Brompton owners

Gv

The fork shaft is tapered so I can’t remove the wedge from the bottom, not very helpful engineering on Brompton’s part.

I think I may be in a similar position...I did the 4 turns and twat method which did sweet fa. I've left it alone and dreading going back to it.

I saw this as a guide when searching on the interwebz:

Releasing a stuck Brompton Stem – a solution!!
• Loosen the stem bolt by using an allen key to undo the bolt by 4 or 5 turns
• Cover the bolt head with a piece of wood and whack it hard to drive the bolt down and release the wedge from the bottom of the stem.
• Remove the front wheel, the front mudguard and the front brake assembly. Let them hang loose without stretching the brake or lighting cables. Secure with PVC tape if necessary.
• Unscrew the bolt and remove. (This is not required if the stem rotates and can be removed in the normal way).
• Using a long screwdriver or a suitable drift, drive the wedge out of the bottom of the header tube. The wedge will be a tight fit at the bottom of the tube and you will need to drive it slowly.
• Secure the bike upside down, say in a Workmate or similar.
• Now you need a socket that is a tight fit to the inside of the bottom of the header tube. The best choice seems to be a 16mm plug socket. A standard (shorter) socket will do but the added length of the plug socket seems to help. If you don’t have metric sockets, 5/8” imperial sockets are good as well.
• Now insert a 150mm (6”) extension bar on to the socket.
• Snug the socket into the bottom of the header tube and allow it to rest on the bottom of the stem. A few goes with penetrating oil on to the bottom of the stem before this will be helpful.
• With the extension bar protruding out of the bottom of the header tube, give the end of the bar some sharp whacks with a standard claw hammer.
• Surprisingly the stem will start to move after a few whacks. As the stem emerges it will drop down at increasing speed. Take care as you get to the end of the stem otherwise you will end up driving the socket into the end of the stem.
• Remove everything and clean up.
• Use a 38mm spanner to remove the headset, clean and grease.
• Reassemble, grease the stem tube before reinserting it. You will probably need a few hammer taps on a wooden block to reinsert the stem.
• Reassemble brake, mudguard and wheel.

Thanks for this, I think I stumbled in it too and it was where I got the tip for the socket from. It looks like I need to persevere with trying to get the wedge out first, although it’s certainly a tight fit at the bottom of the crown. Fun times, right?

In case any of you need a bag https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/353964/newest/

If only I was in London, Tim, I'd have this off you in a second... Hope you're good, mate... 🖤

Thanks Joe. Getting a bit done with London, planning an escape to Canada to bug Nik and Ryan a bit!

That sounds like great fun, give them a kick in the shins from me... 😘

have you got the wedge to move? hit the bolt hard!

Mechanic at work showed me photo's of his friends Brompton - Serial Number 003!

Yes, the wedge comes loose no problem. It’s the stem that’s seized and it’s not made any easier by the wedge not being easily removed from the shaft.

lots of wet lube, then stick a bar in for leverage, friend clamping the front wheel with their feet and pushing down, you turn the bar left and right pulling up

Thanks, will give it a shot.

Love this colour, proper job service. New wheels n all!

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Hello everyone,
I’ve just joined the forum after being an active ‘lurker’ for many years, having picked up many useful tips along the way, so many thanks.

Unable to sleep, I had a quick look at fleabay to see what bonkers prices scrotes are flogging Broms for and spotted a modded Chpt3 S2E-X seemingly identical to one of Ryan’s recent posted jobs.

Re post #9326 from Ryan Hobbs
That Chpt3 S2E-X you modded for a customer with a bunch of Joseph Kuosac parts is currently on eBay under reference 154097476663 and name ‘eastindiatradingco’. The seller even posted your shop photos after their own. Currently at £1,030.00

I sincerely hope that after cv-19 these profiteers get stuck with bikes they can’t flog, but I suppose that’s just wishful thinking?

Regards,
John

Here's a probably fruitless question... I've got a cycle2work voucher coming in and was interested getting a Ti Brompton, and thought a new Chpt 3 would be nice. A few shops I've spoken to have had pre-sold their allocations.

Does anyone know of any shops that may still have some allocation available?

2500 bikes, it seems a lot of shops have broken the embargo and pre sold. We were allowed 4, which are now sold. Literally hundreds of phone calls / emails for the last few months.

Not a lot you can do to stop it, frustrating when you build someone’s “dream” bike and it’s up for sale minutes later.

Oh well... it would've been nice, but it was going to be a never ridden 'investment' that's posted on eBay. Out of interest, do you know what's happening with 'normal' Ti bromptons? No one seems to know when the next batch are coming out.

Brompton have no ti parts.

U wot m8.

Funny that, Chpt3 v.3, season three, part three, chapter three hashtagwhateverthefuckitscalled is ti rear frame and forks.

2500 bikes used the last of their ti stock!

They were out of stock prior to those 2500 (according to Brompton)

The Ti bits are made elsewhere, aren't they? The supply of the lightweight Bromptons has always been pretty intermittent, at least in the last few years.

They were in the process of buying/co-owning a titanium factory in the UK in 2015. I'm guessing it didn't happen in the end?