Brompton owners

Not in overhead locker...unless you've got the cheekiness (and if brazen) to try.

Brompton: 58.5 x 56.5 x 27

Typically, carriers will let you stow a bag up to 55cm tall, 40 cm wide and 20 centimetres deep.

Just replaced the entire drivetrain on my Brompton - the first time I have changed the chainring in 6 years. Oops.
Unsurprisingly one of the chainring bolts had fused/rusted together and had to be drilled out.
I finally managed to sort out an annoying creak on the front end - some water had ingressed into the stem hinge. Some GT85 and moving the hinge open and closed managed to extract a lot of rusty brown liquid. Seems fine for now, though the hinge bolts must need replacing eventually.
Finally I stuck some Joseph Kuosac risers on, they are great fun!

I use a Vincita B132B

(Sometimes with one of these, B206B, for extra padding/luggage capacity)

I pad it out with clothes and a bit of bubble wrap on a couple of the sticking out points. It fits as standard hold luggage for most airlines but you have to be careful with weight.

Never had any damage to the bike although the wheels on the bag did smash once. The airline replaced it and the newer version looks a bit more robust.

Not sure where is stocking them now, you used to be able to get them for a fair bit cheaper than the other options.

Nice, thanks guys. Will look into both. The Ikea one is quite cheap.
I'll probably bring it as checked luggage (as special handling), but will see.

Thanks!

A few tricks, it seems, will do the job:

The Basics:

Remove the seat to fit through the x-ray scanner (easier with a telescoping seat post)
Bromptons will fit in the overhead compartment of most larger planes
For smaller planes, gate check your bike by leaving it with the strollers on the jetway

We’ve now carried the bikes on board many times, on multiple airlines,
within the US and all over the world.

from here: http://www.ourlifeunfolded.com/how-to-take-a-brompton-on-a-plane-as-carry-on-luggage/

Removing the seat should help a lot indeed.

What about this which is on sale over there from you guys?

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/transporting-bicycles/vincita-b131s-transport-bag-for-folding-bike-16/

The main things I'd be concerned about with that are the lack of padding and lack of wheels .

Your success may vary, depending on the airport and the carrier (or if you get a picky flight attendant).

The closest we’ve come to having any trouble was when a security person (neither an airline employee nor TSA – just someone who makes sure you have a boarding pass before getting in the security line) challenged the size of the bikes at SFO. We called over a Delta gate agent and told him that we take the bikes on all the time, and he ushered us through. Confidence helps a lot here.

The Brompton and T-Bag both went right onto the conveyor belt and the x-ray image of the bike looked very cool. A TSA supervisor came by and asked about the Brompton (presumably they don’t see a lot of bikes on the x-rays). When Dmitry told the supervisor that it was a bike, the supervisor asked if this had been cleared with the airline. Dmitry bluffed and said that he did this all the time – which seemed to be good enough for the TSA.

Security attendants/custom officials aside, most airport employees are plucky jobsworths...smiling and being a pleasant individual does fuck all.

It seems to have more padding that the Ikea bag, but lack of wheels could be a PITA

Great, but not really for hold luggage!

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/transporting-bicycles/bw-international-folding-bike-box/

this is the bees...

I much prefer the hard case, such a smart bit of kit.

It's ok, for this trip I can do checked.
Might very well get bot bags as they're cheap.

I looked at the hard case. The issue I had with it was it was very heavy at over 7kg. Along with a Brompton you're looking at going on 20kg which doesn't leave much spare for the rest of your stuff if you're looking at a standard 23kg limit.

If you have free sports gear (increasingly rare), executive club membership so you get two bags or you're happy flying with hand luggage for everything else it shouldn't be an issue but it's something to consider.

Folding case is heavier than the hard case, new padded travel bag is 3.2kg. Thing is, you’ve seen how luggage is stacked - do you really want your Brompton in its side under 500kg of other baggage?

The padded Vincita one I use is about 2.5kg I think and my Brompton has been fine after each trip.

I can see why people would prefer the hard case and in an ideal world that's what I'd have but checking an extra bag would be about £100 per trip (and I don't have space to store it).

Obviously people have different requirements but it needs considering.

Ah yes. The main suspension pivot behind BB.

Can last as little as a few months in the hand of a commuter!

£20 parts, £20 labour. Job done.

Really? That's an untapped upgrade market. Thanks though, good to know. Will check it's not just a loose bolt but from what I heard about drilling the old bolts to replace the pivot.. probably not.

The Bolts are threadlocked in, uncommon yo come loose but can happen’

I’d say the average user goes through a hinge in 1-2 years.

I have seen lots of ideas to change it, but none would be an improvement - more costly, would wear quicker, no real advantage!

Maybe unlucky then, or just over-sensitive to a small amount of play. I modified the catch to remove that loose knock they have there so feeling the hinge play is easier. Will pop a new one in when it gets a bit further along, plenty of good grease and hope. Cheers.

2mm play is the point of replacement

2mm, at the pivot or dropout?

Mine was 2mm about a month after I bought it. 6,000 miles later...

Anyone know if the Schwalbe Marathon Racer can be fitted with no issues? I know in the past there were issues with the Marathon Plus.

TIA