As a relatively new member of the Brompton cult community, I still get excited when I pass another on the road, especially if there is acknowledgement or conversation. Yesterday there were both.
On the bike path downtown, I caught up to a woman in front of me. We talked about color envy (mine, for her red Brompton), saddle envy (hers, for my Brooks) and our mutual appreciation for cycling in skirts.
When I turned off the path to Canal St., I drew up behind a man with a handsome black M3L. I tapped him on the shoulder and said, “We have to greet each other; it’s a Brompton law.” He laughed, and we agreed it’s the perfect city commuter bike.
Later, I saw a yellow B folded and stashed at the outdoor café near my office, and a helmeted man lunching nearby. I caught his eye and said, “Mine is upstairs under my desk.” When it became apparent he spoke no English, I pointed to his bike. “Ah, BROMPTON!” said his dining companion with a smile.
And on the way home, a rider on a red one passed me and called “Brompton!” I replied in kind.
Small pleasures…
Unfolded NYC 
Mad jealousy here — there are no Bromptons to spot in my lonely stretch of suburbia; New York is always ahead of the rest of us! It’s quite wonderful that no one in NYC seems to think it at all odd when Brompton cyclists regularly shout the bike’s name to one another: It almost seems wrong not to!
I’m disappointed when I pass another Brompton rider and don’t elicit at least a smile! New Yorkers are so blasé.
Your suburbia has its advantages. A lonely stretch of open road sounds like heaven compared to NYC traffic.
Maybe it’s a “choose your poison” kind of thing — my nemesis here is the mom in an SUV with coffee on the dash, screaming kids in the back, and a phone to her ear; also speeding pickups on roads with no shoulder. I admit that our roads *are* prettier, and we do have long trails with no SUVs in sight, and no taxis (hence no homicidal cab drivers), so maybe there are some cycling advantages to the suburban wasteland. But still . . . there’s really nothing like New York, even if cycling in your city requires amazing courage and presence of mind!
And perhaps a grass-is-greener thing too! I’m really very fortunate, living so close to a beautiful park with an outstanding bike path. Maggie and I need some rural road experience – I’m a country girl at heart, and maybe she is too.
I’m the same way with fellow Tikit owners. Sadly, not as many of us as you Brommies… 😉
I’ve never ridden a Tikit, Ty, but I loved your comments on Mary’s post. The Brompton’s nimbleness in traffic is a huge plus in this town. And while I’m not setting any speed records, the gearing ratio makes those little wheels move.