Is it worth buying a folder ..

[cisamcgu]

Sale or return? Deposit?

I think the best idea is as above - buy a cheap SH bike and then resell it after. You'll lose loads if you buy it new and then sell it.

In fact, you'd probably lose nothing if you bought a SH Brompton and then resold it afterwards - but it's stumping up the cash upfront on the off-chance.

I think you are right - a Brompton is not really possible, but I shall trawl through ebay/gumtree and see what I can find.

Thanks
Andrew

 

[MartinQ]

That is very kind of both of you - I really appreciate it. I'm afraid I would worry too much about dropping it into the canal to take up your kind offers - but thank you again

It is a cheapie, I got it s/h for £50. It is ok. If you wrecked it, a case of beer would be appreciated.
Up to you

 

[Smudge]

It is a cheapie, I got it s/h for £50. It is ok. If you wrecked it, a case of beer would be appreciated.
Up to you

Seems a perfect solution for the OP.

 

[cisamcgu]

Well, I got one for £35 on ebay - a Phillips folding bike

Just like this one.

It is pretty good condition, rides well and folds OK - very pleased with it.

For the moment it is perfectly suitable, and we will take it on holiday. However, it only has a single gear which Miss Cisamcgu has declared insufficient for use anywhere other than on a canal towpath. How possible is it to fit a SA 3 speed hub to this ? I realise I would have to rebuild the wheel but other than sourcing a second hand hub, getting spokes of the right length, and building the wheel, is there anything else I need to consider ? This is a future project, maybe for the winter.

 

[chriscross1966]

Shouldnt be too hard, there are several hub widths available. You might even find a cheap 8-speed or 5-speed in the correct width...

 

[cisamcgu]

@chriscross1966 Thanks. I think the gap between the rear triangle is 115 mm - is this the correct sort of size ?

I'll have a look on ebay and see if I can find anything suitable

 

[chriscross1966]

That sounds right. The 8-speed is a bit of a squeeze, but there is a five speed in an identical hub width to the stock BSR and BWR ones.

 

[cisamcgu]

@chriscross1966 , thanks, I'll have a look for it

 

[simongt]

Hi cisamcgu,
If you're interested, I have an SA 8 speed hub gear + shifter, both in excellent condition with about 700 miles 'on the clock' which may serve your purpose. If you're interested, pm me and we can go over some details.

 

[cisamcgu]

@simongt - many thanks for the offer, but the SA-8 is sadly too wide for the rear triangle of the folder.

But thanks for the offer

Andrew

 

[simongt]

Nae problem.

Anyone else interested in an SA-8 - ?

 

[ukoldschool]

@simongt dropped you a message...

 

[graham bowers]

Well, I got one for £35 on ebay - a Phillips folding bike

View attachment 469497

Just like this one.

It is pretty good condition, rides well and folds OK - very pleased with it.

For the moment it is perfectly suitable, and we will take it on holiday. However, it only has a single gear which Miss Cisamcgu has declared insufficient for use anywhere other than on a canal towpath. How possible is it to fit a SA 3 speed hub to this ? I realise I would have to rebuild the wheel but other than sourcing a second hand hub, getting spokes of the right length, and building the wheel, is there anything else I need to consider ? This is a future project, maybe for the winter.

Remember that the axle on a 3 speed SA hub reacts out torque into the frame through the dropouts and so has flats on the axle and special washers. Your frame would need to accommodate that. Cropped pic attached shows that on a manky BSA Twenty I have lurking somewhere.

The shifter cable abutment goes under the name of "fulcrum clip" http://www.sturmey-archer.com/en/products/fulcrum-clips

 

[cisamcgu]

@graham bowers - thank you for that, I didn't realise that I would need a frame capable of coping with the axle, I just assumed as long as it was the correct width it would be OK.

Nothing is ever easy

 

[graham bowers]

It may be compatible, you just need to check. I have no idea what axle a single speed freewheel hub has or what style of dropouts your bike has. As well as width, other considerations are the axle / dropout compatibility from the perspectives of transmitting axle torque and the ability to move the hub to adjust chain tension. The fact that yours is single speed indicated the chain tension adjustment is accommodated.

If it is one of these, the one in the pic has a 3 speed hub. You may even be lucky enough to have the shift cable abutment built in as the link.
https://picclick.co.uk/Phillips-Par...ter-Bike-Brand-371836976955.html#&gid=1&pid=2

For the wheel in my photo, axle thread OD is 10 mm however the dimension across the flats of the axle is 7.8mm. The dimension across the external flats of the washer, i.e. the surfaces that would engage with the dropout, is 8.3mm. The dropout slot width is 9.5mm.

You will see that there are other types of anti-rotation washer available too.