Brompton owners

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all this this looks so much fun, not sure wether to rep or nerg .. #NEEDbrompton

Anyway, thanks everybody for a great day and thanks John for a superb route!

Such tiny pictures loic! got a link to bigger versions?

looks like a hell of a day out. Next year please!

I would like to make a suggestion for the next ride (as there is obviously going to be one)
http://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/brompton-cemetery

I've ridden through here a number of times, and it was on the 50 fixed ladies ride.

I don't live far from there, and ride through there all the time. Actually that is where I thought we were going on Sunday. Since I thought the 'Brompton Oratory' was the building in the cemetery.

A late response from me. Thanks all for a being such good company on the ride. I really enjoyed it; meeting the justified ancients of LFGSS, new folks and making most of the opportunites to 'raccont' throughout. The pics remind me of the response from the dog walkers in Gunnersbury Park who saw Laner on Brompton in lumberjack shirt and exclaimed 'Cute!'

I believe they were also applauding.

Sturmey Archer 3 speed... thankfully I discovered my puncture at home and not on the road.

What a ball-ache these things are.

If ever there is a reason to get Schwalbe Marathons it is the hell that is changing a puncture on 3-speed Brompton.

Process is basically:
1) Undo gear cable
2) Undo bolt that gear cable runs through
3) Release tensioner
4) Undo bolts on axle
5) Release/Free holding plates (which likely are welded to the frame by grease and dirt)
6) Release wheel

You definitely need a decent pedal spanner for this. And that process in reverse is a fiddly thing (hope you didn't misplace the holding plates).

I'm far too used to just doing:
1) Release QR or bolts on axle
2) Release wheel

Even on the Rohloff that is basically the whole process.

What has been an end-to-end 2-3 minutes to fix a puncture or replace a tyre becomes a 15 minute epic on the Brompton.

Oh, and you really need to have used the lower bolt on the gear cable connector to indicate position of the upper bolt, otherwise your gears are indexed incorrectly when you start riding again.

The more I use a Brompton the more I'm surprised that something so cheaply made actually works as well as it does. It's all about the incredible fold, but everything else is a sub-par experience.

I have marathons on mine and if i ever get a puncture i'll be getting on a bus and sorting it later. I tend to not even carry tools when I ride the brompton.

If it's that much hassle, I'd jump on public transport and then drop it into Evans for them to sort.

The 2 speed is pretty easy, but still enough of a pain to just take it home first.

I'll definitely start carrying the Oyster card all the time now.

It's not just the time, tools and hassle. It's the fact that Bromptons get filthy. There's no chance at all of you fixing a puncture and having relatively clean hands after the event.

Definitely a job for public transport and fix at home or dump at a shop.

David, does that mean you don't have the forum standard issue murtle speedwallet?

gasp

It does, I don't.

I'll definitely start carrying the Oyster card all the time now.

It's not just the time, tools and hassle. It's the fact that Bromptons get filthy. There's no chance at all of you fixing a puncture and having relatively clean hands after the event.

Definitely a job for public transport and fix at home or dump at a shop.

you need latex or similar gloves, really makes roadside maintenance much much cleaner

Marathon at the back + Kojak on the front = constant downhill

Marathon at the back + Kojak on the front = constant downhill

This is what I run.

damn, one chinese guy has a brompton and sometimes i wonder if he belongs to homerton hospital.

Well it finally arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I am finding myself riding it even when I could of ridden the 'non-folding road bike' is that normal? :-)

Angel at Condor was very helpful and patient as he showed and got me to try the 'fold'.
10 minutes later at Charing Cross, on the platform somehow it took me another 10 minutes to get the bag off and folded, Doh.

Disappointed it took so long to arrive as I missed the ^ ride, looks like it was a great time, well done all.

The design is very good indeed, the workmanship is brilliant, some of the parts are a bit pants though...

My only regret, I should of got one ages ago....

Again, many thanks to all for contributions, advice and real life tips in all things Brommie.
If I'm clever enough to come up with a "wow" tip I'll pass it on.

The obligatory pic of course.

^ Nice, I love the raw ones. Welcome to the crew.

I stuck some 3" risers on my M-type; it now matches the bar height of the S-types which I find much, much more fun to ride.

I planned to trim them down but I didn't because wide bars are awesome…

A shot of the SA shifter too (one of the best upgrades on this):

The bars have no real effect on the fold, it just sits a little wider because of the backsweep; definitely something I can live with as they're mad comfortable.

I need to buy another saddle and stick my Brooks on my brompton, they look nice.

Dom where's the shifter from? Will it work with my S2L?

Spotter and I got it for Dom's birthday!

It was from an eBay shop, I can find the link if you want. I'll find out if it will work now.

Here you go: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sturmey-Archer-3-Speed-Gear-Shifter-bar-or-downtube-fit-/221221090272?pt=UK_sportsleisure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item3381cdf3e0

Pretty sure it won't work, though!

Ah it's for hub gears so that's a no then. Shame, it looks much nicer than my stock shifter. Thanks for looking for it anyway!

Sturmey Archer 3 speed... thankfully I discovered my puncture at home and not on the road.

What a ball-ache these things are.

If ever there is a reason to get Schwalbe Marathons it is the hell that is changing a puncture on 3-speed Brompton.

Process is basically:
1) Undo gear cable
2) Undo bolt that gear cable runs through
3) Release tensioner
4) Undo bolts on axle
5) Release/Free holding plates (which likely are welded to the frame by grease and dirt)
6) Release wheel

You definitely need a decent pedal spanner for this. And that process in reverse is a fiddly thing (hope you didn't misplace the holding plates).

I'm far too used to just doing:
1) Release QR or bolts on axle
2) Release wheel

Even on the Rohloff that is basically the whole process.

What has been an end-to-end 2-3 minutes to fix a puncture or replace a tyre becomes a 15 minute epic on the Brompton.

Oh, and you really need to have used the lower bolt on the gear cable connector to indicate position of the upper bolt, otherwise your gears are indexed incorrectly when you start riding again.

The more I use a Brompton the more I'm surprised that something so cheaply made actually works as well as it does. It's all about the incredible fold, but everything else is a sub-par experience.

Don't forget to cable tie the folding rear triangle to the seat tube before installing a Brompton in a cycle stand ! at the LBS that I worked at all Bromptons were dealt with this way (and before doing bunny hops up and down the shop floor)...most Brompton owners were unable to go through the complex engineering required to fix a puncture on their machines.