Sorry, it's a long ramble
I got an email from Brompton a few days ago regarding the Version 3 CHPT3 launch, priced at £2,295, with a little square asking me to “SHOP” – now that is a real joke as you cannot buy them, (or many other Brompton’s for that matter), as there are none for sale to “mere mortals”. Also try getting even some basic spares and bits from a dealer and many are “out of stock”. OK CV-19 has slowed things down, but not that much, China are still churning stuff out in volume.
So what has happened to Brompton? – Evans, (owned by Sports direct), and Halfords are two of their dealers, talk to any small independent Bike shop who is a Brompton dealer and you will find that he is not happy. Talk to the (young) guys in Evans and Halfords and many have never seen a Brompton…. maybe an exaggeration, but hopefully you know what I mean……….. It does not look to me as thought Brompton are supporting their smaller dealers …..they have an “online” business, which is of course “down” at the moment, but they have started selling direct to the public from their web site, (but the Bike has to be collected from and “prepared” by a dealer – “for safety reasons” – that's sometimes a laugh – ask a few who have bought from Evans and Halfords)
Again, what has happened to Brompton, OK supply falls way short of demand and many, many Bikes are going to the Far East.
But are Brompton’s now selling “boxes” not Bikes – they are a private company but have a couple of corporate boys on their Board, (they have been there for a while), are they looking to go the way of many private companies and will we see a public floatation or take over and sale to a public company in the not too distant future – shareholders and directors will be eyeing this up with some glee – but I may be completely wrong.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my Bromptons – over the years brakes, wheels, tyres, hubs, etc., have all got better – but they have not really come that far in the last 30 years since the Mk 2’s of the late 80’s early 90’s – I would have thought that they could have been a bit more innovative as basically they just produce 2 bikes – a normal Bike with the choice of handlebars and gears and a eBrompton – their "innovation" today seems to be down to loads of Special Edition paint jobs.
What do you think – will anything more creative come out of Brompton in the future or are they happy to sit back on their laurels.
This is not a criticism of the Brompton Bikes, it is just my reflection of how I feel about Brompton today, I bought an eBrompton a few weeks ago through their on-line portal, (I'm very pleased with the bike), and after ringing around quite a few dealers I have managed to "order" a normal Brompton, but with a limited choice, (certainly no Superlight bikes available to order!), which I hope to get ....... but if you can order many dealers are saying "for early 2021" delivery.