Best Budget Folding Bikes: Top 8 Brompton Alternatives

This is a “cheap” Brompton bike that comes in at less than £1000 but still contains all the features you would expect for this market leader in folding bikes.

Made with a steel frame and fork for stability and durability this bike still manages to be lightweight at just 11.6kg.

It might be a cheaper alternative to the higher-priced Brompton Bikes but it still comes with the Brompton patented folding design so that you can fold up this bike and carry it wherever you need it.

It also has a 3-speed gear system to make your ride a little easier and more comfortable, while the Brompton A-line’s folded size is 56 x 58 x 27cm, which makes it a convenient small size to small at home, on a train or in the office.

If you’re set on getting a Brompton, but you’re restricted by budget, the Brompton A-line is your best option.

One of the best budget folding bikes around its the B’Twin Tilt 900, available from Decathlon for £450.

Weighing in at just 11.9kg, the Tilt 900 is one of the lightest folding bikes under £500 you’ll find and has been built with making life as easy as possible for commuters.

It can be collapsed down in just 15 seconds and comes with built-in lights, mudguards, chainguards, a kickstand, folding pedals and a padded seat as standard.

This model also has a very handy feature that most other folding bikes lack in that you can actually push it around on two wheels (while folded up) by using the saddle to steer. This is particularly useful if you’re heading through a train station as you can easily manouvre it to the train and simply collapse the saddle at the final second as you board.

Raleigh are one of the biggest producers of commuter bikes in the world and with their aptly named Stowaway (Stow-a-way) is the flagship folding bike model from the brand.

As well as being a compact and easily foldable bike, the Raleigh Stowaway is a actually a pretty stylish folding bike – well, as good-looking as foldable bikes tend to be, anyway.

It comes with good-sized 20″ wheels (considerably bigger than Brompton’s standard 16″) and is even fitted with a rear pannier rack as standard to help you carry your stuff on your commute.

This Raleigh folding bike weighs in at a reasonable 14.5kg and has 7-Speed drivetrain which should make any city hills managable.

This mid-range model from Decathlon is one of the best inexpensive folding bikes around and is absolutely packed with handy features for commuters, including a 7-Speed Shimano gear system.

Like the Tilt 900, the bike also comes with built-in lights, folding-pedals, mudguards, chainguards, a kickstand and a comfy saddle.

When it comes to intermodal transport what you need is a bike that is both sturdy and lightweight and the Tilt 500 offers the best of all worlds. This is a bike that is perfect to ride to your train station or bus stop, it can then be folded up to a compact size and is lightweight enough (12.9kg) to carry easily.

This bike is comfortable enough to use for pleasure too and it fits perfectly into the boot of a car for you to take on day trips or holidays where you want access to a bike as well as your car.

As well as being one of the best affordable folding bikes on this list, it’s also the lightest by quite some distance.

There are two versions of this Fabric Bike Folding bike: a 7-Speed option which weighs in at 11.55kg or if you’re happy with a single-speed version, you can skim off more than half a kilo with it weighing in at 10.9 kg.

The Fabric Bike is a sleek and minimalist folding bike with an easy-on-the-eye design. It’s also easily foldable and practiced users can fold it up in under 15 seconds.

The best lightweight folding bicycle under £300 bike by a mile.

The Ecosmo is a fantastic contender for the best cheap folding bike. It is built with a lightweight aluminium frame and at under £300 is great value for money. A sleek black and red design just adds to the appeal of this bike. For a starter folding bike, you can’t go too far wrong at this price.

This lightweight folding bike also weighs in at just 12kg thanks to its Aluminimum frame, but it’s still managed to squeeze in a 7-Speed Shimano gear system and even a rear pannier rack.

his Ecosmo folding bike is very similar to the previous one on the list expect that it is a fair bit smaller (including smaller 16″ wheels) and a little bit cheaper.

Indeed, if you’re looking for the smallest folding bike on a budget, this Ecosmo model may be ideal for you. When it’s been folded up, it measures just 87 x 25 x 66cm.

Nevertheless, this compact folding bike still has a 6-speed gear system, folding pedals and even splashguards.

A bike this small won’t be great for riding longer distances, but if the cycling part of your commute is very short and you want the most portable folding bike possible, this is worth considering.

This is a bike designed for commuters and at under £250 it is affordable too. This is the best of the cheapest fold up bikes and is fantastic value for money.

Perfectly designed to combine easy riding with convenient and compact design, this bike can be folded or unfolded in 30 seconds. It is still relatively lightweight at 14.5kg, but the frame is made of steel so you can be confident it is durable.

Amazing, the B’Twin Tilt 120 isn’t the cheapest folding bike from Decathlon that accolade belongs to the B’Twin Tilt 100 – a folding bicycle for under £200.

The Tilt 100 is basically a stripped down version of the 120. It’s a single speed bike with no mudguards, but it does still come with lights fitted as standard.

The upside of having less gears though, is that the Tilt 100 is actually over a kilogram light than the Tilt 120 – which can be a big benefit if you’re carrying your bike more often than you’re dealing with hills.