I’ll get things started. I got three flats this summer. In a week, in a row!
labdweller on
Not directly Brompton related but my daughter learnt how to ride a bike this year and since the Brompton is quite manoeuvrable in small spaces I was able to ride around with her in the small yard where she was practicing.
edtse88 on
213km ride averaging 21kmh! Very proud of that ride!
strangeweather415 on
I spent a considerable amount of time traveling by train this year, and my Brompton was crucial to enjoying the trips. I think my most memorable experience was waiting to hop on a train in Oakland and some very sweet old ladies asking me about my “cool rolling cart.” They nearly fell over when I unfolded it and showed them it was not just my luggage, but my bike.
Inu-shonen on
Riding along the Kurogawa valley from Nikko to Kanuma, in Japan, among forests and rice fields, on immaculate country roads.
Japan + Brompton = 10/10
Qualabel on
When the pedal sheared off at the lights
TrunkMonkey3054 on
The local One Millionth Brompton ride, with 50 other Brompton riders.
oceanquartz on
mine got stolen 🙁
Particular-Taro154 on
Riding Bromptons in a Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans with 30 other Bromptoneers. Fun, fun , fun!
Close Second Place: Bromptoning around Normandy, Brittany and the Loire vallley.
WinterHogweed on
I rode my Brompton from The Netherlands to France.
Sorry-Metal-4299 on
Riding in Arches National Park and crossing the Colorado River
Junior-Put-4059 on
My wife and son where on vacation, They landed in the middle of the night and I got up super early and rode out to meet them at the gate. We had breakfast then all took a taxi back together.
Thoughtful_tamale on
Bought my first brommie 💚
axehomeless on
buying my first
Be_burr on
Bought my first one in October. It’s absolutely stunning! I love that I can get around the city much faster than if I were to drive
evelynnnhg on
Learned how to start fixing and upgrading a bike. I didn’t even own a screwdriver before this. My YouTube history looks like I’m learning to be a bike mechanic.
lehaiha_nt on
I hit a bump on the road while riding my brompton and i wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time. It cost me a concussion and about a month to heal. Luckily my brompton is still with me.
Hot-Objective5926 on
I subscribed to one, it was broken, Brompton failed to pick it up multiple times, it’s just sitting in my shed.
Calavore on
After my crap for bikes got stolen, getting a new Brompton! And of course, falling with it on my second commute home. Haven’t fallen since and probably won’t again, but now we are certainly bonded having battle scars 😀
iamnotyourspiderman on
Latest was taking my car to a mechanic and whipping out the bike when he asked if I need a loaner. He was in awe and so was I, so easy to commute to work from there with a train and later come pick up the car.
Also the gasps at the train station when people see the ”brompton flip” to unfold it for the first time. Compliments followed by that always brighten up the day.
In general all the trips with my kid in the burley trailer in the back. He also learned to ride his own bike without training wheels at any point this year. Looking forward to adventures with him next summer when he can ride his own bike and I can take my brompton.
aliexpress_case on
Slipping on a 1 inch high curb and falling over
mysilvermachine on
I cycled from Falkirk to Edinburgh along the canal – about 45 miles with diversions. it was a great day out.
DoubleLetterScore on
Passed 1000 total miles ridden (commutes) and got pretty good at fixing rear wheel punctures…
mucho_cierzo on
Breaking original parts, maybe by fatigue. I’m proud of adding km to the bike 🙂
Specific_Future9285 on
Hitting the wrong gear on the final climb to my village. Blowing up spectacularly, hanging on the bars as my neighbours drove out of the village past me.
Smile and wave …
100daydream on
Bought one from a random house In London, Walking through London, I don’t live there. This guy is sort of following me and eyeing up the bike ALOT…I say ‘you ok?’ He half laughs whilst still checking it out. ‘Thats not mine is it?’ He said it had exactly the same colour, set up, bell, handlebars.
Since I had only just bought it I could only half convincingly say, no…cos like…I coulda just bought a recently stolen bike.
The only reason I’m very sure it wasn’t is that I’d bought it at lunch time and the guy I bought it from let me into his house to look at it.
Got my first Brompton and I’m very happy with it. Put it in a lot of trains (twice to Madrid, once to Barcelona, a lot of times to Murcia). I also put in the trunk of my e-car as a “last mile” transport. Several cycle tourist trips too. I didn’t ride it many miles, but definitely a lot of kilometers.
Microgreenkid on
Hands down top 2023 Brompton memory: riding miles & miles on trails with son in his new city! Thankful to be able to check as airline luggage my NTM Brommie, ‘BTealy’ for my first bike ride with him in over a decade. Thanks for asking OP u/Unklesnarfles!
Steely_McNeatHouse on
Rolling into the city center of Siena after bicycling from Florence through the Chianti, partially on the l’eroica route. That medieval city is magical.
Astroxtl on
Taking it out the box
eric_astor on
I was riding around in Pittsburgh last summer and a man walked out into the street right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, barely missed him, and said “WTF dude?” He looked me up and down and said “you know, you look really stupid riding that thing.” I took a beat and replied “touché” and kept on riding.
Diskstock on
Riding to Eibsee in Bavaria. It was easily manageable with the six gears on my Brommie. the incredulous looks from people were funny to see.
No-Extreme-7705 on
How the hell do I stop this from popping up in my feeds
I have no interest in riding or talking to anyone about riding Brompton biked
Unklesnarfles on
I don’t know but I kept getting stuff I didn’t sign up for as well so I unsubscribed from email notifications.
GearCloset on
Changed from a 44T to a 40T chainring. What a difference for these old knees!
Also:
* Rode to the office 32 times, about once/week, 12 miles RT. Would have been more, but the forest fires in Canada severely affected the air quality in the Northeast USA this summer. At least that’s the story I’m going with 🙂
* Mileage for the year: 693, 89 more than last year. Total rides: 78. Longest day: 19. I am in the 32nd percentile for distance/week, and the 50th percentile for hours/week, for my age group–thanks Garmin!
* Tried a few new loops on weekends, 12 – 17 miles ea.
* Tried riding at lunchtime to pick up my lunch (when working from home), just to get extra miles in. 1 – 2.5 miles each way was about perfect.
* Finally got a real front light, an Olight (RN 2000) with a remote control–really, really nice to have!
* Tilted my saddle up–made a difference.
* Took the long way home (after work) several times.
* After hemming and hawing for years, I finally got the Large Borough Bag, and I’m glad I did. It works much better than the C-Bag (although I still use the C-Bag sometimes).
Regrets:
* Did not do that overnight camping trip that was supposed to be the highlight of the year.
* Did not do any mixed-mode weekend trips this year.
36 Comments
I’ll get things started. I got three flats this summer. In a week, in a row!
Not directly Brompton related but my daughter learnt how to ride a bike this year and since the Brompton is quite manoeuvrable in small spaces I was able to ride around with her in the small yard where she was practicing.
213km ride averaging 21kmh! Very proud of that ride!
I spent a considerable amount of time traveling by train this year, and my Brompton was crucial to enjoying the trips. I think my most memorable experience was waiting to hop on a train in Oakland and some very sweet old ladies asking me about my “cool rolling cart.” They nearly fell over when I unfolded it and showed them it was not just my luggage, but my bike.
Riding along the Kurogawa valley from Nikko to Kanuma, in Japan, among forests and rice fields, on immaculate country roads.
Japan + Brompton = 10/10
When the pedal sheared off at the lights
The local One Millionth Brompton ride, with 50 other Brompton riders.
mine got stolen 🙁
Riding Bromptons in a Mardi Gras Parade in New Orleans with 30 other Bromptoneers. Fun, fun , fun!
Close Second Place: Bromptoning around Normandy, Brittany and the Loire vallley.
I rode my Brompton from The Netherlands to France.
Riding in Arches National Park and crossing the Colorado River
My wife and son where on vacation, They landed in the middle of the night and I got up super early and rode out to meet them at the gate. We had breakfast then all took a taxi back together.
Bought my first brommie 💚
buying my first
Bought my first one in October. It’s absolutely stunning! I love that I can get around the city much faster than if I were to drive
Learned how to start fixing and upgrading a bike. I didn’t even own a screwdriver before this. My YouTube history looks like I’m learning to be a bike mechanic.
I hit a bump on the road while riding my brompton and i wasn’t wearing a helmet at the time. It cost me a concussion and about a month to heal. Luckily my brompton is still with me.
I subscribed to one, it was broken, Brompton failed to pick it up multiple times, it’s just sitting in my shed.
After my crap for bikes got stolen, getting a new Brompton! And of course, falling with it on my second commute home. Haven’t fallen since and probably won’t again, but now we are certainly bonded having battle scars 😀
Latest was taking my car to a mechanic and whipping out the bike when he asked if I need a loaner. He was in awe and so was I, so easy to commute to work from there with a train and later come pick up the car.
Also the gasps at the train station when people see the ”brompton flip” to unfold it for the first time. Compliments followed by that always brighten up the day.
In general all the trips with my kid in the burley trailer in the back. He also learned to ride his own bike without training wheels at any point this year. Looking forward to adventures with him next summer when he can ride his own bike and I can take my brompton.
Slipping on a 1 inch high curb and falling over
I cycled from Falkirk to Edinburgh along the canal – about 45 miles with diversions. it was a great day out.
Passed 1000 total miles ridden (commutes) and got pretty good at fixing rear wheel punctures…
Breaking original parts, maybe by fatigue. I’m proud of adding km to the bike 🙂
Hitting the wrong gear on the final climb to my village. Blowing up spectacularly, hanging on the bars as my neighbours drove out of the village past me.
Smile and wave …
Bought one from a random house In London, Walking through London, I don’t live there. This guy is sort of following me and eyeing up the bike ALOT…I say ‘you ok?’ He half laughs whilst still checking it out. ‘Thats not mine is it?’ He said it had exactly the same colour, set up, bell, handlebars.
Since I had only just bought it I could only half convincingly say, no…cos like…I coulda just bought a recently stolen bike.
The only reason I’m very sure it wasn’t is that I’d bought it at lunch time and the guy I bought it from let me into his house to look at it.
Easily, seeing the 1M Brompton here in DC (post here https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/175sjti/millionth_brompton_in_dc_today/) (my pics here https://www.flickr.com/gp/arjwright/3vY61rms57) -and not just Brompton, but seeing all the folks I never see w/Brommies around the DMV. Was just nice.
Close second was a Brompton meetup thru Southern MD wine country [https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/1632c52/todays_dc_metro_brompton_meetup/](https://www.reddit.com/r/brompton/comments/1632c52/todays_dc_metro_brompton_meetup/)
Got my first Brompton and I’m very happy with it. Put it in a lot of trains (twice to Madrid, once to Barcelona, a lot of times to Murcia). I also put in the trunk of my e-car as a “last mile” transport. Several cycle tourist trips too. I didn’t ride it many miles, but definitely a lot of kilometers.
Hands down top 2023 Brompton memory: riding miles & miles on trails with son in his new city! Thankful to be able to check as airline luggage my NTM Brommie, ‘BTealy’ for my first bike ride with him in over a decade. Thanks for asking OP u/Unklesnarfles!
Rolling into the city center of Siena after bicycling from Florence through the Chianti, partially on the l’eroica route. That medieval city is magical.
Taking it out the box
I was riding around in Pittsburgh last summer and a man walked out into the street right in front of me. I slammed on my brakes, barely missed him, and said “WTF dude?” He looked me up and down and said “you know, you look really stupid riding that thing.” I took a beat and replied “touché” and kept on riding.
Riding to Eibsee in Bavaria. It was easily manageable with the six gears on my Brommie. the incredulous looks from people were funny to see.
How the hell do I stop this from popping up in my feeds
I have no interest in riding or talking to anyone about riding Brompton biked
I don’t know but I kept getting stuff I didn’t sign up for as well so I unsubscribed from email notifications.
Changed from a 44T to a 40T chainring. What a difference for these old knees!
Also:
* Rode to the office 32 times, about once/week, 12 miles RT. Would have been more, but the forest fires in Canada severely affected the air quality in the Northeast USA this summer. At least that’s the story I’m going with 🙂
* Mileage for the year: 693, 89 more than last year. Total rides: 78. Longest day: 19. I am in the 32nd percentile for distance/week, and the 50th percentile for hours/week, for my age group–thanks Garmin!
* Tried a few new loops on weekends, 12 – 17 miles ea.
* Tried riding at lunchtime to pick up my lunch (when working from home), just to get extra miles in. 1 – 2.5 miles each way was about perfect.
* Finally got a real front light, an Olight (RN 2000) with a remote control–really, really nice to have!
* Tilted my saddle up–made a difference.
* Took the long way home (after work) several times.
* After hemming and hawing for years, I finally got the Large Borough Bag, and I’m glad I did. It works much better than the C-Bag (although I still use the C-Bag sometimes).
Regrets:
* Did not do that overnight camping trip that was supposed to be the highlight of the year.
* Did not do any mixed-mode weekend trips this year.