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I bought a Brompton because I wanted to cycle to work and be able to store the bike securely in my office. I probably bought that rather than one of the other respectable folders because of misplaced nationalistic feeling (it's British, I used to be). If you want a bike for dual mode commuting (bike/train/bike or something like that) it's probably the best choice. It folds very quickly and is probably the smallest package of any when folded (less than 2ft by 2ft by 1ft by an inch or so in each direction), so if your problem is that you have a very small space to put it in (light plane or boat) it's probably a good choice. It also has a very good capacity for carrying things although its approach to this problem is not mainstream. It isn't cheap--the model I would buy if starting again is the L5 (5-speed hub gears, no rear rack or lights)--costs about US$850. It isn't high performance, as it has a rather upright riding position and the gear range isn't huge. It can be noticeably improved by changing the stock tires to Primos. The one I have (a T5 with rack and lights) has a top gear of 82in and a bottom gear of 36in, which suits me fine for my not too hilly corner of the world. This range can be shifted up or down (91 in or 75inch top) with different options of chain/rear sprocket wheels, and a bolt on front derailleur is available at a price. But I like it very much. It gets used most days for my 4.5 mile commute, I use it regularly for a 19 mile round trip on Saturday nights, and we conquered New York in the 42 mile 5 boro tour recently with no ill effects (and we didn't disgrace ourselves in performance, either). It's the only bike I've got and I use it for the hell of it as well as ordinary commuting. I can't compare it to other bikes, though. I haven't ridden any. There are other good choices. The Birdy has a good reputation and almost certainly a better ride, but it doesn't fold as small. There are several Dahons to choose from that are probably decent. Bike FRIDAY has a very interesting range of foldable and seperable bikes. A good place to start looking for information is http://www.a2bmagazine.demon.co.uk/ which has links to most of the bikes you might want to consider, and includes a US price list. Be warned. According to all the reports I read when I was making this decision last year, it's a mistake to go for the cheap end of the range. And whatever you get will be a compromise between performance and FOLDING. I think the Brompton is a very good compromise (I'm biased--I have to justify this expense to myself.) If this sounds like a Brompton commercial, it's only because I'm a happy customer. | 