Brompton 6 gear vs 3 gear on hills - London people

[StuartG]

If I was buying again I would get the 6 speed. That's because I accidentally found it was a exceedingly good touring bike that could do the hills of Wales as well as Trafalgar Square.

I did retrofit the smaller chainwheel and that was a revelation. Why Brompton persist in overgearing their 3 speed confuses me. Hence a modified 3 speed is good enough for anything short of Ditchling. You can honk up almost anything (well as long as it ain't too long).

I fitted one sided SPDs. They are ideal at ensuring your heels don't foul the EasyWheels when you are tired/straining.

 

[Red Light]

Errr ......... we are saying a 6 speed is superior. Don't go for a 3 spd.

I'm not. For cycling there a three speed should be fine.

 

[cloggsy]

Can I ask, why a Brommie?

What about a Tern X30H or a Dahon X27H?

 

[mickle]

Can I ask, why a Brommie?

What about a Tern X30H or a Dahon X27H?

This is one not a Dahon X27H!:

And £1600(!) is another reason..

There is an argument for taller wheels than the 16" standard used by Brompton which cites reduced rolling resistance and (alleged) better handling. But these don't - in my opinion - compensate for the wildly superior fold of the Brompton. The Brompton fold is faster, easier and results in a smaller, tighter package which doesn't attempt to unfurl at every opportunity. One of the major drawbacks of the traditional 'Klapprad' fold-in-half frame style used by Dahon, Tern, Montague, Raleigh (Shopper/Twenty) and a thousand different Chinese shitters is that it doesn't hold together very well. And anyone who has tried to stow such a thing will know that the weight of a folded folder is only half the equation - when the damned thing tries to unfold as you're loading it into a car it'll give you a spinal injury. The poxy little magnets used by Dahon and Tern are simply no match for the Brompton's self locking fold.

 

[smutchin]

Errr ......... we are saying a 6 speed is superior. Don't go for a 3 spd.

You might be saying that; I'm not. It's the size of the gears that matters, not how many you have. If you struggle with London's "hills", you need the reduced gearing not necessarily more gears.

My advice to the OP would be to try both 3spd and 6spd if possible and choose which you prefer rather than assume that one or the other is going to be better based on someone else's experiences, which may turn out to be different to yours (personally, I prefer the simplicity of singlespeed and find one gear plenty for getting around London on my Brompton, but I know I'm unusual in that).

d.

 

[maat1976]

Am hoping to go try a 3 and 6 speed this weekend, fingers crossed. With all the positive votes for both the 3 and the 6, it sounds like both will do the job and I just need to figure out what I prefer.

Claudia

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm glad of the six speed, and, more to the point, so is Susie, who's not the strongest cyclist. It just makes commuting less of a sweat.

I rarely use the lowest two speeds, but having the four upper gears where I might have only two is great. I've also got the 8% uplift in ratios, but that's probably a bit of a luxury.

 

[Crankarm]

Am hoping to go try a 3 and 6 speed this weekend, fingers crossed. With all the positive votes for both the 3 and the 6, it sounds like both will do the job and I just need to figure out what I prefer.

Claudia

6 spd gives you more options.

 

[Crankarm]

I'd say go for a three speed actually, with the low gear option if possible (just like on my new Brompton as it happens). I've never got on with the six spd - all those multi shifts to work your way through the gears. A city bike should be easy to use before all else, and the six adds a layer of complexity which is unecessary. And let's not forget that there are two types of six speed Brompton - the newish 'Brompton' custom geared Sturmey three speed hub based six or the earlier standard Sturmey three speed hub based six. Which one are 'we' recommending? I've used 3 spd Bromptons in Bristol, (hilly) London and York (flat as a pancake) and never hankered for more gears. Probably because I took the time to fine tune (through careful selection of the chain-ring size) which three gears I ended up with.

Complex! LoL. Do you have problems running a bath or brushing your teeth?

 

[Twanger]

I have the 6 speed. I use the two lowest gears for going up the hill to Crystal Palace (second highest point in South London, where I live), and the sixth gear, the 99 inch, very rarely...normally while zooming down the hill from CP. I don't find the gearing complex to use, or difficult to maintain. The Brompton catalogue has a detailed tech spec of the gearing, so you can look and see what meets your needs.

 

[mickle]

Complex! LoL. Do you have problems running a bath or brushing your teeth?

Yes. I do. But that's not the point.

 

[smutchin]

6 spd gives you more options.

Singlespeed gives me all the options I need. YMMV.

d.

 

[MontyVeda]

I too am now seriously considering a Brommy too...so this thread has been an interesting read. I've just had a look at the gearing spec on their website and have realised (once again) just how little i understand.


Gears ------- Ratios (metric) ---- Range ------- Optional higher gearing ----- Optional lower gearing

3-speed ------ 3.79m - 6.76m ---- 178% -------------+8% ---------------------------- -12% & -18%
6-speed (BWR) 2.63m – 7.94m ---- 302% ------------ +8% --------------------------------- -12%

the ratios (metric) are meaningless to me, as are all those percentages. How does it all relate to the gearing on my 21spd?... can anybody help me through this blonde moment?

(TIA)

 

[MisterStan]

Yes. I do. But that's not the point.

Mickle is right. End of.

The first rule of CycleChat is you do not question the Mickle!

 

[smutchin]

The numbers are essentially meaningless, they only mean anything relative to each other (small number = better for going uphill, large number = better for going fast).

You can use this gear calculator to work out how two different bikes compare:
http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

But bear in mind that a particular gear size on a Brompton will feel a bit different to the same gear size on a road bike, for various reasons...

d.