Beware, the rise of the Brompton muggers: Why terrified cyclists are ditching the brand and other high-end bikes as violent gangs stalk parks hunting for riders

Terrified cyclists are ditching high-end Brompton bikes amid a spate of violent muggings by gangs who hide in park bushes and stalk riders on mopeds.

Shocking video footage from recent months has captured a series of brazen attacks in which thugs knock innocent cyclists off their bikes, and steal them from gardens and outside shops.

It comes amid a Met Police warning that Albanian gangs are stealing expensive bikes from the streets of the UK before sending them to Russia to be sold.

Cycling groups said the criminals have a ‘list’ of expensive makes to target, including those made by S-Works and Pinarello. 

Brompton bikes – which range in price from £899 to £4,180 – are also being targeted to such an extent that rentals have declined amid growing fears they make users a target, a cycling chief told MailOnline.

Another group leader said cyclists are now covering up high-end brand logos to avoid being targeted, while enthusiasts on forums say they are disguising their bikes or switching to cheaper alternatives. 

A spokesperson for Brompton told MailOnline the attacks were ‘concerning’ and called on the police to ‘do more to keep Londoners safe on their bikes’.

Have you had your bike stolen? Email: dan.grennan@mailonline.co.uk 

Brompton did not comment specifically on the apparent decline in rentals.

Islington Cycle Club, the UK’s largest club with 850 members, told MailOnline the muggings were their ‘biggest concern’ right now.

A spokesperson said: ‘This is a very live issue for us… Unfortunately, we’re only too aware of incidents involving mopeds targeting cyclists.

‘It’s probably the biggest concern for our members right now. We’ve issued guidance to our members, which includes taking different routes to Regent’s Park (where most of the incidents have happened) and meeting up with other cyclists to ride in together. But none of it is foolproof unfortunately.

‘It’s definitely put some members off riding during the early hours…although we are also aware of bikes being taken in the middle of the day as well.’ 

The spokesperson added: ‘Although we know that Bromptons are targeted, it seems to be more frequently high-end road bikes. 

‘Someone in another club was recently targeted with a moped following him looking at the make of the bike and heard one of the moped guys say to the other that his bike ‘was on the list’. 

‘Lots of people have now taken to covering up logos on bikes, especially if you’re riding an S-Works or Pinarello.’

Regent’s Park Cyclists chair Sean Epstein told MailOnline ‘lots of people’, particularly women, were now turning their backs on riding bikes through fear of being attacked, particularly in the early hours of the morning.

He sent a letter to Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, on behalf of a number of cycling organisations, highlighting the impact the incidents are having on the community.

One victim, Eliecer Alvarez, 26, was targeted when cycling to Regent’s Park just after dawn, as two men on e-bikes pulled up alongside him and starting hitting and kicking him.

He told the Standard: ‘I had to go in zig zags. I started kicking them, screaming ‘help me, somebody help me’. 

‘One of the riders said he was going to kill me,’ Alvarez said, and shouted: ‘Is your bike worth more than your life?’

Tony Devenish, Conservative London Assembly Member for Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea, said: ‘Cyclists are now afraid to ride their bikes through Regents Park and other famous landmarks in case they’re targeted by criminal gangs. 

‘This is a damning indictment on Sadiq Khan, who has been London’s Police and Crime Commissioner for the past eight years. Crime is out of control under Sadiq Khan. We urgently need more police on our streets. 

‘The Met has at least 4,400 fewer frontline police than it needs. Susan Hall, the tough and experienced Conservative candidate for Mayor, has a £200m plan to tackle crime and improve policing. Labour and Sadiq Khan prefer to invest in election gimmicks like freezing some Tube fares. Londoners can decide if they would prefer this money to be invested in policing on 2 May.’

The letter follows reports of bike thefts in areas like Regent’s Park where muggers wearing balaclavas approach the cyclist on mopeds and violently snatch the bicycle before taking off with it.

Most of the attacks happen when cyclists are on their way to the park in the early morning, according to Mr Epstein. 

In a poll conducted by the group, 59% of the 1,400 sample have reduced their cycling ‘as a direct result of these attacks’.

Regent’s Park Cyclists organisation brings together more than 30 clubs, which are made up of over 5,000 members in total. 

Mr Epstein told MailOnline how ‘lots of people, especially women’ no longer go out on their bikes.

He added: ‘Especially people who have only started relatively recently. Since Covid there’s been a big increase in cycling participation in general. 

‘Active transport and active travel groups who previously might not have thought about might not have considered cycling or walking as a way to do their commute and we’ve had a big increase in that.

‘And it’s been great to have a more diverse and representative of London cycling community. 

‘It’s all of those people who are being impacted the hardest because those are the people who it was already a struggle to convince their partner that it was okay for them to leave the house early in the morning in the dark by themselves. 

‘And now there’s this extra layer and they themselves don’t feel safe, and their families don’t feel safe letting them do that. So lots of people have fully stopped.’

FOI figures in the letter by Mr Epstein reveal how there here were 768 similarly described violent bike thefts from November 2022 to November 2023.

He claims the incidents are often dealt with in isolation when reported and that officers need to look at all of the attacks together.

Mr Epstein said: ‘What we need and what we’re asking for is a bigger picture view and someone centrally at the Met to go through all the recent historical robberies, and try and join the dots up and see, for example, are they all happening in the same place? Are they all happening at the same time?’

He added: ‘If you catch the perpetrators from one attack, you’re likely to solve lots of crimes at the same time.’ 

Thousands of cyclists feel less safe because of the incidents, Mr Epstein claims, and he blames ‘perceived inaction’ of the police too.

He said: ‘We need police to talk to us and to learn from us, and work with them, we can tell them where the hotspots are, where they need to be, where people feel they are vulnerable. 

‘Because that is the current situation. People feel like they can’t leave their house safely, which is crazy.’

Meanwhile, cyclists have been discussing ditching Bromptons for alternative cheaper models in the wake of the spate of muggings. 

One cyclist said on the London Cycling Reddit page: ‘The issue is that people are being violently beaten up for their Bromptons, insurance for the bike is nice but being punched in the face isn’t nice.

‘I know someone who it happened to, and have heard of too many other occurrences recently, especially near Hackney/Stratford.’

Another user said: ‘It’s happening a lot on Lea Bridge road and the cycle path by the canal. People waiting in the bushes, jump out, push you off the bike and then kick the s**t out of you. 

‘[It] Happened to two people I know personally and [I have] heard a lot more accounts of it too.

‘Also by Broadway Market, thieves wait for you to dismount and get a lock from your bag, then pushing you over to grab your bike before it’s even locked up – saw that happen a few times while I was moored there.

And a cycling group warned that S-Works and Pinarello bikes are also being targeted as well as the Bromptons.

The foldable bikes are perfect for commuters who use multiple modes of transport because they are light and easy to take on buses and trains. 

They range in cost from £899 for an A-Line model to £4,180 for an ‘ultralight titanium’ T-Line. 

Jessse Finch Gnehm, from Camden, previously told MailOnline: ‘I don’t even feel safe riding to the park let alone in the park anymore. Especially in the early mornings.

‘Every moped makes my heart race and I am constantly looking around for the next would be attacker. These days, I’m far more likely to just ride my stationary bike rather than risk riding to Regent’s Park.’ 

Mr Epstein added: ‘The attackers are really out there specifically looking for people. They don’t have plates, they remove the plates from the bikes, they wear balaclavas, they wear all black and they are on very clearly defined main routes that lots of cyclists take.’ 

In October 2023, a 72-year-old cyclist called John was robbed of his £2,000 e-bike near Regent’s Park, according to Stolen Ride. 

A spokesperson for the Met said: ‘There are over 1.2 million bike journeys a year in London, the majority happen without incident. But we’re doing all that we can to prevent robberies and thefts targeted at cyclists as we understand it is a growing concern for some Londoners.

‘Through our new Cycle Crime Reduction partnership we are working to make it harder to sell on stolen bikes through the second-hand market. We also have more officers in hotspot locations, where our intelligence tells us victims may be more at risk.

‘We are also holding daily pop-up events across London that work to educate and advise cyclists on how to store their bikes safely, as well as encouraging them to register their bike with the Met for free so we can track them if they are stolen.’

A spokesperson for Brompton said: ‘ Cycling is booming in London right now, the latest TFL data shows at 20% increase from pre-pandemic levels.

‘That’s why news of these thefts is so concerning, it risks putting people off cycling which has such a positive impact on health and the environment.

‘We’d like to see the police do more to keep Londoners safe on their bikes. That’s why we fully support the work of Sean Epstein and the Regent’s Park Cyclists and why Brompton was proud to be among the list of signatories on their letter to the Commissioner of the Met Police.’

Have you had your bike stolen? Email: dan.grennan@mailonline.co.uk