Brompton vs one bike at each end?

Tylerolo

Hi Folks,

First post here but hoping to seek the wisdom of your collective experience!

Have just started commuting from Reading to Elephant & Castle and have already had as much as I can take of the bakerloo line. I already use a road bike to cycle at the Reading side but am trying to decide whether to get a Brompton to do the whole trip or to lock up a cheaper second bike at paddington for the paddington to elephant and castle trip.

Just wondering if anyone has tried the two bike option? And whether anyone has any thoughts on the pros and cons?

Thanks for your advice!

curto80

I'd go two bike option. Get a cheap rusty single speed and a decent lock for the London end. Great fun and a fraction of the price of a Brompton. Plus you won't get hate from you fellow train drones ;-)

The Rookie

+1 for the 2 bike, get a used steel MTB, a small bit (very small) of love and it will serve you just fine, my son used an old Townsend I got for £5.50 off ebay for 2 years for similar use (2mile each way on most days).

scoi

I went down the folder route. £100 Dahon jack off ebay. Full size wheels so pretty quick. A pain on a busy train but I work in zone 4, so the trains not too busy by then. I thought about the 2 bike set up but didn't fancy a wet rusty bike as my London station has no good storage, being Wembley it's a crime zone as well so I wouldn't rate my chances of a bike being there on arrival.

If your trains quiet enough look at Tern or Dahon, bigger wheels 20 or 26 inch and a third of the price.

iPete

How far is the ride at the Reading end?

If there is room on the train or even if its a busy train, you can't beat a Brompton for its fold. A hoot to bomb around London on too. They are expensive but invaluable at times.

timbo_tim

+1 for the two bikes. I only do 3-4 miles at each end but much happier with two average bikes with the "home" bike doubling up as a winter bike if needed or I can do a long way home if I wanted to get some training in, not something I would relish on a Brompton!

pbkclements

I'd go for a second hand brompton. One bike to maintain versus two things to go wrong. Also, once you're into brompton's it's hard to see what else offers the flexiblity with very little downside. Ok you lose a few miles per hour on the commute & it's not so great on steep hills, but that aside, it's great. I've had two; the first, brought new & owned for 4 or 5 years was nicked. Shame, I covered many happy miles on that. My current brompton is second hand, quite old (15 years £400 ) , but still great to ride & is used on daily commute of anything from 5 to 10 miles each way. I've done thousands of miles on this one too.


Peter