Advantages: Almost "full sized bike" rideability. Less likely to get stolen if stored indoors instead of in shed!
Disadvantages: Small wheels go down holes further = harder ride. Expensive unless you MUST have a folder.

...I first wrote this opinion within a few days of buying my Brompton L3, and nearly five years and several thousand miles later, I stand by everything I said then. It's a fine and useful machine as long as you don't think it's got any off-road capabilities. Half a mile in a ploughed field convinced me of this - for one thing the pedals are too near the ground to escape furrows! The purpose of this revision is to alert potential buyers to the fact that not only was the L3 up-rated to be an L6 with the addition of a 6-speed conversion, but that these days the equivalent model is called the M6L and sells for around £560. ******************************************************************************************************* Back to the plot..... Question: What does a man whose job requires him to use a pushbike buy himself for his... Read review

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Advantages: Very easy to fold and good to ride
Disadvantages: Not fantastic at off road

...I have a Brompton L3 that is now approx 3 ½ years old. I use it everyday to commute to work - I cycle to the station, fold it up and take on the train and then cycle the other end about 1 ½ miles to work. I love the bike and although it was expensive I think it has been good value for money considering how often I have used it. It folds up easily and quickly and so many people are amazed when they see it folding. I have found that it is so small when folded that I manage to keep it under my desk at work. I have bought one of the front panniers and it was a great decision. I can keep work papers (and my handbag) in it and when I take it off the bike to say go into a meeting, still looks relatively professional. I have found that the tyres puncture very easily unless you keep the tyres pumped up (you really need to check... Read review

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Advantages: Foldable, practical
Disadvantages: Expensive

...I bought Brompton bike three years ago and since then I've been using it regularly to commute to work. Part of my journey is by train and by having a foldable bike it saves me a lot of money on the tube ticket and also means I don't have to go on the "meat wagon" aka the tube. It keeps me fit and gives me the opportunity to explore new areas of London which I probably wouldn't venture in without this practical device. The bike cost £470 but considering that is well built, reliable and easy to maintain I think it is definitely worth the money. If you use it regularly it can also save you subscribing to gym membership as it will keep you fit. I am not sure of the exact weight but can reassure you it is easily carried. It takes 10 - 20 seconds to fold or unfold it. Furthermore there are no parts sticking out while folded so there... Read review

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Advantages: nice "ambiance", decent French food
Disadvantages: abysmal service

...On a recent Saturday, I had lunch/brunch at the Brompton Brasserie which is a French restaurant located in South Kensington, on Brompton Road. There were 10 of us, although the 10th person did not show up until an hour later. The Brasserie is decorated exactly as its name implies, i.e. the archetypical French chairs, white tablecloth, bread baskets etc. When 9 of us had arrived, we decided to place the orders. Well, the staff had obviously decided it would be wrong for us to start without the last person, so they steadfastly refused to see our signals. Even the initial orders for coffee and water took longer to arrive than an entire lunch should have taken. After placing the orders, and getting our initial lubrication, nothing happened. After that, nothing happened. Then again, nothing. Finally something happened, which... Read review

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Advantages: high concentration of tantalising shops
Disadvantages: you may go bankrupt

...Brompton Cross is a crossroads, a short walk from South Ken tube station - in the direction of the Fulham Road and Walton Street, with the one of the best concentrations of ladies clothes' shops anywhere in the city. Not only are there 3 Joseph stores - the large flagship store, which stocks Joseph own-label as well as all the designer stalwarts including Prada, Gucci, JilSander, Matthew Williamson and a great range of accessories; the Joseph essentials store which is a perennial favourite for trousers and little tops (though beware..you do need a drainpipe figure to squeeze into the miniscule sizes) and Gigi - the more fun Portobello Princess style store - named after Joseph's own daughter. On the Brompton Road, there's also a very funky branch of Whistles, a few doors down from Tokio which stocks interesting and innovative new... Read review

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Advantages: sturdy and solid, great looking, good to ride and very useful
Disadvantages: doesn't quite fold up as small as a Brompton

...I own this bike, and its cool. Its the sort of bike that you can ride on down a cycle path through a bunch of kids on BMX's and Mountain bikes, and they do not mock you. This is a folding bike that isn't to be mocked by children. In fact when mine is unfolded the handle bars and seat post are often higher than my mountain bike, I have always had the problem of never having a bike big enough for my needs, but this one I can actually ride on properley, no more cramped posture, this is a bike that actually fits me, and i'm only 6ft 2. How does this bike compare to something like a Brompton? Well you are in luck, because I used to ride a Brompton to work before I got this bad boy! The Brompton is significantly smaller, roughly about two thirds of the size of the P8 unfolded, but then, its slightly easier to take on trains, I've even... Read review

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Advantages: Cheaper than the market leader
Disadvantages: Doesn't fold so well

...WHY ANOTHER FOLDER? It seems a little strange to be writing about yet another folding bike when I already have a Brompton, the doyenne of dinky bikes that really does fold up into a shopping bag. Getting a second was more a question of storage rather than any real need for the bike to be transportable under anything but its own rider's steam. My wife now works at a special teaching unit some two miles from home, and the local council (London Borough of Ealing) has decided that the surrounding roads are to become a residents' parking zone (CPZ), with no exceptions. The school, predictably, doesn't have sufficient parking spaces, even though Ruth drives a Smart, and could almost park it in the sports equipment shed. Parking spaces, it has been decreed, will be allocated on a per-term basis. Since her colleagues are all coming... Read review

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Advantages: see review
Disadvantages: See review

...of the rest of the family. It was understandable, as he had been very ill as a baby and had been spoilt somewhat by the grandparents. When I was 6 months old we moved to York. We stayed there until I was about 18 months old when we moved back to the South East of the country and went to live in Brompton, which is in Gillingham, Kent. I went to the Garrison Nursery, so called because Brompton is an Army town and the nursery was primarily for the army personnels children. From there I went on to Brompton Infants School. I had only been there a year or so when it was closed down due to the building being condemned for safety reasons (this was understandable, considering the school building was an old church that was at least 200 years old!). So Brompton Infants was merged with the local Junior school, Westbrook Junior School, there after... Read review

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Advantages: No harm in a bit of nostalgia
Disadvantages: Even nostalgia's not what it used to be though

...life, it'd no doubt pick the time of the auction to get really lost, leaving me having to back-pedal on the sale. 3) BROMPTON FOLDING BIKE Circa 2001 Speaking of pedalling, I've written about this one at some length already, so I won't bore you with the details. The Brompton has to be just about the 'foldingest' bike there is, compared to some of the others I've sampled and as such, that makes it fittest for purpose, especially since it's so damned easy to ride too. I do use another full-sized bike of Ridgeback origins although you'd never guess now it's been re-sprayed, and if I'm anticipating a long ride from my house back to my house, then the big job is has to be. For anything else, the Brompton gets used, ranging from taking it half way there in the car or on public transport, riding it the rest of the way, to VERY long rides... Read review

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Advantages: Fun, novel idea, easy to see what you are getting to eat, yummy!
Disadvantages: A little pricey if you eat lots!

...... Read review

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