Back in August we hooked Ryan and his partner Sinead up with a couple of Brompton C Line Electrics for their move down to London so they could commute car free across the city.
We recently caught up with Ryan at our Fulham store to see how they’ve been getting on, how he finds cycling in London, if his friends give him grief for using an electric bike and most importantly if he’s going to keep cycling through winter.
Q: How are you finding life in London?
A: I’m really enjoying it. It’s definitely fast paced. There’s always something to do, like endless invitations to things, different events, then work and business school and training as well. It’s definitely been a bit of a whirlwind the last couple of months, but I’m really enjoying it and the fact that when someone on the opposite side of the city says, last minute, “Do you wanna come round for dinner?” I can do it on the Brompton is pretty good.
Q: How are yourself and Sinead getting on with the Brompton’s?
A: We’re having a great time with the Brompton’s so far. My partner Sinead is traveling across different schools all around the South of London and the Brompton has given her the freedom to literally hop on with all of her gear for the sessions that she’s running, and move on to the next school.
And for me it’s just perfect flexibility. We have two different campuses, and a gym in another building. I can just dart between them. I can fit the training in around my lectures and it’s really made the whole thing seamless. I’ve really come to love riding my bike through the city and loving my commute as well.
I get to go straight down the centre of Hyde Park and over the Serpentine. And especially through the autumn, with the leaves turning and the sun setting a bit earlier I just get some amazing, amazing views on the way home.
Q: Has the electric assistance been helpful?
A: The electric assistance has been incredibly helpful. I have had quite a few people tease me for using an electric bike, considering I am supposed to be a professional cyclist. I do normally then go on to explain that I’m a sprinter and I need all the help I can get. Um, but it doesn’t really fly.
That said, I would not trade it for anything. It’s been so helpful. I actually get to turn up to my training sessions fresh rather than completely gassed. And I’m normally there on time as well. So yeah, I’ve been totally enjoying it so far.
Q: Have you been using the Brompton App?
A: I have been using the Brompton app – it’s a lot of fun actually.
It’s got your Speedo, it’s got your mileage and you can track all of your trips and see how far you’re going to work and time it and everything else. It’s great to get a good gauge for that. But then beyond that, it has this great feature that I absolutely love, where it tells you little milestones that you’re passing on the bike as you’re accumulating your total use of the bike.
So it could be like London to Amsterdam or I think there’s Tokyo to Kobe and things like that. So you really get to see where you’re standing. Right now I’m sat at 730 kilometers, which for two and a half months in London I’m pretty pleased with. But yeah, that’s still not quite the 24 hour record for distance cycled. So I think I have some work to do!
Q: How have you found cycling in London?
Yeah, generally speaking, really good. I expected fewer bike lanes than in Manchester, but apart from one very specific borough that potentially I shouldn’t mention, it’s really, really good. Once I’m through a couple of squeeze points there’s a lovely bypass through Hyde Park and through Marlylebone and all through the centre of London.
And generally speaking, it’s been completely incident free so far. My partner, as I mentioned is making her way all around London on her Brompton as well. She’s never ridden in a city before and she’s aced it. And I actually think the upright position and the electric motor put you in a safer position for being more aware as you’re making your way through the tight city streets.
Q: Will you keep cycling through Winter?
I will keep cycling through winter. I suppose the only excuse you have is the gear you’re using is not good enough, and I’ve been fortunate to collect a vast amount of cycling kit over the years with new kit issues every single year. So I have no excuse. And so far it’s not been too bad of an autumn – up to this point there’s been a couple of days where I’ve come home completely drowned. But generally it’s been great and I’m gonna do my best to carry on the whole way through.
A huge thank you to Ryan for taking the time to catch up with us. We’re so pleased to hear that the Brompton has enhanced his experience of life in London. You can find Ryan on Instagram here. Ryan is also managed by Mark Middlemas of Athlete Media Group.
If you’d like to check out the Brompton Electric range for yourself then please check it out here.
