M to H conversion

[berlinonaut]

(like she doesn't like SQLabs saddles

On that record she does have a really strong opinion , personally I am not so sure or radical - I think it is fair to have a different one if one likes SQ-lab saddles. I do not own one and never did, so - a rare happening - I do not have an opinion of my own here. What I would agree with is that using only the sit bone distance to recommend a saddle like SQLab does it clearly not a good or sufficient way. It may work to a degree but clearly not always or optimal. And as they built their whole system on that Juliane does not like them too much. The more as she had people visiting her, suffering heavily with their SQLab and no longer with the saddle she recommended to them. Juliane does indiviual pressure messurements with various saddles - obviously time consuming and not a fast, cheap and scalable business model for the mass market like the SQLab way of working. But a pretty perfect outcome. Interestingly for my butt it turned out that the Selle Anatomica and the Terry Arteria GT turned out to be pretty identical in terms of pressure distribution and behavior - both were equally good, despite being totally different constructions and looking totally different. A lot of others were quickly ruled out because of the inacceptable fit.

I think from memory that she recommends no more than 10cm higher for your bars compared to your saddle height

It really depends. There is what fits most people and there are the exceptions like here in the middle of the page: https://junik-hpv.de/arbeitsbereiche/ergonomie-und-spezialanfertigung/ (there's an example of a pressure measurement, too).

 

[CEBEP]

@berlinonaut thanks. SJS charges £45 flat for delivery to Turkey which is insane. There are better options on ebay but still will come to about $70-75 delivered.

 

[Kell]

Ok. So my bars are 58cm (not including the plugs).

 

[CEBEP]

Thanks @Kell

 

[Kell]

Can’t remember if I already posted these:

But this it what it looks like from my POV and how it folds.

Without the bar ends on, I reckon I could have left them a little wider and it still would have folded.

All that said, when I’m on a long straight and trying to ‘press on’ I actually hold the gear levers and try and tuck my elbows in.

 

[CEBEP]

@Kell what's that cable coming out of water bottle if you don't mind me asking? Battery pack for front light?

Regarding hight I'll have even more room for fold as I have a rack and eazy wheels which also lift the bike up once folded. So I should get good clearance for wider bar. Though I think I'll go for mid raise.

 

[shingwell]

@Kell what's that cable coming out of water bottle if you don't mind me asking?

You press the blue button on the handlebars and it squirts any predestrians who get in the way.

 

[Jacksprat]

I think, as you say, it's probably best ot use it for a bit to make sure you're not spending money unnecessarily.

All things are very different now, but I went the other way to you. On my test ride, I found the S to be too low and the M to be a bit high. So with some (a lot of) help from this forum I ended up buying an H type and a set of non-OEM low riser bars. I ended up with a bar height somewhere in between an S and an M. I did measure it once, but I've no idea what I did with that info.

They're wider than Brompton bars, so I cut them down a bit and added bar ends. That was the reason I went for the H to begin with, to give me the most chance of the ends clearing the floor.

Which they do - just.

View attachment 617020

Hi Kell, I really like your set up.. I am looking to buy a Brompton but it is the old story of S too aggressive (for my height) and M not enough! Have you done a post on how you did this set up? Interested in the bar you used (particularly the rise and any sweep?) and how you handled the cable lengths? Many thanks and sorry if this is covered elsewhere..

 

[Kell]

Hi Kell, I really like your set up.. I am looking to buy a Brompton but it is the old story of S too aggressive (for my height) and M not enough! Have you done a post on how you did this set up? Interested in the bar you used (particularly the rise and any sweep?) and how you handled the cable lengths? Many thanks and sorry if this is covered elsewhere..

Hi there.

I’m pretty sure I did do a post at the time - but my bike is a 2015 bike - so any advice I could give would not be applicable to a new bike I’m afraid.

If you’re looking to buy an older model, I can certainly try and help.

TBH most of it was blind faith as I couldn’t find anyone that had done exactly what I wanted to do.

The one thing I would say is that cables are cables. It all worked perfectly - even though they were too long (see below).

I ran it like that for a while before cutting them to fit.

 

[Kell]

@Kell what's that cable coming out of water bottle if you don't mind me asking? Battery pack for front light?

Regarding hight I'll have even more room for fold as I have a rack and eazy wheels which also lift the bike up once folded. So I should get good clearance for wider bar. Though I think I'll go for mid raise.

I don’t think I ever saw this post.

The wire went to the battery for the Cree light. The battery came in a material pouch but it didn’t look very waterproof and I had nowhere else to store it and keep it dry and still attached to the light. So I modified a water bottle and kept it in there.

Unfortunately, the attachment for the housing of the light worked loose and it started rattling around. Shame as although it was cheap, it was very bright.

It still works as it goes, I just cant attach it to anything.

 

[berlinonaut]

Hi Kell, I really like your set up.. I am looking to buy a Brompton but it is the old story of S too aggressive (for my height) and M not enough! Have you done a post on how you did this set up? Interested in the bar you used (particularly the rise and any sweep?) and how you handled the cable lengths? Many thanks and sorry if this is covered elsewhere..

The actual H stem is about 2,7cm higher than Kell's 2015 one (which is more or less S-height). M ist about 10cm higher than stock S. With a flat bar on the actual H stem you are actually about 3cm higher than S already. If you put a Joseph Kuosac Mid Riser onto the H you end up about 2-3cm higher than M. If you want something between S and M you could put basically any MTB bar onto the actual H stem, riser bar or not. Three things to keep in mind:
• The rise of the bar should be relatively steep to maintain enough space for grips and levers after cutting the bar down in width
• a wider bar than stock is more comfortable for many people, however, it directly influences your ability to filter through traffic
• the H stem offers less reach than the S stem, so in most cases you'll have to turn the riser barpointing slightly forwards to achieve enough reach

In the German Brompton forum we do have an overview about the different stems, maybe this is helpful for you. Obviously it is written in German but Google translate may help: https://bromptonauten.cc/threads/basiswissen-kleine-lenker-und-vorbaukunde.182/

 

[Kell]

However: With the M stem you are locked into the factory bars if you do not want to go lower. Going higher and/or wider hinders the fold.

I know this is an old thread... and this is a question rather than a contradiction but...

How did the P-type achieve a higher handlebar and fold when the hinge was in the same place as the M? Is it purely down to the curvature of the stem?

 

[Schwinnsta]

I know this is an old thread... and this is a question rather than a contradiction but...

How did the P-type achieve a higher handlebar and fold when the hinge was in the same place as the M? Is it purely down to the curvature of the stem?

View attachment 687286

The bars are curved inwards and the stem is 17 mm shorter.

 

[hknshn]

@CEBEP

Hi, were you able to make the change? I'm in Istanbul too, and I want to switch from H handlebar to M handlebar

Well, it seems I'm lucky. I asked local dealer to offer new customers to swap handlebar stems if the H one will be too high for them. Availability of models here in Turkey is very limited so customers have to buy what's available if they like the color. It seems like they have an incoming flame laquer black edition with H stem that customer is willing to swap for M. So I'll only need to pay service charge to swap the stems and cables and nothing for parts.

I'll first use it with my handlebar. If it's too high I can upgrade handlebar with lower rise. If hight is fine then I'm thinking if it would make sence to upgrade handlebar with a wider one granted it will still fold? I think wider handlebar will improve handling and stability but not sure by how much and if it's worth the investment. I also read somewhere on the internet that some handlebar models have bar ends slightly angled toward the rider providing more natural grip angle.

Also would users recommend looking at titanium handlebars? I'm not a weight decrease freak but removing some weight wouldn't hurt. I'm mostly concerned with ti flex though. While I find flex of my ti seatpost useful for me, as it provides extra suspension, I'm not sure how flex in the handlebar will affect riding. Would aluminum be better option?