Like the title says. This is a good problem. Last Thursday I had the day off and decided to ride downtown to do some shopping. I admit, it was a gorgeous day, but I had to check three bike racks before I found one with an open slot. This was about 1:30 in the afternoon, with nothing special going on.

Full bike racks are quite the surprise. Especially where you live with it being the middle of September. I thought you would have snow by now.

No place to put your bike when you go shopping? Easy - get yourself a folding bike and carry it in the store or wherever you go.



Here is the same bike folded.



Using it grocery shopping.

Helmet could be useful for a slip and fall in the grocery store!

that bike genious idea and whoever invented it will hopefully make a fortune

In Europe, people take it on the train and are therefore sometimes faster than people who go by car and get stuck in a traffic jam. You guys have trains there on the continent, right?

That bike genius, as you mention, is a company in England called Brompton. The bikes, for the most part, are hand made and sold around the world. I would say that they are making a fortune. The bike is well worth the money. I've owned many bikes over the years and this one, as far as I'm concerned, is the best that I've had. Not to mention the most fun to ride.

Brompton Bicycle | Folding bikes, folding bicycles from Brompton Bicycle

You can take it anywhere, and put it anywhere - even in the overhead luggage compartment of an airplane. Check out this website called "Brompton Mafia". Scroll down through the images and you will notice one showing two of the bikes in one of those overhead compartments.

Brompton Mafia

I know but for people going to work on a daily basis, it only works in combination with good public transportation. In Europe there are a lot of people who use it to get around quick inside a city (coming from and going to the train station).

I do not see the point in using it for trekking or every day use though (without taking advantage of taking it on the train/bus). The only good thing is that you can take your bike as luggage, which is great for long distance commuters.

Unless you have ridden one, its of no use making a judgment call really. Taking it as luggage is a good thing, but not the only thing that's good about it. Its my daily ride now simply because it is fun to ride. After all, isn't that what riding a bike is all about. I don't use it for commuting on trains and buses as I don't have the need. Other than riding around our neighborhood, we like to take the bikes with us in the car to other areas. I hate the idea of hanging a bike on a rack mount on the car for a number of reasons, and one of the main reasons is theft. The Brompton folding bike I own can be neatly folded and placed in the trunk of a car. Out of site, out of mind. We did the bike rack and full size bike routine for many years, and we just got sick of it. Every time we made a stop either at a store or restaurant along the way, we had to worry about some scum bag ripping the bikes off the rack. The convenience of owning a folding bike is awesome. I can fold it up and carry it into any establishment wherever I go. I don't have to be bothered carrying around chains and pad locks and then coming outside from wherever I am visiting later wondering if the bike is still there. If I want to travel by airplane, for example, I can very easily. It folds small enough to fit the overhead luggage compartment without having to put it through on-board luggage and having to concern myself of it being damaged.

A lot of people have the misconception that a folding bike is for kids. That's the farthest thing from the truth. Yes, they ride a bit differently than a full size bike only because of the smaller wheels, but other than that the "fit to rider" is just like a full size bike. My wife and I found ourselves not riding our MBs anymore, so we ended up selling them. Try one out for yourself. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Cheers
Wayne

And with that extra long seat post you got room to pick up the dry cleaning. Just hang it there on the saddles rails.

That's a great idea. Perhaps I could do the laundry and hang the items on the long post to dry as I ride along. I can just imagine the looks and remarks.