Getting to know my new Brompton bike

Published by Mark Connolly on

In the foreground, there’s a Brompton bicycle leaning against a storefront. Behind the Brompton in the store window, there are multiple posters, including one for Cycling Guide.

I’ve written about my recently acquired Brompton Electric G Line bike few times on Mastodon. I thought an update on some of the specifics of my experience might be interesting.

I bought the bike in July after spending time testing various models at Pedaal, a Toronto Brompton dealer (and Canadian distributor). At that point, I didn’t get too many accessories, as I wanted to spend more time riding the bike to better understand what I might need.

The battery bag that it came with had room for a few things. I did, though, get a lock, and a loud electric horn to use when car drivers are being awful. And I got a mirror as I always need one for general situational awareness. I also got a cool Fidlock water bottle as it attaches to the bike with magnets on a low-profile attachment point. These items gave me a ready-to-explore urban bike, one that’s fun to ride and feels safe.

An overhead view of the handlebars of a bike. From left to right theres a mirror, a button for a horn, a bike controller, a horn, a phone on a mount, and a bell. There's a waterbottle mounted on the tube leading to the handlebars. There's a large bag hanging off the front.

I already had a helmet and Quad Lock case for my phone, as I use them with my regular bike. I got a handlebar Quad Lock mount for the Brompton, as Cycling Guide is so important to me when cycling to new places. The routes are great here in Waterloo, Ontario, and I’m also discovering how they are in our limited Toronto-area testing. I prefer our routes to those from the big players.

An overhead view of the handlebars of a bike. From left to right there's a button for a horn, a bike controller, a horn, a phone on a mount with a map on its screen, and a bell. There's a waterbottle mounted on the tube leading to the handlebars. There's a large bag hanging off the front.

As I rode the Brompton here in Waterloo, and in Toronto after travelling there via GO Train, I slowly came to better understand my riding needs. On the less-excusively-bikey side, I picked up a light rain jacket for the Toronto trips when there was rain expected. That worked out well, though I’m happy to have missed the worst of the storm that hit on Wednesday, seeing only a little light rain when I was riding.

I wanted to use an old-school milk crate on the rear rack to make grocery shopping more practical. I added some bungie cords and it’s ready to haul! The 45 degree angle ensures that my heels don’t hit it while I’m peddling. The crate has worked great both at a favourite farm market and favourite independent grocery store.

In the foreground, there’s a Brompton bicycle leaning against a rural mailbox. There’s a red milk crate mounted on the back of the bike, such that the sides are at a 45º angle to the rack it's on. There are flowers and other plants in two gardens, and trees in the background. It's a sunny day.

A view of a bike parking area, a Brompton locked to a post-and-ring style parking spot. A large crate is mounted on the rerar rack of the bike. In the background there’s the wall of a building. On the wall the words “Central Fresh Market” are prominent.

More recently, I decided to address a minor limitation that became apparent over the last couple of months. While the small battery bag can carry a few items, and the crate can carry a decent load of groceries, I needed something in between to handle running errands that included getting a smaller grocery haul while folding the parked bike. That led me to the front basket bag, which is open-topped like a traditional basket and has decent capacity.

A three quarter front biew of a bike. There's a lrage bag hangng on the front. The bike is leaning against a raised vegatable garden bed..

A 3/4 overhead view of a bag on the front of a bike. Various groceies can be seen filling the bag.

That pretty much sums up the physical bike and its accessories. I’ll follow up soon with some details on how I use it here in Waterloo and in Toronto. But as a preview, the Brompton has exceeded my expectations in every way!

Categories: News

Mark Connolly

Executive Director at Cycling Guide Foundation

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