"Test this Brompton," my friend Pere Cahué of Probike, a invited me. You mean ?, I replied, skeptical, suspicious that a folding bike with wheels as small as that would be fine. Pere, this is a pijada, I thought to myself. With the nice bikes of you have in your shop and you invite me to try this?
It should be in 2000. That Pere was holding was not the first Brompton I'va seen. Barcelona already beginning to see, although the colorful toy with two wheels was still far from becoming the iconic fetish of urbanites more last year in which it became later.
In fact, I had seen any Brompton before. The first was on the seafront of L'Escala a few years before, in the hands of tourists who watched the gaping horizon. I noticed the rear wheel hidden under the table and did not understand anything. And this how it works, with the wheels so close together? I questioned. And suddenly, the tourists up the bike by the seat, the wheels spun and put in place as they became pedaling.
"Yes, try it insisted Pere and then tell me what you think". I've always relied on the judgment of Probike alma mater, so I took that folding iron that left me and went outside.
Wow! Bad omens disappeared to the first pedal stroke. Bike tiny wheels that was poles apart from being an iron. That not only served to go to buy bread or a walk through a fashionable promenade; it was a real bike. It was light, well and slowed further, despite the size of the wheels, had an enviable stability. As for the folding system it was simply unbeatable. With a single gesture is made even smaller, so you could carry on an elevator without fear that the neighbor room complaining about everything abrirera mouth or keep it in a corner of the house without the risk of soiling the wall.
The fact is that shortly after I bought one, I've used for over ten years. In all this time and after thousands of kilometers, the Brompton has never failed me. The only incident I remember were a few punctures (Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires are wonderful), a change of cables, brake pads and covers and a tire that had to be replaced due to a touch with a taxi.
Well, I also had to change the seat, because that piece of foam that had serial Brompton few years ago was unbecoming of a bike on their level.
You can not imagine what we have done with the Brompton, because my wife was soon tempted. It has been loaded into the car tens times on the train, in the subway and buses. I made her authentic destroyer thinks as down stairs or driving on unpaved roads. It has also helped me to take my son to kindergarten, to compile material to write more guides to Barcelona and, above all, to make thousands of trips in the city for work and leisure, day and night, in midsummer summer or the cold of January.
The purchase price of Brompton is certainly high compared with most folding, but if I tell the investment that once did, have recovered from leftover money it cost me. No doubt it was the best investment in cyclists terms I have ever done.
Now I live in Girona, in the district of Montjuïc, which already more than a year ago have not used. But no, not sell it. I have in the store if someone wants to rent the two Brompton. And I keep it because I know that, but now I'm unfaithful, later, one day or another, I do not know when we will meet. We still have to travel many hundreds of kilometers together.
And why I telling you all this? For you to understand that we eBici.cat-Biciclick Girona products that we only.
So we Brompton. Because we believe in it.
And so we have a test Brompton. For that, beyond the words, you yourself discover how far you can get.
