Are you thinking of buying a Brompton?

As mentioned in my previous post, I’m thinking about buying some more folding bikes.  I’m thinking about getting an IF Mode (because it looks pretty), and/or a Strida (because it looks funky).  I don’t really have a good reason to buy another folding bike, apart from a slight case of BAS* (much like my rather tragic case of MIAS**) that has plagued me for years, although I have managed to keep it largely in check.

As I’ve been thinking about these bikes, I’ve been indulging in some very similar behaviour to what I was doing back when I was researching my first folding bike – that is, cruising the internet to find other peoples’ opinions and reflections on their bikes.

And I started thinking about what past me would ask present me about buying a Brompton, and what advice present me would give to past me on this topic.

I’ve had my Brompton folding bicycle for around two years now, and I think I’m in a good position to go back in time and give myself some advice.  It’s not actually much use to me, as my time machine hasn’t arrived in the post yet, but hopefully it will be useful to something else.

Why did I buy a Brompton? 

Well, I was originally planning some glorious holiday that would involve riding a bike all over Europe, and I wanted a bike that would travel well.  The original idea was to use a train or a bus to travel the large distances and use a bike to travel the short ones, so I wanted a bike that could easily be taken on a train.

My research led me to two bikes, the Brompton and Bike Friday’s World Tourist.  I poked around, I read some reviews, I asked some questions.  The people who had experience of both said the Bike Friday was the hardier bike of the two, and probably the best suited to touring, but that the Brompton did a better job of fitting in the luggage section of a bus should you decide to catch busses more frequently than you thought you might.

My attempts to test-ride a World Tourist failed miserably when the bike shop I arranged a test-ride through decided actually making sure they had the bike in stock was too much hard work.  But I did get to test-ride a Brompton and I didn’t mind it at all.

Besides, I secretly wanted the Brompton anyway – the fold was just the coolest thing out there.  YouTube clips of the BF had nothing on the Brompton’s fold – and I wouldn’t have to dismantle the bike to put it on a plane or train, which was a big plus for someone who is very good at losing screws.

Bottom line, the Brompton had the best fold on the market, as far as I could see, and it was one of the bikes that was frequently mentioned as a touring machine.

What model of Brompton did I buy?

I got the P6R, which means I had the “P” shaped handle bars, with six gears and a rear rack (with the little wheels on it).  I also got the Schwalbe Marathon PLUS tyres, for the puncture resistance.

I bought this because it was recommended for touring.  The “P” handle bars give you a bit of flexibility with your hand positions and were (at the time) the tallest handles in the bunch.  Six gears gives you a decent range of options for travelling long flat straights and hills.  A rear rack is always useful and the little wheels meant I could convert the bike into a “trolley” and take it into shops with me.

What accessories did I get?

I bought the cover and bag, the B-bag and the folding basket at the same time as the bike from the same shop.  From a different store I also bought a T-bag and a Carradice Camper longflap saddlebag.  Eventually I also bought the telescopic seat pillar.

If you went back in time, would you do it again?

Buy the Brompton?  Absolutely.  I love that bike and it's now my primary commuter.

But...

I never took it "touring" (although I have bundled it in the boot of my car to take on holidays), and I made some key decisions based on a "maybe I'll do this" that I never did.  There are some things I'd do differently.

What would I do just the same?

I'd still get the 6 geared version.  I'm pretty much a six-gear girl - even when I have more gears on my bike, I'll only use about four of them.  Occasionally I'll kick into a slightly higher gear or a granny gear depending on the road, so 6 gears suits me just fine.

I've not had a puncture yet, so the tyres are okay.

I'd still get the rack with the wheels because it's convenient for pushing the bike around when it's folded (although the little wheels do get black stuff on the back of my legs while I'm riding).

I'd still by the cover and bag - that thing is worth it's wait in gold.  It's the accessory I use every single day.  The bag stays on the bike and I keep my lights in the bag to make sure they're close at hand, and whenever I take the bike into my house or my office (which is all the time) I put the cover on it.  A) it keeps bike related dirt of everything else, B) it makes it all look like a bag sitting in the corner of the room, rather than a bike.

The other accessory I use fairly regularly is the T-bag.  I put my clothes in there when I'm commuting, and I usually use it to carry my repair kit and lock/chain and such.

I'd probably also get the basket again, even though I hardly use it, just because you don't always want a huge stuff-sack every time you go out on a bike.

If I could check in on an alternate universe, I wouldn't mind seeing if there's a version of me who bought the C-bag instead of the T-bag and basket to see if I could have gotten away with just getting the one bag, but I'm pretty happy with those two bag thingies.

What would I do differently?

I'd test-ride an H-bar before settling on the P-bar.  Yeah, there's less space to move your hands around, but it's taller.  It wasn't available when I was looking, so obviously this doesn't benefit past me at all - but if you're thinking of a Brompton this is worth considering.  Occasionally I find the level of the P-bar is just a little be lower than I'd like it to be, and a more upright stance would be nice.

I would just buy the extended or telescopic seat post right from the very beginning.  I was at the top end of the standard seat post in the test-ride in the shop, and wondered if I should go higher.  I should have gone higher.  Much knee pain could have been avoided if I'd opted for flexibility.  The extended would probably have been fine - I don't actually need the extra height of the telescopic one, I just decided to get the most flexible post possible after spending a year cursing the short one.

I would hold off on buying the B-bag or the Carradice saddle bag until the bike tour was something that was definitely happening, rather than something I'd like to do.  These bags have both been sitting in a cupboard doing nothing at all for two years.

Since I'm probably just going to keep using the Brompton exactly as I have been using it and hire bicycles for overseas tours, kitting myself out for a tour was a waste of money.

Lesson learned - buy only what you need for right now (especially if it's going to cost just as much to buy something later as it would to buy it now).  Add other stuff later when you actually have a confirmed use for it.

What other nuggets of advice could I pass on?

Well, the thing with the little wheels on the rack for one - the black rubber leaves marks on the back of your legs.  It just does, and will keep doing it (two years later, no change).  Plan your clothing accordingly.

Another thing is, the back tyre will go down if you keep the bike completely folded while it's not in use.  I thought there was a problem with the tyre, wheel or tube and spent a bit of money having bike people look at it.  Eventually I realised it's just because the frame of the bike is putting pressure on the tyre while it's folded.

You just need to remember the back wheel will need to be pumped up more often than you may, at first, expect.  If you've had it folded for a few days, you'll definitely need to fix the pressure before riding anywhere.

There's a bit of flex to the bike that's a bit strange at first - you bob around a bit if you don't get the "sweet spot" in terms of cadence.  Go up a gear and you should be okay.

Would I use the Brompton for touring?

I don't know.

To be perfectly honest, I'm more likely to hire a bike at my destination.  Whenever I think of taking the Brompton with me on a big trip, and the percentage of my luggage it would take up, and the fact that I don't trust baggage handlers to not break everything, I can't help but think it's all just too much bother.

I've quite successfully hired bikes in the past, so...

I might eventually take it for sojourns around Australia - as in, take a train to X and then ride around X on the Brompton.  Maybe.  I don't know.  I'll see.  I'll probably never put it on a plane, though.

If I did take it for serious touring, I probably wouldn't use the B-bag.  I'd go for a chubby cyclone bike trailer (https://www.radicaldesign.nl/en/products/bicycle-trailers/cyclone/cyclone-iv-chubby) - something else that wasn't in existence when I bought my bike, but came out shortly afterwards.  Sure, it's hideously expensive, but it's a trailer that fits the bike inside it - and you can get a "carry system" that lets you carry the darn thing on your back.  What more could you want from luggage?

This is another reason for why you should hold off buying anything until you actually need it:  You never know if something better is going to come along.


*BAS = Bike Acquisition Syndrome
**MIAS = Musical Instrument Acquisition Syndrome

Little wheels

Okay, don't tell anyone this, but after all those deep and meaningful thoughts last week about freeing myself from the clutter of old unicycles, I just spent an hour I was supposed to be working on an assignment looking up reviews of the Strida.

Because, you know, you can never have too many bicycles - especially if they a) look like "art", and b) fold into compact packages.

Yes, I know, I was only recently drooling over the IF Mode, wondering if I could justify having that in my life.

The answer:  Sure, I don't see why not, but perhaps later.

Why would I want a Strida?  After all, I already own a Brompton, which does the folding bike thing, and a Micro scooter, which does the quick-short-range-don't-fuss-so-much-commute thing.

Well, to be honest, mostly because it looks like penny-farthing.

Okay, granted, it looks nothing like a penny-farthing - but it looks like it would steer and handle much like a penny-farthing.  The way the handle-bars are practically in your lap and your centre of gravity and steering axis are practically in the same place...

That's how penny-farthings ride.

All right, yes, I already own a PF as well, so I've kind of got that covered, too.

But I'd be able to take a Strida out more often and to more places than the PF, which would give me more practice steering the tall bike without worrying about the whole "technically illegal to ride on streets due to a lack of brakes" thing.

Plus, you know, you can never have too many bicycles...

  

Can you see it?

Momentous decisions

I've made a momentous decision.  One that cuts ties with the dreams and aspirations of the past and opens the way forward to a future unburdened by the clutter of a life no longer mine.

I'm going to sell my unicycles.

I realised today that it has been at least five years - probably closer to six - since I last attempted to ride them.  When I bought them I was in my late 20s, obsessed with circuses and keen to turn my life around.  No more would I be an overweight, bookish couch potato.  I would be someone who was active and adventurous and rode unicycles.

Well, I did turn my life around.  I am active and adventurous.  And being the person who owned unicycles helped me on this journey.  I am where I am now because I once thought trying to ride a unicycle seemed like a good idea.

However, I never quite nailed it.  I got to the point where I could occasionally (but not often) mount without holding onto something, and I could amble around a car park or the paths at my local park for some distance.  And I progressed to the point where I came off the unicycle on purpose 9 times out of 10 and rarely hurt myself any more...

But I didn't stick with it long enough to become a fluent rider.  And, if I didn't do that in my late 20s, what are the odds I'm going to suddenly get back into it in my mid-30s?

Looking back, it was just too much hard work.  And I have so many other toys and obsessions that have whisked my attention away since then.  While I still appreciate all things circus, I'm less obsessed now - and less likely to try running away to join a troupe.

So now my unicycles are really souvenirs of a life I wanted to live, once.  And as souvenirs go, they take up a bit of space.

Time to lose the clutter, and let them go fill someone else's dreams for a while.  I still have a penny-farthing, and that will do me for now.

Not really all that useful

When I'm particularly stressed out, or starting to feel in a blue funk (two things that often go together), I often find my thoughts turn to redecorating and/or exercise programmes.

I have to say that I also think of these things when I'm not feeling particularly stressed, but when I'm stressed out they seem to loom larger in my mind.

It's like I have 101 things to do and I don't know where to start - so thinking about moving the cupboard to the opposite side of the bedroom seems an appropriate response.

Or I have a bunch of assignments and some stuff for work coming up, so I suddenly want to take up body building.

(Well, no.  I don't actually want to take up body building.  I want to do one of those things actors do before filming a superhero movie where they hire a personal trainer and spend six weeks in an intensive exercise/diet programme and end up looking impossibly muscly and uber fit for the duration of the movie... and then go back to living a normal life.

It just sounds like a fun thing to do - go all out with the fitness thing for a couple of months, get plenty of photographic evidence, and then say "been there, done that - icecream!" and forget all that craziness.)

Instead I'm just cleaning stuff when I should be studying and doing push-ups whenever I can't concentrate on what I'm supposed to be reading.  And thinking about rearranging the furniture in two bedrooms.

I know why I'm doing it.  It's a way to delude myself that I have some control over what's going on in my life.  It's an instant gratification thing:  I can see my environment is more orderly, I can feel the effect of physical exercise.  I know I am having a direct influence on my world and making it "better"...

And at the same time I'm not facing the things I should be doing right now.

It's being useful, while at the same time not being useful.

Minigolf and Mazes

Coming off my last post about minigolf establishments, a minigolf center is now right up there on my "I'd like to do this when I'm rich" list with a maze complex.  In fact, it’s probably much easier than a maze complex.  I could probably put a minigolf centre on the block of land I eventually intend to turn into a maze complex and use it to earn some money to go towards constructing the mazes.

Then I will own a space that has lovely gardens, a maze complex and a minigolf centre on the outside, a room that contains a miniature village with model trains on the inside and a lovely teahouse where people can have Devonshire Teas and book the pretty spaces for weddings and such.

Or I could put the minigolf centre (with its small, neat gardens, a garden railway and a small teahouse) on a smaller block of land somewhere else in town while I’m working on the maze complex (with its formal gardens and bigger, classier teahouse) in another part of town (or in a neighbouring town) and have deals and things where people who visit one get a discount on the other.

I wouldn’t do any of this here, in this city, of course.  It’s my dream to buy a big block of land in a small town (where the land is cheaper) and use this complex to bring some tourism dollars into the place.  I keep thinking that if I’m smart enough I can make places that can fulfil a few needs at the same time, and therefore not make myself completely broke while chasing this dream.

A place for the locals to go for lunch or coffee.  A place for people to book for parties and weddings.  A place that encourages tourists to stop and spend some money/time in the region.

I love these sorts of places, and they seem so obvious and easy to execute that I don’t know why more small towns don’t have them.  I’ll probably find out the hard way.

Beverages

I've recently discovered Campari.  I tried it once back when I was 18 or 19 and didn't like it much, but now it suits my tastes quite nicely.

In particular, I quite like a Campari and orange.  It's simple, it tastes nice, it's okay as it moves closer to room temperature and it doesn't have that much alcohol in it, compared to other alcoholic beverages - making it perfect for the kind of person who likes to nurse a single drink for the evening and doesn't usually drink much alcohol.

You know how you want a "my drink"?  Something that is fairly reliable that you can order in social occasions and feel confident that you're not going to regret wasting money on something you don't actually want to finish?

Well, at the moment I think a Campari and orange might very well be "my drink".