A chat w/ Brompton CEO Will Butler-Adams
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- čas přidán 4. 06. 2024
- In this episode, I'm honored to connect with Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton Bicycles, about the role that the humble bicycle is playing in addressing the most pressing issues we face globally, from health, well-being, loneliness, unproductive and financially unsustainable urban environments and yes, climate change.
And a HUGE thank you to Ryan Van Duzer for letting me create a makeshift studio in the finished basement of his new home. Thank you so much, my friend! Hey, and y'all should check out his amazing channel here:@duzer
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Helpful Links (note that some may include affiliate links to help me support the channel):
- Brompton US website: us.brompton.com/
- Brompton UK website: www.brompton.com/
- Activism landing page: www.brompton.com/why-brompton...
- Brompton Junction: us.brompton.com/find-a-store/...
- Brompton Hire program: bromptonhire.com/
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Credits: Video and audio production by John Simmerman
Music via Epidemic Sound: bit.ly/3rFLErD
Resources used during the production of this video:
- My recording platform is Ecamm Live: bit.ly/3rwsUup
- Editing software Adobe Creative Cloud Suite: bit.ly/35DBDDU
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Background:
Hi Everyone! My name is John Simmerman, and I’m a health promotion and public health professional with over 30 years of experience. Over the years, my area of concentration has evolved into a specialization in how the built environment influences human behavior related to active living and especially active mobility.
Since 2010, I've been exploring, documenting, and profiling established, emerging, and aspiring Active Towns wherever they might be while striving to produce high-quality multimedia content to help inspire the creation of more safe and inviting, environments that promote a "Culture of Activity" for "All Ages & Abilities."
The Active Towns Channel features my original video content and reflections, including a selection of podcast episodes and short films profiling the positive and inspiring efforts happening around the world as I am able to experience and document them.
Thanks once again for tuning in! I hope you find this content helpful and insightful.
Creative Commons License: Attributions, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives, 2023
There's a woman in Britain who is absolutely amazing. She has cancer and in between rounds of chemotherapy, when she's feeling strong again, she goes bike touring all over Europe on a Brompton. I love her videos. Her name is Susanna Thornton. Such a sunny and irrepressible person.
Oh, wow! Love it. I found her at www.youtube.com/@susannathornton, and I just subscribed. Thank you so much!
Yeah, love her!
Way to go...... that's the spirit.....thanks to her!
I love her videos too she is so inspirational
Amazing woman! @@phillblake6829
Just bikepacked my Brompton from Munich to Trento. 6 long days of riding, and not a single problem. Bromptons are incredible bicycles, highly capable. Strong recommend!
VERY COOL! What a great adventure. Interestingly, it was a Portland-based couple who was similarly traveling in New Zealand on Bromptons, and blogging about their experience nearly 15 years ago that prompted us to get ours. Thanks so much for watching. I really appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
I have a Brompton for about one year. It really is a all round bicycle. It saved me soooo much money because I use it to go to work ( bike-train). And also it attracts so much attention from people in the street. 😂
Yes! I find it to be a great conversation starter. In the decade-plus I have had my Brompton, it has paid for itself many times over, including avoiding rental cars, ride-hail/taxi trips, and extra baggage fees on flights. Cheers! John
I rode my Brompton around a town called Mt Dora last week,,,,and OMG! I'm in love with the Brompton and the little town I discovered on the Brompton! So many people came up to me inquiring and complimenting the Brompton. Now we need Ryan to do a bike packing trip on the Brompton!
Yay! That's awesome. Yes, I'm down for that, I'll mention it to @duzer or you can tell him yourself during our annual Holiday Livestream on Friday, December 22nd at 2 pm EST / 8 pm CET. Thank you so much for watching. Cheers! John
Bromptons are really one of the best engineered human creations ever invented. The simplicity and versatility combined in this small folding bike are so amazing.
And I loved your talk as well. Congrats to the 200th episode.
Thank you so very much! I truly appreciate y'all tuning in. Cheers! John
As I got older, I’ve switched from a regular bike to the Brompton P-Line. The lightweight and folding features of the Brompton makes it an ideal take anywhere bike. I get to see more of the inner city on my Brompton than walking.
Yay! Love to hear this. So happy for your enhanced mobility. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
I once interviewed with Shimano USA many, many, many years ago and during the interview I was touting the repairability of Campagnolo components. The interviewers asked me why you would want to repair a derailleur if you could sell a customer a new bike instead. I wasn't offered a job. Go figure. Anyway I love this approach to sustainability and concern about using up too many resources. Great interview!
Hehe 🤣 it worked out well, I would say. Thanks so much! So glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John
Huge Brompton fan, can't wait for this one!!
Nice! I think are going to really enjoy it. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns just listened on vimeo, great chat. William is always an inspiring speaker.
@@JoshLemer Yay! Agreed. He is indeed. And thank you so much for all your support. It is much appreciated. Cheers! John
I just bought my Brompton 2 weeks ago after I read his book "The Brompton, engineering for change". I own a road bike, and a mountain bike. I bought the Brompton as a "travel bike".... But it is so much fun to ride. The bike is incredibly maneuverable, and has the ability to go into the grocery store and fold into a rolling shopping cart. Even though I live in the USA suburbs, I have only biked to the grocery store since I've had this bike. Even if you consider yourself a "cyclist", you will find your Brompton very addicting to ride, and the convenience factor of portability will completely change your perspective on what cycling CAN BE.
Yay! Welcome to the Brompton family. Thanks so much for watching, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. My Brommie is frequently featured in many of my videos since it is how I do most of my on-bike filming while I am traveling. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns I think about all the travel I've done in the last 5 years, and how much better it would have been with a BROMPTON.
@@qualm43 For sure! Good news is that you have it covered now. Have you watched Brompton/Airport travel video yet? czcams.com/video/IH15oX9sMzQ/video.html
Thank you for interviewing Will Butler-Adams! He is a great leader and an inspiring individual.
You are welcome, and I quite agree. And thank you for tuning in. I hope you enjoy the Active Towns Channel. Cheers! John
Brompton are My favourite.
Well made Top quality folding cycle.
I got One.
Cool! Thanks for tuning in. Cheers! John
Great podcast, really enjoyed it.
Thanks so much for tuning in. So glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John
No mention of SAVING TIME! Living in (Marylebone) London if I travel say to Charing Cross Hospital by taxi or by bus, both methods take circa 55 minutes. Riding my Brompton circa 18 minutes and I'm wide awake at the other end!
Excellent point! Thanks for watching and for mentioning the time savings here in the conversation. Much appreciated, and I hope you're enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
Thanks Will Butler for such wonderful and meaningful talk!!!!!!!!💯
Thank you for tuning in! Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns Pleasure John !!
The beauty of the Brompton is it can be adjusted so almost any age can ride one. (That can be a negative, if Brompton owner parents get the borrow the car version with the bikes with... "Dad, can I borrow the Brompton tonight?" )
Brommies for everyone in the family! 😀
That one parking space = 42 Bromptons is just on asphalt. Consider how many bikes could be held if there were 3 shelves high?
I know! I was thinking the same thing 🤣
A Brompton is on my list, right after a Surly Big Easy.
Nice! Another cool, fun, practical bike! 😀
We must embrace minimalism!
Agreed!
I loved this discussion, a lot of valid and insightful points made. I've owned my Brompton for over 6 years now, as much as I love it I am guilty of not using it enough, this has been a reminder of what a great bike I own as well as enough reasons for me to get out and about on it again.
Thanks so much for tuning in! In all honesty, my Brommie is not my everyday ride, but I do try to have it with me whenever I travel. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
Great episode John! Less is more! as said by Architect Mies Van Rohe and following that is way forward. Brompton rocks and from sustainable point if view it makes perfect sense!! Yes Need over greed is the way forward!!!
So glad you enjoyed it. Cheers! John
Great episode as always....I recently Will in another podcast....WOW! I get my first Brompton next week....So excited!!! Thank you!
Yay! That’s awesome 😀
In UK, the Brompton Ad Hoc/subscription Hire option is definitely a winner IMHO. It allows people to try out a Brompton or be flexible with utilising a Brompton as part of their daily travel. It would be amazing to see it available around the world!!
Cool! Yeah, it really sounds amazing. Thanks for watching and for the feedback. I appreciate it, and I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John
Great talk! I agree, we need to consume less, produce less, live sustainably. Bikes are a huge part of this. And I'm very excited about the Brompton T-Line. Big titanium fan here; I'll have to check them out. Congrats on #200 and enjoy a well-deserved vacation! 😊
Yay! Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the T line is interesting as titanium frames can literally last forever. Yes, the break from the Pod will allow me to focus on getting videos out from last fall. Hehe 😜
If only more people brought into Will's vision the world would be a much better place. Yes, things are improving, albiet at snail pace, however it needs turbo-charging from local governments to world leaders.
Agreed! We really need to rally our communities to pressure our leaders to move with much more of a sense of urgency. Thank you so much for watching and for doing whatever you can to spread awareness and engage others in this movement. Cheers! John
@@ActiveTowns
Couldn’t agree more.
Love the design! The price of a Brompton is very expensive. However, it's patent has expired and other bike brands have copied Brompton's folding design! I just purchased a trifold bicycle called "Mint", a Singapore brand! Let me tell you.. it actually improved on this in some ways. It uses disk brakes. It uses external derailleurs (9 speed). And it's one third the price. However since it came from Asia, the shipping cost make the bike price almost half the price of the C line!
Cool! Enjoy the folder. They are a blast. And they pay for themselves in no time. Cheers! John
Sign my Brompton please--ha
Gladly! I'm due for a trip to pay y'all a visit. Glad you could tune in. Cheers! John
Great video! I have really enjoyed your content since subscribing the other month. I think it would be helpful to mix your volume a touch up and his a touch down in future videos to get a more consistent sound in future videos :)
Hehe 😜 Yeah, thanks I really noticed the difference volumes while editing the audio version and had to do just that. Never a dull moment 😆
For decades I have been mocked for buying less & buying used & repairing rather then chucking. Now seems good.
You're trend setter! 😀
I love these bikes but dear lord, the design is older than I am. Needs some updating.
Hehe, 😆 what's funny is that there have been a bunch of small refinements (plus the addition of e-assist and some killer lightweight editions), but on the whole, it is pretty much the same classic bike. I hope you enjoyed the discussion. Cheers! John
Have you got some suggestions? I'm curious what you think. I'm kinda of the opinion that it's still pretty much the same because it works so well. I tried quite a few mods when I first got mine and after a time they all got removed apart from the upgraded roller wheels and the centre handlebar mount for my light.
@@becca413b Yeah, I upgraded the roller wheels as well. 😀
I tried other folding bikes with different designs but the Brompton is just the most elaborate one. I think there is not much room for big design changes without compromising the genius folding mechanism. And actually I love the classic design.
@@Musicjonny Yeah, If I were to make any changes it would be in the drive train not the core design. I love my Gates carbon belt drive bikes because of the low maintenance and no grease so that would be my primary wish. 😇
Brompton really needs to put both eyes on LatAm, I can't get why they're always avoiding our cyclable cities, when even don't know them, Brompton executives haven't been here to commuting here with us...😢
Wow! That's surprising to me. Some of the highest concentrations of Brompton use I have observed was in Spain.
I wonder if they've had difficulty establishing a dealer network there in LatAm. Which country are you in?
Thanks so much for watching!
Cheers!
John
@@ActiveTowns I'm in MX. I would start by saying that Spain is so much different from América Latina, for economic reasons mostly, but I would bet that CDMX Brompton riders are as many as necessary to build up something here. Bogotá and all Colombia has a tremendous cycling culture. My own hometown (Guadalajara) used to have a Brompton dealer shop but 2020 just broke it down. At the same time I'd say that Brompton lack of interest in our region should be an opportunity for brands like Moulton, Bickerton, Yoonit or Larry vs Harry, but It seems like they're just don't seeing it neither
@@edumardel Hmm... Fascinating. Given the challenges of global trade these days, I wonder if locally grown brands can get or have gotten a significant foothold.
@@ActiveTowns hopefully! Nowadays we the latin bromptoneers are more likely to those acceofix, 3sixty, litepro AliExpress items... Sorry
please ask will to hire marketing outreach people who respond to comments on brompton channel videos more promptly. yt is an excellent way to engage an audience. as nicely produced as many of the videos brompton have been they don't engage the audience in the comments. yt doesn't work as a publish and walk away platform. i say this as a brompton owner...there is a tremendous heretofore missed opportunity waiting for them. secondarily to engaging in the comments is making "how to" videos which are not only slickly produced but also more precise in showing what they are intending.
Will do. Thanks for watching and for contributing to the conversation. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John