IBDs miss out as Brompton T Line launches at a featherweight 7.45kg

Brompton has launched its iconic folding bike in a new titanium ‘T Line’ format that will seek to tap into the ever-evolving lightweight folding bike market. At only 7.45kg, it’s up there with the market’s lightest.

For context, the T Line weighs 37% less than the original all-steel equivalent, yet remains just as strong – with a 110kg load capacity – setting a new Brompton benchmark. 

• Three years of research and development  
• New construction techniques, the result of a new UK based engineering partnership 
• Over 150 redesigned components  
• The introduction of a one-piece carbon fibre fork 
• An entirely new drivetrain, designed ground-up to sit inside the fold 

With both T Line One (RRP: £3,750) and T Line Urban, featuring an all-new compact 4-speed gearing system (RRP: £3,950) exclusively available via a ballot system on Brompton.com and through selected Brompton Junction stores in London, New York, Shanghai, Singapore and Paris, the biggest challenge Brompton will face remains keeping both UK independent retailers, and a fast growing global direct customers base, happy. At the time of writing there is no indication bike shop accounts will be able to take stock and titanium bikes are much harder to produce en masse, so in the near-term it may remain that way.

Commenting on the launch, Will Carleysmith, Chief Design and Engineering Officer at Brompton said: “The only thing that has been carried over from our classic model is the brake system. Everything else has been finessed, pared back, upgraded. We have gone over this entire product in the minutest detail, looking for every single gram we can find to save on weight. What we’ve ended up with in T Line is the sense that when you leave the house you can go anywhere. All of those shared environments you experience when exploring a city, the bike is not going to be a burden, and you can do whatever you want with ease. That’s a pretty amazing feeling!” 

Brompton is quite rightly championed as a very British success story; the new T Line continues this theme, seeing a new British engineering partnership developed specifically for the project. 

Paul Williams, Chief Operations Officer explained the challenges Brompton overcame to create T Line:  “Working with Titanium takes a high level of knowledge, experience and diligence, so finding the right partner who shared our vision and belief in what could be achieved with Titanium was critical. Our relationship with C W Fletcher, based in Sheffield started over 7 years ago and they have a long history in manufacturing going back over 100 years. With them we built Brompton Fletcher, a dedicated company with a purpose-built production facility and skilled team able to work with this demanding material and fabricate these fantastic titanium frames.”