As need not be picked over yet again, my commute's driving me insane so I've been looking at alternatives. The only viable option appears to be to get as close as I can to the city in the car then do the rest of the journey on a folding bike; and last Friday I got my hands on this:
A Brompton has only really been on my radar in the past month and before this I knew very little about them. Thanks now to the knowledgable folk on the forum I've hopefully learned a enough to make a relatively informed decision
This example is a C-Line Explore black edition in black lacquer, made in December 2021. The C-Line is the mid-higher end of the steel lineup with "Explore" denoting six gears.
The black edition differs in that all the components and finishing kit are in black as opposed to silver; evidently a popular choice as Brompton have recently made this colour scheme standard on all C-lines. Likewise the black lacquer finish was also a special edition, but is now a standard colour - albeit at a premium over the solid powder-coats.
The bike was had for resonable if not stellar money, is presentable but not without its faults - some of which I've sorted during a hectic weekend-just-gone; some remain to be addressed. Below are some more pics of the bike as well as a bit of a meander through my thoughts to date... for what they're worth.
I hope this thread might be of interest to anyone else who might be B-curious
The bar / stem combination is "medium" - the "short" being straight with no rise and the "high" potentially having a longer stem and / or a greater rise on the bars themselves.
Another relatively recent feature is the integrated controls - with the stubby brake levers, gear shifters and bell all amalgamated into a single unit each side, with provision for fine cable adjustment where needed. This is clean, tidy and it seems better ergonomically than the previous iteration where the shifters were mounted separately on top of the bars.
These assembles are a combination of alloy castings and injection molded plastic; feeling solid and decent quality like most of the rest of the bike.
Finely textured soft rubber grips live up to their name. The LH gear shifter contols the two-speed, less-than-conventional derailleur with a handy display to remind you where you are. Operation is light, slick and positive.
The right shifter operates the three-speed Sturmey-Archer "Brompton Wide Range" hub; again with numbers as an aide-memoire. The bell isn't enormously loud but has a nice tone and long sustain. The anvil can be reached easily enough with a finger, although isn't 100% reliable in use and feels a little cheap.
Given the bike's folding nature cabling is a challenge, with plenty of rub-spots. I've added some electrical tape in various places to protect the finish; including on the stem:
The stem folds at its base at a carefully-intentional-non-square angle; a plastic knob along its length snapping into the steel-sprung plastic latch on the RHS top of the fork.
The head tube has Brompton's plastic mount attached; which will take one of any number of accessories. These are standard on current models and I believe retro-compatable with older ones. Again this feels like good quality plastic (perhaps something glass-filled..?); the only thing I'm not keen on is the live hinge for the latch - although in practice this is probably perfectly fit for purpose.
Brakes calipers are duel-pivot (again a feature of newer models for a a good few years). Braking is positive, predictable and perfectly adiquate; of not outright powerful. My only complaint is that there's no quick-release cam on the cable clamp to allow the wheel to be removed without depressurising the tyre or unclamping the cable.
Mudguards are of plastic / ally sandwich construction as slightly unfortunately illustrated by the unfinished leading edge..
The front wheel is laced radially (i.e. with no crossed spokes and all inserted into the hub from the outside). The plastic hook on the LHS of the mudguard mount is what engages the rear triangle when the bike is folded to keep it all together. The hub is held on with two plain nuts,finished with hard rubber caps - these look nice but I found were a pain to get off..
Sadly the front mudguard is cracked along its length (just visible to the right of the bracket) - not surprising considering that it will get smacked by the rear wheel as it folds if the steering's pointing dead forward. I've glued this (badly) but will probably have to replace it eventually.
The mudguard stays are evidently a bit off-centre too (perhaps as a result of the same event) and could do with tweaking over a bit further - it appears that one side has been rubbing the tyre in the past.
The mudflap is pretty insubstantial but looks like it gives good coverage - I guess it's only a matter of time before I find out.
The main hinge near the front of the bike that allows the stem assy to fold back on the rest of the bike. All very substantial and locks together with zero play.
The clamp is retained by a bolt with a plastic thumb lever and while this does the job, IMO it lacks refinement as there is no spring to preload the clamp so that it automatically follows the bolt when it's backed out; while it can also spin freely around the bolt. Not a huge issue when breaking the bike down, but means it's often not in the right place when you want to re-construct the bike - making the process more fiddly and a risk of cosmetic damage if you're not paying attention.. I think there are superior aftermarket options for this; which will doubtless be investigated.
I'd applied more PVC tape at other rub spots, as well as some PU tubing cut along its length to protect the insides of the cable retainers.
(ctd in next post)
A Brompton has only really been on my radar in the past month and before this I knew very little about them. Thanks now to the knowledgable folk on the forum I've hopefully learned a enough to make a relatively informed decision
This example is a C-Line Explore black edition in black lacquer, made in December 2021. The C-Line is the mid-higher end of the steel lineup with "Explore" denoting six gears.
The black edition differs in that all the components and finishing kit are in black as opposed to silver; evidently a popular choice as Brompton have recently made this colour scheme standard on all C-lines. Likewise the black lacquer finish was also a special edition, but is now a standard colour - albeit at a premium over the solid powder-coats.
The bike was had for resonable if not stellar money, is presentable but not without its faults - some of which I've sorted during a hectic weekend-just-gone; some remain to be addressed. Below are some more pics of the bike as well as a bit of a meander through my thoughts to date... for what they're worth.
I hope this thread might be of interest to anyone else who might be B-curious
The bar / stem combination is "medium" - the "short" being straight with no rise and the "high" potentially having a longer stem and / or a greater rise on the bars themselves.
Another relatively recent feature is the integrated controls - with the stubby brake levers, gear shifters and bell all amalgamated into a single unit each side, with provision for fine cable adjustment where needed. This is clean, tidy and it seems better ergonomically than the previous iteration where the shifters were mounted separately on top of the bars.
These assembles are a combination of alloy castings and injection molded plastic; feeling solid and decent quality like most of the rest of the bike.
Finely textured soft rubber grips live up to their name. The LH gear shifter contols the two-speed, less-than-conventional derailleur with a handy display to remind you where you are. Operation is light, slick and positive.
The right shifter operates the three-speed Sturmey-Archer "Brompton Wide Range" hub; again with numbers as an aide-memoire. The bell isn't enormously loud but has a nice tone and long sustain. The anvil can be reached easily enough with a finger, although isn't 100% reliable in use and feels a little cheap.
Given the bike's folding nature cabling is a challenge, with plenty of rub-spots. I've added some electrical tape in various places to protect the finish; including on the stem:
The stem folds at its base at a carefully-intentional-non-square angle; a plastic knob along its length snapping into the steel-sprung plastic latch on the RHS top of the fork.
The head tube has Brompton's plastic mount attached; which will take one of any number of accessories. These are standard on current models and I believe retro-compatable with older ones. Again this feels like good quality plastic (perhaps something glass-filled..?); the only thing I'm not keen on is the live hinge for the latch - although in practice this is probably perfectly fit for purpose.
Brakes calipers are duel-pivot (again a feature of newer models for a a good few years). Braking is positive, predictable and perfectly adiquate; of not outright powerful. My only complaint is that there's no quick-release cam on the cable clamp to allow the wheel to be removed without depressurising the tyre or unclamping the cable.
Mudguards are of plastic / ally sandwich construction as slightly unfortunately illustrated by the unfinished leading edge..
The front wheel is laced radially (i.e. with no crossed spokes and all inserted into the hub from the outside). The plastic hook on the LHS of the mudguard mount is what engages the rear triangle when the bike is folded to keep it all together. The hub is held on with two plain nuts,finished with hard rubber caps - these look nice but I found were a pain to get off..
Sadly the front mudguard is cracked along its length (just visible to the right of the bracket) - not surprising considering that it will get smacked by the rear wheel as it folds if the steering's pointing dead forward. I've glued this (badly) but will probably have to replace it eventually.
The mudguard stays are evidently a bit off-centre too (perhaps as a result of the same event) and could do with tweaking over a bit further - it appears that one side has been rubbing the tyre in the past.
The mudflap is pretty insubstantial but looks like it gives good coverage - I guess it's only a matter of time before I find out.
The main hinge near the front of the bike that allows the stem assy to fold back on the rest of the bike. All very substantial and locks together with zero play.
The clamp is retained by a bolt with a plastic thumb lever and while this does the job, IMO it lacks refinement as there is no spring to preload the clamp so that it automatically follows the bolt when it's backed out; while it can also spin freely around the bolt. Not a huge issue when breaking the bike down, but means it's often not in the right place when you want to re-construct the bike - making the process more fiddly and a risk of cosmetic damage if you're not paying attention.. I think there are superior aftermarket options for this; which will doubtless be investigated.
I'd applied more PVC tape at other rub spots, as well as some PU tubing cut along its length to protect the insides of the cable retainers.
(ctd in next post)
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) and it seems like an enormous oversight that there's not some frame protection here as standard.
