Brompton owners

2spd woes update: I now have a singlespeed Brompton.

Probably needs a link out of the chain, but it might also need a 14t instead of the partially worn 13t stolen from a cassette so I'll hold off before investing.

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Side note, what's the trick for getting the split lockring back onto the freehub? Or is 10 minutes of swearing and a blood sacrifice from your knuckles essential?

Anyone got a T bag for sale? Ideally the second gen.

100 links

put one tail in, thumb on top, pop a tiny flat head under the other and ping over. One handed job!

Grey S4 in stock, with or without guards / roller rack

more photos.. cable routing looks terrible ...

yeah, tolerances / your seat sleeve is probably worn as your ear tabs are no longer parallel!

By ear tabs you mean the part of the frame holding the seat post clamp, where the suspension block meets the frame when unfolded? Ben (Kinetics) fitted a new seat sleeve for me very recently, <3 months ago. Need to double check the suspension block is square, although it's new too. And the suspension block bolt I suppose. Giving it an overhaul and replacing lots of parts.

S4 is a P line?

Yes, p line low bar 4 speed

Are there any replacement BWR 6 speed cogs available that are of better quality than the Sturmey Archer ones?

I love my Brompton but some of the components are utter garbage. So far I’m in need of replacing the chain, cogs and chainring, as well as multiple bolts, washers etc as the stock ones have rusted. All on a bike less than 2,000km from new.

I use SRAM 9 speed sprockets for the larger one, using either a 16 or 17T. Not sure about a 12T tho.

Consider a Joseph Kuosac 100mm mid riser (600mm wide) instead of Brompton one. SJS are UK stockist: https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/handlebars/joseph-kuosac-handlebar-for-bromptons-mid-rise-254mm-clamp-silver/

I’ve been using one on my H6R since 2019 and it gives a better riding position IMO.

I’d read that for an H stem if I kept the bars full width (ie: no trimming) I didn’t need to trim the cables. Well on a test ride after fitting I felt 600 was too wide so I trimmed them to 560mm and didn’t need to trim the cables. Maybe you won’t need to trim the cables if you get the M cables and keep the 600 width.

Excellent insight.

Thank you!

I don’t know what I was so worried about @sbbohr, the non drive side seal popped out easy peasy, complete contrast to the drive side.

Problem now is, the bike runs pretty rough in first and second. Everything is greased up as it should and the chain indicator as as per it should be. As soon as you slot it into third, it runs like a hot knife through butter. Any ideas?

Anyone got a single new style brake caliper (pref. black) going spare that they'd be happy parting with? I've stripped and lubed my old silver caliper but it's still stiff as a board.

Assembly bolt too tight? Had that issue with mine.

Maybe - I did have a play around with that and it didn't seem to help at all. I'll take another look.

I was wearing a headtorch when cleaning the Brompton the other day and accidentally got a good view down the tubes of the triangle when I had the bike upside down. Rust well under way, big orange flakes of it. About 2200km, never left outside, just coming up to a year old.

On a different note, I haven’t been getting on too well with the MKS Compact Ezys and in a bid to rule them out as suspects in some recent knee woe, I have swapped to non-removable, larger flats - Shimano EF202. Now to see how much I miss being able to take the left pedal off.

I vaguely recall the bolt not doing much to eliminate binding, but the loosening the nut v. slightly did, somehow.

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If you do find that you don’t kiss the removable pedals and we’re looking at offloading the MKS’s I’d be interested! What didn’t you like about them? Too small? No grip? Those were my concerns but I’ve never seen a pair in person and it’s a bit of a punt to try having bought new

FWIW I’ve used flats or spds almost exclusively on mine and with the exception of a few times on the train it’s never really been an issue having a pedal sticking out. Just have to be slightly more careful when carrying it up stairs

I've just bought MKS Compact Ezys and really like them!

The combination of very grippy flat shoes, grippy pedals, and small contact area means my foot can’t rotate and I think this might be contributing to some recent knee trouble, hence trying something else out. May well end up going back to the MKS if it turns out I need a removable pedal (although the T-line ones are tempting me).

The Compact Ezy pedal and the adapters are good - perhaps a little narrow for the larger of foot. I did feel the sides of my shoes were hanging off the sides a bit.

On another different note, I have just noticed this minute that my Brompton seems to have an alarming amount of play in the steering.

A few things. The levers are faster to spin than the stock levers. The SpedDial clamps compensate for more hinge wear than the stock clamps. The locknuts limit unwinding the levers at exactly the point to fold the hinges. The reassuringly expensive cost almost always results in a knowing nod between aficionados. The last point is obviously the most important.