Why do clean bikes seem to be such a rarity, even quite expensive ones? I mean, when I'm on the train, I frequently see Brompton folding bikes that couldn't have been cleaned since the day the owner bought it. The Brompton, a premium product and the one to have when it comes to folders, isn't, never has been and I hope it never will be, inexpensive - a new 3 speed starts from £865. You would have thought the owner would take better care of it. Especially as they seem to typically be middle management professionals and enthusiasts willing to pay sums for something many find prohibitively expensive.
Can't say I've noticed that much about the state of other expensive bikes, although I did see a Rohloff geared bike once (I haven't seen many Rohloffs, admittedly) and that could have done with a bit of TLC (tender loving care). And with a starting price of nearly £900 for these engineering masterpieces, should have...
I've found that cleaning a little, often - really doesn't take much time or effort - neglecting a bike like this is sacrilege...in my opinion of course. Some might say these owners see their bikes as purely a functional object to get about on. And they are. And so are mine when it comes down to it, but these functional objects function better and for longer if you look after them, starting with a clean. They don't just look better with a clean...and not only that, a Brompton given its size & the fold up feature should be that much easier to clean.
Was going to add some pictures of dirty Bromptons and looked on Flickr, but found it difficult - suspect most people won't take pictures of their dirty bikes. Also, having found one, it would be a bit cheeky to use their image in this blog and then criticise them with it...
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