost every day and today I found an article in which you asked a photo and some comments about our Bromptons. So, here is mine:

Picture was taken on Gellérthegy (that is a hill in Budapest) in an early hour. I started to climb there with my bike a few weeks ago to make me stronger as I live in Pest part of the city that has no hill. :-)




I have a simple black H3L type Brompton, but with some changes (of course): I changed my pedals to Shimano Click'R system that is working amazingly for me, also there are black mudguards and an extended seatpost (I am 192 cm tall). I bought a Game Bag that is enough for my daily stuffs.

I bought my bike 2 years ago in London, on my last day of a vacation, near to Waterloo station. When we were in London with my wife I saw a lot of cyclists in the city with this type of bicycle and I loved the conception (bike + public transport to the workplace), so after long-long hesitation (compared to my Hungarian salary, it cost a lot) we bought one and bring it home to Budapest. Since that time I use it to go to work every day (10 km to there and 10 km to back) and it works perfectly, I love it.

We have a small group here in Budapest with other Brompton owners (HuB -> Hungarian Bromptoneers), some of our members were in BWC in London few days ago.

Basically, that's it.

I really would like to let you know how much I like your blog and appreciate your effort to give us always new and fresh information, experiences about your bike, your tours and lots of other things. Thank you!

Best regards,

István

p.s. Sorry for my bad English. :-)


Message from MyOrangeBrompton -  Thank you. Budapest is a fantastic city and your English is excellent my friend. Happy travels.






#16









#17


Hi

In response to your request for pictures of our Bromptons:

Here's a pic of my P6R-X with SON dynamo. I bought it for the flexibility of being able to combine it with bus or car travel, and for the excellent ride quality. The photo was taken during a beautifully calm evening ride on the Pembrokeshire Coast. I entered it in a competition for 'Unusual Photo's of Your Bike'. I mounted it on a bridge pillar, silhouetted by the setting sun, with the rear 'stand light' still glowing. I titled it 'SON-set'. Of course I SHOULD have won the competition...but didn't even get a mention!!




Really enjoy reading your blog, especially the reviews.

Regards,


Handyman.





#18

Hello

Here is my green 2 speed Brompton. I take it in the car when my son goes sailing in the Lake District (we live on a small hill farm there) and I cycle around while he is sailing. I can put his boat on the roof of the mini and the bike inside, so we both get to exercise and have fun!

Andrea M







#19

Hello

Thanks for your blog. I’ve enjoyed reading it since I started using a Brompton for my commute to work in August 2014. I started with a hire bike from Brompton Bike Hire for two days a week, but soon put in an order for a bike of my own. Following your request for a picture, here she is:

She’s a Racing Green H3L with a Brooks saddle, Shimano dynamo hub, Brooks slim handlebar grips and a Lion Bellworks bell (best ring sound ever!).




I use her for my daily commute. I used to catch one train from Worcestershire into Birmingham, walk across the city centre to another station and catch another train out. I now only catch the train into Birmingham and cycle the 3.5 miles to work, either along the canal or through a large park. All these little journeys add up and she’s now done 1200 miles in eight months.

I own a Brompton because it makes this combined journey possible, but mainly because it makes me smile!

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on the blog.

Stephen A






#20

Dear Mr Orange,

In answer to your appeal:

Here’s some photos of my Brompton at the BWC and a photo of my Brompton at home on our farm in the Yorkshire Dales, because it’s not only used for city commuting. For those who know the Three Peaks, that’s Ingleborough in the background. Maybe the photos of my Brompton with some local admirers should be re-titled Baa-rompton bike.






Description: Red M3L, bought new in 2012, Fizik Aliante saddle, Shimano SPD/flat two sided pedals (best of both worlds), Schwalbe Kojak tyres in summer, Schwalbe Marathons for rest of the year, Jtek Superlight front wheel.  

I use my Brompton for doing the city part of my daily commute to work in Manchester (approx. 10 miles/day)

I own a Brompton because no other bike can pack into my small car or under my desk at work. And nothing else is as fun to ride in city traffic. In short, it’s wonderful!

Hope this helps your collection and please keep writing your superb blog – I always enjoy reading it.

Best wishes,

Tony.






#21

Hello,

My name is Ingo, I come from Bonn in Germany.

I bought my first Brompton ( a S6L) in 2005 together with ,my partner, and they are still in use. Actually I drive a H6Lx with a Brooks Swallow, SON Dynamo ... ( I do like the slightly more comfortable ride on it, and the weight is an argument, too).




We take our Bromptons with us everywhere, ecpecially by train. Our last bigger journey was London to attend the BWC Final - I can just say that everything You wrote in your blog is true, it was just brilliant there. I have to remind your tips concerning the preparation for the next time, though....:-)




Apart from travelling I use my Brompton for commuting, as I have a little stretch from the train station to the hospital where I work, and I always beat the guys using the bus...

Best wishes from Germany and thanks a lot for your brilliant Blog,


Ingo.




#22

The other vehicle is the Santa Fe 3751, a steam locomotive built in 1927 for service between Los Angeles and Chicago, Illinois.  The wheels are over two meters in diameter and it weighs 400,000 kg with the tender.  The top speed is 165 km/hr.  This YouTube video shows it running past on a 2010 trip from Los Angeles to San Diego.  

I consider both steam locomotives and bicycles to be "quintessential machines."  Both are pure expressions of function, without adornments.  Both convert reciprocating to rotary motion in a very visible way.  Enjoy!



John H

Ventura, California, USA








#23

Please see attached photo of my bike.

Im enjoying your blog and finding it informative as I learn about the world of Brompton.


Thanks Eddie







#24

Good afternoon. Here is a photo of my Brompton posing in a Co. Donegal landscape. 

Brian A










#24


Hello Mr. Orange,


This is a snap of the three of us last Summer. We love the fact that all three Bromptons fit in the boot of our Mercedes ML without the seats being folded. We were on holiday in our caravan so space is at a premium. Amelia was nine at the time. All I had to do was twist the brake levers forward so she could reach them safely. 

Jason D.







#25

Greetings fellow Brompton owner,

My wife and I both are in Brompton owners I’m writing to you from our Winter address in Tennessee in the United States near the Smoky Mountains.

I’ve enjoyed your blog posts and envy your rides through London, it seems you take full advantage of your bike and location! 

My wife and I are planning a two week tour of the UK in May of this coming year with fellow YMCA retirees from the US. We begin and end in London. 

We are arriving a few days early to visit the town of Watlington where my ancient ancestor, James Atkins, was born in the 1600s. He left there and travelled to Cape Cod where he lived, founding generations of Atkins. 

I’d like to see where he lived. 

I reached out to the town Council and the library for any suggestions of things we might do for the day to get a sense of the town. I haven’t heard anything back. 

Thanks again for your sharing of your Brompton adventures!


Paul A

Sweetwater Tennessee and Green Bay Wisconsin



2 comments:

  1. Hi,

    This is my new Orange Brompton M3L, recently purchased from High Nellie Cycles. The picture is taken in Oldbridge House Estate, Co Meath, Ireland. I bought the bike for my birthday to compliment my road bike and MTB. Finish wise its the best bike I bought. High quality stuff.

    Im enjoying cycling the Brompton and already have had compliments from kids and adults alike. One fold/Unfold demo to a nice couple in town, many people watching. I have only had the bike two days! So far the Brompton reminds of the old Honda 50 Cub Advert "You meet the Nicest People on a Brompton Bike".

    Im planning some upgrades such as Brompton Seat bag, SPD pedals, -10% front chain ring for the big hills its only a three speeda fter all ;) Loving the Blog.

    Cheers Eddie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Eddie,

      Your photo of your lovely Brompton posted above!

      Many thanks!!

      Delete

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