Dilger is one of many friends who have never really “got” cycling. I’ve always accepted this in the same way that believers in God – presumably – accept that most people don’t believe there’s anything else out there but us.

So it came as a pleasant surprise that Dilger kept asking if he could borrow my Brompton. That it cuts 25 minutes off his commute from Eynsham to Oxford was the initial driver.

He appreciated its utility but could have been equally happy with a Dahon or other lesser folder.

But then, as if struck by a bolt from the blue, Dilger fell in love with the Brompton itself – not just its convenience.

The same had happened to me of course when I acquired it five years ago. It starts off as a means to an end: it was the only way I was guaranteed a space for my bike on trains at rush hour. But soon it became full-blown Brompton-love.

Bromptons really are a marvel of British engineering: the neatest and most stylish folding bike by a mile.

They’re built by hand using 1,200 separate parts at a factory in West London and owners can spec the new bike’s colour, saddle and luggage system, and there’s even a choice of four handlebars.

Next year they’re moving to a new factory twice the size as business is booming both at home and abroad. Over 80 per cent of the 45,000 Bromptons produced last year were sold overseas and by 2021 they expect to hit the 100,000 per year milestone.

When folded, a Brompton stays locked together, making an extremely compact package little larger than its wheels.

You raise and clamp the saddle and the handlebars, unfold the front half of the frame with the wheel, and lift up the rear end with a little flick so that the rear wheel swings out.

Folding it up again takes a lot more practice. Watch tutorials on YouTube before trying it in public.

The small wheels put a lot of people off a Brompton, but the fact is they whiz along with a lovely little bounce. Bromptons are more efficient on the road than a mountain bike, and they’re super-quick setting off at traffic lights. Dilger is no speed merchant but he is hooked by the quirkiness of these little machines. However, with a starting price of over £750, a new Brompton is going to prove an expensive mistress and the second-hand market is competitive.

Perhaps he will have to keep using mine and console himself instead with meeting his new love’s maker.

The inventor of the Brompton, Andrew Ritchie, lives in North Oxford and Cyclox have booked him to talk about his beautiful baby on Monday, October 19, 7.30pm, at St Michael at the North Gate, Cornmarket Street.

They expect it to be standing room only, so arrive early – Dilger will probably already have the best seat in the house!