Sales of Brompton, the definitive folding bicycle, have soared by 28 per cent. Over 44,000 of the folders were sold last year, three quarters of which were exported. Brompton is not only a success in British manufacturing, but has revolutionised the way bicycles can be used in this country; its clever folding mechanism allows thousands of commuters each day to bypass onerous regulations preventing many cyclists from carrying full-size bikes on trains.
A craftsman brazes frames at the Brompton factory in west London
It’s easy to assume the popularity of folding bicycle in cities around the world is a recent trend, but 100 years ago, thousands were rolling off production lines across Europe. As the world went to war, troops across the continent were being issued with folders.
Long before Bromptons became ubiquitous on London-bound commuter trains and ahead of Alex Moulton’s ground-breaking designs, Bianchi designed the 24-inch Bersaglieri for the Italian mountain infantry. With its small, solid rubber wheels, the bike was available in many different configurations, but at 20 kg before any of the soldiers’ heavy equipment was added, hills might have proved a challenge, but it dramatically improved a soldier’s mobility.
The blog at Velicious Bicycles blog offers a fascinating glimpse of the folding bicycles of the era.
The birth of the small-wheeled bicycle
Three years before the outbreak of war, the case was being put for smaller-wheeled bicycles. De Vivie was a French pioneer of derailleur gears and advocate of bikes fitted with 20-inch wheels – the size still favoured by Dahon, the world’s largest supplier of folding bikes.
In 1911 he wrote:
“My own experience has gone no further than to 50cm (20 inch) wheels furnished with 50mm tyres, but I can guarantee that in an experiment extending as far as 15,000km covered, they will not have the smallest disadvantage from the point of view of their running. It simply seems to me they are more prone to skidding, but this is perhaps because their tyres have no tread and that the bicycle is very short. That universal agreement has fixed on 70cm (27 inch) as the proper size for wheels does not in any way prove that this diameter is best; it simply proves that cyclists follow each other like sheep. Make no mistake, uniformity is leading us directly towards boredom and towards routine, whilst diversity, even though it distracts us, holds our attention, our interest and the spirit of enquiry always on the watch. To change is not always to perfect, and I know that better than any others newly come to cyclo-technology. But to stand still, to sink into a rut, that is the worst of things for industries and for men.”
Velocio, Le Cycliste, France, 1911
Cycle insurance for folding bicycles
Folding bicycles are at a lower risk of theft – after all, they spend much of their time locked in the boot of a car, under a desk or next to your feet on a crowded train. It’s the reason why all folding bikes are for a discount off ETA cycle insurance.
Get an instant quote for your folding bike
Every ETA cycle insurance policy includes the following as standard:
- Theft, accidental damage & vandalism
- New-for-old – No devaluation of your bike over time
- £2m third party PLUS £20,000 personal accident cover
- Friends and family cover
- Low excess of 5% (£25 minimum)
- Cycle Rescue (breakdown cover for bicycles)
- 90 days’ worldwide travel cover
Cycle insurance from the ETA covers small-wheeled folders from the likes of Brompton, Dahon, Tern, Airnimal, Raleigh and Dawes as well as full-sized folding bicycles such as the Montague Paratrooper and Boston 8. The Moulton range of bikes does not fold collapse in the conventional way, but we consider it a folder for the purposes of this insurance.
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