Folding Bike gets Royal Seal of Approval

The man who invented the folding Brompton bicycle has been honoured by the Duke of Edinburgh for his lifelong obsession. Andrew Ritchie invented the bike in 1979 and has been working on improving the design ever since.

Andrew collected the ‘Prince Philip Designers Prize’ from the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace last week. The Duke set up the award, run by the Design Council, in 1959 to encourage entrepreneurship. 

Folding bikes are a great travel solution, allowing people to combine public transport and cycling because the bikes fold down and are easy to carry onto buses and trains. The Brompton portable bike folds down to barely bigger than its 16 inch (40cm) wheels.

After collecting the award, Mr Ritchie said he was not finished yet and was still thinking about how to make the bike lighter and was looking to create the most human-friendly product he could.

More information about the bikes can be found on the Brompton website.