True. My personal favorite is and has been for years the two speed as it is lighter than the others, offers sufficient choice in the flatlands (and surprisingly far beyond) and makes the Brompton a really nippy bike. The three speed (which many seem to prefer) does not offer relevantly more range but it is heavier and due to the nature of hub gears you do suffer from some amount of drag that you don't with the two speed. I don't like it personally - get's better with a slightly bigger sprocket but still not my favorite. Plus the six speed offers way more and is not that more expensive while upgrading from a three speed to a six speed is massively expensive since you need a new rear wheel with the BWR. This explains to a degree the "just in case"-recommendations (that were not necessary with the old, SRAM based six-speed as three- and six-speed were using the same hub and upgrading was cheap and easy).
I think I have ridden or owned most possible gear choices for the Brompton including my 9-speed BWR setup, the Nexus 8, the S/A XRF8w and the Rohloff. In the end it is a matter of taste and needs:
• The Rohloff Brompton is the ultimate weapon to tackle every hill, but literally for a price and on top of that weight and a bit of drag. Overdone for ordinary every day usage in most cases in my eyes - like a Land Rover in the city.
• The six speed BWR is a clever design - much range with little weight, still the two shifters are a bit clumsy to use and the gear steps are massive (thus my mod to 9-speed: gear steps much better, range slightly enhanced, still two shifter-clumsiness).
• The opposite is the six speed SRAM: small gear steps but massively lacking range.
• The 8-speed Nexus is in my eyes a good choice for a universal bike: good (but not very good) range, comfortable to use, affordable enough, but with a weight penalty of about 1kg over the six speed and the need to spread the rear frame.
• Same goes for the S/A XRF 8w which on top has the advantage of no need to spread the rear frame. Unfortunately it is a bit of a dog to adjust (and needs adjustment more often than desirable) and, having the direct gear in first, it feels more draggy in higher gears than the Nexus, so of the two I today I would prefer the Nexus 8.
• The seven speed Nexus is outdated and overruled by the eight speed - today makes no sense anymore.
• I do like the S/A Sprinter 5-speed surprisingly well - limited range, a bit fragile, unergonomic shifter but the gear setup is pretty fine for the Brompton (with a smaller chainwheel than 50t stock). But gone for 20 years now.
What's missing from my rides until now is the newer S/A SRF5w (lying around here for years already but not yet managed to build it into a wheel
) and the various Schlumpf drives (Speed drive, Mountain drive, High speed drive) - however, I am not that keen on them due to cost, weight and complexity plus I simply don't have the need. And very exotic mods like a plain classic derailleur setup or a mod to the now vanished Dual-Drive.
So the choice is surprisingly huge (and even bigger when you take the various options for sprockets and chain-wheel-sizes into account) and everyones mileage varies, depending from his or her needs and taste. A good thing if you ask me.
. In my defence I bought it for a flat commute, 2 speed wasn't invented in 2005, and 6spd had some murmurings about issues with the rear change, so as 3 was all I needed, that's what I got. It got its 50T changed for a 44T mentioned up thread (did that change it from having ~ 2,4,6 to ~1,3,5 on an equiv 6 spd ?) and still does a good job when required, although no longer commuting into London so it doesn't get much use, but handy to keep in the fleet.
