So in order to replace something that costs £25 I need to spend £250.
Add 5£ more to it plus a bit as you will need a new dogleg as well and a new gear cable and a new bell. Brompton's should be refaced offering such incompetent and incomplete advice as well for not offer a spare part that went out of production just 3,5 years ago with the replacement part creating immense cost. There are several 100.000 Bromptons out there using the old shifter and while I assume it is not a frequently asked spare part it is a shame that they leave their customers in the cold in such a bad way. Also a massive change in behaviour.
Anyone got a plan B for me? I live in Devon and need all six speeds as it's really hilly.
Thanks.
- you could phone through the Brompton dealer network. Probably a bunch of them still have an old shifter in their stock. I.e.
here it seems still to be available.
- you can use a
Sunrace M96 friction thumbshifter for the left side which will work flawlessly (new dogleg recommended)
- you can use a wide range of "shifters" intended to lock suspension forks remotely. Many if not most of them work with the 2-speed derailleur flawlessly (new dogleg also recommended).
- you can buy a shifter second hand on
ebay or such - there is not much demand for them and they have been used on Brompton since 2002, so chances are good to grab one
- you can switch to the newer bars and stick with your stem. Will work flawlessly but you'll end up with ~2cm less height of the bars than before
- you can use a 3rd party bar which is slightly wider than the original (I think they are available from Asia) which will make the new shifter fit and preserve the original height
- you can use the new shifter on the old bars (in opposite to what Brompton say) but it is a very tight fit with the brake lever only possible in one position and gripspace is a little less wide as well.
So plenty of options and alternatives.
Personally I prefer the new shifter massively over the old one but would still not spend 250 GBP to have it.
Having got bikes with the 2016 shifter and the 2018 shifter, I'll probably just switch to the newer one, with the brake lever. Shouldn't need to change everything else.
You should mention that new shifter on old M bars is not an easy fit and has some limitiations. In case you are not aware of that as you have not tried it you better should not give advice...