2021 Brompton C-Line Explore

[wafter]

Creaking from the front end has been increasingly a feature on recent rides, and today I actually remembered to do something about it when off the bike.

Once home - aided by AC/DC, Asahi and a hairdryer - I sweated some Dr. Wafter's patent paste wax into the stem / handlebar joint; working it in by rotating the bars in the clamp once the bolt had been slackened off.

I also added a smear of wax to the mating faces of the hinged sections at the frame and stem, as well as bleeding a bit of oil into the hinge joints in these areas.

A quick creak-free thrash round the village suggested that my efforts had been successful; I guess time will tell

 

[wafter]

Noticed some waggle in the headset today; using the usual method of attempting to shunt the bars back and forward with the front brake applied and looking out for rattling / slop.

Once home I slackened off the locking nut, nipped up the top headset cup and wound the locking nut back down. Not sure if the slop was from legit wear or the locking nut loosening because I did a crap job last time. I only have one 36mm cone spanner so can't tighten the nut down hard while restraining the top cup; although that might not be a bad thing...

Satisfyingly all this was achieved without any cosmetic damage to the somewhat fragile edges of the black-finished parts, as care was taken and the cone spanner separated from the parts on the bike by a thin strip of ally shim cut from a beverage container...

 

[a.twiddler]

A lot of unexpected movement can be traced to the rear triangle clip set up as there is quite a bit slack in it. I soon learned that this is normal for Bromptons. I have several times thought that my headset has loosened when pushing it then applying the back brake. Usually when I start using it after a spell of using my other bikes. Pushing it then applying the front brake soon reassures me that all is well.

An actual bit of wear has existed in the rear triangle hinge since I bought it though a small amount of play seems to be considered acceptable. After all, it was bought used, with an unknown history. It's not something that was noticeable when riding. More recently though I've been thinking that for peace of mind, I'd like to get it done, as though my Brompton isn't immaculate, it's nice to know that all the mechanical parts are sound.

As I was looking at a non-Brompton folder in a branch of Halfords I brought the subject up with a chap from the workshop. He was quite down to earth. He said that none of their customers had needed to get their rear hinge done yet. He admitted that it was quite possible that it was because they'd not been a Brompton dealer for long enough for there to be a demand for it. ie, none of their customers had worn one out yet. The specialised reamer that Brompton recommends wasn't something that was part of their tool kit, in this one or any other of their 400 stores.
I said that I thought that was a rather circular argument, if you couldn't do the job then you wouldn't get customers asking you to do it. He said that was their position at the moment, it could change in the future.

After looking into it on line and looking for the specific tool the best I could find was on Amazon for £50 or so. The parts kit seems easily available for £24.00. Normally I would have a go at something like this myself but in this case I'd rather leave it in the hands of someone who'd done a few previously. After ringing round I realised that I was living in a bit of a Brompton dealership desert but eventually got a response from The Bike Factory, Chester. (I have no connection with this company. I just include it here in case someone else in the area is in the same situation). Booked in about a week in advance, done the same day. Cost, £47.00 which seems reasonable to me. I asked if they got many of these rear hinge jobs in. The reply was that they came in batches, they might have nothing for months, then several in a short time.

Interesting to see their stock of Bromptons, including the 12 speeder. Ooo! shiny bikes! Must. Resist. Temptation. Readers will have realised by this point that I obviously don't get out much, certainly to bike dealerships, anyway.

 

[Kell]

I took mine back to where I got it after a couple of years as I thought the rear triangle was excessively loose.

The response I got was pretty much "they all do that sir, and it's not the worst I've seen."

I just wanted to ensure it wasn't going to suddenly go as part of my commute is a 40+ mph downhill. They were almost dismissive. But they were also right. it's not got any worse over the intervening 6 years.

 

[wafter]

A lot of unexpected movement can be traced to the rear triangle clip set up as there is quite a bit slack in it. I soon learned that this is normal for Bromptons. I have several times thought that my headset has loosened when pushing it then applying the back brake. Usually when I start using it after a spell of using my other bikes. Pushing it then applying the front brake soon reassures me that all is well.

An actual bit of wear has existed in the rear triangle hinge since I bought it though a small amount of play seems to be considered acceptable. After all, it was bought used, with an unknown history. It's not something that was noticeable when riding. More recently though I've been thinking that for peace of mind, I'd like to get it done, as though my Brompton isn't immaculate, it's nice to know that all the mechanical parts are sound.

As I was looking at a non-Brompton folder in a branch of Halfords I brought the subject up with a chap from the workshop. He was quite down to earth. He said that none of their customers had needed to get their rear hinge done yet. He admitted that it was quite possible that it was because they'd not been a Brompton dealer for long enough for there to be a demand for it. ie, none of their customers had worn one out yet. The specialised reamer that Brompton recommends wasn't something that was part of their tool kit, in this one or any other of their 400 stores.
I said that I thought that was a rather circular argument, if you couldn't do the job then you wouldn't get customers asking you to do it. He said that was their position at the moment, it could change in the future.

After looking into it on line and looking for the specific tool the best I could find was on Amazon for £50 or so. The parts kit seems easily available for £24.00. Normally I would have a go at something like this myself but in this case I'd rather leave it in the hands of someone who'd done a few previously. After ringing round I realised that I was living in a bit of a Brompton dealership desert but eventually got a response from The Bike Factory, Chester. (I have no connection with this company. I just include it here in case someone else in the area is in the same situation). Booked in about a week in advance, done the same day. Cost, £47.00 which seems reasonable to me. I asked if they got many of these rear hinge jobs in. The reply was that they came in batches, they might have nothing for months, then several in a short time.

Interesting to see their stock of Bromptons, including the 12 speeder. Ooo! shiny bikes! Must. Resist. Temptation. Readers will have realised by this point that I obviously don't get out much, certainly to bike dealerships, anyway.

Yes; if testing the headset as one would with a "normal" bike you have to be mindful of the noise and movement from the back end; which is irrelevant if perhaps un-nerving! This can be avoided by lifting the back slightly while you do the test.

Good work with the hinge; tbh this sort of stuff worries me as I don't trust anyone to work on my gear and tend to just buy the tools to do the job myself... however, this and the hinge pins might be a bridge too far and I'm dreading the day they need attention..

I took mine back to where I got it after a couple of years as I thought the rear triangle was excessively loose.

The response I got was pretty much "they all do that sir, and it's not the worst I've seen."

I just wanted to ensure it wasn't going to suddenly go as part of my commute is a 40+ mph downhill. They were almost dismissive. But they were also right. it's not got any worse over the intervening 6 years.

Indeed; it's just slop in the latch assy. You could tighten it up, but eventually you'd get to the point where it made the latch operation unreliable.. while perhaps a bit irritating it's not indicitive of a problem and is probably best viewed as the application of Kalashnikov's attitude to tolerancing - i.e. if it's not important, make it huge


Today's little impulsive distraction was the stem. Having applied wax to various potentially creaky areas recently with apparant success, life has once more been blighted by noise from the front end under power. Aware that the bike's seen nearly a year's worth of service in all weathers with zero inspection in this area, I pulled the stem using the usual approach applied to the B's unusual format.

Bike folded, stem bolt slackened a turn, twatted with a hammer via a brass punch inserted into the bolt's hex to free off the wedge, then the whole assy withdrawn from the fork.

Thankfully nowt to see here; the whole assy being free from obvious wear, corrosion and contamination (largely, some grit on the lower face nothwithstanding) and covered in a decent coating of fairly sticky yellow grease.

After a bit of research I learned that this setup is the current stem format, changing from the earlier "expander cone" arrangement to this wedge-based ensemble in 2019.

As such the stem itself appears different; so complete assys are probably interchangeable but individual parts are not (for the record that's wax not damage on the clamp )..

The grease and grit on the stem were gently cleaned off and the bore of the fork probed with a finger to remove any grit without fully removing the corrosion-resisting grease present. Copper grease was applied to the wedge assy and it stuffed back down the fork; the bolt tightened to 80% of the 30Nm value found on the net once the previously-applied pencil marks on the stem and headset bearing locking nut had been aligned.

A quick test ride confirmed it doesn't squeak, however that was the case last time..


In other news the bike's now passed the 2000 mile mark with no additional drama; saving me about £350 in fuel / 2.5k car-miles so far. Now the seasons are becoming more accommodating it's once-more starting to feel like a privilege to be out on the little bleeder rather than a necessary chore.

On top of that it's facilitated by far the most winter miles I've ever done; so has no doubt helped to maintain what little fitness I have during the colder months and offset to a degree the repercussions of my many and growing number of unhealthy habits