brompton 12 speed

[tinywheels]

is this the holy grail,we're looking for?
It's taken a while but maybe it's gonna be worth it.

 

[tinywheels]

 

[CaptainWheezy]

It's a 3 speed hub gear combined with the P/T line 4 speed derailleur. Will be interesting to see if they managed to shave any weight off the hub gear, if not it will probably end up weighing more than an old 6 speed superlight!

 

[Kell]

This was one of my first questions when they announced the 4-speed - would they ever combine the two systems and make a 12-speed.

https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/4-speed-superlight-brompton.281350/#post-6589599

 

[u_i]

I have been riding 12-speed in the rear of my own making for several months now. It is very convenient, but no, heaven did not open up.

 

[Kell]

It seems to solve a lot of problems in one hit.

Lowest ever gear and highest ever gear in one bike. Plus, presumably, less of a gap between ratios.

Trying to see if i can justify getting one.

 

[dimrub]

YMMV, for me it doesn't solve any problem. My commute has some rises (which become modest drops in the other direction) and some flats, and my 6 gears are more than adequate for that. I would have preferred all of them to be on the same shifter, rather than 3x2, but 12 gears - I can't justify that to myself.

 

[Kell]

YMMV, for me it doesn't solve any problem. My commute has some rises (which become modest drops in the other direction) and some flats, and my 6 gears are more than adequate for that. I would have preferred all of them to be on the same shifter, rather than 3x2, but 12 gears - I can't justify that to myself.

I should have clarified that by saying ... "for me It seems to solve a lot of problems in one hit."

My 6-speed is enough for 90% of my journey. Certainly in London, a well geared 3-speed would do me.

Unfortunately, my commute on the home side also includes a 12-14% gradient hill.
I get up it in first, (I used to be able to get up in 2nd) but it's a struggle these days. I did try a 44T Chainring, but gearing the bike towards making that hill easier, kills the bike for me elsewhere, as I also need 6th. At the minute, I have a non-OEM 48-tooth chainring as an interim.

I also think that having an average of 15RPM between gears is a joke so a bit more range, and tighter gaps seems to be a great solution.

While I'm going to qualify that with a "For me", I don't know anyone who wouldn't appreciate a more closely grouped set of gears.

 

[tom73]

Cyclist have done a write up.
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/news/brompton-12-speed

 

[a.twiddler]

"The need to pedal downhill without spinning out" -? Who are these people? Any fule kno that downhills are for freewheeling. I see that high gear gives you not far short of 120 gear inches while they still haven't addressed the inability to get much lower gears than 30 gear inches as standard. Meanwhile myself and others have sorted Brompton gearing to suit our needs by experimentation. Talking of which, I wonder when the parts will become available so the experimenters can try retro fitting them to our existing bikes! (Not soon, I suspect).

 

[Drago]

I'd be more interested in decent brakes.

 

[tinywheels]

so,is it possible to make my s6 into a s12?
I can't figure it out. Where's Berlinonaut when you need him?

 

[wafter]

While this piques the interest of my inner-engineering junkie, in practice I find the 2x3 setup absolutely fine for the riding my Brompton gets.

Looking at the gear-range chart from @tom73's Cyclist review, it seems that while some additional derailleur-shifted-range and resolution has been added to each of the three ratios available on the hub, inexplicibly much of the additional "benefit" is at the high end; which I very much doubt many will use on a high-drag, utilitiarian city bike..

As someone who typically remains in the mid-hub gear and switches between high and low on the back end I can see the appeal of the greater range and resolution provided by the 4sp setup on the rear, however the top end seems a bit silly and I'm not sure how intuitive / straightforward shifting would be with nearly the same amount of speeds available front and rear.

At the "right" price I'd consider this as an upgrade on my C-Line, however I suspect it'd need a new rear triangle in addition to the cassette, derailleur, shifter.. while Brompton prices for big bits tend not to be shy.

All things said and done I don't think this release will do much to undermine the utility that I already get from my 6sp

 

[u_i]

so,is it possible to make my s6 into a s12?

Here

 

[dimrub]

Here

Incredibly, the insane drivetrain is not the most insane thing about that bike. I mean, what's up with that cockpit? What are those black discs - are those miniature drums?