Wednesday 16 January 2013

Specialized No Longer Stock Brompton Bikes

A friend was at a Specialized Concept store this afternoon with the intention of placing an order for a  Brompton under a cycle to work scheme. (Yes I convinced him that Brompton was the way to go). He came away rather disappointed.

It was his intention of buying a M6R, black main frame and Turkish Green extremities, Brooks saddle, Marathon tyres and O Bag. Unfortunately he was told that Brompton bikes were no longer being sold at Specialised. He didn't provide any details on whether the decision to end this came from them or Brompton. 

I have bought both of my Brompton bikes from Specialized, mainly as it was the most convenient location for me to get to at the time and I have always found them pretty good. If the decision to no longer have Specialized as one of the approved dealers has come from Brompton, I am sure they have their reasons. Perhaps one of you out there knows why?

My friend was rather dejected as he has been looking forward to this moment for ages. A search via the Brompton website made him happier as there are lots of alternatives not too far away from where he lives. He went to one of these and left with a piece of paper containing a breakdown of what he wanted. He now has to give this to his employer to start the ball rolling.

The many cycle to work schemes do seem very complicated. If anyone out there has bought their Brompton or other bicycle using it, please comment and let me and the other readers know.

6 comments:

  1. I bought my Brompton using the cycle scheme at Cycle Surgery.

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  2. Got mine via the TfL C2W scheme, it seems to work a bit different to some of the others. First you fill out a form telling TfL how much you want to spend up to a maximum of £1000. TfL then send you some paperwork to sign and send back to them. After I had returned the paperwork I went to Simpson Cycles and ordered my Brompton. About a week after sending off the paperwork, I recieved a letter containing a £1000 Halfords voucher (This is the foible with the TfL scheme, you have to find a dealer who will accept Halfords vouchers, I know Simpsons and On Your Bike do, there may be others) Phoned up Simpsons and told them I'd got the voucher, then waited for my Brompton to be built and delivered to Simpsons. As soon as it was Simpsons phoned and I popped over and collected my really rather lovely orange and white Brompton.

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  3. I've recently taken delivery of my Brompton through a Ride2Work scheme from Evans. I went down the custom route and have endured the painful wait - it was during this period of anticipation that I discovered your excellent blog! Thankfully it only took about 8 weeks for delivery as I had originally been told to expect 15! The scheme was a faff of paperwork but ultimately worthwhile and it will mean a saving of around 40%. Sounds like your friend may have been lucky by having options for where he could participate in the scheme. Mine was restricted to Evans only as far as I'm aware so if they hadn't been a Brompton supplier then I may have had to forego the savings. Luckily Evans were obliging and I can't fault their customer service.

    My Brompton is an S6R. I've only had it a for a little over a week now but loving it already. Oh, and by the way, it's orange with black trim. I commend you on your very good taste!

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  4. Many thanks for the comments Louise, Big Bloke and Grezmo. There sounds like a bit of hassle getting a bike on one of the many cycle to work schemes but the savings defiantly make it seem worthwhile.

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  5. They weren't selling enough bikes, so Brompton stopped letting them (at least for the one in Bristol)...

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  6. Hello Harry, hope all okay your end. That would seem to make sense. Many people might not have realised that they sold Brompton bikes anyway.

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