Back in March, in answer to the inquiry "why isn't the Brompton ever copied?", I pointed to the 3sixty, B-bike, Backer Gravity, Beiou, Burke 20, Camp Royal, Chedech, Cigna, Crosshead, Dahon Curl, Element Pikes, Flamingo, Fova, Groo M3, Iruka, Java, Jcat, Kreuz, La Bici, MIT, Neo, Pico, Sanye, South Point, United Trifold, Viking X and Week 8 folders - plus all those titanium jobs - that are based on or inspired by the Andrew Ritchie 'tri-fold' design.
I'm 16,000 km away from most of these and honestly don't know if they come out of five factories with different decals or 29 unique manufacturing operations. Are some of them double counted under brand & model name? Don't know. Anyway, I was surfing around over the weekend and found
more Andrew Ritchie pattern folders labeled Aceoffix, Aleoca, Alps, Billiton, Crius, Mobot and Movebike.
At some point it might be easier to list SE Asian bicycle manufacturers that don't build an Andrew Ritchie pattern folder!
Anyway, Brompton's new lightweight model has a 4-speed freehub - Billiton has a 7-speed.
Mobot is offering from the factory a 3 cog X 3-speed Sturmey drivetrain.
United Trifold's top offering features a Shimano Alfine 11-speed hub gear and disc brakes.
Dahon is showing off an E-Curl with disc brakes - and what looks like some chunky, e-bike rated 305s.
"The best defense against copying is innovation.” Will Butler-Adams