A few weeks ago a Bentley SUV pulled up to our store. Two people jumped out with two folding bikes that looked kind of familiar. “Interesting,” we thought. It seemed another Brompton copy had arrived in Toronto – a city with a peculiar history of Brompton copies. The owners of Kingsdale bikes were immediately likeable. Friendly, successful (they’d sold thousands of these bikes in China), and Toronto-based despite owning a bicycle factory in China. After watching Brompton’s success in Toronto, they decided to launch their copy here. And, they named it Kingsdale, which sounds rather British, but is named after a street in North York. Here’s our review.
Why ±1mm Matters
This year marks Brompton’s 50th anniversary and the second anniversary of their patents expiring. For 25 years, no one dared copy Andrew Ritchie’s folding masterpiece. The reason is that Brompton’s manufacturing tolerances are borderline obsessive. While most bike manufacturers accept frame straightness tolerances of ±5mm, Brompton demands ±1-2mm, especially in the rear triangle. This precision is tied to necessity. Folding mechanics depend on parts aligning perfectly. The rear triangle must close flush, latch correctly, and track true. With smaller wheels amplifying every misalignment, there’s no room for “good enough.”
Achieving this requires proprietary parts – a massive engineering/manufacturing investment – and hand-brazing in the UK. As Brompton CEO Will Butler Adams once told us, brazing is a “dark art” requiring eighteen months of master-apprentice training. Few Chinese factories invest that deeply in human development. In this way, Brompton straddles the line between medieval guild and modern company while Chinese factories typically build disposable bikes designed to last until your next purchase.
Backward Compatible. Forward Thinking.
Andrew Ritchie’s philosophy drives everything: “Manufacturing everywhere is based on taking raw materials out of the ground and turning them into products and, when they are finished with, throwing them away, all too often into landfill. This is wasteful and ultimately unsustainable – there must be a better way.” This is the Brompton ethos, a bike actually designed for life because it is made for life.
This ethos created something remarkable: a bike with backward and forward compatibility across generations. A mid-1980s Brompton can still accept most current parts. (This is also mind-boggling from an engineering standpoint). And, this kind of ethos isn’t easy to compete with. Our worry with companies like Kingsdale is that they promise savings, but they’re selling planned obsolescence disguised as up-front affordability. If a Brompton is truly designed to last a lifetime then higher upfront cost means longer-term affordability. So, a reasonable question to ask is: how long would a Kingsdale last?
The True Cost of a Bike Without a Parts Plan
Our guess is 5–10 years. And here’s why: when the hinge pins on the frame of the Kingsdale wear out (which typically happens every five to ten years), there doesn’t appear to be a way to replace them. On a Brompton, this is routine maintenance. On a Kingsdale, it’s more like a hard stop. The bike becomes unrepairable – and likely ends up as landfill.
There’s a deeper cost to consider here – one that goes beyond price tags and spec sheets. When a bike is built to be repaired, upgraded, and kept in use for decades, it becomes more than just a purchase – it becomes part of your life. Brompton earned its place not by being the cheapest, but by proving that thoughtful design, repairability, and longevity matter. Kingsdale may be the newest face on the block, but if a folding bike is going to carry you for the long haul, it should be one that’s built with the long haul in mind.
From Curb Clearance to Compatibility: The Details That Matter
But, there are other issues with the Kingdsdale as well.
- The Ground-Scraping Problem Kingsdale cleverly minimized proprietary parts by using standard components. This helps prove why Brompton makes their own parts. For instance, the Kingsdale long-cage rear derailleur nearly kisses the pavement. In Britain, where cyclists ride left and curbs stay on the non-drivetrain side, this works. Here in Canada, all that delicate gearing becomes curb candy.
- The Compatibility Illusion Many Kingsdale parts look like Brompton parts but aren’t compatible. Their front carrier block won’t accept Brompton bags. Standard Brompton repair parts don’t fit. Buy a Kingsdale, and you’re betting the company survives long enough to supply replacement parts.
- The Folding Gap Brompton mastered the art of maximum snugness with minimum effort. Parts glide into place, touching gently before settling perfectly. Kingsdale’s fold reveals a pretty big gap – the engineering compromise of avoiding expensive frame correction and expert brazing. It folds, but it doesn’t fold nearly as small.
Other Little Issues
- Brompton seatposts are fluted at the bottom to prevent theft. The Kingsdale’s seat and seatpost can be swiped easily.
- Kingsdale mysteriously uses quick-release wheels that make theft trivially easy while adding no folding benefit.
- Their retractable easy wheels look cool but break easily. We’ve had experience with this product and it’s not good.
Designed to Fold, but How Does It Ride?
Of course all this talk about spec forgets about the ride. And, a bikes geometry tells the story. With a Brompton, the head tube has a conventional angle that makes the bike feel like the front wheel sits ahead of you, absorbing bumps before your body feels them. Kingsdale’s steep head tube angle makes the front wheel feel like it’s behind the steering – deeply unsettling on small wheels.
From Neobike to Kingsdale: The Toronto Connection
We think it’s fun that Brompton is seeing some strong competition from Toronto. Especially since we’ve seen this movie before. In the early 2000s, Brompton licensed production to Neobike in Taiwan. This turned out to be an utter debacle. After the licensing ended in 2002, Neobike continued producing copies under various names (Flamingo, Ace of Pace, and they fed designs to Dahon).
Toronto became ground zero for this experiment. Mike Barry at Bicycle Specialties was importing Neobike with great success—until customers needed parts. Despite wearing Brompton decals, few Brompton parts fit. When Neobike folded, customers were stranded with unrepairable bikes. And, the confusion lasted years. Kingsdale faces the same trap: different parts library, uncertain longevity, confused customers. (Picture above a Neobike with a strange poem).
Why the A-Line Makes Kingsdale Look Risky
Kingsdale enters at $1,600 versus Brompton’s $3,000 C-Line 12-speed. But, this isn’t a fair comparison. The C-Line 12-speed has a 402% gear range and handles everything from daily commutes to Dolomite vacations. Kingsdale’s Shimano derailleur offers roughly the same range as Brompton’s $2,000 A-Line. The A-Line also uses a lower-maintenance internal hub that promises lifetime frame repairability.
If Kingsdale targets budget-conscious buyers, they’re competing with the A-Line, not the C-Line. And, the A-Line wins on long-term maintenance, repairability, and parts availability.
Could Kingsdale Face Legal Challenges from Brompton?
While Kingsdale Bikes brings a fresh Toronto-based option to the folding bike market, it’s important to understand the potential legal challenges they could encounter. Brompton, known for fiercely protecting its iconic folding design, has a long history of defending its intellectual property around the world. Although Brompton’s original patent expired decades ago, the company still holds copyright and design protections on key elements of their bike.
In the past, Brompton has successfully taken legal action against companies producing near-identical folding bikes, including cases in Europe and Asia. If Kingsdale’s bikes are found to closely mimic Brompton’s protected designs, Brompton could pursue legal avenues such as cease-and-desist orders, injunctions to stop sales, or even claims for damages.
Kingsdale’s Challenge: Matching Brompton’s Network and Quality
But, we like Kingsdale’s story. We were scrappy importers ourselves when we started with Brompton in 2006. We appreciate the Toronto connection and the entrepreneurial spirit. But, at the end of the day they’ve made a copy. And, as far as copies go they’ve done the best job we’ve seen so far. But, compared to a Brompton that’s still not saying much. And, they will need to win the support of shops across Canada (that will be the hardest part).
Kingsdale might succeed in China, where different expectations and infrastructure create different opportunities. But in North America, they’re fighting Brompton’s engineering excellence, established dealer network, and hard-won cultural acceptance with a lower quality product and uncertain longevity.
