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This can be difficult to assess meaningfully based on one example, but it is an important consideration. In very general terms, Bromptons have a very good track record for reliability, availability of spares, and quality of service. Bike Friday use very few special components, and generally seem extremely reliable. Birdys use more special parts, and the experience of some owners seems to be that spares can be difficult to obtain. My own impression of the Birdy is that it is slightly less robust than, for example, the Friday or Brompton, but as yet I’ve had no problems. These comments are based on what I have heard from a reasonable number of owners, although in the case of the Birdy I don’t think the sample is large enough to be conclusive. Early Stridas were not very robust, and used lots of special parts - although they still use many special parts, reliability now seems much improved, and to their credit they are still supplying parts for very early machines. While improvements to models on a regular basis are generally to be welcomed, if this means that specialised spare parts become difficult to obtain, this is not good news.
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