Brompton owners

How much weight does 6 to 3 sp conversion save?

To keep the sturmey hub, about 100g I think. Vs something like 700g for converting to 2spd

That would undoubtedly be cheaper. But I was hoping to nab a 2 speed wheel from eBay for about 50 quid and that should be all it costs me unless I'm missing anything.
I'm also going to swap saddle and cranks so I quite like the idea of dropping a kilo in one fell swoop.

Admittedly not much as the majority of the weight remains in the BWR hub. Shifter, cable, sprocket and chain pusher. 200g at a guess?

Fair play. Not gonna beat that in terms of bang for your buck

OK thanks for the info. @PhilDAS would single speed work for ultimate weight weenie?

Yeah. @umop3pisdn rode his single speed. I find that gears on the little wheels have a narrower window of cadence. I'm not sure if that's true or just feels it. A gear that feels alright for setting off at the lights spins out quickly and a taller gear is much harder to set off in

If you are going for weight nonsense, then yes, but then you could go to carbon wheels territory

(fine if you live in Singapore and want to show off, not fine if you are in Blighty, and want to use it a lot or brake...ask Hoke...)

2 or 3 speed, external, will be the optimum for carrying and hopefully you can select the 3 sprockets that give you enough range for general use. The Sturmey Hub is bullet-proof, but boy is it heavy and I find I only use 2 of the 3 gears anyway.

SS was fine, better than I expected. Two speed would be ideal but the derailleur is shit, gets gunked up so quick which is very frustrating. Barely heavier than ss.

Hmmm got me thinking about switching my 6sp to a 2 or three now.

2sp user here, recently pretty heavily, commuting out to west london twice a week and generally using it as my everyday bike.
No issues apart from a bit of stickiness with the change from one gear to another, which is just a few seconds of waiting as you pedal for gear to swap over.
It’s a town bike so I’m never really smashing it around apart from when I’m running late for something or have that joyous “day is over and my legs are feeling frisky” feeling and I’m pushing a pace through traffic for fun.
Always had a 2spd so can’t comment on the weight difference, but I’ve never yearned for an extra gear or two or three, whilst riding it.
I live in zone 2 london so ymmv

commuting out to west london twice a week and generally using it as my everyday bike.

this guy knows!

For what’s it’s worth the 2 speed in flat London is perfect, and even around the outskirts as it’s very doable (even dad-bods can do it).

Granted as everyone as the 2 speed is external and in very horrible conditions the derailleur does stop working to do crap on the roads. But a little wash after the ride it will be good as new.

With a 2 speed I would recommend to up the 50T chainring to 54T, you’ll appreciate this when your on the flat and not spinning out.

Biggest sensible cost saving weight saying if you want to go down that route would be saddle, seatpost, pedals and tyres. I wouldn’t bother with cranks as stock is pretty decent unless you want shorter cranks.

You’ll defiantly notice the difference once you change these parts and it does make it a little rocket ship at the lights.

With a 2 speed I would recommend to up the 50T chainring to 54T, you’ll appreciate this when your on the flat and not spinning out.

Not possible for me. As I mentioned above, I have some decent hills on my commute and currently I use 3rd gear but tbh it's not cruising, that's pushing the pedals a fair bit. Increasing the chainring size would make it useless for half of my commute.

You’re more than welcome to try out mine for a week (obviously we will swap the seatpost over) if you want to get a feeling if you can ride that ratio with a 54T.

Another 2speed user but less frequent as don’t commute much, I do however ride it with a fully (over) loaded bag most of the time, It’s a work out but have ridden up and down the chines on the Isle of Wight as well as out in the Kent countryside when visiting family.
Only time I wish I had a 3 speed or more is at the end of a long day with a full bag into a headwind up to the top of Crystal Palace. Without a full bag it’s not something that bothers me.

I have had 6 and 2 in the past and now have 3 (internal).

3 is the best of all worlds IMO.

I'm a long-term 2 speed user, having used it to commute for the past seven years. The derailleur problem mentioned above isn't an issue if you keep it clean, but the shifter I have, which is the previous iteration I believe, is crap and stops shifting every now and again.

I use a 50t chainring, and find that perfect for most riding I do on the Brompton, as you have a good gear for getting away from lights and then a decent one for cruising speed. I don't regularly ride longer hills, but when I have, the bottom gear is fine unless it gets really steep, i.e. greater than ten per cent.

This thread is a shit centrist dads say gold mine.

@PhilDAS has become a dad?! Congratulations if so!

Where is this thread and why didn't I know about it previously?

Cat dad only. Currently.

My 2 cents, I live at the top of a hill in Bristol and I had a 2spd for ages, I had it set up with 50t and the 13/16 cogs from a 6 speed set up, found it perfectly enjoyable everywhere, but I am an coast downhill person(fat) and absolutely never a pedal down hill person.

I sold it and then got a 6 speed for a while and honestly I just found it all a bit annoying, definitely in my head but I felt like I could really feel the weight, didn’t feel as fun.

If I was getting another one I would be going for a P-Line 4 speed

My T-Line ahead a bit of a glow up. Next step is some carbon rims.

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That looks more CHPT3 than the CHPT3 does. Love it!