Luggage

The ongoing evolution of our front luggage range enjoys a significant leap forward this year; both functionality and aesthetics have been considered in response to consumer feedback.

S Bag Remodelled along lines of the C Bag, and with a removable front panel to allow users to personalise their bags with different designs.

T Bag The successor to our much-loved, if workaday, Touring Pannier, incorporating a more modern design and improved materials and finish.

A Bag Although our existing range has found a home in even the most formal of boardrooms, we are aware that there has long been a demand for a more conventional “work bag”.

Our attaché case is handmade in the finest traditions of artisanal leatherwork but has a dedicated space for a laptop; ideal both for the city player and the style aficionado.

O Bag Ortlieb, the most respected name in waterproof cycle luggage, has created a bag for use exclusively with the Brompton front luggage system.

The O Bag features the finish and functionality one expects from Ortlieb and will be offered in two colours – all-black and pink and black. Given the bags’ inherent waterproof properties, this is the only piece of front luggage that will not come supplied with a waterproof cover.

Brompton Pod

Although the B Bag has for some years provided a measure of padded protection for Bromptons in aircraft holds and on other long-haul journeys, there remains considerable consumer demand for a harder case to provide an extra level of protection.

The Brompton Pod flight case will offer a rigid moulded EVA shell, with the Brompton strapped securely in place within. Although it cannot be folded down like a B Bag, the Pod is designed to be as manoeuvrable as a wheeled suitcase, with a telescopic handle and integrated wheels, offering door-to-door portability and a worry-free way to take a Brompton on holiday or business.

Dynamo Lighting

Our existing offering – a tyre dynamo and a high-spec hub dynamo – will be replaced by two hub dynamo options for 2010. 16” wheels and the nature of the Brompton fold have together ensured that tyre dynamo lighting, even with the best of components, was never as perfectly-reliable as we would have liked.

Hub dynamos, like hub gears, offer a more reliable solution than exposed alternatives, but cost has always been a limiting factor; the beautifully-engineered Son hub dynamo offers exceptional performance, but at a price.

However, a hub dynamo has now been specifically adapted for the Brompton by Shimano. In testing, the low drag experienced demonstrates that it offers very good performance and reliability, though the price will be broadly comparable to the tyre dynamo system.

The SON hub dynamo will be retained and further improved by the adoption of a powerful Busch & Müller LED front lamp, featuring an automatic light-sensing function and a stand light function at the front as well as the rear.

Tyres

Our existing four options will be reduced to two.

Of the two Brompton tyres, only the Brompton Kevlar will be available from January; the Kevlar belt barely affects the free-running performance of the tyre, while greatly reducing the risks of punctures (compared with our standard tyre).

Of the two Schwalbe tyres – the Marathon and Stelvio – neither will feature in 2010, though the “successor” to the Stelvio – the Kojak – will be offered as a lightweight slick. It is even lighter than the Stelvio, and offers improved puncture resistance; moreover, it will bear a reflective strip, obviating the need to fit reflectors to the spokes in most territories.

Aluminium Seat Pillars

Superlight bikes will no longer feature titanium seat pillars, which have proved increasingly expensive and difficult to source on a reliable basis. Superlight bikes will instead be supplied with anodized, scratch-resistant aluminium seat pillars, offering weight savings but on a cost-effective and reliable basis; they will also feature indelible markings to aid with setting the saddle height. The cost-savings will enable us to fund further improvements to the Superlight offering.