Just bought a Brompton, what do I need to know?

[PaulF]

impulse purchase, a virtually unused M3L.


Can just about fold and unfold it but that's all 


What should I be aware of?

[LEE]

Me trying to be clever...

Double Fold

If it's got the luggage block on the stem then you have an exciting world of bags to choose from. 
One of the best features of a Brompton is how well it carries weight in a front-mounted bag (the genius being that the weight isn't attached to your steering and therefore has little effect on it).

[PaulF]

Thanks, that actually helped more than the manual!

[Kim]

Off the top of my head:

Brompton front luggage is made of win.

The pump performs like a mini-pump, but is decent enough (and can do Presta if you rotate the thingy).  It benefits from a velcro strap to prevent escapes, apparently.  A 16g CO₂ cartridge will get you to the right pressure.

Practice removing and refitting the rear wheel in the comfort of your own home.

Over-tightening the seatpost clamp is *bad*.  If it slips, first clean the post thoroughly with alcohol.

The saddle clamp thinger can be fitted the other way up to lose/gain a couple of centimetres of height.

The suspension block bolt is a common source of squeakage, which can be cured with grease.

Handling is very odd with the main frame hinge un-clamped.

If it's a recent model, rotating the suspension block (by hand) will disable the latch that keeps the rear triangle from folding under.  This may or may not be desirable, depending on the stairs to folds to speedbumps ratio of your journey.

If you don't have the firm suspension block, you probably want one.

SPDs are best achieved with one of the quick-release pedal systems.

Cable lengths on a Brompton are critical (to within a few millimetres).

They're surprisingly inefficient to ride, but good fun for gentle pootling and quite nippy in urban traffic.

Avoid cattle grids.

[hellymedic]

The saddle post locks the folding mechanism so it should go up first when unfolding and down last when folding.
Get the pedals in the 'ten past eight' position before folding.
Always face handlebars forwards.

A folded Brompton is quite a heavy lump.

[Bledlow]

Practice removing and refitting the rear wheel in the comfort of your own home.

Remove all sharp objects & potentially lethal pharmaceuticals to an inaccessible place first, lest you be tempted to end it all.

[peliroja]

People will ask you about your bike. A lot. Especially old ladies on trains.

But perhaps that's just in the north. Or just me.

[Kim]

People will ask you about your bike. A lot. Especially old ladies on trains.

But perhaps that's just in the north. Or just me.

Happened to me two weeks ago, only in the north by Londoner standards^[1].  For bonus points, the old lady on the train was blind^[2].

I once got a round of applause from a co-op queue of a certain age as I converted the Brommie from shopping trolley mode to bike mode outside the window.


_{[1] Somewhere in the vicinity of Burton-on-Trent, so Midlands by any reasonable measure.
[2] This explains her follow-up question of "Are you a professional cyclist?", but I'm still impressed with her opening line of "Is it a Moulton?" as I offered to move it to better tetris her wheelchair.}

[LEE]

As per Kim's comments I fitted the firm suspension block.  It's the best £10 you'll spend on a Brommie, it transforms it into a bike.

I geared mine up a bit with a bigger chainring.  I think standard gearing on the 3 speed is designed for non-cyclists and it spins out very quickly.  I think I'll fit some Ergon grips at some point.

All in all though I think it's a wonderful thing that's impossible to ride past a coffee-shop without stopping.

Luggage-wise I think that everyone NEEDS a Mini-O bag.  There are countless bags available now but the Mini-O is like the Carradice Barley of Brompton bags.  It's just the right size for most trips.  You can cram most of the stuff you really need in without having a huge air-brake on the front.

I also have the O-Bag which I bought to carry a Laptop but which I discovered accommodates a few bottles of wine as well!!

As Kim says, they aren't the most efficient of bikes, but the firm block, hard tyres and good gearing help a lot.  It sure beats walking or (God Help Us!) running. 
I know someone who did PBP on one and that's almost 800 miles in 4 days, so don't write them off totally.  I'd attempt a 200k on one as a challenge i think.

Here's the Mini-O bag (Wallet, keys, camera, phone, tools & even a lightweight waterproof)


Kim's most important point.... Don't wait until you are on a dark and rainy lane to figure out how to get the rear wheel out.  It's not difficult once you know how but I can almost guarantee you'll wish you'd have practised it in daylight first.

>>>>>>> Removing Brommie rear Wheel

[Arellcat]

A folded Brompton is quite a heavy lump.

Once folded, all folding bikes double in weight.

Also, fit at least one pair of Eazywheels, so that you can roll the folded bike along in preference to carrying it.

[Paul]

Make sure you have the fold down pat before trying it in public: some people are just waiting for you to fail.

(See 'clipless moments')

And chatting. As Peli says - people want to talk about them. Which I always enjoy.

[Jurek]

^
I collected mine on a Saturday morning, and went straight to the cafe where I regularly have breakfast on a Saturday.
There followed more than 5 but less than 10 minutes of mechanical ineptness on my part as I struggled to fold it.
I entered the cafe to a round of applause and Queen's 'Bicycle' playing loudly on the stereo........

[peliroja]

Make sure you have the fold down pat before trying it in public: some people are just waiting for you to fail.

(See 'clipless moments')

And chatting. As Peli says - people want to talk about them. Which I always enjoy.

That reminds me. While cycling to my train once I  was raced down to Leeds station by a lady on another Brompton. She then ran after me towards my train. Turned out she wanted me to show her how to fold it! She'd just hired it from the university bike hub. 

[PaulF]

Thanks for all the tips!

That reminds me. While cycling to my train once I  was raced down to Leeds station by a lady on another Brompton. She then ran after me towards my train. Turned out she wanted me to show her how to fold it! She'd just hired it from the university bike hub. 

After I picked mine up yesterday I had to carry it semi-folded round Waitrose on the way to the car. Got a couple of odd looks!

[Ian H]

Has anyone mentioned that thieves like them?

[Si]

My observations on getting one last year:

- what everyone else says above
- if you find your heels hit the ickle wheels at the front of the rack then mount the wheels the other way around or swap to narrower after market wheels
- if you have the original shaped handle bar think about fitting a brace if you are a heavy lump of an out the saddle rider on hills.
- save money - bodge your old front bag on the excellent bag frame - see my other thread.
- if you own another folder, getting the pedals in the right position for the fold can drive you mad if they differ between the two bikes, thus I always fold the pedal last.
- people will talk to you about it!  People on the train keep trying to figure it out and are delighted if you demonstrate the fold to them.  Yoofs are transfixed but always look away and try to retain their detached coolness if you catch them staring at it.   
- if you own another folder you may find yourself asking why they didn't use QR latches rather than the spinny jobs.
- invest in some plastic conduit to make a saddle height setter.
- start building up those thumb muscles so that you are ready to take on the fitting of the marathon tire ;-)

[Kim]

Has anyone mentioned that thieves like them?

That's a fair point, but it's balanced by the fact than in normal conditions you shouldn't have to lock them up outside.

[Kim]

- if you own another folder you may find yourself asking why they didn't use QR latches rather than the spinny jobs.

The spinny jobs can be vastly improved by the addition of a compression spring and a bit of margarine tub to stop them twiddling.  (There's also an expensive titanium product that achieves the same effect.)  With this modification, I reckon they're preferable to QRs, which need rather a lot of force for this sort of application.

- invest in some plastic conduit to make a saddle height setter.

I think there's now an official product for this.

I'm lucky in that (when using SPDs) my correct saddle height can be achieved with the seatpost at full extension and some length taken up by the saddle clamp.  I have to drop it a little for flats.

[hellymedic]

^
I collected mine on a Saturday morning, and went straight to the cafe where I regularly have breakfast on a Saturday.
There followed more than 5 but less than 10 minutes of mechanical ineptness on my part as I struggled to fold it.
I entered the cafe to a round of applause and Queen's 'Bicycle' playing loudly on the stereo........

Partner has demonstrated ineptitude whilst boarding trains.

Not recommended!

[hellymedic]

I did The Gridiron on a Brompton and went over all the cattle grids. Just keep both hands on the handlebars and don't turn...

[Kim]

I did The Gridiron on a Brompton and went over all the cattle grids. Just keep both hands on the handlebars and don't turn...

I did the Sustrans lead ride to Somewhere Other Than Naburn from the York Rally last year on mine.  This started off with some steps (barakta and I took the level access road route and re-grouped at the Millenium Bridge) and then followed the cattle-grid-infested riverside cycle path to the north of the city (which I'd previously ridden in January, on 700c Marathon Winters, and thought not too bad), before taking to some pleasant lanes.

Which is how I came to spend that afternoon wandering around the various stands asking if any of the exhibitors happend to have a headset spanner.  Eventually a BFO adjustable was procured, and sufficient tightness achieved for the traditional VeloVision Wacky Races pootle to Clarion's Local.  (I adjusted it properly with my headset spanner when I got home.)

[Jurek]

^
I collected mine on a Saturday morning, and went straight to the cafe where I regularly have breakfast on a Saturday.
There followed more than 5 but less than 10 minutes of mechanical ineptness on my part as I struggled to fold it.
I entered the cafe to a round of applause and Queen's 'Bicycle' playing loudly on the stereo........

Partner has demonstrated ineptitude whilst boarding trains.

Not recommended!

Ever since I first saw it, I have been practicing the Lee Manoeuvre.
I now have it to a point where I can alight from a train with a scrunched up Brommie, and have it unfolded, and being wheeled across the platform (for the unbridled delight of my former fellow train passengers) before their train has departed. 

[quixoticgeek]

What should I be aware of?

Rubber side down. Don't forget to use the brakes when you want to stop...

J

[PaulF]

OK just managed a test ride as I was at work yesterday. Handles really well, was expecting it to be a bit twitchy but not. And I've mastered the fold unfold a little more problematic but I'll get there.

Now the first real question; gear adjustment. In the top (hardest) gear the cable is very slack, to the point of rattling. Gears change fine but all sound as if they want to change - a bit like a derailleur with bad cable tension. Should I take the slack out of teh cable with the adjuster? It's teh best part of 40 years since I had a Sturmey Archer hub...

[LittleWheelsandBig]

The hub gear cable tension is adjusted in gear 2 only. The Brompton gear lever pulls more cable than is required to reach gears 1 and 3. Sometimes that means a bit of rattle in gear 3. Check that the cable adjustment is correct for gear 2 and then don't worry about it.

https://brompton.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/203295411-How-do-I-adjust-the-3-speed-gear-hub-