Shall we have a Brompton thread?

ugo.santalucia

I struggle with the ups and downs on a Brompton... its a good bike for the flat though

bendertherobot

Mine is 6 speed. I've no idea on what range I've plumped for mind.

bendertherobot

It's in! Pickup in t minus 90 minutes....

cougie

Excellent. The only changes I made was the long seatpost and I'm right at the top of that so setting off is a doddle. And some bar ends as the flat bars aren't that comfortable.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

bendertherobot wrote:

It's in! Pickup in t minus 90 minutes....

Don't forget to fit the 10Kg dumbell to the head tube before the first ride.

And set up a separate Strava account for the Brompton, for folding specific segment times.

Coach H

If you want a cheap (relative to dedicated Brompton Luggage) front pannier, and at some point you will, check this out viewtopic.php?f=40091&t=13091247. You can combine one with some fettling with a modified s-type cage. It will look like a shop bought solution for half the price.

bendertherobot

bendertherobot

veronese68

Did you pull a wheelie ;-)

bendertherobot

Not yet!

mroli

bendertherobot wrote:

Nice!

I "may" have enquired about one of the Chpt 3 S2Ls through cycle to work....

bendertherobot

The Chpt 3 is very nice but was a bit above budget. V cool though. I may order a carver C17 Cambium over the weekend

meanredspider

Veronese68 wrote:

Did you pull a wheelie ;-)

That picture BTR has posted shows just how easy it is - with the saddle pushed back because the frame is so small, your butt is almost behind the contact patch of the rear wheel. Sitting upright and giving the pedal a bit of oomph, the front wheel is up before your know it. Zoom in on the rear triangle and wheel and see what a confused mess it is - funny little trolley wheels, extra stays on a deformed mudguard, and the weirdest derailleur arrangement. It’s hardly what you’d call elegant design. Nasty nasty bike

mroli

bendertherobot wrote:

The Chpt 3 is very nice but was a bit above budget. V cool though. I may order a carver C17 Cambium over the weekend

Yep - over budget for me too, but on cyclescheme, you're just saving more right?! Right?!

ugo.santalucia

mroli wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

The Chpt 3 is very nice but was a bit above budget. V cool though. I may order a carver C17 Cambium over the weekend

Yep - over budget for me too, but on cyclescheme, you're just saving more right?! Right?!

I am still using your Fizik Arione with carbon/kevlar base...

mroli

ugo.santalucia wrote:

mroli wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

The Chpt 3 is very nice but was a bit above budget. V cool though. I may order a carver C17 Cambium over the weekend

Yep - over budget for me too, but on cyclescheme, you're just saving more right?! Right?!

I am still using your Fizik Arione with carbon/kevlar base...

Ah - that's good. Do you recover it ok?!

cougie

meanredspider wrote:

Veronese68 wrote:

Did you pull a wheelie ;-)

That picture BTR has posted shows just how easy it is - with the saddle pushed back because the frame is so small, your butt is almost behind the contact patch of the rear wheel. Sitting upright and giving the pedal a bit of oomph, the front wheel is up before your know it. Zoom in on the rear triangle and wheel and see what a confused mess it is - funny little trolley wheels, extra stays on a deformed mudguard, and the weirdest derailleur arrangement. It’s hardly what you’d call elegant design. Nasty nasty bike

Pffft. Bad workman blames his tools....

bendertherobot

The Kojak folding are a bit shit mind. First puncture. So walked the remainder to work.

Marathon Plus going on, no point in a Brompton if you need to change punctures all the time. And doing a 6 speed in the rain does take a bit longer not actually as hard as the videos make it look. Must invest in that Brompton tool kit

mroli

bendertherobot wrote:

The Kojak folding are a bit shoot mind. First puncture. So walked the remainder to work.

I rode Schwalbe Stelvio for 2 years on a folding bike/mini velo 5 miles each way through central london and had one puncture in that time. Mind you, it was after working until 1 in the morning and in the pouring rain, huddled into a shopfront near Trafalger Square. Pleased (5 years on) that I didn't crack and get in a cab...

I wonder if you could get Brompton "Tubeless"?!

veronese68

mroli wrote:

I wonder if you could get Brompton "Tubeless"?!

Put sealant into a tube, assuming you can get tubes with removable valve cores that small.

ugo.santalucia

mroli wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

mroli wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

The Chpt 3 is very nice but was a bit above budget. V cool though. I may order a carver C17 Cambium over the weekend

Yep - over budget for me too, but on cyclescheme, you're just saving more right?! Right?!

I am still using your Fizik Arione with carbon/kevlar base...

Ah - that's good. Do you recover it ok?!

I think so...

bendertherobot

Apparently, yes, you can remove Schraeder cores and stick slime or Stans in. Not tried it though. Ergon gp1 grips next.

fenix

Good call on the grips !

bendertherobot

I'd like the Brooks version but I'm not paying 40 quid premium

bendertherobot

So, managed an average of 18.1 mph today over 20 miles and 750 plus feet. Not too shabby for a clown bike (I've also changed to Marathon plus and only had the minus three gears working!)

jonny_trousers

Hi Kids,

Nice to see plenty of recognisable names from the days when time to enjoy wasting here. Hope all are well.

I finally sold the CR1 SL last night, as I pretty much had zero time to use it (a word of warning: don't have kids if you like riding your bike!). The good news is it means I can now justify a Brompton for my sporadic commutes into London. What I would appreciate your thoughts on is gearing. I live in St Albans now, which has a not too tricky hill to negotiate when riding back from the station. I have friends who regularly Brompton the same route and they are very happy with their 2 speeds, but I'd like other opinions, also. I'd like gearing that means the hill isn't a training exercise each time I ride it, that means I can set off from the lights easily enough and that means I can motor along on the flat without danger of spinning out. Any thoughts?

Any other general Brompton purchasing tips gratefully received.

bendertherobot

Brompton dealers generally good I think with test rides, worth a go? I'd say 3 or 6 speed I think.

the_hundredth_idiot

Here's a post I made on a different forum a year or two ago in response to a similar question:

Here's my spec with some reasons (and mistakes): S3L (reduced gearing) in raw laquer with a luggage block on the front and standard seatpost.

The reduced gearing gives me gears 2 and 3 exactly the same as the gears on a 2-speed (the top gear is the same gear inches as on my fixie). Gear 1 is a bail out gear as I live in the South Downs and have a few sharp hills. The extra weight of the hub gear isn't much and I don't notice it when carrying the Brompton at train stations.

Raw laquer - don't bother. I've got quite a few patches of rust, with a particularly bad one on the bottom bracket which the wheel sits against when folded.

Luggage block - great way of carrying stuff without getting your back sweaty like a rucksack would. My bag looks sufficiently work-like that I can carry it around during the day with my laptop in it.

Standard seatpost. I'm only 175-176cm tall and I have it fully extended. So anyone taller than that should be thinking about the extending seatpost.

Lights - I just use regular battery/rechargeable lights. The Brompton branded lights seem expensive; the dynamo ones are expensive and add weight - I can't see the point of them for most Brompton users.

Rear rack. Seems a bit pointless, although it does make it much more stable when wheeling it.

Standard tyres. I've only had one puncture in nearly 6 years (I know, I know - say hello to the puncture fairy now ...). It was a little more of a faff taking out the rear wheel compared with most of my other bikes, but that was more to do with needing a spanner to undo the nuts than the minimal extra hassle of disconnecting the hub gears. (Youtube videos will show how easy it is.)

Standard saddle - I see a lot of Bromptons with a leather Brooks, but the standard Brompton saddle has some little finger grips underneath which I think make it easier to carry.

bendertherobot

Yeah, lots of good stuff there.

I have the S6L in Red, White and Blue (France ) colours.

The seatpost comment is bang on. For me, 5ft 9 ish, it's at the top. That's great for me as I don't have to worry about getting it in the right place. Any taller it won't be comfy.

Bars, I really like the S bars. I don't even mind the grips, which I have not changed.

The stock saddle is ok and the grips are good but I do prefer a Charge Spoon.

I need to get the block for carrying at some point.

I run mine with SPD pedals.

Gearing, it's really worth testing them as the gearing isn't what you'd expect either in terms of the jumps or how it works. On a 6 speed, for example, 2nd in high is an easier gear than 3rd in low. On my commute I think I've only actually used 1st, 2nd, 3rd and really really occasionally 6th. 6th is actually a bonkers tall gear.

The gear ratios are here:

https://brompton.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/a ... nd-ratios-

Mine is a 6 speed standard and, as you can see, it's not as simple as that being one 'set' of the 6 speed gears.

The 3 speed standard lowest gear is about the same as 34/19 so going up a steep hill is far from easy. Going -18% will get you somewhere towards a 23t cog. 6 speed -12% appears to get you something capable of doing the Alps. Which is good to know!

http://www.bikecalc.com/gear_inches

For my short commute frankly any would be enough (5 miles no climbing). For my long commute (18 miles 700ft) I'd always stick with the 6 speed.

I plan on doing a lot of stuff on it next year like sportives just for the laugh, I'd be very tempted to -12% it for those.

cougie

As I understand it - there are three seatposts from Brompton. (there are lots of third party posts out there too).
Standard.
Long.
Extended.

I'm 6 foot and the long post at the top is bob on for me. Millar and co have the extended post.

The luggage block is fantastic and you can carry a lot of shopping in the Brompton bag. If you have the S bars you're meant to have the S bag as the standard one is a bit tall and catches on the cables - but it works if it has to.

Anyone riding or watching the Brompton World Champs on the Mall next Saturday evening ?