Brompton Folding Bicycle

Anyone who has stopped into our shop on Hennepin Avenue (or browsed our website, for that matter) knows for a fact that we absolutely love bicycle bags. We have bags to fit just about any bike, and our selection of Brompton-specific bags is especially formidable. So we were thrilled to find out that Souma, a tiny company operating out of the Czech Republic, is making a handlebar bag that's unlike any the ones we were already stocking. We knew we had to get them in the store!

There are many handlebar bags that could be used on a Brompton, but nearly all of them fit weirdly, or get in the way somehow, or simply flop awkwardly onto the concrete when you're folding the bike. These Souma bags, on the other hand, perfectly fill the unused space in the middle of your M- or H-type Brompton handlebars. They're easy to mount up with four leather straps and four heavy duty snaps. They don't flop around or interfere with the fold, and they keep your essentials within easy reach. A snap closure keeps your stuff inside when the bike is folded and the bag is upside down. It's a design that we've never seen before, and as soon as we saw it we wondered why the heck nobody had thought of it until now.

Handmade in Brno, Czech Republic from full-grain leather, Souma bags are available in two versions to fit either your pre-2017 or current model M/H bar (for those who don't know, Brompton modified the shape of the M/H handlebar back in 2017 - see photos for clarification). The 2017 version is slightly smaller to fit the updated handlebar, and comes in three colors: Topaz (which matches Brooks "Honey" saddles), Brown, and Black. Folks with pre-2017 bikes can choose a brown or black bag.

If you need color suggestions: Topaz looks especially nice with softer colors like grey and turkish green. Brown looks excellent on our nickel edition bikes. When in doubt, black looks good with everything (but we like it especially well with bright colors such as red or lime). Like any quality leather good, your Souma bag will acquire a unique and beautiful patina with time and use, so buy it, use it, and love it and know that you're only making it look cooler. Click here to check out Souma bags on our website.

I'm currently sitting on an airplane headed to Washington DC for the Brompton US Championship 2014. I'm not certain what I did to be fortunate enough to be going, but it must have been something amazing because BUSC is a Brompton lovers dream come true!
We often are asked what tools are needed on Brompton folding bike adventures so I thought I'd lay out my own choices for all to see.

The Tools
-Park IB-3 Multitool: a fully equipped multitool (14 tools) with a chain tool and a 8mm allen wrench
-PDW San Wrencho: an elegantly practical tool you'll need to remove the Brompton's bolted-on wheels as well as removing the tires
-Rema Patch Kit: along with a couple TB-2 Emergency Tire Boots (sharp road debris is a global phenomena... it's best to be prepared)
-Schwalbe AV4 Tube: this inner tube will fit any tire that you are using
- T9 chain lube: this lube is good on both the chain and cables, just 1 ounce of T9 goes a long way
-shop rag w/rubber band, this is a nice item that all the tools can be wrapped up in. Mine happens to be a very sweet Tiny Bike Shop rag
-15mm wrench: I will use this to tighten my clipless pedals at Sunday's race (this will be left with the clipless pedals as it won't be needed on the road)
-Topeak Road Morph Pump: The biggest hazard with hand pumps is wrestling to get to full air pressure and ripping the inner tube near the valve. The Road Morph solves this by having the head of the pump on a rubber hose so that as you wrestle with the pump, the valve is not getting pulled and tweaked. Also an air gauge is built-in (bonus!)

If I wasn't headed to DC to be at BUSC 2014 hosted by BicycleSpace (the BUSC clubhouse du jour) I'd likely want one more inner tube and a spare tire, but in this case I know I'll be in good hands if I should find myself in need : )

Hopefully, I'll only need the pump to fully inflate the tires (I like to play it safe by letting a bit of air out of the tires before flying) and the wrenches to swap pedals on Sunday, but having the toolkit along is easy enough and has me prepared.

ADDENDUM: I'm back from the adventure and the tools I used on my own bike:
-Air pump (I flew with the tires at about 60psi and then I aired my Schwalbe Kojaks to 110 psi with the Topeak Road Morph)
-4mm allen wrench on my Park IB-3 Multitool to readjust my Ergon grips/barends
-8mm allen wrench to remove the folding pedal, 15mm pedal wrench to remove and install the other 3 pedals (because I was using clipless pedals on race day)

On Saturday's Brompton Urban Challenge I was in a group of seven (all on Bromptons) and we suffered two flat tires in the group (neither on my own bike). Both were from tubes that had gotten ripped near the valve (likely ripped from being rough on the valve when adding air to the tires). This made me all the more sure that the Topeak Road Morph is the best pump option to bring. I fixed both flats using the PDW San Wrencho, a spare inner tube, and the Road Morph hand pump. We were back on the road in about 10 minutes each time. Had our team won the Challenge I think I'd have been viewed as the Hero of the Day, but our team was less competitive and more about fun. In our minds we won...

If you have any questions feel free to contact me

As the organizer of the Brompton US Championship (BUSC) 2012 & 2013 I can tell you that Brompton Riders and racers are extremely good natured individuals able to go with the flow.

This year's event was truly spectacular in every way. The representation of participants created a map with dots from throughout the country. Thanks for that!

Multi-Modal Ride: Saturdays 30 mile spin led us through a wide variety of obstacles due to a major storm, but we all wore smiles throughout the cyclo-cross-like obstacles. Lunch alongside the great Mississippi with a group of Brompton riders was a lovely experience followed by a ride to the Northstar commuter train that easily held out folded Brommies and brought us back to Minneapolis just in time for the next ride.

Urban Explorer Ride: This 10 mile urban loop was designed to give the out-of-towners a chance to ride a wide variety of paths and shared roads with a few sights fit into the mix. Thanks to being shut out at the Guthrie (touristy stop) due to an anniversary party we had enough time to ride to one of Beez Kneez urban hive's and being that Kristy (the Queen Bee @ Beez Kneez) was on our ride she gave a tour of the hive and had some Q & A about bees.

We headed back to the shop for a powerless party (power got knocked out for the entire weekend due to Friday's storm) and being that the sandwiches were to arrive from a place that also was without power, we had to come up with a plan B. Pizza is the answer!

Dewi Sant is a fabulous band that we had scheduled for a show. Being that they knew we were without power, Michael Morris (the lead of the band) decided to come up alone and give an unplugged performance for us. Without light in the shop, we had the entire party and Michael's performance out back. He put on an awesome acoustic show for us.

Thank You Michael!

Sunday's Race Day was filled with huge smiles, great looking people wearing their very best, fast folds and an amazingly spirited bike race. The competition was fiercely battled and in the end there were no fewer smiles than at the start.

This event and all of the BUSC participants have touched my heart in a very special way and I am sure to never forget BUSC • 2013! Thank You fabulous employees, sponsors and especially to those of you who came out and participated in this wonderful event.
Here are a few pics of the events:

Registration for the Brompton US Championship • 2013 has been open almost a month now, and—as you can see above—the competition is all over the map. We are glad to see that many of the Minnesota-based competitors who took part in last year's race have chosen to return and that so many others from across the country have decided to make the trip to join us here in Minneapolis.

Many of you have told us you've already begun your training programs: ranging from getting out on your Brompton to practicing your Windsor.

If you don't yet see your home city city on the map, we have good news for you... there are still a handful of FREE T-shirts remaining when you use the special coupon code available at bromptonuschampionship.com.

We can't wait to see all of you at the starting line on June 23!

p.s. If you're not yet a Brompton owner, you might be interested to know that the wait time for special orders is just 5 weeks as of April 29, 2013. So, not only will your Brommie be here in time for race day, you'll even have time to get a bit of training in ahead of time.