Brompton rear hinge - fix myself or under warranty?

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OP
OP
LCpl Boiled Egg

LCpl Boiled Egg

Three word soundbite
For your rims, I don't think it's worth getting the front rebuilt.

By the time you've bought a rim and paid for labour, you may as well spend the £50 for something brand new. And then you benefit from a new hub too.

Definitely. New front, rebuild rear.

PS - love the quote in your sig. Utah Saints 2009?

Spot on! ^_^ "I've never seen anything like it in my life."
 

chriscross1966

Über Member
Location
Swindon
For your rims, I don't think it's worth getting the front rebuilt.

By the time you've bought a rim and paid for labour, you may as well spend the £50 for something brand new. And then you benefit from a new hub too.
Take the opportunity to upgrade to the Shimano dynamo kit for your lights... if you want a "must work" commuter then a modern hub dynamo and decent LED lights are the business.
 

fossyant

Ride It Like You Stole It!
Location
South Manchester
Are lost bolts a warranty issue after 3 years. Does Brompton Cover this.

One would say checking bolts are tight is a maintenance issue. You certainly should be checking.
 
OP
OP
LCpl Boiled Egg

LCpl Boiled Egg

Three word soundbite
Are lost bolts a warranty issue after 3 years. Does Brompton Cover this.

One would say checking bolts are tight is a maintenance issue. You certainly should be checking.

The bolt wasn't lost, it had sheared off so I'm not sure whether or not it would have seemed loose. The mechanic I spoke to said they are threadlocked in. As I've found out the bolts aren't covered under the warranty.
 

RoubaixCube

~Tribanese~
Location
London, UK
Just thought id add some random info....

I was chatting to one of my friends who works for evanscycles and he told me that you could walk in with a faulty brompton and they would warranty it for you if it was still covered by the warranty period. It doesnt matter where you bought the bike from either. So long long as its a brompton. they will send it off to be fixed
 

Kell

Veteran
Are lost bolts a warranty issue after 3 years. Does Brompton Cover this.

One would say checking bolts are tight is a maintenance issue. You certainly should be checking.

That particular bolt (drive side) is inaccessible unless the chainring is off.

Or at least it is with a 50T ring.

It's possible you may get access with a smaller or larger chainring, but on my bike it's perfectly placed exactly behind the chainring.
 

chriscross1966

Über Member
Location
Swindon
That particular bolt (drive side) is inaccessible unless the chainring is off.

Or at least it is with a 50T ring.

It's possible you may get access with a smaller or larger chainring, but on my bike it's perfectly placed exactly behind the chainring.

Nah, it's a PITA with a 39 or 42 (have had both of them on my 8-speed) a 60 (my 11-speed) and an 80 (my 5-speed).... the chainring is basically making your life hard on that bolt
 

byegad

Legendary Member
Location
NE England
Sadly, the original supplier of my Brompton is no longer in business (Ben Hayward and Sons), so I took it to my nearest dealer this morning. I was told the hinge bolt had sheared off and it isn't covered under warranty as the hinge itself is a wear and tear item, unlike than the frame itself.

On the plus side, they've just told me it's fixed so I can collect it tonight if I wanted. On the minus side, both my rims are badly worn (which I had suspected), so I'll probably have to take it back in to them soon to get a new wheel built. Back on the plus side, the hinge bolt didn't wreck the hinge itself which could have meant a new rear triangle apparently.
So, could be worse, could be better. As it's my main mode of transport that gets me to work and back it will have to get done soon, and it's still cheaper than running a car. Cheers for everyone's input on this thread.

Frankly, even at Brompton prices you could buy one Brompton a year and it would be cheaper than running a car. Especially if you would need to pay for parking!
I've just given up my car and without any travel costs included, have saved nearly £800/year, and that's also without purchase costs, as I'd finished paying for my car several years ago.
 

Kell

Veteran
Considering it used to cost me £5.40 a day just to park at the station. And a monthly tube card is £181.70, I estimate my Brompton saves me £3,500+ per year on parking and tube travel alone.

That doesn't include the petrol to and from the station. I could buy a new bike every four months (instead of changing the chain :laugh:) and it would still be cheaper than driving and tubing it.
 

rogerzilla

Legendary Member
You often can't check the RH bolt because it's obscured by the chainring. They are fitted to a surprisingly low torque - possibly to avoid crushing the nylon washer - but with a surprisingly tenacious threadlock. It's a terrible design although people put up with it because it usually lasts several years...then you get a big, big labour bll.

Tip: if your rear hinge is worn out, do the hard work yourself: assuming the bolts won't unscrew, which they won't, get a fistful of new 6.5mm HSS drill bits and drill the heads off the bolts using cutting oil, high pressure and low rpm. Get the bushes out using an M10 tap to grip them, then drifiting it out from the opposite side. Now your dealer will only charge you a tenner labour to fit the new bits, if you're lucky. Mine did.
 

chriscross1966

Über Member
Location
Swindon
You often can't check the RH bolt because it's obscured by the chainring. They are fitted to a surprisingly low torque - possibly to avoid crushing the nylon washer - but with a surprisingly tenacious threadlock. It's a terrible design although people put up with it because it usually lasts several years...then you get a big, big labour bll.

Tip: if your rear hinge is worn out, do the hard work yourself: assuming the bolts won't unscrew, which they won't, get a fistful of new 6.5mm HSS drill bits and drill the heads off the bolts using cutting oil, high pressure and low rpm. Get the bushes out using an M10 tap to grip them, then drifiting it out from the opposite side. Now your dealer will only charge you a tenner labour to fit the new bits, if you're lucky. Mine did.

"other ways to get the hinge pin out are available..."... though that one works as well as the other two methods I know of...
 
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