I’ve worked in the cycling industry for 7 years now – first bike sharing and now cycle insurance with Bikmo. Living and commuting in London (for a while) and working in this field means that I have rarely been more than a few metres away from a Brompton. Despite this, I’d never had the urge to try one out and see what this folding bike fuss was about.

Instead, when I had to mix train and bike, I would lug my full-size bike along and put myself through the struggles of booking it on the train and causing a nuisance to others. Then I’d usually have to walk huge distances either side and often arrive late and sweaty.

I knew it made sense practically to get a folding bike but as vain as it sounds, I didn’t want to be seen on one. The small wheels freaked me out a bit, but more importantly, I was scared that if I would become my own stereotype of a ‘folding bike rider’.

Based on my experiences through my niche of work, this would mean a strong chance I’d grow a pair of braces, corduroys and knee height socks. I’d spend all my spare time lobbying the Council for a dropped curb outside Sainsbury’s. Nothing against people who wear such clothing, and I am all for making the roads easier to ride, but this lifestyle I imagined was putting me off. I’d rather just get on with it – bunny hop the curb, and keep on riding – I thought.

Brompton fact: The fastest Brompton fold is around 7.2 seconds although there is no official record

The initiation

But then, around a month ago, we at Bikmo partnered with Brompton on their Brompton insurance product. This was a perfect opportunity for me to forget my prejudices and re-evaluate my quiet opinion of folding bikes and folding bike riders.

My initiation started with a tour of the Brompton factory in Greenford, London. I learnt about how it was all started by Andrew Ritchie in the 70s after persuading his mates to put £100 in each to build a prototype. And saw how successful Will-Butler-Adams and his team have been in transforming the company from a niche London outfit to the largest UK bike manufacturer, selling over 45,000 bikes per year.

As a Civil Engineering degree holder (never used it), I was fascinated by the design and engineering side of things too. Seeing the production processes first hand was awesome. I was amazed to see that so much of the process is still very much hands-on work, making sure that every bike leaving the gate of the unassuming business park in north-west London was up to the very high Brompton quality standards.