My first Brompton

phillipjohnson

After a few months of looking into folding bikes I just bought a Brompton :-)

I went for an M3L and it came the other day. Had a little run out on it today and am pretty impressed with how it rides. It feels a little strange at first but not as much as I thought it would.

I got it from an online shop, sunsetmtb. I had heard that its not great to buy Brompton's online... better to get them from a shop, but I got a Kona Jake the Snake with sunsetmtb last year and had a good service from them so thought I would risk it. They quoted an 8 week wait from the Brompton factory but the bike came after about 6 so I can't complain.

I am planning on using the bike for a commute to work when the weather picks up.... it's about 4 miles to my nearest Tyne and Wear metro station then after the metro ride about 2 miles at the other end.

I did the journey to the metro station on my Jake the Snake and it took me about 20 minutes taking it pretty easy so I'm guaging about 30 minutes on the Brompton. I will give it a test run over the next couple of weekends to see.

Has anybody used the Metro for Bromptons? I'm interested in whether they are OK with you taking the bike on just folded or whether they make you use a cover as well?

Also, has anybody got on a Go North East bus with a Brompton?

dilemna

Enjoy your Brompton I'm sure it will bring you years of great riding. Why so keen to take it on so much PT? Just ride it. I don't know about PT oop north but taking a Brompton on a train down south is no problem. Just fold it up and put it in the luggage rack or next to your seat. I have NEVER felt the need to take it on a bus.

Put some bar ends and spds on it and you are good to go for quite a long way if you want. I would recommend the touring pannier.

Final piece of advice - DON'T LET IT OUT OF YOUR SIGHT as they are very very nickable. DO NOT LEAVE IT ANYWHERE EVEN IF LOCKED UP. My first one was stolen when locked up to a Sheffield stand with a very good D-lock.

phillipjohnson

Thanks for the advice.

I might put some SPDs on it... Ive got some decent shoes for SPDs so I would just need to get the pedals.

The reason for the public transport is just for the journey into work... at the minute I either get 2 buses or I can get a bus then a metro train then another bus. What I'm thinking is that I could the bus-metro-bus journey but use the brompton for the bus parts. the whole journey is just too far.

What I'm thinking as well is that if its nice when I go in I can take the brompton and if the weather is rubbish coming home I can just get on the bus with it.

I'm really just looking to integrate a bit more exercise into my day without taking up any more time :-)

bikeradarmad

Hi - to confirm you can travel on Go North East buses with a folded down bike. You can view timetable details on this link http://www.simplygo.com/view-all-routes/. We do also have a specific route that has bike retainers on that you can use without folding the bike down http://www.simplygo.com/our-services/lime. Hope this helps.

ndru

phillipjohnson wrote:

I might put some SPDs on it... Ive got some decent shoes for SPDs so I would just need to get the pedals.

Yeah, don't forget to buy aerobars and deepv carbon rims too.

Seriously though - for a bicycle that is foldable, allows you to take it on the PT and ride it whenever - do you really want to have to carry special shoes with it? Are you gonna race on it or something? You'll get enough exercise just riding it - you don't have to compete. Next thing you'll tell me is that you're starting your EPO course next week just to get faster.

Have fun with your brommie.

bumpitybump

Phillipjohnston , bromptons are great little machines, used one as my main transport for a few years - sounds like you've made a very good choice of bike for what you want to do.

When I did travel on public transport with it the folding pedal makes a lot of difference to how 'small' if feels when you're trying to keep it out of peoples way. So I personally wouldn't recommend clip-in pedals which won't fold.

On to footwear, wearing smooth soled 'suit type' shoes was asking for trouble in wet weather as when pedaling like the clappers there was a risk that I'd slip off the pedals, but any decent shoe with some type of grip works pretty well.

+1for the brompton front mounted touring pannier, you can put an absolutely stupid amount of heavy stuff in it and not upset the bikes handling, cycled home with 10 litres of drink in one after succumbing to one of those supermarket offers of buy one get one free with packs of drinks and the handling wasn't compromised.

Enjoy!

phillipjohnson

Thanks for all the advice :-)

I'm not going to change the pedals... will just leave them as is.

I've got the cover/saddle bag and a set of lights that I have fitted and thats the only extra purchases I've made.

I might get the C bag at some point in the future but at over a hundred quid with the mounting block that will have to wait. I've just gone for a fifteen quid courier bag from Halfords in the meantime.

As long as it's not too bad in the morning I will probably take it with me. My plan is to get a bus for the beginning of my journey leaving me about 5 and a half miles to cycle at the end... then do the same coming home (cycle first bit then bus the rest).

Cheers,

Phil

phillipjohnson

LOL, all it takes is for me to say I'm going to cycle in to work and we get gale force winds and driving rain with sleet and even snow forecast over the next couple of days...

I guess I will have to wait a little while longer to try out riding the Brompton to work :-)

jomoj

hi Phil, I used to take a Brompton on the T&W Metro no problem, they fit quite neatly into the luggage space next to the doors. People will gawp at it all confused and occasionally chavas will snigger "nice bike mate" as they mumble greggs pasty crumbs onto their tracksuits but you should have no problems otherwise.

re: the pedals - they are crap in the wet so wear some grippy shoes, the bottom bracket is also lower than a normal bike so don't pedal over speedbumps or into tight bends because it's easy to ground the pedals.

They are great machines for what they do but I never really fell in love with mine like some people do and ended up selling it. I tend to either walk-metro-walk or do the whole distance (Whitley Bay to Newcastle) by bike now but sometimes it would still come in handy

cheers
Joe

dilemna

jomoj wrote:

hi Phil, I used to take a Brompton on the T&W Metro no problem, they fit quite neatly into the luggage space next to the doors. People will gawp at it all confused and occasionally chavas will snigger "nice bike mate" as they mumble greggs pasty crumbs onto their tracksuits but you should have no problems otherwise.

re: the pedals - they are crap in the wet so wear some grippy shoes, the bottom bracket is also lower than a normal bike so don't pedal over speedbumps or into tight bends because it's easy to ground the pedals.

They are great machines for what they do but I never really fell in love with mine like some people do and ended up selling it. I tend to either walk-metro-walk or do the whole distance (Whitley Bay to Newcastle) by bike now but sometimes it would still come in handy

cheers
Joe

Err ....... if you aren't very bike savvy or not very good at cornering you can ground the pedals of any bike. I have never done this. You are the first Brompton owner I have come across in almost 10 years of ownership of mine and being "into" Bromptons that I have heard say this. I guess there is always one.

jomoj

Good for you mate. Allow me to elaborate:

If you are new to riding a Brompton and are coming from riding a non-folding larger wheeled bike - let's say 26" or 700c so as to be absolutely clear - especially a bike in the 'all terrain style' which may have a relatively high bottom bracket, then on becoming accustomed to the compact geometry of the Brompton you may wish to be aware that the lower bottom bracket of said folding cycle places the pedals closer to the ground. Thus placing limits on the angle at which one can corner and traverse raised road obstacles - such as vehicle speed deterrent strips - whilst still pedalling, that may be different to those to which you have become accustomed.

Secondary limitations imposed by the geomety and design format of the Brompton are:
- Bar spins are prevented by the anti-rotation tab on the fork. This can be removed with an angle grinder and you may also be able to fit a Gyro if you wish to avoid cable entanglements whilst performing tricks such as frame whips or hitchhikers
- Cycling no handed in a cross wind should be discouraged
- Bunny hops or jumping whether self-propelled or ramp assisted should not be performed with the rear triangle folding catch unlocked

Please note, these observations are entirely my own and are not backed up by any publication in a peer reviewed journal.

bumpitybump

Err ....... if you aren't very bike savvy or not very good at cornering you can ground the pedals of any bike. I have never done this. You are the first Brompton owner I have come across in almost 10 years of ownership of mine and being "into" Bromptons that I have heard say this. I guess there is always one.[/quote]

Make that two.....must confess I've also grounded out the pedals on the brompton, easy to do once you get some speed up and start throwing it around enthusiastically.