Context

So, for context, I knew how to ride a bike from when I was 10, but I hadn't ridden one since then in over 15-20 years due to living in a car-heavy city where its incredibly unsafe to ride a bicycle. Also, my physical condition and stamina for cycling is terrible since Im an office worker used to driving to work. Thankfully, I have moved to a more bike-friendly place and ever since I've arrived, I have been slowly getting into cycling to work. But I've been doing it via the more approachable means of renting public city bicycles at first, and then renting a folding electric bicycle via Bleeper's leasebike program.

Overall, the transition has been incredible. While public city rental cycles at first seemed like a good enough option, I did notice that they were frequently in really poor condition and incredibly heavy. Then I rented a Veloci Hopper Electric Folding Bike from a Lease program and immediately noticed the massive improvement in ride quality and enjoyment I was able to get from riding it. But I did notice that even though the Veloci Hopper was folding, it was still too heavy and too difficult to fold to realistically take it on public transport. Taking it up the stairs for the train was an incredibly difficult task for me.

Thankfully, I learned that my city has a cycle to work program, which, combined with my workplace benefits, allowed me to get my own bike. And after going to the nearest recommended cycling shop, I discovered what a Brompton was when I first saw it on display and immediately fell in love with it.

The Purchase and First Impressions

While the bicycle did take an entire two months to arrive at the shop, once I got it into my hands, I couldn't believe so many things about it.

Besides the obvious, like incredibly small size and light weight nature when the battery is removed, I was very surprised about ride quality. It's much more stable and comfortable than I thought given the folding nature.

Additionally, I was blown away by how much easier to ride it was compared to the other bicycles I was using previously. I think this could be attributed to things like the much smaller weight and probably much better quality of the bicycle compared to the ones I was renting previously. But even so, all the other bikes I rented were incredibly hard for me to pedal due to the lack of exercise, but the Brompton is just incredibly enjoyable to pedal even without the battery.

As for the battery portion, that was another aspect that blew me away because on top of it being so much more powerful than the bikes that I rented in the city (which I am still confused by, since it's so much smaller), the battery life is also dramatically better than everything I used before it. On average, I think I'm getting anywhere from 3-4 times the battery duration of the electric bikes that are rented in the city (Moby bikes, Bolt) and the Veloci Hopper I rented. I don't know if this is because the other bikes were much heavier, had less efficient motors or worn out batteries. But in general, I find myself enjoying riding it with the minimum electric assistance enabled despite having terrible stamina because its powerful enough to enjoy.

My final favorite thing about the bicycle is the ability to enable assisted start, which lets me press a button and have the assistance temporarily set to maximum when starting from 0. This makes it far less stressful for me to use it in the city, since I can start alongside cars in traffic stops without feeling left behind. Also, max assistance is way more powerful than I expected and a god send for ocassional hills.

Frankly, it's very hard to find anything to dislike about it, but if you force me to complain, the only thing I could think of is that, while the four-speed transmission feels incredible in terms of simplicity for city riding and flat terrain (which I really liked, since it's just so much more practical to deal with fewer speeds), I'm also noticing that the gear range is very short. While going uphill isn't really a problem with battery assistance and is quite enjoyable, it does mean that I can't use it without the battery as easily if going up hills. Since I'm trying to get in shape and exercise more, I am intentionally trying to use it without the battery sometimes, but it's very hard to do even on small hills. Similarly, I find myself maxing out at around 35-40 km/h. Since anything higher than that, the pedals stop working. But maybe that's a good thing since I do feel a little bit scared going that fast, and I feel less confident about the bicycle stability when going that quick.

Questions from a new owner!

1. I've never owned a bicycle of my own, so I have zero knowledge of maintenance or things I should know. The extent of my knowledge of taking care of my bicycle is that, when shifting, I should lower the pressure of my pedaling, but that's about it. Is there any other advice you could give a new Brompton owner and someone who's new to cycling to take care of my bike?
2. Are there any accessories or must-haves that you would strongly recommend that I purchase? I purchased it with high handlebars, the telescopic seat post and rear improved rolling rack. And I have the grocery basket on the way (finding bags has been difficult due to compatibility issues with new brompron electric e-Motiq mount block). I'm thinking maybe spare tubes. I heard that they puncture easily, but I need to figure out the right size because I've never bought tires or tubes before. I didn't buy the repair kit since I don't even know how to use that.
3. I noticed that the bike has a tendency to unfold if I handle it poorly when carrying it. Is there something I can do? And I was only able to mitigate it by browsing the subreddit and discovering that there was "Stop Block/Locking Block/Lower Stop Disc) near the seed post too that, when adjusted, reduces this from happening. But even after I adjusted that, it still happens. I can only stop it from happening by using a Velcro strap around the wheel and top tube.
4. Very rarely, sometimes, the bike chain and pedals will not pedal backwards smoothly. The chain will get "stuck" for some reason and chain begins to "hang", and the "derailleur Chain Tensioner" begins to fold/incline a bit. This didn't happen the first couple of days, but it has been happening increasingly more the more I write it. The only clue I have is that there was one time I partially folded it and I tried to pedal backwards, and I did notice that as I did that, the chain jumped from one gear to another without me adjusting the transmission. And after that happened, the pedals and chain got stuck and derailleur chain tensioner begins to fold/flex. I apologize if I'm using the wrong terminology. I just googled what looked like the parts that I'm seeing.

Thank you so much!