Turf Zone – MusselShell
Well fellow turfers, we are now the proud owners of two shiny new Brompton C Line folding bicycles, one in green and one in orange, and I now ask myself the question, are they the Ultimate Turfing Bicycle? I would like to answer that question with a simply yes or no but it’s not as simple as that. Any bicycle is a compromise. A full suspension mountain bike is not really great for touring around the world. A horrendously expensive lighter-than-air road bike will not take you to the top of the Pentland hills, at least not without a considerable amount of portage. Bicycles are built for specific uses, even a multi-purpose hybrid bike is a compromise.
Same with the Brompton, it’s primarily designed and built for short urban trips where its small folded size allows easy access to public transport, storage at work or in the home, under the table in the café or even in the shopping trolley at Tesco (must try that!). Yet, having said that, some Brompton enthusiasts will happily ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End or even cross deserts and continents in the search for bicycle adventure. I guess it’s all down to what you are prepared to accept and put up with. But is it any good for turfing? That is the real question.
Straight out of the box the Brompton is ready to ride, well, after you’ve watched a few videos on how to unfold the thing, tripped over your own feet and caught the falling bike before it landed on the neighbour’s cat. Actually, it’s all quite simple once you get the hang of it. Unfold the handlebars and clamp secure. Pull out the seat and secure. Flick the front wheel round and secure the clamp. Then finally, swing the rear wheel to the back and you are good to ride. Then you notice you’ve not folded down the left-hand pedal and almost fall over!
Actually, for the first time out of the box, there’s a few other things you need to do before you take your Brompton for its first turf session. You need to pump some air into the tyres and for added puncture protection, some tyre sealant as well. You need to adjust the seat height with the supplied adaptor and also check everything it working okay. Other than that, it’s ready to ride. We still have a few other mods to sort out later for turfing. One is handlebar mounts for the phones and somewhere to mount the lights. The standard Brompton handlebars are not great for either aspect. We also need to look into bags for the Brompton. It comes with a mount on the front fork which you simply click a suitable bag onto. But rucksacks for now.
So, we stowed both bikes in the car – inside the £3.00 Ikea Dimpa bags we bought yesterday – and toddled off down to Joppa/Portobello area of Edinburgh for a test turf. The weather was bitterly cold, in fact, it would be fair to say, Brass Monkeys, and it was far from the ideal day for bicycle turfing. However, I was able to try my new boots, a pair of Merrell Moab 3 Thermo walking boots. They include 200g of insulation which I hoped would help keep my poor wee toes toasty. I also went for a size above normal for addition space for thicker socks.
Now, fast forward a few hours, enough time to thaw out toes and fingers after our wee cycle, or would that be a “brompt”, along Portobello promenade. In fact, we didn’t stay as long as planned. Not only was the cold, well, bloody cold, but ChoccyMuffin’s mobile phone was playing up and refusing to work properly, so we called it a short day and cycled back to the car for somewhere warm to scoff our picnic lunch. Even the seagulls looked cold. Not weather for cycling.
So, how did the Brompton’s fair as a turfing vehicle? Well, much to my surprise, far better than I would have imagined, even going so far as to say exceeding our expectations. Despite the smaller 16″ wheel, they were comfortable to ride, even over cobbles and some low kerbs and very nimble as well. The comfort probably due to the built-in suspension block at the rear and a degree of flex at the stem/handlebars. They do tend to attract attention but nothing new there when you’re a turfer or a kick scooterist. We even had a shout from a passing cyclist on another Brompton.
The one thing I would mention is that they are fun to ride, though I’m not sure exactly why that might be so. It’s kind of like the fun you get riding a kick scooter like my Swifty Air, or riding a fat bike across the beach at Aberlady. Maybe because they are all rather niche, a bit different, even slightly eccentric, but most definitely fun and that’s what it’s all about. As a turfing bicycle I’ve yet to come to a final conclusion about the Brompton and will need to do some more extensive turf sessions first. Watch this space as they say. Mind you, I do fear it looks like we might become Bromptonites, so beware. Back soon.
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