I'd Like You To Meet Lucy

No bones about it, my Brompton is a headturner.

Everyone who sees it loves it -- friends, colleagues, the guys in my local bike shop, people on the street.

It's the colour combination, isn't it? Rare and unusual to catch the eye of fellow Brompton owners (Bromptoneers? Bromptonauts? Bromptonistas?) but appealing to non-cyclists too.

Back Story, or "Before I Met Lucy"

I first turned my thoughts to taking up cycling in early 2009. I researched bikes and everything cycling-related that I could find. It didn't take long to narrow my options down to a folding bike, since my commute was 10 miles each way and I knew I would not be able to start off with doing that everyday. But... cycle a mile and hop on a train during peak time? With a folding bike, no problem! Caught out by a rainstorm? With a folding bike, hop on a bus! Just tired and disheartened? Bail out anytime, anywhere, with a folding bicycle.

Making the decision about brand and model was very difficult, but eventually it boiled down to quality. I think the common adage "you get what you pay for" is somewhat true some of the time, but with folding bicycles it seemed to be completely true most of the time. In 2009, the two most reputable folding bicycles were those made by Brompton and Bike Friday. I was really tempted by the Bike Friday, as it hails from my hometown, Eugene, Oregon. But the Brompton... so elegant... and so local. How to choose? A forum discussion somewhere made the decision very simple: someone else caught between these same two bikes was advised: "Think about your proximity to good knowledgeable customer service. If you're in the USA, buy the Bike Friday. If you're in the UK, go with the Brompton." That was it, I had my answer.

Using nycewheel's fantastic online "build your own Brompton" widget (sadly no longer available but/because Brompton now have one of their own), I "built" my dream Brompton:  a green and blue 3-speed. But this was not a stock configuration. For a two-colour bike, I'd have to order it through a Brompton dealer and wait up to (potentially) 12 weeks to get it.

I wasn't willing to wait -- it was more important to get started with the whole cycling adventure right there and then! So I bought what I could get immediately from my local Brompton dealer: a 3-speed yellow-and-black M-type, which I christened Woodstock. I loved that bike and rode it and rode it and rode it... commuting... exploring... on roads, cycle paths, dirt tracks and rural bridleways... to the end of the street and on group roads of nearly 40 miles... you name it, I did it on my Brompton.

... until I fell in love with this vintage mixte. After which, Woodstock didn't get ridden much anymore. So... I sold it.

And *immediately* regretted it.

How could I not have a bike as versatile and useful as a Brompton in my life?

So, with the luxury of time and the benefit of having owned a Brompton before, I ordered the one I really wanted.

This is Lucy. 

The original build --

• Model: S1L (S-type bars, singlespeed, no rack).
• Frame colour:  Arctic Blue
• Extremities colour:  Apple Green
• Saddle: Velo Orange Model 3 Touring, in Honey
• Handlebar grips: Humpert leather stitched ergo-shaped, in Tan
• Replacement brake levers: Shimano R550, in Black
• Firm suspension block 
• Battery-powered lights
• Drivetrain:  54t single chainring x single sprocket of unknown size at the rear (Brompton says 74.7" gear inches -- quite high!)

Our Brompton adventures have to date been fairly intense but in short bursts. In 2012, I commuted every day on my Surly Cross Check, while Lucy was my "town bike", the one I could jump on at a moment's notice for errands in London. Lucy was ideal for going to hearings at the Trade Marks Registry -- work files went in the bag up front and I always arrived before my colleagues in taxis or on scooters. Then in the first three months of 2013 (at the height of the appalling weather), Lucy was my multi-model commute bike, travelling from Caddington to Liverpool Street in rain, sleet, snow, icy slush... plus whatever grit or salt the local authorities deigned to throw on the roads.

In 2012, my luggage option was a Carradice City Folder M. In early 2013, I bought a Carradice Stockport (which I previewed here -- long term review coming soon!). These are the perfect luggage options for Bromptons and, with the purchase of the Stockport, I could not have had a better cycle-transport set-up. And when I'm travelling light, my Michaux Commuter messenger bag is exactly the same colour as Lucy's saddle and handlebar grips -- in fact, you can see Lucy in the photos accompanying my review of that bag.

You may have noticed that I said "original build". You see, this is a dream of a bike but it was conceived and specc'd out when I lived in London where my commute was fast-paced but, well... flat.  Sadly, with the move out of London to the countryside, Lucy's particular talents have been a bit overshadowed by her limitations -- in particular, the limitations of a single, quite high gear. We can handle the lumpy, bumpy (but more down-than-up) journeys to Luton or Harpenden... but we can't then get back home. Last winter's commuting started the day with exhilarating, fast inbound rides on snowy, slushy, borderline-icy roads. But then we'd have to get a taxi home each night because I simply couldn't pedal up those same slippy roads in the dark.

So it was clear that Lucy would have to change, to renew her usefulness in this new environment. In particular, she needed lower gears. In practice, this also means more gears.

So, while this is an introduction to Lucy, she has recently undergone a bit of a transformation and a re-introduction is in order... you can read the details here!