Unlike certain ‘Green’ publications, New Consumer strikes a nice balance between consumerism and hair-shirt utopianism. It’s printed on a matt-finish recycled paper, which sounds a bit dour, but the content is lively and the cover stories eye-catching and (dare we say it?) sexy. In March, for example, the magazine features fair trade clothing – once the preserve of scratchy-looking T- shirts, but now firmly entrenched at the fashion end of the market.
This all sounds suspiciously New Age and touchy-feely, but New Consumer is a practical and informative guide to ‘fair trade’ products. With global trade increasingly dominated by greedy mega-corporations and unscrupulous trading cartels, it’s all too easy for the little folk to get squeezed out, leaving millions reliant on hand-outs, when all they really want to do is sell their bananas, tea or cocoa at a fair price.
Fair trade – spear-headed in the UK by the excellent Co-operative movement (the Co-op sponsors New Consumer) – is a neat way of circumventing the inequities of the global trading system, by working closely with producers and guaranteeing to pay them a fair price for their labour.You might think that this would make the products expensive, but because there are no middle men and corrupt officials taking a cut, that’s not necessarily so. A quick search around our local Co-op reveals that fair trade products are broadly mid-range (and we can vouch that the chocs and Clipper tea are jolly good). Until recently, fair trade meant coffee, chocolate and little else, but the list is expanding rapidly, and – watch out – supermarket giant Tesco is beginning to take an interest, which gives you some idea of the way the wind is blowing.
New Consumer has been around for nearly three years, but we think the concept is about to take off.To get you all enthusiastic, we’ve negotiated a reduced introductory subscription of £12. Just quote ‘A to B’ when subscribing.
New Consumer annual subscription (6 copies) £15 . ISSN 1478-8527. tel 0141 335 9050 mail newconsumer@axismediaservices.co.uk
Long ago, we built a lightweight Brompton, wrote up the saga in A to B 7, and went on to sell hundreds of extra magazines. We’re still producing photocopies today, which told us something, and maybe Brompton took notice too – there seemed to be interest in reducing the weight of the bike.With hindsight, we did rather well; our fully-equipped 3-speed Brompton tipping the scales at a shade under 10.5kg (23lb), including a front luggage block, mudguards, rear LED and even toe- clips.
Almost seven years later, Brompton has produced its own lightweight machine. It’s more expensive, and a 2- speed rather than a 3-, but the new S2L-X weighs only 9.7kg (21lb), making it one of the lightest folding bikes in current production, and certainly the lightest Brompton ever produced. If you find the Brompton heavy to carry, this may be the machine for you, but are you willing to pay £965? For Brompton, we doubt whether the opinions of creaky old fogies like us are of any importance, because this chic, hi-tech bike will be aimed at younger people (all the brochure models are under 30), with particular emphasis on young women.
As mentioned elsewhere, luggage does pose a few problems. Brompton uses a standard frame-mounted carrier block which takes three sizes of luggage.These clear the standard handlebars (and the new P-type bars), but tend to restrict the brake cables on the S-type and if over- filled, could foul the handlebars. In practice, the standard Brompton Pannier and folding basket do fit, although it would be wise not to over-fill either. Playing safe, Brompton has introduced a new lower bag (and special low frame) called the S-bag. Produced by Dutch company Radical Design, the S-bag weighs 1.1kg – a little heavier than the Pannier, but lighter than the humungous Touring bag.The S- bag overflows with fashionable zips, pockets, ‘beam me up Scotty’ communicator holsters and all the other accoutrements of modern living. If you don’t hold with such style-things you’re probably the wrong person to be riding the S2L-X anyway. Naturally, the more fashionable youngsters loved the S-bag.
Like the Routemaster buses featured last month, new folding bikes seem to arrive in groups of three.This is awkward for those who make a living testing bikes, and bad news for manufacturers too, because if the Mezzo had not been overshadowed by this month’s news from Brentford, it would have been very big news indeed.The Mezzo is a completely new folding bike: all alloy, 16-inch wheels, up-to-the-minute British design, and manufactured in Taiwan to keep the price within three figures. By any standards, that’s big news.
Our test bike is an early production machine, so the spec is bound to change. It will be interesting to see whether our predictions as to where it should change prove correct. First, the frame.The Mezzo has a smart alloy frame, shot-peened to a rough matt finish, and topped with smart modern graphics and gunmetal grey anodising (silver will follow as an option). In terms of both product design and finish, it’s superb, and in a different league to the tasteless, and sometimes rather gormless Chinese things that usually fall out of the box. This is one of the first folding bikes with a proper design pedigree, and it really shows. In terms of looks.The only slightly questionable area is the strangely cranked handlebar stem, of which more below.
Initially, the Mezzo comes with very little in the way of accessories, but we’re pleased to see a proper pair of mudguards.The front one is structural, so it’s an indestructible alloy affair. Otherwise, there’s just a bell and a slightly naff-looking saddle-mounted LED rear light. If ATB is serious about the folding world, the Mezzo needs proper lights, and some sort of luggage system. It has a rear rack, but in the morning commuter maelstrom, the man fiddling with panniers and bungees is the man who misses the train.The bike needs a custom rack-mounted bag and quick-release system, and we’re told there’s one on the way. Proper frame-mounted LED lights are being developed too.
We live in interesting times. As bits of Antarctica drop off, and global meltdown accelerates goodness knows where, it’s business as usual in the UK – more and bigger cars doing more miles, renewed talk of a railway closure programme, and low-impact cycling right off the political agenda. Meanwhile, the chairman of Shell is riding a Brompton to work and making some very anti- oil comments. Whatever next!
ORIGINAL ARTICLE FROM FEBRUARY 2005.
Remarkably good. The electrical bits cause no complications, so folding the WiLL is much the same as any other 20-inch job.The handlebar stem has an elegant catch, rather like a convex version of the Brompton U-clamp (a round bar, in other words). Once released, the handlebars fold down and clip into place, something that always gets top marks in our book.The mainframe hinge is a bit trickier, and you need strong fingers to push back the safety catch, heave the lever, and winkle the locking bar from its lair in the frame. Once done, the bike folds in a trice, and with the attractive MKS FD6 pedals folded (best accessories on the bike), it’s done. As usual, one of the folding pedals is superfluous, so they could have saved a few quid there, and in contrast to the handlebar stem, the frame doesn’t clip together, so the package continuously falls apart.Why, oh why, oh why, do these manufacturers never listen?
There’s a real demand for carrying children on the Brompton, something we can vouch for from personal experience. It’s also probably the most common question we get asked. Integrating the bike itself with rail or bus is straightforward, but children make life much more complicated.Trailers are great, but even the most compact takes up more space than a folding bike designed for an adult, so they present a bit of a challenge on public transport.
We’re not actually that keen on bags since the railway companies got folder-friendly, but they have their uses.Yachtsfolk need to protect their bikes from salt spray and flying bowsprites, whatever they might be, and the same principle applies to those regularly checking a bike in as anonymous luggage, whether at the airport, the restaurant or even (particularly even) Mrs Hampton’s Bordello & Old Time Massage Parlour. Of course, you may think you need a bike bag for another reason; whatever, it will leave your wallet thirty quid lighter and your Brompton nearly a kilogram heavier.
The story of folding bicycles in the USA is unusual. In the UK and Europe, folders are everywhere.They appear every working day on buses and trains during commuting hours, and are seen tucked away in offices and other workplaces in all major cities.They are, as our saying goes, ‘as common as crabgrass’.
Produce any interesting machine and someone will want to customise it. Engineer Steve Parry has been producing custom folding bikes to order for over a decade – concentrating on the Brompton in recent years.
“I have had three punctures on my Brompton since Christmas.The first in the front Marathon, the second in the rear Brompton tyre, prompting me to change it for a Marathon.The third was in the front Marathon again, causing me to regret spending on the rear tyre change. Just to make it worse, Mosquito Bikes fitted a 5/8in (16mm) Schwalbe 4a AV tube that is supposed to stretch to 13/8in (37mm). When it’s stretched that thin, how long will it last?
Puncture-proof, at a terrible cost, are the so-called ‘solid’ tyres.These may be just tolerable on a 26-inch wheel, but at 16-inch the high rolling resistance and ‘wooden’ feel make these things more trouble than they’re worth.The same goes for ‘solid’ foam inner tubes, about which the less said the better.
Bicycle carriage policy has deteriorated too. Bicycles were already banned on busy commuter trains into major cities, but Wessex tried to extend the ban to cover most of its peak-hour trains, some of which had plenty of space for bikes. After a few months, the company backed down and rescinded the bike ban, then attempted to mitigate this PR disaster by encouraging commuters to purchase a ‘Bike-in-a-Bag’ folding bike. But as even the importers of the machine would have to admit, the Bike-in-a-Bag is hardly designed for daily use, and – more crucially for Wessex – it makes a large and unwieldy folded package on the train.
Here at A to B we can be a bit sceptical about government schemes to boost cycling. Don’t forget, this is the same bunch that imposed on- the-spot fines on elderly ladies riding sedately on the pavement, but wouldn’t fund the cycle facilities to keep riders safe; that built more and bigger roads, when they claimed to be reversing the trend, painted speed cameras bright yellow, so motorists could avoid the fines, and promised to quadruple cycling, but oversaw the biggest decline in cycle use ever recorded. Why would we take any notice of a government scheme?
With most British products now designed and made elsewhere (albeit by British designers very often), we sometimes have to be reminded that we once built rather good vehicles. Every nation could unearth a few classics, but our little islands have produced a whole encyclopedia: beautiful ocean liners, graceful steam engines, grand cars, aircraft, motorcycles and of course buses.The theory behind Britain’s long love affair with the double-decker bus is that our narrow city streets made it necessary to build upwards. Perhaps, although the same could be said for any number of European cities. More likely, we just enjoyed being different.
For months now we’ve been terribly short of space, but at last we’ve progressed our master plan to add extra pages – four this time, but there may be more in 2005. More space means more expense, but we’re hoping to keep the cover price unchanged for the time being, and we’re grateful to our past and present advertisers who’s continued support has made this possible.A very jolly and prosperous Christmas to the cycle shops and manufacturers big and small that have backed us over the years, and to each and every subscriber. In such a specialist area, and with a relatively small subscription base, individuals really do count Thank you! Oops, almost forgot… bike of the month. We’re tempted to opt for the BionX. It’s certainly one of the most unusual bicycles we’ve seen.
Peter Henshaw
Cyclists with busy schedules and a folding bike can get from Leeds to most parts of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, as there is a weekly bus service as far as Hawes in Wensleydale.The 804 departs from Leeds Bus Station at 9.40 on a Sunday morning.The fare is £3.60 single, but a ‘Day Rover’ return ticket costs only £4. However, do check the times and fares before you go! Here’s an account of my recent trip.
At Kettlewell I registered in the Youth Hostel, which was almost empty. After a delicious evening meal (followed by a Portly-ish sponge pudding and custard for afters!), I rode up onto the moors on the Leyburn road.There are two very steep 1:4 hills, which were fun, but hair-raising, to descend. I came across some friends on my return who were in Kettlewell for the day and had arrived by car, with two small toddlers.We chatted until night began to fall, when I locked my trusty folder in the shed next to the hostel and waved goodbye to my friends. Back inside, I found a fellow resident, so we retired to the friendly King’s Head for a drink and a game of dominoes.
The use of trailers with motor vehicles is heavily regulated, but surprisingly, cyclists are free to pull any weight on one, two… even a train of trailers, provided they are reasonably sensible about it. Common sense suggests a few basic rules.
As a general guide, loads of 50% to 100% of the bike/rider are permissible with care, but beyond that, you’re on your own. In theory, a bicycle trailer can be fitted with over-run brakes just like a large car trailer. This would make heavy loads safer, but we’d still advise keeping gross weight below that of the rider and bike.
The message from Brompton is one of incremental changes, some small, but others of real importance, or at least, interesting enough to report.Weight is unchanged, as is price, but there have been subtle improvements. To recap briefly, the Brompton has been around since the late 1980s. Although never officially designated as such, early hand-built bike are usually called Mark 1s, the 1991 – 1999 bikes the Mark 2 and more recent machines Mark 3.The post-1999 Mark 3 looked much like its forbears, but was rebuilt almost from scratch, resulting in a lighter, faster and more rugged machine.The only big change since has been from Sturmey Archer 3- or 5-speed hubs to a SRAM 3-speed with the option of a Brompton 2-speed derailleur, giving six gears.
The old Sturmey 3-speed shifter was much loved, but has been showing its age (it was designed 70 years ago).The SRAM design is less positive and liable to all sorts of minor niggles, so Brompton designed its own to coincide with the reintroduction of the Sturmey hub, and it will be fitted to all 3-speed bikes.The shifter has a long travel, but to keep it nice and ergonomic there are two levers, one above the other.To change down from 3rd to 2nd, you flick down the lower lever.To change from 2nd to 1st, the upper lever will be in exactly the same place.The lever has to be carefully positioned to work well, but when it does, it’s superb – comfortable and easy to use. Like the rear frame, the new shifter will work with either SRAM or Sturmey hubs, so you can upgrade an older bike if you want.
A perennial grumble from high mileage owners is rim wear. Brompton isn’t promising to eradicate the problem, but the new ZX1000 rims are better quality, more precisely machined and including a wear indicator slot – when the slot disappears it’s time to change. Anodised (but not on the wearing faces) the rims certainly look smarter, but we’ll have to wait a few months to discover whether they really are tougher in service.