New year new wheels
A new calendar year and there are new wheels in my garage.
Welcome to 2017. I hope your new year brings you good health, safe travels and enjoyable adventures. Mine has brought me new wheels.
Well they’re not actually new. They’re second-hand, pre-owned, loved by someone else, and now I’ve been given the opportunity to enjoy them.
So what’s small, folds and is made in London? A High Street hankerchief? A Twinings teabag? A Burberry scarf perhaps? Well yes, but not in my garage.
It’s a Brompton!
Brompton folding bicycles first made an appearance in this blog in 2016 when guest writer, Jen Cooper wrote about her and Noel’s decision to make the move from big bikes to little bikes. In the lead up to that article, Jen and I shared a ride on their Bromptons. This ride piqued my interest.
For my first fifteen minutes on Jen’s Brompton, the steering felt unusual and a little unstable but then, I stopped noticing any “twitchiness” and just loved riding along!
Like my Vivente Tourer, the Brompton bicycle frame is made from steel. I like the feeling of a steel frame bike. It was only while test riding my Vivente that I realised the soft flex that a steel frame brings compared to aluminium. It sold me. As did the terrific range of gears my Vivente gives me.
That’s where a Brompton differs. The one I’m riding has six gears which means hills are not its ‘thang’. But, the city is where the Brompton thrives. Folding bikes are versatile, agile and portable. This is their domain.
My city of the Gold Coast is a relatively small city with a population of just over half a million. It’s a young city made from small seaside towns and clusters of beach shacks that, over four decades, spread out to reach each other, growing into an urban strip that hugs the coastline for 57kms. It doesn’t have the age or size of older, bigger cities but it does have a lot of traffic. It has burgeoning bottlenecks that make me, and I hope a growing number of people, glad to be on a bike. And where Gold Coast trains, buses and trams don’t permit bikes, they will take a folding bicycle.
This means exploring my city by bicycle has opened into a whole new urban adventure.
Downtown Palm Beach
Meeting the Gold Coast locals
If you have an interest in knowing more about Brompton Bicycles, here are some links:
a bike for all seasons 
Hi Gail, Have fun riding your new city bike. I am looking forward to selfies of you and your bike on the tram, trains and buses. I am sure it will beat the pants off sitting in peak hour traffic gazing forlornly at the never ending line of red stop lights on the rears of motor vehicles stretching away before you.
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Thanks Margaret, freewheeling along instead of being in a car stuck in traffic is definitely a good feeling. I’ll do my best with those selfies 😀
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Hi Gail,
Happy New Year!
Don’t forget you’ve got until this Friday (13th Jan) to enter Brompton’s #myunseencity competition on Instagram. It’s certainly worth a shot! 😀
Happy riding!
Dayna
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I better get snapping some photos 😄 Happy new year to you too Dayna!
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Such a nifty little vehicle! I’m glad you’re enjoying it Gail.
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Sure is Robyn. I’m enjoying the new wheels 🙂
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I was astounded by the ease with which the bike folded and then re-assembled. I think the koala is suitably enhanced by the bike – my favourite picture 🙂
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The fold takes a little to remember but then very easy.
Such a cute Koala 😄
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Enjoy your adventures with your Brompton’s bike, Gail! Nice and eco-friendly… all the best for a bright and fulfilling year too! 🙂
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Thanks Iris. Wishing you many blessings for 2017! 🙂
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Hello Gail They are fun aren’t they? On yours, I love the finish on the frame and the matching colour of the guards and the seat stem. Will see you around! Jen
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The more I ride it, the more I like it Jen 👌
The finish is called Raw Lacquer where the raw steel frame is given a clear lacquer. As a result, the brazing of joins is visible revealing the craftsmanship involved.
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I hope you enjoy many fun adventures on your new Brompton, Gail.
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Thanks Jet – interesting new doors for the new year 🚴🏻
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I’m so jealous!
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Hi Andrew, great to hear from you again.
You’ll have to take a visit to Epic and test ride one.
🙂
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Best I don’t test ride one because I want to save my money for travel. 😉 . I’m a week behind on my blog from my travels in Holland but hope to be back blogging later this week.
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Good choice 👌 Looking forward to reading about your travels in Holland.
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I read your blog but don’t always comment / like
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