A to B m a g a z i n e

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Issue 88 February 2012 A to B 40 Manor Road, Dorchester, Dorset DT1 2AX, England

ISSN 1460-0587 . tel 01305 259998

email (subscriptions & advertising) teresa@atob.org.uk (editorial) atob@atob.org.uk . web www.atob.org.uk

Editor David Henshaw . Administration Teresa Ridout

Contributor Peter Henshaw

Printers Ian Allan Printing Ltd . Next deadline 26th January 2012

Welcome to the 88th A to B - or 111th if we include the 23 ‘Folder’ magazines that came before it.We’re not far off our 20th anniversary now, which feels a little odd, because we still think we’re the upstart newcomer.Yesterday a rep from an electric bicycle company asked how long we’d been in business. I replied to the effect that we’d been doing the same thing for nearly 20 years. He said, ‘Perhaps it’s time you changed!’ It turned out he’d been in his job for three months, his company had been around for a year, and it was re-selling the same over-priced generic rubbish available from a dozen other distributors of Chinese electric bikes.We don’t have all the answers, but after 20 years we know a little about folding and electric bikes, and certainly more than some of the company reps! Will we be doing the same thing in 2032? Possibly. But we suspect not on paper - see page 7. DAVID HENSHAW

ContentsTheMole....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A to B L e t t e r s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 A to B News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 P i vo t ’s Co r n e r : R e f i n i n g Pe t r o l . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 B o o k R e v i ew : Quest for Speed Andrew Ritc hie . . . . . . 1 5 T h e Tr i a l : Nano-Brompton 2 . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6 Te s t e d : P l e t s c h e r Tw i n - l e g P r o p s t a n d . . . . . . . . . . 2 5 B ro mp t o n I n n o v a t i o n : I mprov i n g t h e H i n ge . . . . 2 6 Te c h n o l o g y : Hand Warmer s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 8 Travel: Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3 A to B Sm a l l s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2

COVER: The prototype Nano-Brompton 2.0 15th February 2012

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A to B 88 Feb 12