DIGINEXX - The only folding bike specialist in Singapore

Royal award for fold-up bike man

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:49:50 +0800

The man who invented the foldaway Brompton bicycle has been honoured by the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace for his lifelong obsession.
Andrew Ritchie invented the diminutive bike in 1979 and has been tweaking the design ever since.
After collecting the Prince Philip Designers Prize, Mr Ritchie said he was not finished yet and was still thinking about how to make the bike lighter.
The portable bike folds down to barely bigger than its 16 inch (40cm) wheels.
In a brief speech Mr Ritchie thanked some of his early financial backers, who had each invested £100 in the scheme.
His obsession started in 1975 when he came across a different model and thought he could do better.
Speaking after receiving the award, Mr Ritchie described himself as a "crazy guy" who had spent his time trying to create the most human-friendly product he could.
He said he hoped to make the bike lighter, but it was just as important to him that the bike was easy to manufacture at the company's factory in west London.
He said: "Getting the design right, getting the ergonomics right is one of the key things for me."
The Duke set up the prize, run by the Design Council, in 1959 to encourage entrepreneurship.

Ritchie rides off with the Prince Philip Designers Prize

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 06:24:20 +0800

Run by the Design Council, the Prize exists to draw attention to the importance of good design and to recognise the work of the most talented designers; it is the most prestigious award for design in Great Britain.
Speaking after the award, Andrew said he was “not finished yet”; although he stepped down as Managing Director in April 2008, he continues to work on the design and quality of the Brompton in his capacity as Technical Director. Will Butler-Adams, his successor as MD, said:
This award is well-deserved recognition for a man who has dedicated his life to the fine perfection of the folding bicycle. Andrew never gave up on his belief that he had conceived a product that would add real value to people’s lives; years of knock-backs, refusals and false starts never dented his determination to make the Brompton a reality. Over thirty years on from the first prototypes, and with over 175,000 Bromptons being enjoyed all over the world, he has now received this tremendous recognition for his life’s work. But the philosophy he instilled in the business continues – we remain committed to British manufacturing and to improving on the Brompton’s ingenious design year on year.  For further information about the Prince Philip Designers Prize, please contact the Design Council. The news has also been reported by the BBC.

Find out more about the 2009 winner and nominees

Prince Philip Designers Prize

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 06:38:29 +0800

It’s a big year for the Prince Philip Designers Prize – the UK’s longest running design award is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
In its half-century, the award has rewarded the best in design from products and graphics to buildings and feats of engineering, and put the spotlight on designers for influencing and shaping daily life.
To mark this special occasion, design commentator Kevin McCloud spoke to H.R.H. about his longstanding passion for good design.

Brompton World Championship 2009 - UK, Oxford, Blenheim Palace

Sun, 4 Oct 2009 06:57:23 +0800

The 4th Brompton World Championship was held on Sunday 4th October 2009; for the second year in succession, it was held in the UK, as part of the Bike Blenheim Palace event at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire.
With the field expanded to 600 registrants, the event was certainly the largest yet, and the size of the entry was matched by a huge crowd of spectators. This and the rising calibre of the competitors reflect the success of previous Championships, as the event is now firmly established in the sporting calendar.
Last year’s top two finishers in the Men’s Open Category, reigning World Champion Alistair Kay and three-time Tour of Spain winner, Roberto Heras, were again on the podium this year, along with Michael Hutchinson. This year, it was Heras who secured the title of Brompton World Champion, but by only 0.274 seconds from Hutchinson; a terrifically close result after 13 kilometres of racing over the Palace’s picturesque but demanding course. Heras’ time was 21 minutes 45.154 seconds.
The Women’s Open Category was won by Julia Shaw, who had earlier secured victory in the morning’s time trial. Her time of 24 minutes 21.841 seconds beat off strong competition from second-placed Rachel Elliot and third-placed Delia Beddis. Like Heras, Shaw won a Brompton S6L in red for her efforts; Hutchinson and Elliot won the soon to be launched Brompton O Bag, a fully waterproof bag that Brompton is co-producing with Ortleib, while Kay and Beddis won Schwalbe tyre bags full of goodies.
Race results were delayed on the day due to some technical issues the timing provider experienced; the results have now been thoroughly checked and some amendments have been made to the final podium positions for the Team Event and the Female Veteran Category. Those competitors affected by these alterations will be contacted directly; Brompton is extremely sorry for any inconvenience caused by the delay in confirming these corrections.
Podium positions are summarised in the table below; full individual race listings are now available, as are full team event listings.

UK Telegraph Magazine features Strida and Brompton

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:18:54 +0800

The Strida and Brompton are UK-designed and the Brompton is handmade in London.

Gadget3 features Diginexx's folding bikes!

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:35:38 +0800

Gadget3 is an IT gadget lifestyle magazine. This month's issue features Diginexx's range of folding bikes and discusses why folding bikes are the way to go now!

The Official Safe Cycling Guide

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:53:05 +0800

The Safe Cycling Guide produced by Singapore Sports Council is now available here in PDF format.

Check out our latest range of Birdy bikes

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:42:46 +0800

The new range of Birdy bikes has arrived. Check them out here!

The Pink Plinther: A Velorose-tinted spectacle

Sat, 8 Aug 2009 01:05:54 +0800

Velorose believes in collaboration as the most powerful way to create a better world, and The Pink Plinther is a classic Velorose project, as follows:

Velorose is the concept designer, project manager and performer or ‘canvas’ for the spectacle

Jason Bruges Studio, who typically create innovative light- and movement-based installations have modified the fold-up bike to produce light, sound and soap bubbles, and to reflect the high levels of light in use as part of the ‘One and Other’ staging

Justin Smith Esquire, ‘enfant terrible’ of the UK millinery scene, has created a radical Bowler Helmet for city cycling

Amanda Leat, in her guise as costume designer, has modified a suit to create a cycle-safety reflective shorts-and-jacket combination

A Models, originators of artistic and inventive architectural models, have made 200 pairs of (velo)rose-tinted spectacles, to be handed out for free on the Square

Brompton have kindly lent a specially-modified bike trainer, and supplied Velorose with a new dynamo, seat and pedal

Moore Large have kindly donated Knog pink LED lights to customise the bike even further.

Best of all, viewers turned up in pink, with pink picnics. The spectacle was the audience as much, if not more, than what happened on the plinth.

David had the privilege, when working for Norman Foster, of being the architect responsible for the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square. In appreciation of this, his bike will be turned away from the Square, and to the pedestrianised area in front of the National Gallery.

The design studio run by David Rosenberg is named after a pink bike (‘velo rose’), of which the Brompton is the official studio form of transport. David considers the push-bike to be one of the finest inventions of all time, and that a civilised city is one where people can walk and cycle in safety; the bicycle is a powerful symbol for how able-bodied people can take control of the planet, without costing the earth. Velorose undertakes work in all fields of design, with a focus on architecture. Recent work includes the 3D bronze maps installed on the More London estate, and ‘Allsorts’, a black, white, pink, yellow, brown, orange and blue stripy fully-accessible beach hut.

View The Brompton Brochure Online

Fri, 7 Aug 2009 01:10:42 +0800

English or Chinese Brochure

Joseph & Kelvin of Visual Orgasm Tattoo

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 16:13:48 +0800

Joseph and Kelvin of Visual Orgasm. a tattoo salon at Haji Lane came by one recent evening to check out folding bikes. Eyeing a MTB, Joseph's eyes strayed to a Polished Silver Birdy Disc Brake 9 Speed. The rest is history.

Birdy Rohloff Unfolding Demonstration By Serene

Wed, 5 Aug 2009 13:58:34 +0800

Let Serene demonstrate to us how easy it is.

Youtube: "都市大发现 On The Beat 4" - Channel U, 8 pm Tues 21 Jul - Diginexx's folding bikes

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 23:45:00 +0800

Tune in to "On The Beat 4" - Channel U, 8 pm Tues 21 Jul 09 for a highlight of Diginexx's array of folding bikes brands!

80KM From Bangkok to Nakornpathom

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 20:45:26 +0800

12 of us just paticipated in the Bangkok annual folding bike ride event - "The 3rd Folding Rolling - Bangkok to Nakorpathom"

Check out these photos

Youtube: The Smithfield Nocturne Folding Bike Race 2009

Tue, 4 Aug 2009 00:03:51 +0800

The only open folding bike race in the world. Folding life was there with 2 Stridas Folding Bikes.

Brompton World Championship 2009

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 00:09:34 +0800

The 4th Brompton World Championship will be held
on Sunday 4th October 2009 at Blenheim Palace,
Oxfordshire; registration is now open.

The Brompton World Championship will again be
held as part of the Bike Blenheim Palace event;
after a successful collaboration in 2008, both
parties were keen to join forces again and work
together on this year’s event.

SAFRA National Runway Cycling 2009

Sun, 2 Aug 2009 00:36:27 +0800

View the latest photo album!

The Paratrooper Military MTB - Bike Review

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:06:12 +0800

The Paratrooper Bike Review by Hirman of SPIN Asia cycling magazine.

Ir rained a lot during his bike review month and Hirman was relieved to be able to take a cab whenever he was caught in impending rain with his Paratrooper.

The Paratrooper is the world's only military MTB that folds.

Retails at S$1500 at Diginexx showroom.

Youtube: Folding the Brompton P6R

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:11:35 +0800

This Brompton P6R is installed with Ezy wheels and when it is folded, you can effortlessly roll it around using the seatpost. All you need is just a strip of Velcro to secure the rear wheel to the main frame.

Youtube: Taking MRT with the Brompton P6R

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 01:13:48 +0800

It is so easy to roll the Brompton around for shopping or into the subway station wth the Ezy-wheels installed. Effortless!