Saturday 13 June 2020

How does the Brompton stack up against other bicycles?

Steel yourself for this but I own other bicycles apart from a Brompton! There I said it and please don't judge me. Even though I have a quite lovely Condor Fratello, steel/carbon fork road bike and a Surly (Zombie Apocalypse and tank-like) Disc Trucker, I rarely use them. I thought it might be fun to try and see, in a totally unscientific way, why this is the case.

What I propose to do it to judge each of the bicycle types I own/have owned against a series of criteria. Each criteria will be awarded a maximum of 10 points, so the better it is the higher it will score. Of course this is all very subjective but I will try and be as fair as I can.

The criteria:

  1. Cost - how much it is to buy
  2. Running costs - what are bike services and parts going to cost you
  3. Resale value - when you have had enough what do you get back?
  4. Ride comfort / Distance - what it is like to ride over longer distances
  5. Your commute - are you going to get wet, can it carry your laptop and packed lunch?Can you get in on a bus, train, the tube, the boot of a car when you've had enough?
  6. Personalisation - can you make your bike your own?
  7. Speed - if you want to go fast, can you?
  8. Reliability - you have had it for a couple of years, is it still all working?
  9. Street cred - Does it cut the mustard when you are out and about?
Okay, there are 90 points available so let's see how some different bikes types stack up against the Brompton.

1 Cost 

Brompton 6/10

A Brompton isn't cheap. They start at £745 for the B75 and go upwards over £1800 if you go for the titanium version or the new Brompton Electric. You can buy much cheaper bicycles but I wouldn't fancy tackling my daily commute on a £49.99 supermarket number let alone more demanding rides like London to Brighton! You get what you pay for and for a folding bicycle the Brompton is the top of the tree.

Road bike 7/10

You can buy on for £99 or you can spend thousands. Invariably you get what you pay for and a higher cost will have better wheels, group set etc..,

Hybrid 8/10

A little like the road bike in terms of the range of how much you can get one for but you can definitely get a descent bike for less than the cost of a Brompton or road bike. 

Mountain bike 8/10

A little like the road bike in terms of the range of how much you can get one for but you can definitely get a descent bike for less than the cost of a Brompton or road bike. 

2 Running costs

Brompton 8/10

I know people who have owned a Brompton for 15 years and the only thing that they have periodically replaced is the chain, sprockets and brake pads, tyres and inner tubes. The bike has needed little else - and this is a bicycle that has been used almost daily. You can buy a new chain for £12, sprockets £10 and brake pads for £8 so it isn't going to break the bank. Tyres and inner tubes are a great deal cheaper when compared with bigger wheeled bicycles. In addition most Brompton users I have come across service their own bikes so taking it to a bike shop doesn't factor in. 

Road bike 6/10

Hybrid 7/10

Mountain bike 6/10


3 Resale value

Brompton 9/10

A Brompton really does hold its value on the second hand market. Generally there are much fewer of them available than other types of bicycle and even older versions can command keen prices.

Road bikes 6/10

Hybrid 5/10

Mountain bikes 5/10


4 Ride comfort / distance 

Brompton 6/10

I have ridden well over 100 miles a few times on my Brompton and found it perfectly fine and not suffered. For distances over this benchmark I think bigger wheels would be an advantage. Saying that not many Brompton riders are as crazy as I or my many friends for completing longer distances.

Road bike 9/10

Hybrid 8/10

Mountain bike 4/10

With the gearing on many mountain bikes, the larger tyres and even with locked off suspension, they are not really meant for huge distances.


5 Your commute

Brompton 10/10

The Brompton is nippy and agile in traffic. Most have mudguards so you don't get as wet and the front luggage system means you can carry a dedicated bag that holds a great deal, while not doing anything to the handling. If you need more space for luggage a rear rack option allows even more to be carried. 

The trump card for the Brompton is that it can be folded and taken on any form of public transport in rush hour. If you get fed up of that you can cycle. The freedom of choice cannot be highlighted enough. This cannot be said of the other types of bicycles. 

Road bike 7/10

Hybrid 7/10

Mountain bike 6/10

6 Personalisation 

Brompton 10/10

Do I really need to write any more here?! If you buy a new Brompton there is a vast pallet of colours to choose from and there must be hundreds of combinations. Just take a look at my riding partner BumbleB to see how personal the customisation can go! 

Road bike 6/10

Hybrid 4/10

Mountain bike 4/10


7 Speed

Brompton 7/10

On the flats I can comfortably glide along at well over 25 mph. My Brompton bikes have 6x gears but  the ratios are excellent and mean you can cope with almost anything. A Brompton is not built for speed but have a look at the many Brompton World Championship videos online and you can see that some can go much faster!

Road bike 10/10

They can go considerably faster with less effort, for a longer period of time. A Brompton cannot compete with a road bike for speed. 

Hybrid 8/10

Mountain bike 6/10


8 Reliability 

Brompton 9/10

No bicycle is perfect but the Brompton is build like a tank, built to a high standard and they last really well. As I have seen Brompton bicycles from the 1990s still going strong. 

Road bike 7/10

On any ride I have been on it is the road bike that is sat with a wheel off having a puncture repaired, or where the derailleur is hanging off, or where a spoke has snapped...

Hybrid 7/10

Mountain bike 7/10

9 Street cred


Brompton 9/10

The Brompton is the brand of the moment. As in yesterdays blog post simply folding up your Brompton can still bewitch onlookers. A Brompton peloton garners more attention as it goes past than any group of roadies. 

Road bike 7/10

Hybrid 5/10

Mountain 6/10

Totals 

Brompton - 74

Road bike - 65

Hybrid - 59

Mountain bike - 52

So for me the Brompton wins. I am sure that if you asked 10 cyclists you would have very different scores. Let me know what you think. Do you agree or disagree?

Stay safe out there people!!




7 comments:

  1. Very interesting, thank you!

    I was wondering, from over here in Germany, whether you've any thoughts on navigation devices to pair with the Brompton (or any bike, for that matter)? I ask because I'm looking at a number of options including the Beeline, which you covered some three years ago. I like the idea of using it to explore a city - but am put off by some of the negative reviews. Perhaps you - as a long-term user who doubtless has tried all kinds of alternative devices as well - happen to have an opportunity to squeeze in some recommendations in one of your future blog posts. No pressure at all, of course!

    Have a great and safe time on your "Brommis" as they're called over here.

    Cem

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Cem and thank you for commenting. if you search the blog I am pretty sure I have mentioned the Wahoo GPS devices. For me they are brilliant and much better than any of the Garmin devices I have used for navigation.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the advice! I will search the blog again for the Wahoo review.

      Cem

      Delete
  2. or you might try the hammerhead karoo:)

    playful points here, as for commute i would put less points on the racer, it is simply not very practical riding in smaller streets among cars.

    as for speed brompton easily outperforms almost all hybrids i can think of, especially when it comes to acceleration. i know you like the marathons, and they actually put some unnecessary halt to the ride of the brompton, however their rolling can be improved by sanding away some of the thick and stiff shoulder knobs. or buy the new marathon racer, and you are there already;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello again Kais. Nice to hear from you brother. Now I do have a set of new Marathon Racers and it is summer...

      Delete
  3. Except for commuting, there is nothing good about the brompton. Totally skewed results and they speak your mind (which was already made up)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did use the word subjective. Respect your opinion but for me - and many others - there is much more to a Brompton than just commuting. What is your favourite bicycle type and why?

      Delete

Thank you for leaving a comment.