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Twanger
Über Member
- Location
- Crystal Palace, London
Thanks for taking the trouble to write all that, Crankarm...
Bromptons as commuting bikes
- Thread starter Twanger
- Start date
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Bromptonaut
Rohan Man
- Location
- Bugbrooke UK
Like Crankarm I'd regard mine as amongst the best purchases ever.
The original L5 was bought in 1999 and did ten years sterling service linking offices in Lincoln's Inn, Chancery Lane and for a short time Archway with Euston. I think I paid extra for the folding pedal and, like CA, the original steel framed pannier. A Brooks saddle replaced the original pretty soon. Upgraded the brakes after about a year and retrofitted a rubber sprayflap to the rear mudguard - best "bangs per buck" of any accessory for anything bar none. Carrying it in the car but wheeling/riding t/f the car park means there are 4 fold/unfold cycles every working day so any weaknesses in hinges, clips etc would have shown up long before now.
Obviously I've replaced tyres, chains brake blocks etc. Only part failures have been a shattered rear mudguard (it takes a fair whacking on the L versions), a couple of seat clamps and a rear rim that failed early this year. Both pedals now have a bit of play in them as does the rear triangle.
Replaced it in May with a new M6R through Cycle to Work. New BWR hub gives a fantastic range of gears, the lowest pair are a bit short for commuting but hub in middle and just flipping the derrailleur is adequate for most London traffic. It's been up the local 1:10 a couple of times and covers our 7 mile local ecercise circuit with ease and in same timings as my MTB. As it's been bike week I've ridden it 6 miles to the station 3 days in last 5 - no problem at all. Seems as well built as the old one though I'm watching the paint carefully and agree that the new changer is less robust than the Sprinter or ols SA/Aw type. Lots of thoughtful little detail improvements including a forging on the crank to stop the folding pedal going over centre, better pump clip and much better rear suspension design.
If this one does ten years it'll see me to retirement.
The original L5 was bought in 1999 and did ten years sterling service linking offices in Lincoln's Inn, Chancery Lane and for a short time Archway with Euston. I think I paid extra for the folding pedal and, like CA, the original steel framed pannier. A Brooks saddle replaced the original pretty soon. Upgraded the brakes after about a year and retrofitted a rubber sprayflap to the rear mudguard - best "bangs per buck" of any accessory for anything bar none. Carrying it in the car but wheeling/riding t/f the car park means there are 4 fold/unfold cycles every working day so any weaknesses in hinges, clips etc would have shown up long before now.
Obviously I've replaced tyres, chains brake blocks etc. Only part failures have been a shattered rear mudguard (it takes a fair whacking on the L versions), a couple of seat clamps and a rear rim that failed early this year. Both pedals now have a bit of play in them as does the rear triangle.
Replaced it in May with a new M6R through Cycle to Work. New BWR hub gives a fantastic range of gears, the lowest pair are a bit short for commuting but hub in middle and just flipping the derrailleur is adequate for most London traffic. It's been up the local 1:10 a couple of times and covers our 7 mile local ecercise circuit with ease and in same timings as my MTB. As it's been bike week I've ridden it 6 miles to the station 3 days in last 5 - no problem at all. Seems as well built as the old one though I'm watching the paint carefully and agree that the new changer is less robust than the Sprinter or ols SA/Aw type. Lots of thoughtful little detail improvements including a forging on the crank to stop the folding pedal going over centre, better pump clip and much better rear suspension design.
If this one does ten years it'll see me to retirement.
well, since a proportion of the anti-Brompton posts on the forum are mine, I'd better explain myself.
1. The build quality is rubbish. Sticking an 80p pedal on a bike that costs (with some overpriced upgrades) £850 is poor. The thing flexes like mad - both from side to side and up and down. Stand on the pedals and half your effort goes in flex. The BB is plain nasty.
2. The ride is lousy. Cornering at a decent speed is a lottery in which your ticket has no number. Yes you can get used to it if you're prepared to suffer a bit of front wheel drift, but why?
3. The ridiculous blend of screws and bolts that hold it together betoken schoolboy design. The rest of the bicycle business discovered allen keys ten years ago.
4. Changing the rear wheel is really overcomplicated. If you puncture you're best off mending the tube in situ.
But it does what it says on the can. You ride to work, fold it up, park it under your desk. An appointment comes out of the blue - you're on your way in a minute. If you come out of the office and it's pouring then you walk to the railway station. And, on the plus side, the bag at the front is really capacious - an A3 folder sticks out the top, but put a shopping bag over it and you have something quite unique in bicycle luggage.
1. The build quality is rubbish. Sticking an 80p pedal on a bike that costs (with some overpriced upgrades) £850 is poor. The thing flexes like mad - both from side to side and up and down. Stand on the pedals and half your effort goes in flex. The BB is plain nasty.
2. The ride is lousy. Cornering at a decent speed is a lottery in which your ticket has no number. Yes you can get used to it if you're prepared to suffer a bit of front wheel drift, but why?
3. The ridiculous blend of screws and bolts that hold it together betoken schoolboy design. The rest of the bicycle business discovered allen keys ten years ago.
4. Changing the rear wheel is really overcomplicated. If you puncture you're best off mending the tube in situ.
But it does what it says on the can. You ride to work, fold it up, park it under your desk. An appointment comes out of the blue - you're on your way in a minute. If you come out of the office and it's pouring then you walk to the railway station. And, on the plus side, the bag at the front is really capacious - an A3 folder sticks out the top, but put a shopping bag over it and you have something quite unique in bicycle luggage.
I think they've sorted the pedal out now.
And yes, honking a Brompton is largely a bad idea. Any kind of heaving on the bars feels odd- although whether that's just flex in the old style bars or not I don't know (do the flat-barred versions do that?)
And yes, honking a Brompton is largely a bad idea. Any kind of heaving on the bars feels odd- although whether that's just flex in the old style bars or not I don't know (do the flat-barred versions do that?)
Joe24
More serious cyclist than Bonj
- Location
- Nottingham
The only experience i have of a Brompton is a ride around a circuit. I got up to a decent speed(compared to my cheapo folder) and it didnt feel too bad.
I would have one for general getting about on. When i go to my GF's and to work it would work well i think. Save having to take the wheels out my fixed to put it in her dads car and squeezing a bike in the stock room at work.
They are way too expensive for me though. Maybe in a few years when im working full time or have more money.
The front wheel didnt drift either, or at least i didnt think so. Seemed to courner alright when i got used to it(i had been riding my racer alot before then so it was obvious i thought that there would be a difference)
Just my opinion from a quick test ride mind.
I would have one for general getting about on. When i go to my GF's and to work it would work well i think. Save having to take the wheels out my fixed to put it in her dads car and squeezing a bike in the stock room at work.
They are way too expensive for me though. Maybe in a few years when im working full time or have more money.
The front wheel didnt drift either, or at least i didnt think so. Seemed to courner alright when i got used to it(i had been riding my racer alot before then so it was obvious i thought that there would be a difference)
Just my opinion from a quick test ride mind.
OP
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Twanger
Über Member
- Location
- Crystal Palace, London
Keep it going. This is fascinating.
And don't take anything personally.....
Now, what gear/ handlebar combinations seem to work the best for you, and why?
And don't take anything personally.....
Now, what gear/ handlebar combinations seem to work the best for you, and why?
jonesy
Guru
Twanger said:
I've got a three speed hub and that's fine. My wife's bike used to have a Sturmey Archer 5 speed, but we got fed up with its unreliability so had it replaced with a 3 speed hub as well. It's a bit hard going up steep hills, but fine for most purposes I use it for. And while it certainly isn't built for speed, as dellzeqq's complaints show, round town I still often over-take other cyclists.
Edit- I'd add that I'd agree with some of dellzeqq's comments about the quality of components, certainly on the older models: saddle, brakes, lights (plain filament long after halogen had become standard) leave much to be desired. But the frame is sound, as are the gears (SA 5 speed excepted), needing little maintenance and coping with heavy use and repeated foldings.
Bromptonaut
Rohan Man
- Location
- Bugbrooke UK
Joe's comment about a cheap folder almost says it all. The USP of the Brompton is the fold - nobody else has produced a bike that folds so small or, compromises recognised, rides as well.
dellzeqq said:
Good for you. You desscribe the quality as "execrable" (being never one to use a simple term when you can jam in a word-fiddle, but still), and that is utter bollocks, simple as.
If your criticism gets to the level of Brompton using bolts rather than allen heads, well that says it all. Exactly what is your problem with that? Which bit of having to use a spanner (for what, by the way?) rather than an allen key warrants "execrable"?
What the F do you expect it to corner like - a Pinerallo Prince? To claim it's like a lottery ticket with out a number (how that would ever happen is another mystery, but never mind) is just plain nonsense. Yours is either shagged, or you just can't ride. If people can take them up and down the mountains of France and praise highly, I think it may just be you or your bike causing you to struggle with a slope in London.
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Twanger
Über Member
- Location
- Crystal Palace, London
palinurus said:
The idea of the 2 speed version attracts. I almost live in 50 and 70 inch gears around town as it is on my hybrid...the other 22 gears get neglected. That's close to the gears on the S2L But would it be too limiting?
