Brompton World Championships 2025

Next Saturday is the sporting event of the year for many people - the Brompton World Championships 2025. 

The tickets for race entry sold out pretty quickly but last week a few became available again. A shame that Brompton did not release them earlier as I know several of you out there - including yours truly - made other plans.

The event is at the same location as for 2024, Coal Drop Yards, not far from King's Cross. Its format of 5x laps of the 900 metre circuit remains the same but this year there will be timing chips (a great addition to a few people with perhaps a clipboard in hand furiously trying to take down race numbers). 

It really is a wonderful event and I think that this year - had I been taking part - I might have taken my G-Line. I would imagine that it would be brilliant on the ramp down. Alas, it is not to be.

Even if you are not racing, watching it all is great fun and last year many people did just that. For those of your taking part, enjoy and best of luck. 

If you want to read about my Brompton World Championships for 2024, you can do so by clicking HERE.

Until next time, stay safe out there people 

G-Shock and a Brompton

Many years ago I recall being on a shopping trip with my late mum where I saw a Casio G-Shock Square sitting in a little water tank with bubbles rising upwards. I gazed at it transfixed for a few minutes. I was to be given an updated version of one of these a few years later and I suppose my fixation with all things G-Shock began. For me (and I suspect a few of you out there) the G-Shock does seem to go hand in hand with owning a Brompton and cycling. More so than more expensive brands I could mention. 

In my early 20's I had a couple of watches that were eye-wateringly expensive. I am sure that you can guess the brand. One was a dive version and the other had a second hour hand for telling the time in other time zone. I sold them long ago when Mrs Orange and I moved to our second home. I don't miss them at all. Being mechanical watches they lost/gained a few seconds a day and every now and then required a service that was not inexpensive. Added to this, despite their rugged credentials, they had to be treated with care. I certainly wouldn't have cycle in one. That is where the G-Shock differs. 

I should say that I have only ever bought versions of the G-Shock Square with a five appearing in the thousands column. They are accurate and those that can receive a radio signal, allows the watch to set the time for you in the early hours of every morning. This results in a watch that is never, ever wrong. Most of mine are solar powered so batteries are not needed. I have a few 20+ year old watches that are still doing what they are supposed to do. They are water resistant to 200 metres and some crazy types have taken them down to much greater depths, with their watches being more than able to handle it. Finally, they are shock resistant and can handle just about anything. 

The new kid on the block is very much a nod to the 1983 model. In the photo below it is the one on the left - DW-5000R-1AER. This is quite wonderful and sold out in a matter of hours. It even comes from the Casio factory in Japan where the originals were made. I suspect you might think that the other two are the same. They aren't and perhaps only a G-Shock nerd could tell the difference. 

I recently bought a white version - GW-5000HD-7ER - and it too is rather special, also direct from the Casio factory in Japan. It is heavier than a normal G-Shock and underneath the white bezel it is all solid steel. It is in retina burning white and I love it. 

Naturally, I have a few in orange. I love the way that when on a night ride to the coast it somehow receives the radio signal from the atomic clock in the early hours of the morning, resetting the time.

I do see quite a few cyclists wearing G-Shocks, perhaps more so on those with mountain bikes. I was given an Apple Watch for a present a few years ago but it wasn't a G-Shock. As such I discreetly and gradually wore it less and less. My eldest Orangette wears one of my older G-Shock Squares and I am glad that she does. As for me, they really do complement the Brompton as that go anywhere watch. I have cycled through the night in constant rain and glad I had one of my trusty G-Shocks on my wrist!

Now I have written that, I wonder if there will ever be a Brompton/G-Shock collaboration and subsequent bicycle? What a terrible thought. I will just stick to the watches. 

Until next time, stay safe out there people!

Cleaning ones Brompton

There are some people out there with a Brompton bicycle that is used every day but rarely - if ever - being cleaned. I have not been someone who has ever fallen into that category. I take the view that a clean Brompton is a happy Brompton. There is to follow then perhaps a surprising revelation about another mode of transport where I take a different view but more on that later. 

One of my first purchases when I owned a Brompton for a few months was a Park Tool bike stand. With this I found the cleaning process a great deal easier. It also made things much quicker. 

The other thing I use is a chain cleaning device - again made by Park Tools. WIth a little bit of chain degreaser therein, you can have your chain looking a great deal better and performing well. 

I then clean the frame, wheels, tyres, chainring and sprockets. By the time I have done all that, I have probably covered just about the entire bike. Finally I make sure that it all dried off before applying oil to the chain. In the early days of owning a Brompton, as far as oiling the chain after washing and drying it was concerned, things were hit and miss. I even used GT45 and that alone. For the past few years I have used a specific chain oil (dry in summer and wet in winter) and made sure that I drop a little oil on each roller. (In the early days I applied far too much)!

Once all this is completed, behold...my clean Brompton. I like to keep all my Brompton bikes clean and tidy which is more than I can for my car. I rarely wash it and do not really care a great deal for my car or cars in general. I could afford a much fancier one but have never really seen the point. My Brompton bicycles are looked after to a much higher standard. Perhaps you can tell me what you do with your Brompton. Are you like me? Are you one of the people who rarely cleans it? 

Until next time, stay safe out there people!