What does Bear Grylls do when he’s not rappelling down the side of a cliff, eating rattlesnakes, or drinking his urine while adrift at sea? Apparently, one of the things he does is tool around on a foldable bike.
Enter the Brompton x Bear Grylls C Line Explore, a new collaboration between the folding bike company and the iconic badass.
You may ask yourself, “Why does an adventurer so intrinsically linked to wild spaces need a folding bicycle, a device most at home in urban environments?”
It’s a good question. But the fact is Grylls doesn’t live in the Arctic, the Congo, or the Amazon rainforest. He lives on a houseboat in London, and the dude’s got to get around somehow.
“The adventure versatility of the Brompton is what makes it so unique. These bikes are a fast, versatile companion that opens up a world of adventure — even if you’re in a city. Compact yet resilient, the BG Brompton allows me to navigate the concrete jungles with the same spirit of adventure as any other jungle. I love it!” Grylls wrote in a press release.
We’ll get to the specs in a sec, but can we take a minute and appreciate this styling?
In an age where mountain bikes are increasingly neon and urban commuters are white, gray, or black, I really dig the moss-green color scheme with gray forks and tubes and orange accents. It’s a design choice carried over into the other items included in the collaboration — a 17L backpack and 1L pouch designed to attach to the bike.
Both bags are waterproof (thanks to 400-denier nylon with TPU coating) and include a roll-top design. You can also purchase these items separately from the Brompton x Bear Grylls C Line Explore.
Some bike details. The Brompton x Bear Grylls C Line Explore weighs around 24 pounds and folds up to a third of its size. It’s geared as a 1×6 and includes Schwalbe Marathon Racer Tanwall tires and a Brooks C1 All Weather Saddle (nice!). And you get a steel frame to boot.
I asked GearJunkie editor-in-chief and past reviewer of a Brompton bike, Adam Ruggiero, what he thought about the ride’s potential adventuring chops. His answer?
“[It] can definitely do more than you might guess.”
Kinda like Bear himself, huh?
Its MSRP is currently under wraps, but Brompton says the package will be able to be purchased in fall 2024 and directs readers to its website to sign up for more info. But I can tell you that similar C-line Bromptons run around $1,850.
Go check it out and get your adventure on. It’s what Bear would want.
