Bike packing on a Brompton.
I fell in love with camping more than 20 years ago. That was when I spent every week, Sunday night to Friday, for two years, living in a tent on the Hertford Camping and Caravanning Club site. After I came back from living in Shanghai for 10 years, in 2016, I bought myself a Khyam Biker Plus tent so I could start camping again. That’s a great tent and I still use it from time to time. However, just over one year ago I decided to find a way to go camping in a much more compact way, without a car. I started researching and came across Susanna Thornton, YouTube Channel: “Susanna Thornton” and Gianni, YouTube Channel: “Brompton Traveler”, both of whom use a Brompton to go bike packing but in different ways. Susanna once rode a bike (not a Brompton) back from Hong Kong to the UK and Gianni has travelled thousands of miles, all over the world, on his Brompton. He has also written a couple of excellent books about Brompton bike packing.
I already had a Dahon folding bike, bought in Shanghai, and by drawing on their inspiration and ideas I set it up as a tourer. It worked really well and my first trip was about 20 miles mostly by canal tow paths, that were sometimes very muddy! The site was Elm Cottage Touring Park in Little Budworth, Cheshire and is a lovely site, with friendly owners. My tent was a Lightwave S10, which I got on special offer because it was being replaced by the S15. That tent is an excellent single skin tent that only weighs 1.1kg.
However, I had always been thinking about buying a Brompton, even when I bought the Dahon, but I couldn't justify the price. So when the company I was working for announced a bike to work scheme I jumped at the opportunity. It helped that I managed to sell the Dahon on Ebay for more than I had paid for it six years earlier! Although, as the company is in Plymouth and I live in Warrington I didn't actually bike to work very often! Availability was not very good but I managed to get a lovely Orange H6R model. The “H” means high handlebars, I am six foot three so I really need that, the “6” means six gears and the “R” means that it has a rack on the back, essential for bike packing. I had the sprocket changed from 52 teeth to 44 teeth to lower the gearing, which really helps when you're carrying camping equipment. I also added a Brompton Borough 25 litre front bag, which is really huge and quickly attaches to the front carrier block on the bike. The stock model also came with dynamo lighting and the total normal retail price then was around £2,000. After I got it home I added additional lights and changed the rear rack roller wheels for roller skate wheels, which makes it much easier to roll along when folded, especially when I use it as a shopping trolley in Sainsbury's, but that's another story!
The Brompton total weight carrying capacity is 110 kg. The front carrier block can take 10 kilos and the rear rack can also take 10 kilos. However since I weigh about 95 kilos and I use a 60 litre backpack on the back of the bike, I am probably considerably exceeding the total limit!
The Brompton is an excellent bike in its own right, but when it comes to bike packing it really excels. I can load up the bike, cycle down to the railway station, unload the bike, fold it up and simply carry it all onto the train. I do not need a cycle reservation on the train and I can usually keep everything within my sight to make sure it doesn't get stolen! When I get to the other end I just carry everything off the train, unfold the bike, attach my bags and cycle off to the campsite. By the way, it's also worth mentioning that it's a great conversation starter on the train, many people are fascinated by the setup and the idea of bike packing on a Brompton.
Once you have set up your tent you can then use the Brompton to explore the local area. Don't let the small 16 inch wheels and lack of suspension put you off, this bike can happily go on trails as well as roads. In fact there is a suspension block on the rear triangle, and natural flex in the handlebar and seat stems also help.
I'm looking forward to many more camping adventures with my Brompton!