Brompton owners

I'll say to go for the wide range rear hub option, I have a M6R-X and the wide range rear is welcomed for spinning away from lights or if I do make excursions in the South.

Brixton Cycles offers 12 months free service and labour for any new bike purchase so that's another consideration.

On order and will update once received and installed!

Definitely order what you want now. The pleasure of owning will last far long than the pain of the additional purchase cost.

The M-type or S-type dilemma will last as long as they make the bikes that way. It’s really 50/50. Some days I want to sit up, others I want to lean forwards and get on with it. Ultimately I dropped the M bars down with some aftermarket replacements, which I suppose answers the question for me at least. The flat bars look brilliant, I just find the S slightly too narrow for comfort (at speed, or one-handed when signalling).

I think if anything needs rethinking and refining it would be the handlebar/stem options. I appreciate it’s a set of sub-optimal, one size fits all solutions balancing weight and function but I don’t think handlebar placement has had the development attention it’s deserved. It’s one area of the bike you don’t look at and think “that’s clever”.

So i have been having a look through the Brompton stock bikes with the home delivery within 3-5 days options.

I have been leaning towards an M6L superlight in raw laquer but ideally want dynamo lighting. (just because I have never had dynamo before and the lack of recharging all the time appeals to the lazy in me.)

The closest option on there is an M6L in that colour but not superlight nor dynamo

Is the dynamo lighting worth it? or should I stick with conventional battery lights?

similarly anyone that has a superlight, is the extra weight saving making you go faster? is it stronger? (im not light so strength is a very real consideration)

Tried to get in contact with SJS to discuss my options - answerphone on main number and appears to be closed apart from mail order for the foreseeable.

Called my local Evans, knew not a lot about the covid scheme and just said I could order and pick it up from them.

was this to me in particular?

I scrolled back through the thread a bit, do you build to order? work in a shop? ( i didn't go back much further than a few pages before my first post)

Is the dynamo lighting worth it?

The answer is yes (for every bike).
Bur for Brompton the rear light is far too low IMO. I do have dynamo on mine but only connected the front light. For rear I use some aliexpress saddle rail mount one that doesent fuck with the fold.

I've got an M6L with dyno lights - I wanted an all-weather utility bike for multi-modal travel, and not have to worry about batteries if I was coming back late. I do keep a set of be-seen blinkies in my bag just in case, but the dyno lights work well (edit: the low rear light doesn't bother me as much as amey, but if cycling in heavy traffic I usually fit the rear blinky to the seatpost). I didn't bother with the lightweight option - it's a lot of money for not very much weight saving (and if you're not a lightweight then the saving on the all-up weight really is negligible). If you expect to have to be carrying the bike loads it's possibly worth it, but I usually end up wheeling the bike, whether partially folded or unfolded.

I work for sjs and will be back in next week, but feel free to email me. I can offer m6l-x dynamo raw lacquer no trouble!

Aha! Excellent. Might just wait and do that then!

similarly anyone that has a superlight, is the extra weight saving making you go faster? is it stronger? (im not light so strength is a very real consideration)

The weight saving is to make it easier to carry. It's only 500-700g*, so pretty negligible considering how much it costs.

(* it's very hard to get a consistent figure for it, because it varies a bit by configuration and there've been quite a few changes over the years, and Brompton have always been keen to exaggerate the saving)

Email and we can discuss

Dynamo lighting is good especially if on the bike for a long ride in the dark. I ended up taking rear off for the reasons @amey mentioned and left front one on. I then ditched the front wheel altogether...always keep cat eye volt xxx in the bag.

Superlight makes a negligible difference on the commute. I race the brom world champs with a sl-x - marginal gains innit. Then get smashed by the pro racers.

I’ve both ordinary and lightweight and it doesn’t sound much weight saving but believe me if you’re carrying it much and it’s up near the limit of what you can lift and carry, it is worth it’s weight in gold. Definitely.

I wouldn’t bother with the dynamo personally, plenty of sweet led options available that are simple to charge by usb and perform well. The rear light is too low (I have a battery one on one of mine) so I supplement it with a small seat post mount led which doesn’t interfere with the fold.

I don't think the light is too low; the only place it's obscured is if you're right in front of a car, at which point you should have been seen anyhow. Like every other light, from Ever-ready glow-worm to frikkin' death laser, its major problem is drivers not looking.

Is the dynamo lighting worth it? or should I stick with conventional battery lights?

similarly anyone that has a superlight, is the extra weight saving making you go faster? is it stronger? (im not light so strength is a very real consideration)

Agree with others on here that the dynamo lighting is worth it. If you use your brommie for commuting even sparingly you'll really notice the difference. Not having to remember to charge and attach/remove lights is a godsend. I think the cheaper option you can plum for does a good job if you live in built up areas. For me the front light wasn't powerful enough in the winter months, but I live in the sticks and found it hard to spot road detritus when at speed.

On your superlight qn, well I used to own a S2L superlight with the cheaper dynamo lighting system. I sold that bike and now have a S6L with upgraded SON lights front and rear, and am much happier. I only commute on mine.

I'm still not a fan of the dynamo. The rear light is dull and the front is too low to the ground for me to feel confident of my visibility. I use Exposure tracers on mine (with the saddle mount) which allow it to be folded without having to adjust the lights.

I have a *superlight*S2L and a regular M3L and although there is a noticeable difference in weight I'm not sure I could justify the extra expense. I would rather spend the money on better tyres and even a crankset upgrade. Both things that made measurable differences.

Fit son lights, job done.

No point doing the cranks, cost/benefit isn’t worth it over many other things!

I found changing the cranks (Not necessarily to Dura-Ace) made the biggest difference of anything I've done. What else would you suggest?

Son Lights are beautiful but still pricey. Also, why would you fit a Dynamo to a Superlight? Surely the weight of the hub negates any benefit?

What difference did it make?

pricey is a subjective matter, they are worth their cost

Superlight mean your fork and triangle are rust proof, give a different ride feel and of course slightly lighter. Dynamo is common sense for a commuter

What crankset did you change to?

My ex-colleagues is planning to get a brompton, but she is only willing to get the B75, from my understanding if she was to upgrades the old parts what would the best parts she should switch over?

Tell her to get an sjsc3....

Biggest thing for me is the brake levers, then the folding pedal, the bars are pretty wallowy but without doing the stem you have some limits. Gear shifter is functional but meh I don’t like them! Unergonomic? New word.

As my second folding pedal is now starting to make grinding noises, I am looking to replace the Brompton pedals with some MKS removable ones, for use with half toe-clips.

I have used the MKS Promenade ones on a previous bike and I found them too small so I was thinking about the MT-E and AR-2 EZY models or the Esprit and Urban Platform EZY Superior models (I am a bit concerned with the statement on the MKS website: "The Esprit design moves the pedal body slightly further away from the crank allowing for some flex when compared to the Sylvan", as the Brompton folding pedal is too far out for my liking).

Any thoughts or experiences with these MKS pedals?

Another Brompton shit part(!)

AR-2 EZY is a nice addition. EZY system pushes pedal body out a tad but I didn't notice flex. I'm not overweight nor do I step on the pedals with gusto a la Gregory Bauge. I do not notice a discernible difference between stock folding pedal and the mks.

Folding pedal isn’t shit?

How many miles have you done for it to get Grindy?