Tell me where the Brompton is

Didn't you hear the bell, old man?

Our Brompton is an immensely popular, practical and precious little vehicle. That's exactly what makes it attractive not only to users and owners, but also to the long fingers lurking everywhere. So how can you best prevent theft or, if it should unfortunately happen - Damn! - get closer to your beloved bike again?

If you use the Brompton as a lifestyle accent in a sophisticated interior design, you don't need to worry about this, of course. But a solid lock is certainly appropriate if the moving folding bike has to be temporarily immobilized. Chained, the cyclist can leave it at the lamppost to make a visit, do some shopping, go sightseeing or do whatever she feels like. This aspect of security is essential, and in fact, I, for example, even prefer to mess around with two locks rather than just one for convenience.

It just so happened: I quickly bought a cheap lock at a hardware store first to secure the Brompton a bit on its very first ride, and only later a "proper" one at my trusted bike dealer - price difference: about 65 euros. Since then, the two unequal combination locks have been lying peacefully in the parcel shelf of my Smart, which transports the Brompton over longer distances.

This may seem strange to some, but here we are, in our attempt to describe endearing quirks, at the individual psychology of each cyclist. And when it comes to perceived security and appreciation, everyone ticks differently. In addition to chaining it up, I’ve screwed Apple’s clever AirTag to my bike – the candy-sized tracking tool that connects to your phone and reliably reports when, and most importantly, where an iPhone was last nearby.

The AirTag also has its subjective side: it's sometimes simply reassuring to quickly check on your smartphone that the bike is still where you locked it. The other side of this coin is not reassurance, but tracking. So, if the bike is no longer in its place but has been stolen and is on illegally misguided paths, it's at least good to know roughly where those paths lead.

For this to work, the AirTag should be mounted as discreetly as possible on the bike – otherwise, raw and yet not completely unintelligent criminal energy will remove it in a flash. So, where to put the tracking drop? There's space for it in the frame tubes, but unfortunately, the connection to the phone no longer works then. However, fortunately, there are now plenty of discreet mounting and housing options for an AirTag on the bicycle market, ranging from lights to bells.

In this case, I didn't choose the brightest, but the loudest part: the bell. Now, one might argue that this isn't particularly bright, as the Brompton already has a cute little dwarf bell. Well! Now it's time to talk about age... this existing bell has such a delicate sound that as an older cyclist, I can hardly hear it. Moreover, if I announce myself to a group of tourists, for example, enthusiastically stumbling over the cobblestones of the Speicherstadt, with this bell, while an SUV might be speeding past next to them, I might as well try to communicate with them telepathically.

So, in my case, an acoustics suitable for seniors and traffic noise was necessary anyway - hence the slightly larger bell, which also offers space for tracking in the screw-on lower compartment. It doesn't make an overly valuable impression among the other titanium accessories, but it pings audibly and the costs are pleasantly uninflated: an inexpensive, functional wear part.

In this spirit: Have wonderful experiences, always a few finger widths of air in your tires, and a Brompton that's always well-secured!