Brompton Bicycle has collaborated with Vic Lee, a designer from Clerkenwell, Central London, to create a limited run of gloss black Bromptons, featuring a motif inspired by a love of their home city. Vic’s design of an exclusive white decal will be applied before the parts are given three further coatings of clear lacquer, and then returned to Brompton’s west London factory for assembly.

The designer said:

“I initially worked with Brompton on a one-off, hand-drawn design for the prize bikes for the 2011 Brompton World Championship. These got a lot of attention so we started to investigate if there was any way we could do something similar on slightly large scale. I have been creating this style of London-inspired schemes for a couple of years now; it is great to see this translated into the London Brompton.”

Along with the artwork on the main and front frames, the bikes come fitted with a limited-edition vinyl graphic on the flap of the accompanying S Bag, also designed by Vic. The bike design has been further enhanced by the use of black mudguards and leather Brooks grips and B17 saddle, both also black. The bikes will be supplied with a numbered certificate of authenticity, along with a limited-edition Vic Lee print (unframed), signed by Vic and, like the vinyl graphic, not available elsewhere. Only 500 London Bromptons will be built, supplied with 500 vinyl graphic flaps and 500 prints.

Brompton’s Sales and Marketing Director, Emerson Roberts, said:

“In a year when the world’s eyes will be turned on London, we wanted to come up with something really special to celebrate the personality of this great city. We’ve been fans of Vic’s work for a while and he was the obvious choice for this limited run of London Bromptons: Vic lives and breathes this city and that was important to us as it’s where every Brompton is made and assembled.
“The final result looks fantastic, and it was no surprise to me that every one of the 500 was snapped up by our trade customers within two days of the factory reopening last week; consumers wishing to buy a London Brompton will have to be very quick.”

Brompton No.11 is available NOW from Velorution, Brompton No.12 is coming soon. the RRP for the London Brompton will be £1,475, reflecting both the cost of the additional componentry and accessories, and the extra processes required to apply the artwork to the bike.

BE QUICK! WE ONLY HAVE 2 VIC LEE BROMPTONS FOR SALE AND THEY ARE SURE TO ROLL OUT THE DOOR IN A MATTER OF WEEKS.

A young racer on a Like-a-Bike Jumper. Photo by Blake Jorgenson.

Imagine what he will do on a LikeToBike 20″.

“50 Ways the new bike can change your life”

On Bicycles is a great little book of short essays about Bike culture, gear and hints and tips from a wide cast of cycling writers.

With subjects as diverse as  safety,  how to park your bike, choosing a style, cargo biking, E-bikes , hand made frames , choosing a bag , route planning, health, economics,  attitude, bike culture and sub-cultures and political activism it has a little something for everyone.

It’s easy to dip in to and find something new and interesting no matter what kind of cyclist you are (or want to be) and will give you ideas on parts of bike culture you may not know so much about yet. It’s a well illustrated and nicely printed little book for the daily commuter and the first time rider alike.

Amy Walker is the cofounder of Momentum magazine, in Vancouver; an informative, beautiful and very succesful urban cycling magazine.

It is a shining example of how the new medium can be applied further to explore technical and artistic subjects. The authors have used a rig to photograph the bikes 360 degrees: a flick of the thumb and the image seemlesly rotates on its axis.

Olympic champion, adventurer and columnist for the Telegraph James Cracknell bought a Christiania from us – and wrote about it in the Telegraph’s Motoring section.

Back in 2010 Cracknell was struck by a lorry whilst cycling across the United States. He has told the tale a number of times and here again, this time explaining how, from the assault and through having his driving licence taken away, he arrived at the decision to go Christiania.

Ironically, it’s the short journeys that cause the most problems and take planning that we normally wouldn’t consider: prime examples are nipping the kids to swimming practice, popping out for a pint of milk -

We don’t find it ironic – it’s a well documented conundrum to which many people have found the ideal solution.

So I began figuring out ways to work around it, like when I recently filled up the trolley on a weekly supermarket shop and then asked the store manager if he could look after my shopping while I cycled home and back three times with a crammed rucksack.

Ah, you found the solution too…

And now, in a bid to reclaim independence and be of some use around the house (at least on the transport front), I’ve bought the tricycle.

We’ve said it to you personally, we’ll say it again: congratulations! You have just joined the avant-garde of British transport.

Cracknell then goes on to explain Christiania trikes. Somewhat inaccurately – you’d better read about them here.

Although the trike’s box is decked out in 2012 Olympic colours, I don’t anticipate Sir Chris Hoy beating a path to my door to give it a spin around the velodrome next July.

And yet we wouldn’t be surprised if Sir Chris beating a path to our door – we find Christianias pretty essential for town living. James Cracknell’s rowing partner Sir Matthew Pinsent would attest – he’s got one too.

They are visually well crafted and intellectually stimulating:

1. The Alpe d’Huez and its winners
   
2. The nicknames of the Peloton
   
3. The Classification of Riders
   

Coming next week, the Ribcap from Switzerland is ideal winter headgear. It will keep you warm, stylish and protected for impacts up to 16 km/hour (as comparison an approved cycle helmet is rated for 20 km/hour). When you get off the saddle, just fold it:

We feel that is perfect for babies on a Bobike mini: their necks will find the Ribcap much more comfortable than a standard helmet.

Joy Ride:

Recycle:

The original designs created by Thomas are limited to 100 copies. Each piece of work is watermarked, labeled with the title and edition number. As such, no two copies are ever completely identical.

OK, you still need to add mudguards, lights and a rack, but for £650 this commuter from Hamburg, with eight speed internal gears, represents excellent value for money.

Available in both gents and ladies frame.

The Alley Runner, a metal balance bike:

The Belter, a pedal bike with belt drive.

For this Christmas, we have plenty of stock of their best value wooden balance bikes:

Images: top two by Early Rider, bottom one by Badj

It is forty years since illustrator Charles Raymond and his wife took off their kit to pose for the pictures, which he later rendered in the famous drawings of the book that broke many taboos.

We mark this anniversary, by offering the poster above, which celebrates the second most fun activity known to men and women. £35.

What a wonderful way to display Lego storage boxes by Fritz Hansen at their new Fitzrovia store.

It is half term: bring your children to our store and play with the SeeBikeSaw; of course they can also test our wide range of children bikes from the Like-a-bike Jumper to the Gazelle Madelief.