berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
No wonder - this will only work with the older blocks until 2007, not with the "middle-aged" generation you had.
Saw my first Birdy!
- Thread starter Time Waster
- Start date
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ExBrit
Über Member
- Location
- Southern California
What's a jubilee clip? Is it what an American would call a hose clamp? I'm flying to England today so I thought I should brush up on the local vocabulary.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
Yup. I learned the word and I am German - now you learned it, too.
In German we call it "Schlauchschelle" (and, being Germans, of course a couple of other, more precise words, depending from the exact item). 
My experience: OEM suspension block on my 20221 Brompton provided no suspension I could feel. Suspension block was too stiff for my taste and I’m about 100kg.
I researched many options and decided to opt for Matsumura-Kohki Scrowave Suspension. It provided noticeably better suspension on small road imperfections which is what I was looking for. I also changed my seatpost to Titanium one which also provides flex and adds to rear suspension.
Kell
Veteran
- Location
- High Wycombe/London
No wonder - this will only work with the older blocks until 2007, not with the "middle-aged" generation you had.
I was just told about it by a bloke on the train.
So not surprising it didn't work out for me then.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
Surely. And the other way round as well. Both have their individual up- and downsides. What fits best depends from personal taste and needs. Despite both being small wheeled folders they have vastly different characteristics.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
That's the second Brommi with a Birdy fork that I saw. The first one was years ago on flickr. The most relevant problem is probably the height of the bottom bracket - dramatically higher than standard and as I would assume pretty uncomfortable in practice, especially in city traffic. This is a result of the rear damper being about double the length of the factory standard and this again is a result of the Birdy fork being higher than the Brompton fork. Was the same on the other build I saw.
The fold works but is not overly impressive. Note, that on the Birdy the fork itself gets folded (resulting in dirty fingers after the fold) whereas here the fork stays as it is and the main frame gets folded.
I suspect that the suspension on the front works well but have my doubts about the rear. Possibly with the Birdy fork you now have the twitchy Birdy steering on the Brompton, defintively you have the maintenance cost of the Birdy fork (look into to the maintenance plan in the Birdy manual).
Personally I would not go down that route. If you want more comfort on the Brompton front I'd recommend using the Greenspeed Scorcher - a surprisingly dramatic effect - or Velospring grips.
The pictured bike is btw. an early ti-Brommi (~2005-2009). The change from a light ti-fork to a relatively heavy Birdy fork is a bit surprising.
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
I worte at the time about the first mod in the former Bromptonauten Forum and called the thread "Birton - a Brompton Bastard".
