The Brompton P Line Explore 12-speed is one of the first bikes from the folding bike manufacturer to have 12 gears.
In order to achieve this Brompton took its lightweight four-speed cassette – previously exclusive to the titanium T Line range – and a new rear derailleur and combined them with a three-speed Sturmey-Archer rear hub gear, effectively creating three sets of four gears.
The gear ratios have been configured so as to essentially add four extra gears both above and below the range provided by the 4-speed cassette.
Will Strickson
Also new for this 2024 generation P Line is the left-side quick-release pedal – also previously just on the T Line – which is part of keeping the folded bike as compact as possible, and three new colours.
The Brompton P Line Explore 12-Speed in this ‘Bolt Blue Lacquer’ colour weighs 10.5kg and costs £2,580.
Brompton 12-speed development
Will Strickson
Make sure to read our story on the launch of Brompton’s 12-speed range for the full details on why and how of it, but essentially the company has added a 12-speed model to four of its lines – P Line, T Line, P Line Electric and C Line Electric – to provide its customers a choice between an easier to carry bike with fewer gears and a more capable bike that’s a bit heavier.
Will Strickson
With a four-speed cassette standard across the range, the added three-speed hub gear acts like a chainset and front derailleur on a standard bike to provide higher and lower gears. The middle hub gear is almost identical to what Brompton’s four-speed bikes offer, so the benefits of 12-speed in this instance is purely in range – as opposed to smaller steps between gears.
Riding the Brompton P Line Explore 12-Speed
As such a well-established product – we gave the previous generation the P Line full marks – this latest generation of Brompton feels incredibly familiar at first.
The fold is almost identical: it takes a couple of tries to get used to it but once you have it it’s really quick and easy. The only addition to this model being the left-side quick-release pedal, which has been brought over from the T Line and means instead of folding that pedal slots into a neat hole above the front wheel.
Simply press in each side of the lighter grey button to remove the pedal. Will Strickson
The ride feel is the classic, tried, tested and proven Brompton. It’s impressively lightweight, and the handling is such that it slips nicely through traffic, but copes with over uneven surfaces confidently.
Add in the extra gears and boy does it have range. Living in London with a reasonably flat commute I did find most of the time I stuck to that middle hub gear, however when I needed extra gears, whether uphill or downhill, there was always the gear that I wanted. The top gear feels so big you wouldn’t be able to use it on a flat road, but it prevented me from spinning out going down hill. The bottom gear only came into use briefly to maintain my cadence when the gradient truly ramped up.
The hub gears are controlled by the right-hand shifter.Will Strickson
The derailleur is controlled by the left-hand shifter.Will Strickson
The thumb shifters are easy to understand: push the right-hand trigger to the right to go into an easier hub gear and to the left for a harder hub gear; push the left-hand trigger to the right for a harder cassette gear and to the left for an easier cassette gear.
The cassette controls worked really easily, however I found lowering the hub gear required a fair bit of effort to push the trigger the whole way and actually click, which was a little frustrating when trying to change quickly on or just before a hill. It was one of those things that you get used to though and after a while I got better at judging the effort and allowing for the shift.
Brompton expects the sticking point for a lot of its customers here is the weight, and the gearing does add on a few hundred grams, but it’s still not exactly heavy at 10.5kg. Its weight puts it between the C Line and T Line bikes, and unless you’re carrying it long distances I don’t think it should be enough to put anyone off buying it.
Brompton P Line Explore 12-Speed Verdict
Will Strickson
It’s hard not to be in awe of how good Bromptons are as a feat of engineering. There are so many small details that make riding and carrying the bike a pleasure, for example the grip on the underside of the saddle the help with carrying. Packing 12 gears in is just another to add to the list.
However it’s not just the fact that it’s 12 gears, I thought the selection of gears was spot on, though it’s part of why I personally wouldn’t need one. Granted I did find use for the higher and lower gears, but the standard four gears in the middle hub gear suffice for my commuting 90% of the time and I had to push it to test the capability of the others. For a few hundred quid and grams less, I’d personally still go for a four geared model.
That’s testament to the four-speed product rather than a knock on 12-speed however, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend opting for the 12-speed bikes for riders who take on more arduous terrain, take their Brompton longer distances or just want extra functionality for what they’re buying.