Brompton owners

*So... who has the tool to remove the left folding pedal?

*A bit late maybe but I just used a pair of mole-grips.

^ thanks... i gave that a go with a large adjustable wrench with no luck. I'm going to pop into cycle surgery on my way home from work tomorrow and see if they can help.

My brompton kevlar tyre had a bit of a hump on it that's showing signs of failure after 2 years.
Haven't had a puncture in that time, but the hump makes me want to consider alternatives.

Anybody have any experience with other brompton sized puncture resistant tyres ? (Have UTFS).

If you are serious about not getting punctures on a Brompton there's not a huge amount of choice other than the Marathon Plus, I don't think. I've used a pair for a year in central London and, whilst they are a bit squirmy at first, and pretty hefty, I gave up carrying tools and a pump after a few months.

There's barely a mark on them - I've even taken to riding through seas of broken glass like fucking Moses, still nothing...

If you are serious about not getting punctures on a Brompton there's not a huge amount of choice other than the Marathon Plus, I don't think.

Thanks, I'm liking the Moses on a bike idea, but a little apprehensive of the weight. Found a discussion on Flickr that also comes out in favor of the Marathon's. Someone mentions sidewall blow out on the brompton kevlar's which is where mine is heading, I think.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bromptonfolders/discuss/72157605837055681/

You'll have to go for Marathons as Marathon Plus do not fit.

^ (pauses with credit card in hand) How so ? I'm picking up they might be a bit of a faff to fit, but on the face of it they do fit (in Yorkshire at least)

Youtube: How to fit Pluses on a brompton

You'll have to go for Marathons as Marathon Plus do not fit.

wait, wut?

Marathon plus do fit ( i fitted one on my g/f bike a few weeks ago) but it took alot of swearing

I know, i can tell when a mechanic is fitting such tyres in the shop.

It's a big shop.

The best method is to tie some straps very tight around 2 or three parts of the tyre to give you that bit of room to leverage in the final bit

like this guy:

How to fit a Marathon Plus Tyre.mp4 - YouTube

Maybe he means the Pluses will compromise the fold, rather than anything to do with the rims. The fold is imperfect with Marathons as it is.

I'm usually terrible at fitting tyres but didn't find them too bad (no straps required!). I can only assume the fit reference is about the fold - but I fold mine 3 times a day and was blissfully unaware of it until reading this thread! Admittedly I have slightly odd setup but I can't seem to find any reference to the problem elsewhere either... :S

they aint that bad to fit.. i am more annoyed with the process of removing the rear wheel in general
am planning on tinkering with my brompton on sunday - if i can find the appropriate parts in my toolbox that is

after 3 issues in a week with the 'green' tyres. I have had Marathon + on my S2LX for the past month or so.

I haven't yet changed the gearing as per BMMF but I think I will..

2 weeks until my Brompton arrives!

I went with the S type as the M type felt a little noodly, mudguards because Idon’t want spray on my clothes, -7% SS, a telescopic seat and raw lacquer because I’m a tart.

Decided against the Brooks, they’ve never suited my backside and the handle grip thingon the Brompton saddle looks pretty useful.

Grips are the first thing I'll change.

Haven’t selected luggage yet, It’s a bit of a rip off though. Any advice? Has anyone adapted a normal bag to fit into the clip thing?

I have a hardly used S-Bag going cheap if you are interested?

Be warned, the grips are well stuck on and you will need some good cleaner to remove the excess gloop of glue!

2 weeks until my Brompton arrives!

I went with the S type as the M type felt a little noodly, mudguards because Idon’t want spray on my clothes, -7% SS, a telescopic seat and raw lacquer because I’m a tart.

Decided against the Brooks, they’ve never suited my backside and the handle grip thingon the Brompton saddle looks pretty useful.

Grips are the first thing I'll change.

Haven’t selected luggage yet, It’s a bit of a rip off though. Any advice? Has anyone adapted a normal bag to fit into the clip thing?

New Brompton Toolkit

God, that's brilliant. Want.
More here:
http://unfoldandcycle.com/2012/03/19/the-brompton-toolkit/

me too, no release date as yet.
Bloody clever design.

Ooh, nice. Presumably the rubber thingies at the end stop it rattling around.

Excellent design.

Having said that, I wonder if it's possible to find a stem that's big enough to fit this in.

Or even inside seatpost, somehow doubt it will, be here's hoping once we get them in stock at work for me to experiment on.

I went with the S type as the M type felt a little noodly, mudguards because Idon’t want spray on my clothes, -7% SS, a telescopic seat and raw lacquer because I’m a tart.

I'm going to switch to the telescopic seatpost too. Not got around to ordering it yet. I was also looking at putting a smaller rear sprocket to up the gearing. I'm still in two minds about it.

Haven’t selected luggage yet, It’s a bit of a rip off though. Any advice? Has anyone adapted a normal bag to fit into the clip thing?

I have meant to get the front rack attachment and then use an old messenger bag. But to be honest I have just been using my messenger bag as per normal.

Grips are the first thing I'll change.

Be warned, the grips are well stuck on and you will need some good cleaner to remove the excess gloop of glue!

Which grips did you put on to replace the stock ones? I ask because I have minor tear on the right side, whilst I like spongy-ness of the Brompton ones. Was after something more textured like say the Oury grips. Obviously the Oury's won't wrap around.

New Brompton Toolkit

I want one of those toolkits too. I never got a pump with my Brompton was I supposed to?

Yes, it should've been attached on the left side of the rear triangle.

...unless you have the titanium option.

As it turns out I don't need the longer seatpost. I went into Putney Cycles and got re-measured and it turns out I don't need to tweak anything. Perhaps its just my knee being funny again.

The guy in the shop also pointed out my pedal was looking a little loose. Typical really since he mentioned it yesterday I have noted it get looser over the course of a day. Rather than getting the standard pedals I was thinking of getting some touring pedals, the ones with SPD on one side, and a platform on the other side. Is anyone else using such a pedal on their brompton? I was thinking the Shimano PDM324

Any other recommendations or gotchas I need to be aware off?