Brompton repairs in London

iPete

Thinking of dropping it off in Condor at lunch.. any more specialist and or cheaper places in the city?

t4tomo

What's up with it?

I bought my brommie ages ago through action bikes, but they seemed to be reasonably knowledgable on them. they sell a fair few of them which I guess helps.

Green Brompton

Action Bikes (Embankment). They serviced mine... not sure if they were particularly cheap... otherwise, Brilliant Bikes (Online) offers you all the spares in the world from Bromptons and provide an AMAZING service!

rjsterry

I'm not sure Condor are that clued up on Bromptons based on some experiences of colleagues. IIRC they came back with the cables in a bit of a mess.

iPete

Cheers for the info, may go action bikes!

The front hinge requires the strength of heman to fold it and I don't have the inclination to try and take the joint apart. The gear changes are not working either (2-speed), could probably be sorted with a good clean! I sense if I do it myself I'll need various tools I don't have. Do all the work on my other bikes.

cyclingprop

Recommend action (victoria) behind NSY. Same chain but know those guys better.

tgotb

iPete wrote:

The front hinge requires the strength of heman to fold it and I don't have the inclination to try and take the joint apart. The gear changes are not working either (2-speed), could probably be sorted with a good clean! I sense if I do it myself I'll need various tools I don't have. Do all the work on my other bikes.

You have tried lubricating the hinge, right?

The gear changing stuff can all be taken apart with some small allen keys; the issue is probably a cruddy rear end :P

mroli

Dude - if you think you can just drop your bike in at Condor and get it seen to immediately - you may be in for a surprise - they get booked up pretty quickly....

iPete

mroli wrote:

Dude - if you think you can just drop your bike in at Condor and get it seen to immediately - you may be in for a surprise - they get booked up pretty quickly....

I don't need it, can sit in a shop for weeks if needs be.. but went to action bikes and they said it is a Chinese component that Brompton no longer use and only they can fix so it would need to be sent off. Going to treat it to lots of gt85.

yocto

have you considered bikefix. never used them myself but their website is full of folders, so they may be experienced... they are just the round the corner (more or less) from condor, lambs conduit street.

clarkey cat

Bikefix specialise in folders, recumbents and long distance touring bikes BUT my, and everyone.s I know experience is that they are rude and useless.

t4tomo

TGOTB wrote:

iPete wrote:

The front hinge requires the strength of heman to fold it and I don't have the inclination to try and take the joint apart. The gear changes are not working either (2-speed), could probably be sorted with a good clean! I sense if I do it myself I'll need various tools I don't have. Do all the work on my other bikes.

You have tried lubricating the hinge, right?

The gear changing stuff can all be taken apart with some small allen keys; the issue is probably a cruddy rear end :P

Hinge does sound like a specialist issue if WD40 GT85 won't sort it. would second a clean and lube on the gears, but mines 3 speed hub gears for that very reason - I wanted to be a maintenance free as possible.

Ed F

clarkey cat wrote:

Bikefix specialise in folders, recumbents and long distance touring bikes BUT my, and everyone.s I know experience is that they are rude and useless.

+1. I got my Brompton serviced with these guys earlier this year. They charged me through the nose, and then returned the bike with the rear wheel nut not properly tightened, and the tyre half-flat. Only good thing is that there was no long wait like there is with Condor, but now I know why.

tgotb

Just a thought, if you do decide to sort out the gears yourself: When I had issues it was the chain guide itself that was crudded-up, rather than the cable. The cable's a bit fiddly to take apart, so definitely check the chain guide first (which is pretty straightforward).

The chain guide is held onto the frame with a single bolt (around which it pivots). Having lost this bolt in the past, I'd consider reassembling with a bit of threadlock.

Green Brompton

TGOTB wrote:

Just a thought, if you do decide to sort out the gears yourself: When I had issues it was the chain guide itself that was crudded-up, rather than the cable. The cable's a bit fiddly to take apart, so definitely check the chain guide first (which is pretty straightforward).

The chain guide is held onto the frame with a single bolt (around which it pivots). Having lost this bolt in the past, I'd consider reassembling with a bit of threadlock.

TGOTB, I met Mr 10th in the 2012 BWC the other night riding home, a fellow Wheeler it would seem, he was faster than I was on my road bike (the shame), and I wasn't going to get on the drops for a Brompton, that would have been embarrassing! Luckily, he was very friendly, so I avoided further embarrassment by chatting to him for the remainder of the way home

Think I'm going to get the OH, and his brother, involved with the champs next year so I have a team to compete with... (no doubt I'll be the slowest as per usual!) ... what am I saying, I said never again as I went up the hill on the 2nd loop... :shock:

tgotb

Green Brompton wrote:

TGOTB, I met Mr 10th in the 2012 BWC the other night riding home, a fellow Wheeler it would seem, he was faster than I was on my road bike (the shame), and I wasn't going to get on the drops for a Brompton, that would have been embarrassing! Luckily, he was very friendly, so I avoided further embarrassment by chatting to him for the remainder of the way home

Yes, he is worryingly fast. IIRC he commutes on his Brompton every day, which I reckon gives him an unfair advantage. That said, I think he beat my (TT bike) time in the last Richmond Park TT, on a road bike :roll:

Green Brompton wrote:

Think I'm going to get the OH, and his brother, involved with the champs next year so I have a team to compete with... (no doubt I'll be the slowest as per usual!) ... what am I saying, I said never again as I went up the hill on the 2nd loop... :shock:

Excellent! You really must be hard as nails if it took you until the second loop to say never again; you have to have a go at TTing. I promised myself I wouldn't come back on both laps, aswell as all three laps of the TT race the day before :-)

Origamist

Bicycle Workshop in Notting Hill is excellent for folding and utility bike servicing.

pete54

Avoid Bikefix like the plague.

mroli

I think they do folders too - you could try Fudge's bike store, its been a while since I've been there, but they used to have a very good mechanic.

hegyestomi

Got a friend's independent bikeshop, CycleLab's just off Old street roundabout.
http://www.cyclelab.co.uk/
Nice guys, will give you professional advice and the best thing is that you drop off your filthy bike and pick it up sparklingly clean. They are pretty busy but usually you can have your bike back serviced within 24hrs.

gattonero

rjsterry wrote:

I'm not sure Condor are that clued up on Bromptons based on some experiences of colleagues. IIRC they came back with the cables in a bit of a mess.

Hi!

What was wrong exactly? Did they sorted out the cables?

il_principe

You could give my company havebike a go! We'd pick the Brompton up on a Friday and Return it fully serviced on the Monday. For what it's worth we work with Brompton Dock servicing their bikes, service TFL and UBS' in house Brompton fleet and have our own, oh and two of our mechanics own Bromptons as well.

PM me if you are interested. We may even be able to fit you in today.

On_What

throwing it in the skip sounds like your best course of action :P

menthel

Il Principe wrote:

You could give my company havebike a go! We'd pick the Brompton up on a Friday and Return it fully serviced on the Monday. For what it's worth we work with Brompton Dock servicing their bikes, service TFL and UBS' in house Brompton fleet and have our own, oh and two of our mechanics own Bromptons as well.

PM me if you are interested. We may even be able to fit you in today.

What kind of area do you cover for this? The wife's brompton needs a good service and I hate even fixing punctures on the bloody thing.

anonymousblackfg

Sell it on e-bay and get a new one through cycle to work. It will work out zero cost given the second hand values of Bromptons. If I buy on i'd get this done...

http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/foldin ... speed-kit/

tgotb

anonymousblackfg wrote:

Sell it on e-bay and get a new one through cycle to work. It will work out zero cost given the second hand values of Bromptons. If I buy on i'd get this done...

http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/foldin ... speed-kit/

That's pretty much what I have (albeit with different rims, bars and shifter). It's good, but not perfect; the rear mech is a bit delicate (I'm on my second) and the hub is a bit draggy. Round town it's brilliant, but if I was going to do the BWC at Goodwood again (which I'm not) I think I'd set it up as a 2-speed.

The guy who runs the shop is a passionate bike geek rather than a businessman, so don't expect next-day delivery.

veronese68

I would think the OP is sorted by now as it was well over a year ago.

il_principe

menthel wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

You could give my company havebike a go! We'd pick the Brompton up on a Friday and Return it fully serviced on the Monday. For what it's worth we work with Brompton Dock servicing their bikes, service TFL and UBS' in house Brompton fleet and have our own, oh and two of our mechanics own Bromptons as well.

PM me if you are interested. We may even be able to fit you in today.

What kind of area do you cover for this? The wife's brompton needs a good service and I hate even fixing punctures on the bloody thing.

Only zones 1-3 at the moment.

cyclingprop

One of your vans lives near me. Think an mech lives downstairs

rolf_f

Veronese68 wrote:

I would think the OP is sorted by now as it was well over a year ago.

Not if he booked it in at Condor by the sound of it....

Koncordski

Il Principe wrote:

You could give my company havebike a go! We'd pick the Brompton up on a Friday and Return it fully serviced on the Monday. For what it's worth we work with Brompton Dock servicing their bikes, service TFL and UBS' in house Brompton fleet and have our own, oh and two of our mechanics own Bromptons as well.

PM me if you are interested. We may even be able to fit you in today.

You have a PM.