Brompton owners

Hello there.
I've had mine since 2013, and I've never serviced it - but mine's v. low mileage - I'm still on the original brake blocks! On its second chain & sprocket.
I think it all depends on how much exposure it gets to road salt and the like.
Where are you studying btw - is it The Morley?

who said twice a year?

You leave it until there is play, keep an eye on it and then replace the bushes/axle/bolts when there is 1.5-2mm of play.

City and Guilds College of Art in Kennington.

Mine's going through London winters, so it'll be getting a lot of dirt on it, that's why I bought the one which I think will be the most corrosion resistant.

I was thinking of cycling from West Ham to Kennington, as it's segregated from the traffic most of the way. After I was made deaf by the Pig Man in a Van I can't hear cars coming from behind anymore, so riding on the road scares the shit out of me now.

I enjoyed riding dads Brompton in London, it was so nice to be back on a bike.

I think it was edscobel, down thread. Unless I read it wrong

I'd no idea that Pig Man had done you so much damage.
I'm sorry to hear that :(

Yep, it fucked me up good and proper.

That's rough.
I hope your new shiny has some indoor storage space, as opposed to the racks outside the front of the building.
It's saarf london, y'know.

I'm more worried about getting mugged on the Greenway, TBH. I get a mahoosive locker at college, so it's going to be stashed in there in an Ikea bag.

Pig Man in a Van

What is Pig Man in a Van and how did he make you deaf ?

Briefly, he overtook, cut in and slammed on the brakes, stopped instantly and I went headfirst through his back window. He then decided that I needed a good punching because I damaged his car.

I guess he didn't like my blue Rapha jersey.

Edit:

Forgot to add that he rammed me twice before that with the side of his van and pushed me into the oncoming traffic.

what a clown, props to you being back on the bike dude.

No. Only when it develops more than about 4-5mm of play at the dropouts.

Brompton list 2mm as the maximum acceptable play.

Jesus shit, that’s awful. Any prosecution?

Gordon Bennett !

In Denmark ?

In Denmark on a clear day and a wide road.

Would you believe it? The Knut got off too, as there were no witnesses to me hitting the van or being assaulted. But Hey, ho, never mind, I'm not pushing a wheelchair which is good.

Deaf as a post though, so you'll have to speak LOUD when you say hello.

At the dropout? I’d say that’s normal in real life, but I’ll check up on that. It’s not a great design tbh, I’ve seen more than a few frames written off by excessive wear that has ovalised the pivot housing.

I think its the same with everything, customers dont look after bikes, are unfortunately not aware of things and dont check them.. the few write offs I have had have been serial bike wreckers. I like the design, it works.

Any way of maintaining the hinge on the rear frame, or is it something which is just left to wear out ?

I'm making stuff up as I'm going along here, but what's to stop you from drilling the frame and tapping it to accept a grease nipple.
Then pumping it with grease, like pumping with grease was an Olympic event.
Just a thought....

They must take quite a lot of torque (?, IANAE)

Keeping the area around it clean, regular folding and unfolding and a drop of oil now and then goes a long way.

Take a drill to my new shiny ????

Wait until Ryan @maynardeames or @edscoble respond.
They're both better placed than I to do so.
Put down the cordless...

Any way of maintaining the hinge on the rear frame, or is it something which is just left to wear out

Nope, that part is designed to wear, Brompton recommend getting it replaced once a year base on folding twice a day, five days a week.

It base on how often you use it, some people last for a couple years, some a mere 4 months, my advice is to simply keep it clean and get the Brompton serviced regularly. I strongly do not take @JurekB advice on drilling the frames at all.

This job is best left to mechanic with Brompton experiences/training, the average labour price is £45 (it's usually a 45 minutes jobs) and the hinge themselves are £20.

Again please pretend @JurekB is a fragment of your overly active imagination.