Shortly before Christmas I picked up a new Brompton G Line electric bicycle – a top of the range new style machine from one of the great pioneers of folding bike technology. I had ordered it in late summer, and it was delivered nearly two months later than originally scheduled. This was not Brompton’s fault – far from it.
The bike is driven by an electric motor of original design and controls – created by the firm itself. The production of this was outsourced – and supplies were interrupted this autumn because of an urgent requirement from the Defence Ministry for components for new drones for the military – as the CEO Will Butler-Adams told the BBC this weekend.
