Front mudflap mod to my Brompton

[Jon George]

I decided to buy some mudguards for my Brompton after a particularly bad drenching. My LBS provided them (with apologies about the inevitable Brompton mark-up in cost) and gave advice on how to 'straighten' out the curled and floppy front mudguard flap that came with the set. Whilst I did improve it - with a lot of suspicion about whether it would work correctly - I fitted it and discovered, that yes, fixing it to the mudguard had stiffened it up slightly (as informed it would be LBS), but it was obviously still going to be quite the nightmare (the curl meant it was catching on the tyre) and I thought it was not really fit for purpose.
My solution?
In my parts bin I found a discarded Halfords Quick-Fit Rear Mudguard. It seemed the right mix of thinness and stiffness, and so I cut it to length, super-glued it to the flap, and drilled the holes needed. Looks as though it might work like a charm. (Or, at least, a lot better than what I had initially.)

 

[wafter]

Good work

Personally I found the flap laughably short (which manifests as gritty shite sprayed all over the bottom bracket, which when folded is ground into the surface of the BB by the rear wheel and inside of the seatpost tube by the seatpost). I gaffer taped a bit of plastic bottle onto the existing flap to extend it nearly all the way down to the floor, which reduced the contam on the BB by probably 80-90%.

 

[simongt]

Interesting, in 11 years, I've never noticed any appreciable backspray on my M3, but then as I use it for mostly urban commuting, I don't tend to get caught in heavy rain - !

 

[Time Waster]

Don't forget to get a bumper for it. Eerdermetaal make them but they're sold in a few UK retailers today stock Brompton parts.

It's a piece of metal shaped and stamped through to bolt to the back of the front mudguard where the flap is attached. It strengthens the plastic mudguard for those rushed folds when you bang the front wheel mudguard there. It's a common rookie mistake but even a regular Brompton user will do that occasionally. It'll be your bad luck that you do it a little too hard and crack the plastic mudguard.

They're so cheap that it's a really good precaution IMO.