I haven't had my own bicycle in quite a while even though I used to ride one every day until I moved to the city. So when I saw that DB (Deutsche Bahn, one of Germany's train operators) offers a subscription in partnership with Brompton, I decided to try it out!
It's an annual subscription costing €41 a month that also includes insurance and an optional check-up after half a year. At the end of the subscription, you can choose to buy your own and get 50% of the total amount you paid for the subscription as a discount for your own Brompton (so around €250).
I've been meaning to get a foldable bicycle for quite a while now since my workplace is a bit further away and getting there requires me to take the train. Regular bicycles cannot be taken on to the train for free (or at all if there's no more space available).
I've tried it for a couple of days now and am really impressed! When folded, it's really tiny and you can take it with you basically anywhere you go (which also makes it being stolen much less likely). The ride is much smoother than I had expected and so is the handling. Despite having such small wheels, riding it is absolutely no problem for me and I can easily reach average speeds of 20 km/h.
It's definitely been a good decision and I am almost definitely going to buy my own Brompton using the provided discount in a year.
Congrats on your first Brompton!
I found the DB/Brompton collaboration pretty nice. Just one thing I did not (yet) understand: After the year has passed, do you get 50% of what you paid on the Brompton you are currently riding (so you would basically buy the DB Brompton) or will you get the discount when buying a NEW Brompton afterwards?
As I understand it, the discount applies to a new Brompton, not the DB one you’d been riding.
Ah, thanks for clearing that up. That actually sounds quite nice.