Happy 2022 and Designing Bags For The Brompton

Wishing you a great 2022. I think we are all hoping for the same thing… for Covid to settle down, so here’s to a brighter New Year.

As we all navigate this pandemic, we need to keep on going and have something to look forward to. For me, it’s to start designing bags for the Brompton and to ride it in the Spring. It’s a beautiful folding bike that is still custom built in London, UK and made in relatively small quantities. I already have a small line of bags, but adding to it will be exciting.

My husband, Christian, and I ordered 2 in British racing green last Spring and it arrived just before Christmas. Right now, it’s just hanging out with me in the studio until we can ride it after this winter.

I got into folding bikes last year, in early 2020. It was the time of lockdowns, but we were able to go around our neighborhood. It was a scary time, especially for kids. To keep our boys’ spirits up, we taught them how to ride bikes and it made a huge difference in how we all felt.

We got them 2 kids bikes, but Christian and I didn’t have one. When I was working at City Hall in Vancouver (over 10 years ago), I met a lady with this really cool Dahon folding bike and she was telling me how much she liked it. Remembering that, I told Christian I want to get two of those. He wasn’t sure how well a folding bike would hold up structurally. I was set on buying them, so when they arrived and he rode it, he was totally convinced. He is now a full on folding bike enthusiast.

Riding along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa last Fall

I love riding the Dahon. It’s feels like riding the BMX of my childhood. Funny enough, I realized that at 42 years of age, it’s my very first bike I own. I grew up with my brother and male cousins, so we would just borrow things from each other. My dad put training wheels on my cousin’s BMX and taught me how to ride. It was fantastic!

Riding the Dahon Vybe reminded me how fun and free it was. It’s a great bike, but it didn’t do what I imagined. It wasn’t as compact or lightweight as I wanted it to be. I had thoughts of bringing it everywhere with me; ride it, fold it up for transit, bring it grocery shopping, amongst other things. So we looked into other bikes and the Brompton fit the bill.

Our renewed love of biking has really kept our spirits up and it’s great to do something we all love as a family. Christian is going to modify the two Dahon bikes, so they will fit the kids. The idea is to fit all four bikes in the car and go on some biking trips as a family. We are looking forward to showing you some of our small bike trips around Ottawa. Also, maybe Montreal and Toronto in the near future.

Hope you’re doing well and are able to find something to keep you inspired. Thanks for coming by this little blog, as always. -Cat

Just for Info: The Dahon Vybe is a 20 inch folding bike. The Brompton is a 2022 C Line Explore (M6R).

1 Comment

Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.

Working On Bags For The Brompton Folding Bike – Modern Coup Blog
June 22, 2022 at 5:25 pm

[…] received my Brompton folding bike just before last Christmas (see previous post). It’s been keeping me company in the studio, as it was a very cold winter and early Spring. […]

Leave a reply