Prince Philip's Bicycle Honour

1 month ago 16th Oct 14:00

Britain's Prince Philip has honoured the man who invented the foldaway Brompton bicycle.

The Queen's husband presented Andrew Ritchie with the Prince Philip Designers Prize at London's Buckingham Palace, with Andrew receiving the accolade for the 1979 invention and his series of improvements to it.

Andrew admitted he hasn't finished improvements to the bike yet and is still thinking about how to make it lighter.

It already folds down to barely 16ins off the floor - the height of its wheels.

The inventor - who described himself at the awards as a "crazy guy" - thanked some of his early financial backers who had each invested £100 in the scheme.

Getting the design right, getting the ergonomics right is one of the key things for me.

He started work on the Brompton bicycle in 1975 after discovering a similar bike and decided he could create a much better model.

Andrew said: "Getting the design right, getting the ergonomics right is one of the key things for me."

The prince set up the prize, run by the Design Council, in 1959 to encourage entrepreneurship. It is judged by a panel of professionals, including Philip.

Previous winners have included Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran and the architect Lord Foster of Thames Bank, as well as the creators behind the Kenwood Chef and the Austin Metro.