Lightest Possible Brompton

fatbee
fatbee Posts: 581
edited July 2008 in Road general
Has anyone on 'ere ever embarked upon a project to seriously lighten-up their Brompton (to make it easier to carry when folded, not to affect the ride) ?

Or perhaps you know somebody who has or could provide links to some webinfo on the subject?

Any comments / help most gratefully received.

Comments

  • cakewalk
    cakewalk Posts: 220
    fatbee wrote:
    Has anyone on 'ere ever embarked upon a project to seriously lighten-up their Brompton (to make it easier to carry when folded, not to affect the ride) ?

    Or perhaps you know somebody who has or could provide links to some webinfo on the subject?

    Any comments / help most gratefully received.

    Not really. I've got an M3L and have taken off reflectors and bell! Thinking of moving to S2l-X this year - get fed up of carrying weight on the tube.
    "I thought of it while riding my bicycle."
  • fatbee
    fatbee Posts: 581
    Interesting, thanks! Do you know what the weight saving with all the S2l-X's titanium bits would be?
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    titanium frame is your first port of call and seat post and light small seat... maybe even swap the folding pedal for a standard plastic one?

    then strip everything off it (bags/pannier frame thing, and get racing tyres not puncture resistant ones)


    £££ will be your friend for the frame, it makes a hell of a difference


    that or get your @ss down the gym and load up your guns and take it like a man :lol:
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • fatbee
    fatbee Posts: 581
    "titanium frame is your first port of call "

    That's what I'd assumed CP, but why is the Titanium Brompton's main-frame not made of titanium too? Is it the old 50:1 tube ratio thing?
  • gma
    gma Posts: 7
    Strength, basically.

    If you're sick of carrying it on the tube, why not get one with a rear rack and eazy wheels. Then you can wheel it around. I suppose you still need to carry it up/down steps, but that shouldn't be as much as a chore. I've had mine on the tube quite a bit, and haven't found the steps to be a noticeable issue.
  • bazzargh
    bazzargh Posts: 45
    Actually All-Ti Bromptons have been done in the past. Witness Len Rubin's masterwork:
    http://homepage.mac.com/lenrubin/PhotoAlbum1.html

    That's not been updated in quite a while, and the last mail from Len on Brompton Talk said the production model was 17.5 lb -ish and ultra-expensive
    http://stein.dommel.be/brompton/chapters/Future.html

    I suspect there isn't a market for it because of things like the Dahon Mu SL - 18.9 lb, and not much more expensive than a basic Brom.For comparison, the S2L is 23.5 and the S2LX is 21lb. Switching to removable pedals would save you about 1lb in carry weight on the S2L, a bit less on the LX.

    Other light brompton-ish mods have been done by the legendary Steve Parry - eg his singlespeed:
    http://www.long-john.com/SP-light.JPG
    (carbon post, alu frame, ti forks/triangle)

    I have to say I'm happy enough with the S2L though - I could lose half a stone myself and make a bigger difference to the bike...
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    I tried the 2 speed Ti model recently - seemed light enough to me (and I ain't big an' strong!). Tinkering at the weight would surely be at the margins - and the £ per oz saved ratio would I suspect be even more expensive than getting a race bike down from say 16 to 15lbs!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • Clever Pun
    Clever Pun Posts: 6,778
    fatbee wrote:
    "titanium frame is your first port of call "

    That's what I'd assumed CP, but why is the Titanium Brompton's main-frame not made of titanium too? Is it the old 50:1 tube ratio thing?

    couldn't tell you exactly tbh I picked up the steel frame and then the titanium frame and there was quite some difference

    if you're using the eezee wheels why not just unfold it?

    get the gears highered as well, fast is good
    Purveyor of sonic doom

    Very Hairy Roadie - FCN 4
    Fixed Pista- FCN 5
    Beared Bromptonite - FCN 14
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    "but why is the Titanium Brompton's main-frame not made of titanium too?"

    The part-Ti one is already surely pushing the price of a simple folder to the edge of what the market will bear? A Ti main frame (in the volume likely to sell) would at a guess add another 250 quid minimum to the price!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • bazzargh
    bazzargh Posts: 45
    Randomly surfing on youtube, I unexpectedly found this:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWoeTOVYNY4

    actual footage of Len Rubin's Ti Brompton-a-like. Pity they filmed this in the noisiest place they could find! There's a bunch of obvious differences the clamps, the straight front pillar, and the very unusual adjusting stem. There's no close up of that, but previous reports mentioned that it uses a brake-like-lever to adjust it while riding(!) - which looks to be this:
    http://www.google.com/patents?id=0lEZAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract
    Pretty nifty.
  • alexB
    alexB Posts: 2,199
    I was passed by a carbon fibre folder on the way to work one morning. I got enough details to Google it and fopund it was a prototype, but the cost was going to be in the £2-3K range. Definately not utility folding class!
    Unfortunately I've never seen it again and can't remember the details now.
    It had a carbon frame, carbon mudguards integrated into the forks and frame, disc brakes - very cool looking.

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