Page last changed February 12, 2005

Where can I find out more?

Paper Magazines

A to B

Velo Vision

The Folding Society

Brompton-Talk

Brompton links

• Where it all (Brompton-Talk and the motivation for this web-site) started: the early US distributor, Channell Wasson's http://www.foldabikes.com
• Official manufacturer's site: http://www.bromptonbicycle.co.uk
• http://www.uwereimann.de/brompton/index_e.html (nice interactive presentation of folding)
• http://www.bromptonauten.de/ (great, but don't mention the war) (sorry, couldn't resist)
• http://www.pbase.com/john28july/bromie_folders and http://www.pbase.com/john28july/brommies_mine
• http://www.x64.com/b/ (Joaquim Carvalho's modifications)
• http://www.paul.sladen.org/brompton/brompton-pictures/
• http://www.bignoseduglyguy.com/bnugwiki/BikesBromptons
• http://www.ipcress.net/images/html/brom/brom.html (SON XS and large lamp mounted on the handle bars)
• http://www.ihpva.org/bm92/Brompton/index.htm (old)

Folding bicycle links

• Check out Steven Scharf's impressive colourful folder catalog.

General bicycle links

• Harris Cyclery Home Page with lots of technical articles
• Edinburgh Bicycle: Frequently Asked Questions
• John Allen's Home Office Home Page lists some quite to-the-point articles.
• Andrew Henry, Oct 1998:
  http://cyberider.us.net/bikes/ is a good tool for searching the Internet for cycling information.
• Andrew Henry's Bicycle lights FAQ is no longer with us in the virtual world?

Brompton shops

USA & world

UK

• Transporting (more) luggage with a Brompton - Dave Holladay
• John Blackburn, Jan 1998:
  If you want a Brompton in a hurry, a good place to try is the Mountain Bike and Ski Company (0171 834 8933), near Victoria Railway Station in London.
  They have a secret supply of Bromptons in the basement. The shop is owned by a gentleman (it's the only description that fits him).
• John Blackburn, Feb 1998:
  All the new parts were obtained from the SIDCUP CYCLE CENTRE, which is near the rail station in Sidcup, a small town in Kent. This excellent shop is well stocked, has knowledgeable staff, and enthusiastic mechanics who know how to use tools properly.
  If you have a bike problem, go to Sidcup Cycle Centre! If you have a SERIOUS bike problem, go to Sidcup Cycle Centre and ask for Pip Hill!
• Custfold, Aug 2000:
  Phoenix Cycles Battersea (Mike Hullis, info@phoenix-folders.demon.co.uk ) and Cyclecare Olympia (Tim Whitty, Olympia & Earls Court: 0171 602 9757) both have demonstration/hire bikes.
  IIRC Tim is more likely to hire out for longer periods
• richard.pearson, Apr 1999:
  When I was looking for my Brompton, I spoke to Avon Valley Cyclery [http://www.foldingbikes.co.uk] who would then hire you one of their demonstration Bromptons, or Birdys if you wished a longer trial.
• Ben Cooper, March 2000:
  Hi, thought you might like to know that the definitive info on the new Brompton range is now up on our website - that's three days before it's officially launched!
  Kinetics - http://www.kinetics.org.uk
  15 Rannoch Drive, Bearsden
  Glasgow G61 2JW, UK
  tel/fax: +44 (0)141 942 2552
• Rob Williamson, Mar 2000:
  We are pleased to announce a world first with pictures of some of the new Brompton bikes & bits on our Web site.These were taken at the Birmingham show earlier this week.
  Check out this link: http://www.everythingbrompton.co.uk
  Biketrax
• Bill Laine, Aug 2000:
  Wallingford Bicycle Parts
  bromptondepartment@wallbike.com
  http://www.wallbike.com

Japan

• Yoshinori MIZUMOTO:
  In Japan, the Brompton is distributed as the name "Brompton" or "Lotus". They are made in Taiwan. I have a Taiwanese "Brompton" (Where can I find out more? - If you're close to the Far East) in red. The model we can get in Japan is L3 only. The retail price is 65,000 YEN.
  In Japan, I can get the British Brompton by mail order only from US. I want an original British one! but too expensive!

• Channell Wasson (US distributor) has exported (trans-ported?) real Bromptons to Japan:

  I received Brompton from Federal Express this morning. And I commuted by Brompton today. Now, Brompton are put under my desk of office. I can put my rucksack in pannier because front pannier is very big. Very good. Excellent!!.

  I think it was good thing that I buy a Brompton from your shop. I am very satisfied.

• David Hansen, Jan 1998:
  [in reply to Tada Tosio] Scotland no Edinburgh kara
  Konnichi wa, hajime mashite, watashi wa David Hansen desu. Watashi mo nihongo dekinai desu keredomo, tomodachi ga sukosshi dekiru. Nihon ni wa, hotondo onagi jitensha wo kau koto dekiru, sore kara nihon no folding jitensya kyookai mo aru. Kyookai no kaiin no naka ni, Jun Kataoka imasu. Renraku sitai toki wa, email de dekimasu:- ikd21@wind.co.jp, denwa bangou ha 027 322 9399 desu.
  Doozo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
  Channell Wasson, Jan 1998:
  Dear Tosio, Please talk to Jun Katoka. He is Japonese and lives in Japan. His E-mail is ikd21@wind.co.jp His FAX is +81-273-22-9399 He has bought Bromptons from me and he can help tell you how to buy from my company. Thank you. Arigato go zima tash ee mashta. Best wishes,
• Peter O'Reilly, Oct 1999:
  I just returned from Tokyo whereby I noticed a bike shop selling Bromptons that had a decal of the UK flag prominently displayed across the top tube. I believe these Bromptons are not of the Taiwainese type since the decal also stated such was made in England. It looked pretty spiffy, indeed (like the British Racing Green color model).
• alex mumzhiu, Oct 1999:
  I bought 3-speed red Brompton in Tokyo a month ago. It also has the UK flag prominently displayed across the top tube, but the decal stated: "made in Taiwan".
• Koichi Yoshino, Nov 1999:
  I have a big news about the Brompton in Japan. Mizutani Bicycle (http://www.mizutanibike.co.jp) the Japanese dealer of Brompton will start to deal in the UK Brompton T5. It'll be 128000 yen. And they'll start to sell the Taiwanese Brompton T5 for 67500 yen. It's wonderful. I found this news in a Japanese website (http://www.cup.com/onohiroki/community.html).

Denmark

• pedalkraft Thorsten Rentel Rentemestervej 23, 2400 København tel: +45 24 20 80 74 email: thorsten@pedalkraft.dk

The Netherlands

• Ruud H.G. van Tol, Apr 1998:
  In Amsterdam:

  Tromm Tweewielers Europaplein 45 (near RAI)

• s.p.kleinbog, Apr 1998:
  [...] Kok, in the Nachtegaalstraat, it's a great shop with a great range cycling goodies. There's a store in Hilversum too that carries Brompton, they're called Antilope. They have a site at http://www.antilope.nl/ that tells you where the're at. I got my Brompton there 4 years back. Up to now they've not let me down on the service, etc. Neither has the bike, by the way.
• The Antilope Team, Apr 1999:
  We would like to announce that Antilope in Hilversum (the Netherlands) now also sells Brompton Bikes on-line; at http://www.antilope.nl we made an internet store where you can buy the bike and all the accessoires you like for the Brompton. We only deliver in the Netherlands.

Belgium

• Thorsten Rentel, Jan 1999:
  we stock rims and spokes now, among other spares. If required, mail order is an option, too. Should anyone (especially mainland Europe) have problems getting spare parts, talk to us. We should be able to find a solution. Feel free to e-mail, fax or call for detailed information.

  sprl VELODROOM bvba urban mobility concepts Rue Van Arteveldestraat 41, Bruxelles 1000 Brussel tel/fax: 0032.2.513 81 99 mo.-sat. 10.00-18.30 velodroom@hotmail.com

• Yves Van Straelen, Jul 2000:
  La Maison du Vélo is the other offical Brompton dealer for the Brussels area. We have always the 5 models in stock and in different colors. Also lots of spare parts and travel bags. The shop is also specialised in touring bikes and equipement with 16 years experience.

  La Maison du Vélo Chaussée de Louvain 341, B1030 Brussels Tel / fax : 02 742 07 45 yves.vanstraelen12@yucom.be

Germany

• Rob Cope, Feb 1999:
  

  Henning Voss, Tulpenweg 2, D-25524, Itzehoe-Edendorf, Germany tel: +49 4821 78023 fax: +49 4821 79693 voss-spezialrad@t-online.de http://www.voss-spezialrad.de

Italy

• Liduine Reuser, Oct 1998:
  On searching the Internet I found this site : http://www.probike.it/shop.htm It has a Brompton link that doesn't work, but their address (in Firenze), email, telephone etc. is on the site. That's all I could find...
• Francesco Mombelli, Oct 2002:
  fact my company is the official distributor since 4 years as you can check on the official Brompton UK overseas distributor home page...
  here follows the link where you can find all the datails... http://brompton.mombelli.net

Australia

Taiwan

Neobike

Price

Quality

Neobike Office

Taipei Retailer

If you're close to the Far East

• Yoshinori MIZUMOTO:
  The differences between British and Taiwanese are "quality of components". Most of the components are made in Taiwan and cheap (no no, are reasonable). But the Sturmey Archer shifter is assembled. And we cannot use the optional "Front carrier block".
• Paul Collins, Dec 1997:
  I have recently purchased a Brompton here in Hong Kong, actually only two weeks ago. It is of the Taiwanese assembly and so far so good except ....
  The rubber suspension stopper has all but disintegrated after only using it only about 5 times and has basically fallen off !! I would not say that I am overweight at 6'1" weighing 85 Kgs (don't know what that is in pounds). I have only ridden on paved roads and concrete footpaths (not off-road).
  The dealer I purchased from is quite reputable so should have no trouble getting a replacement of this. However, I would not like to think this is going to be a recurring problem.
  Is this an experienced problem with a better solution than the standard rubber stopper ???
  On another issue, the standard brakes are rather poor. After leaving my mountain bike (which as excellent stopping power) this bike would take at least 2-3 times further to stop at similar speed. Is it just a matter of changing to quality brake pads (and longer) or it an issue with the antiquated side-pull brakes ?? Otherwise, is this unresolvable being related to the dynamics of 16" rims ???
• Steven M. Scharf, Feb 1998:
  On the Taiwanese Brompton the fender is held by an L bracket on the bolt that holds the rear brake, and by a plastic clip that goes around the rear of the rear rack. I think it is completely different than the UK Brompton.
  With or without rubbing, the fender interfered with proper operation of the rear brake. I am going to trim the fender plastic so it doesn't interfere with the brake, then see if it still rubs. Or I may just put a splash guard on the rear rack (I guess your L5 doesn't have a rear rack, but the Taiwanese L3 does), and see if that works in place of a fender.
  No doubt the Taiwanese Brompton is lower quality. The components are all probably bottom of the line. It's difficult to tell about the frame quality--it looks fine, but who knows what kind of steel they are using. For my use I could not justify spending $850 or so, but at $240 it became attractive even if I have to replace some components. If the frame breaks then it's a different story. I only know one other person with a Taiwanese model, and he said it was fine, but this was several years ago and I have lost contact with him.
• Steven M. Scharf, Feb 1998:
  I believe the real problem I'm having is that the fender simply does not properly fit under the brake; the rear brake didn't work properly until I removed the fender. I need to trim a bit of the plastic away so the fender can sit higher and not interfere with the brake or hit the tire.
• Custfold, Feb 1998:
  The original and if I recall correctly Taiwan Bromptons use a 1" headseat and correspondingly small steerer tube. This was considered too small & flexible in the light of service experience. Whilst the forces on a 'bent bars are likely to be smaller, as you can't honk up a hill, there may have been some apprehension on modifying the steerer to give potentially greater leverage on the headset and joints. Brompton are very thorough in testing the components to learn of expected fatigue life, and can usually tell you where the component will fail when overloaded - I usually prove them right....
• Arnold in Vancouver, BC Canada, Apr 98:
  Funny I bought two of them in the "west". I think you just have to be prepared to search them out.
  Also, I hate it when people say the Neobike's parts are lower quality I think the quality is extremely light at this price point. All I changed was the brake pads and hand grips.
• Katsuhiko Yano, Apr 1998:
  I have a Neobike Bromton,too.But I use the Brompton front pannier. I fit it by drilling two holes in the headset tube and fitting carrier block with bolts and T shape nuts (My friend found the nuts at hardware store and kindly sent to me).
  I have carried about 4 kg in the pannier for a year of daily use. I have no trouble but I am afraid to carry over 5 kg and test the strength of the block.
• David Henshaw, Apr 98:
  Brompton patents have proven defensible right across the world, although - as is well known in the industry - the patents do not have long to run. [...]
  The [Brompton] company probably rather regret the licensing agreement with Neobike as the Taiwanese company have not always been entirely honest and are not too scrupulous about paying Royalties. The Neobike machines are strictly NOT for sale in Europe, North America and Australia, but odd ones or twos have found their way in. Components are not all bad, and one or two are now fitted to new Bromptons, but the Neobike does not have the braze-on for the front carrier system - a major disadvantage. There's also some question marks over the engineering quality. All-in-all, I'm happy to have bought a Brompton, but I can see how the price of the Taiwanese bike must look tempting.
  
• John Derven, Apr 1998:
  Disclaimer: This is not an official response, as I am not affiliated with the Brompton company. On the other hand, I don't benefit from you purchasing your Brompton from one source or another.
  The Neobike frames are made by that company in Taiwan. They are "genuine" Bromptons in that they are made under license, but they are not identical to the British frames. The construction and finish is somewhat cruder than the British-made Bromptons, e.g. the top tube appears to be bent without a mandrel, which causes some distortion and wrinkling on the underside of the tube. I have also heard that the metallurgy of frame materials is less consistent than the British product. The Neobike Brompton weight is comparable to a similarly-equipped English-made Brompton from several years ago, which probably means the Neobike is heavier than the latest generation of British- made bikes. The component and accessory differences have already been noted on this list. Lastly, the Brompton licensing agreement for Neobike does not extend to North America. Some people may bring "pirated" Taiwan-made Bromptons into the States, but don't expect to be covered by the factory warranty.
  Full-Disclosure: (not a plug) I am a longtime folding bike fan and Product Manager from Burley- the North American distributor of the Birdy.
• Channell Wasson, Apr 1998:
  Neobike frames are made in Taiwan. They also are of diferent guage.
• Steven M. Scharf, Apr 1998:
  On the UK Brompton frame the decal says: "Brompton / Made in England." On the Taiwan Brompton frame the decal says: "Brompton / England"
• Steven M. Scharf, Jun 1998:
  I have a Taiwanese one and I seem to suffer the same problems as people have with the UK ones, no more or less. It's still rather new though.
  The components on the Taiwanese ones seem to be lower grade, i.e. the hubs and brakes. The headset is smaller diameter. There is no provision for the very cool Brompton front pannier (though people have been able to fit it by improvising). These were observations by UK Brompton owners on the last SF folder ride. I did hear once that the frame material was not as good on the Taiwanese models, but I have no evidence that this is true.
• Steven M. Scharf, Jul 1998:
  I have the Taiwanese made version of the Brompton, called the L3-T (it has the rear rack but no lights). It also comes with a nylon carrying bag, folding pedal, and pump. In Taiwan it was US$235.
  Overall I've been satisfied but there have been a couple of problems:
  1) The rear fender interferes with the operation of the rear brake. I tried for hours to adjust everything, but finally gave up and removed the fender.
  2) I noticed last week (after owning it for five months) that the right pedal was cross threaded into the crank arm. I had to order a set of Park pedal taps (pedal threads are 9/16" x 20 tpi, not something a hardware store has) to fix this.
  For a level ride the Brompton is fine. They're a little scary on hills because the brakes are poor, but this is a problem on the British ones too, and you learn to compensate. There has been a lot of discussion of remedies to this problem but I haven't done any of them yet.
• Ian R. Platt, Oct 1998:
  Made under license by Neobike. This is a bit of a hybrid: it has 3 gears, no lights, but does have a rear carrier frame (a heavy-duty wire job - not as nice as the UK version). More crucially, they do not have the holes in the stearing tube for the front carrier block. It may still be possible to fix this with a jubilee clip or some such - I think this was mentioned in a post a while back - but such an arrangement may not be as solid as the UK version. The Taiwan model has a pump, and it comes with a folding left pedal. It comes in more colours too! I've seen yellow, red, blue, a lovely racing green, and they have more union flag stickers on them than the UK version!
• Ian R. Platt, Nov 1998:
  [...] the Neobikes come with a lovely shoulder bag-type bag in the standard Ford range of colour. The bike sits in it and it zips up around the bike. It looked fairly well made but of course, you couldn't roll the bike along on the castors.
• Andrew Mccoy, Dec 1998:
  My Taiwan Brompton cost about $NT7000 earlier this year.
  The best way for your girlfriend to find a shop is to telephone NEOBIKE and ask them for the name of a reseller in her area. I think NEOBIKE will refer her first to the local distributor. My friends made a couple of phone calls for me when I was there. They gave me written instructions for a taxi to take me to the shop. Great entertainment in the bike shop as we mutually gestured about bike, colour, accessories, etc. Thankfully the owners grandson was present to speak a little school learnt English. Ah the joys of being an ugly western traveller with no local language.
  FWIW, The Taiwan Brompton is 3speed with rear carrier (but no front block) & comes with a carry bag and a seat bag to take the folded carry bag. I had a little problem with quality, so I suggest you get your girlfriend to take the bike out of the cardboard box and ride a little before she leaves the shop - listening for rattles, rubbing, stiffness, etc.
  The best entertainment was with the Hilton hotel door staff. They were all impressed by the bike, that it was Taiwanese made and wanted to know the cost. Never a problem to fold it and take it up to my room. Drivers in Tapei still expect to see cycles and Motor cycles, so I neve had any trouble with them - even when riding late at night.
  My Brompton came from a little shop down near the river in Tapei. However, I first saw them in the sports department of the AsiaWorld department store right opposite the main train station & MRT station where they were on sale for about $NT8500.
• PETE ALEX, Feb 1999:
  I have had a Neobike Brompton for over four years, in fact I've have two. One is in England (my home) and the other is in Hong Kong where I work for most of the year.
  Both are in black, with three-speed Sturmey Archer hub hears, rear rack fitted, mudguards, folding left-hand pedal included and were a lot cheaper to buy than in England. Though I've seen mention of build quality problems, I've never had a problem with either of them. The one in Hong Kong gets the most use, and I've seen quite a few other people using them. One odd thing is that in Hong Kong, it's virtually immpossible to get spare tyres! The only 16 inch ones are the smaller, fatter type usually seen on Asian built bikes like Dahon, etc. Anyway, it's no problem in the UK and I get replacements from there when needed.
  There are quite a few shops selling Neobike Bromptons, and the price varies depending on the location of the shop, the nationality of the person asking the price, and whether you look like you are a tourist or living here. The place in Hong Kong where I got my two bikes say they can send them if necessary.
  The price last Saturday (when I asked) is HK$3800 each including the freight charge and insurance to England. Usually for payment from overseas you need to go to a bank and buy a draft which you send to the shop.
  The person to contact is Wong Lai Mui on fax 852 (for Hong Kong) then 2625 4030 or you can email me direct and I will ask any questions you have.
  By the way, I did try direct from Taiwan, before buying my second Brompton. However the hassles were just to much. Hardly anyone spoke English there, and no one really wanted to send out one-off orders. However I guess the prices would be cheaper, if you can do it!
• Steven M. Scharf, Feb 2000:
  First of all, there are no Bromptons made in China. Neobike makes Bromptons under license in Taiwan. They have one model, the L3A which is better than the UK Brompton, at least in terms of components, and one model the L3B which is not as good as the UK Brompton. The brakes on the L3B stop just as poorly as the brakes on the UK Bromptons, on the L3A there are V-Brakes.
  See:
  http://www.neobike.com/l3a.html
  http://www.neobike.com/l3b.html
  I don't know if the L3A is actually in production as the bike shop in Taipei that carries Bromptons said that they couldn't get them.
  I have two of the L3Bs, the last one I purchased in Taiwan in January 2000 for about $255 with left folding pedal and carrying bag. The first one was a little less due to the currency exchange rates. These have been fine so far.
• Stephen Casey, Feb 2000:
  I'm an owner of both the English T3 and the Taiwanese (actually I have two) L3B (it is more a T3 like version-since it has the touring rack). And I live in SF. You are welcome to look at the two side by side and "kick the tires" so to speak. I've been using the one Neobike regularly with the CalTrain between Hillsdale/San Mateo and Potrero Hill. Let's face it, there are some pretty awful design flaws and I could go on about those-most notably the brakes. Probably a little inferior manufacturing, but the English one is not that much better. The english version is based on a good idea-which by the way the taiwanese version is identical here-but that's about it. There is not much technical superiority of the english version over the taiwanese version, anyone who tells you otherwise is fooling everyone. Both could be a lot better for certain, but let's not kid ourselvelves that one is FAR superior to the other-they both could stand many technical advancements.
  Oops . . . I've said too much. Sorry, I get a little peeved when people start aluding that the english Brompton is some sort of standard for excellence in folding bike-speak.
• Steven M. Scharf, Feb 2000:
  I agree with all of this. The Neobike is only slightly inferior to the UK made unit. Neither is made with wonderful components. However with the UK model you get a lot of expertise from Channell in terms of upgrades of stuff like brakes and gearing, both of which are not very good for this area the way the bike comes from the factory. Also the Neobike doesn't support the front luggage system.
  There are many superior folding bikes in terms of components, durability, and ridability, such as the Montague, the Gaerlan, and even some of the Dahons, but these others don't fold as small or as fast as the Brompton, which after all is what attracts people to the Brompton in the first place.
• Andras Toth, Feb 2000:
  You might be interested to hear what happened when, reading the ongoing discussion about Neobikes I sent a buyer enquiry to them via Internet out of pure curiosity. Since I am in France for six months I indicated my postal address here. Actually, Neobike forwarded my request to Brompton UK, who answered that Neobike are only entitled to sell their products in the Far East.
• PETE ALEX, Feb 2000:
  I have had two of the Taiwan built Bromptons, and have used them for years, one in Hong Kong, the other in the UK (I commute between the two places on a regular basis). No problems, the gearing is Sturmy Archer from the UK, the back carrier is better, the extras that cost more on the UK model, are standard fitting on the Taiwan model. There is even a wide choice of colours available, immediately from stock. Okay, there is not provision for the front carrier/bag, but with a price of less than half the UK model, I can handle that. Many quality bicycles are made in Taiwan, as are most components, it's just a fact that's not shouted out loudly by sales assistants. On an organised Brompton ride in south London last year, most other Bromtoneers couldn't see any real difference.
  Finally, talking about prices. It seems to me that Bromptons, and indeed many other products in the west, and especially overpriced. Whether it is the intention of the manufacturer and/or supplier. Perhaps it's taxes applied by governments. But whatever it is, it seems that the consumer, that is you and I are the ones who suffer. The rate of pay for a factory worker in Taiwan is about the same as that of one in the UK. Certainly they don't pay as much in income tax, other taxes are less too. Even so, they have the (Taiwanese) Bromton for sale on the streets at around US$250, it was more before, but exchange rates have changed somewhat quite recently.
  And one more finally! Talking about development. I would say Neobike have done their fair share of that. Was it not them that developed the light-weight aluminium Brompton that was on show in Japan a year ago?

Is there some advantage over getting direct from UK vs from Channell in California?

• Jerry Kaidor, Aug 1999:
  Just price. The things are cheaper in the UK. Also, I effectively got free shipping, because I had a checked baggage right to spare. And, since I didn't buy much else on that trip, I got them home duty-free! I even got the VAT returned, since I took them out of Europe.
  Whereas Channell has to pay for shipping and duty. Then he needs to take some profit on his shipping and duty. And charge me sales tax on top of that! This is offset to some extant by his being local and being able to supply warrantee service. If my Bromptons die, I'll need to ship them back to the U.K.
  The second "advantage" was purely personal and psychological. My wife had dragged me along on this monumentally boring transatlantic cruise. A empty three-week hole had been carved out of my life. Surely there was something interesting and useful I could accomplish during the cruise?
• Marvin E. Gozum, MD, Aug 1999:
  However, looking as his prices and the prices listed on the UK Brompton site they are nearly identical?

Mail order

Richard Taylor:
You might try talking to

St John St Cycles, (44) 1278 423632 91-93 St John Street Bridgewater, TA6 5HX Somerset

I do not have a fax number for them (they do have one), but they are a pretty good mail order company
St Johns, by the way, do not discount Bromptons

Where can I find a second hand Brompton?

• David Henshaw, Apr 98:
  Generally, Bromptons are quite rare second-hand, and there's little point in buying one anyway. The second-hand price tends to mirror the new price without adjustment for inflation. If you paid £300 a few years ago, you will get £300 now. If you pay £500 today, you'll get £500 in a few years, etc. Good if you're selling, but bad news if you are buying - the new bikes are much lighter than even last year's examples. Having said that, I met someone recently who found two new Bromptons in the local free-paper for £350 the pair. A real bargain. When he arrived, the phone was ringing continuously.
  Then there's the (true) story of the boss who bought one for his plane, but didn't like it, so asked his secretary to sell it. She put the brand-new bike in the local paper for £25...
  Just a personal view - don't waste £500 on a 'T' type. Go for the cheapest, lightest bike... a £390 L3, but add the front carrier block, and buy some luggage and Primo tyres when you can afford it. You will love you L3 much more, and it'll keep its value better than a 'T'.

How do I inspect a second-hand Brompton?

• "Crunchy" noise of feeling in the rear hub, or gears that don't engage or disengage right.
• slack rear triangle hinge : lift the saddle slightly so the rear triangle's rubber block doesn't touch the frame, and push the bottom of the saddle post sideways back and forth : you may feel something moving slightly, but if you can see the rear triangle and the main frame "bending" with your naked eye, that's bad.
• Paint that lifts around a weld.
• Hinge plates (the U-shaped aluminium thingies that hold the bike together) bottoming out on the frame
• Rust on the inside face of the hinges.
• Worn/damaged saddle post clamp : the post should be locked with a reasonable amount of force to the clamp. If you have to push like crazy, that may not be right. Also check for lifting paint and/or rust in the area.
• Bad BB or failing chainring : make sure you don't hear or feel any clicking noise that follows the pedalling rythm when you pedal. If you do hear something, try to pedal harder on one pedal, then the next, to see if it doesn't come from the folding pedal.
• Worn chainring/chain/sprocket : push the chain outward on the chainring, where it's fully engaged : if the chain moves and you can see between the chain and the teeth, you might have to change the chainring and the chain.
• Worn front hub : lift the front wheel, spin it by hand, and try to listen to something crunchy, or feel an uneven resistance. Also see if there's play when you rock the edge of the wheel back and forth.
• Worn folding pedal : pedal on the bike and check that it doesn't feel out of true under your left foot. Check using both sides of the platform.
• Damage to the rim walls
• Worn tires : not a problem in itself, but if the owner claims to use the bike only seldom and the tires are bare to the thread, beware. Also watch for bald patches on the rear tires, that might indicate the guy has a habit of locking the rear wheel to brake, which in turn may indicates abuse to the bike.
• Slack brake levers : if you rock the brake levers back and forth, there should be a little play, but excessive play, or significantly more play on one lever than the other may indicate the owner crashed (and the bike landed on one lever).
• General condition of the bike : if the brakes aren't well adjusted, if the pain is in good condition, if the chain looks like it hasn't seen lubrication in a long time, if there's crud accumulating where it's not too easy to clean ... A clean and well adjusted bike means a careful owner.

Where to order custom parts for a Brompton

• In the USA, Channell Wasson (http://www.foldabikes.com) and Len Rubin (http://www.ufbusa.com).
• In the UK, <<Custom Folder>> and Ben Cooper
• A to B magazine are also a source of minor items and major information.
• In continental Europe, Thorsten Rentel sparked Velodroom and later conquered Denmark.

The Brompton Folding Bicycle FAQ