I have had a Gobike for about two months now and have really been enjoying it. I commute about 12km each direction Mon-Fri, and have also ridden it as far as Thornhill. Overall it's a great bike and could definitely serve as an all purpose bike (as it currently does for me).

I haven't used a Brompton, other than for a brief test ride, but I think that the two bikes are really different creatures. The brompton folds into a smaller package, likely with less effort, and is probably a bit easier to transport than the Gobike. That being said, I did quite a bit of research before I bought and wasn't convinced that I would be satified with the ride quality of the Brompton, for longer rides. I did have a rebranded Dahon (Avenir) before my Gobike. Essentially it was a Dahon Impulse 6. I purchased it in order to find out if I would really benefit from having a folder. Really enjoyed it, but it just wasn't up to longer trips. When I decided to upgrade I was also tempted by the Helios models, but ultimately came across the Gobike at a shop here in Toronto. Being a very different design, and Canadian, I couldn't resist. It also had a wider tire, suspension, a larger range of adjustability and frankly, just looks great. My only caution is that I did experience a bit of a psychological adjustment to the front fork. It was about two weeks before I was completely comfortable with the fact that one side seemed to be "missing" whenever I looked down. As a result, I found that I was slowing down considerably before cornering. I did, however, finally learn to trust that the front wheel wasn't going to abandon me.

Not sure what area of the City you're located in, but if you don't have any luck finding a bike to try, then I would be willing to let you try mine out some time. Not sure where you would actually buy one though. The Toronto shops seem to have given up on getting further stock. If you're interested, send me a private message. I work in the downtown core, though I'll be off on vacation next week.