Electric Brompton bicycle is major step for iconic brand

The much anticipated electric motor-assisted eBrompton, which has been in development for over five years and is due to go into production ion 2013, is a major undertaking for a company so fiercely protective of its brand.

The electric bike market is growing and accounted for over 30 million sales last year, but Brompton has become an iconic bicycle design not through clever marketing, radical styling or riding trends, but because it was clearly conceived with function as a priority.

It’s a fact not lost on the firm’s managing director, William Butler-Adams, who is keenly aware of the risk of diluting the brand and that any departure from the company’s core business of producing the instantly recognisable folding bike, whether that be the firm’s recently-launched Brompton cycling jacket or the forthcoming e-bike, needs to be true to the Brompton ethos of function first.

Great value insurance for folding bikes

Cycle insurance from the ETA offers a 40 per cent discount for folding bicycles of all kinds. Every policy includes new-for-old replacement and accidental damage, £1m third party insurance (in the case of an accident you may need to seek compensation or even deal with a claim by someone else), personal accident cover and worldwide cover.