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?
The Brompton x Bear Grylls C Line Explore is available now for an MSRP of $2500. All details are on the Brompton website.
Go check it out and get your adventure on. It’s what Bear would want.
