Brompton owners

This has @amey written all over it...

Spitalfields.

Sadly its not ugly enough .. needs more stickers, i wqs very sad when i found out that 7900 cranks werent working

Looking at the mini o bag as an alternative to riding with a backpack, anyone recommend?

Yes. Much bigger than they look. We took one to London on my wife’s bike (had child on the front so limited with her legs!) and she found it was great.

My partner’s work scheme is trying to sell her a Tern as an alternative to a Brompton. They are quite a bit cheaper, which does have some appeal. But does anyone have any real life experience of how they compare?

Ha.

Have fun with that. Brompton ride quality is much better. Spares and accessories much easier, as is servicing. Better customer support from the brand etc etc

My sister has a Tern link (I think?); I found the handling marginally less twitchy than the Brompton, but overall ride/build quality/etc was far worse. If your partner's getting a folder to use as a multimodal commuter, then the convenience of the Brompton fold is IMO worth the premium.

Back-up and spares from Tern can be a pain. They ride better than a Brommie (bigger wheels innit?) but they don’t fold as well, aren’t as compact and do have some QC issues. The Brommie is pricey, but it’s by far the best folding bike you can buy.

Apart from the new shifters. They’re complete wank.

The mid to high end Terns ride well, generally have good drive trains (derailleurs), but the folds are massive and as mentioned above spares can be a nightmare. They’re really no competition for Brompton (sadly as they could do with a challenge), they’re an alternative suitable for people doing last mile commutes (parking in park and ride and getting it out the boot)/leisure cyclists or people who don’t have space to store a normal bike.... for mixed mode commuting you just can’t beat a Brompton (the terns are very unwieldy - she really needs to compare them side by side to see the differences)

There's the resale value to consider too... someone will always want to buy your Brompton (and mine now has an RRP 50% higher than when I bought it!).

Unless you plan on taking risks in terms of getting it nicked, or only using it in emergencies, I'd be inclined to spend the extra if you can stretch to it..

I'm pretty sure my bike needs a rear hinge service(?)/replacement. What's the best place in LDN in terms of not charging for un-necessary work? Cheers.

SJS? ;)

Congrats on your new location

if you get stuck just post it west, or I can arrange a collection

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Theres a place in catford that had good reviews when I looked before.

Noted, thanks :-)

Cheers, this place?

https://www.comptoncycles.co.uk/

Yeah I never used them in the end. @Andyp might have

How much?

I bought my Brompton from them and have had it serviced there twice. I’d definitely recommend them, they are knowledgeable and very open on what work they’ll do and the costs.

Another vote for Chris Compton Cycles.
My Brompton came from there.
They're an A-list Brompton dealer - meaning (amongst other things) that they are competent to undertake any work on a Brompton.
I've also used them numerous times for picking up various bits for my other bikes.
I can't fault them, really.

Don't know what the London Bridge branch of On Your Bike are like, but I've always had great service from their Brum branch. They're also premium dealers.

This just made me realise that I'd completely lost track of what happened to On Your Bike. After they moved out of the London Bridge arches, they moved to a site west of London Bridge, where I never visited them, and I had a vague plan to stop by when they'd be back under London Bridge station, as I think was the plan when the redevelopment started. However, I twice couldn't find them there and then just gave up. I've only just looked up that they're on London Bridge Walk, on the upper level. I doubt that that's such a great site for them, despite the high level of pedestrian traffic. Also, it must likewise be only temporary, as the building is meant to be knocked down:

https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/blog/2019/10/17/concrete-office-block-by-london-bridge-to-be-demolished/

The architecture there is interesting for the fact that it's a building erected sort of under the auspices of the City (by the Bridge House Trust), and of course it's the City that went for Buchanan Report-style elevated walkways, a project which they fortunately never completed, but applied here. There's no doubt that, quite apart from any doctrinaire convictions about what constitutes a good cityscape, here it obviously provided a convenient access to the station.

I hope On Your Bike find a good home if and when they have to move yet again.