Basket bag is my favourite as it's so versatile. I repurposed the fold away elasticated rain cover from my 25litre Deuter rucksack which fits the Basket bag perfectly.
Petulant Brompton questions..
- Thread starter wafter
- Start date
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Basket bag is my favourite as it's so versatile. I repurposed the fold away elasticated rain cover from my 25litre Deuter rucksack which fits the Basket bag perfectly.
Kell
Veteran
- Location
- High Wycombe/London
Biggest areas of wear and tear on mine are...
Main frame where the gear cables and rear brakes run over the top. It looks dirty rather than worn, but won't come off the powder coating.
Chainstay on drive side. Worn through the powder coating to the metal.
My Brompton sticker looks awful too - it's all mangled. Though I assume I must have kicked it when getting on. Didn't happen at first as I still used to swing my leg over the saddle for the first few months after getting it.
For some reason the wheel nuts on mine rust terribly and so has the external collar on the headset. None of which has a result on performance, but it does make it look a little uncared for.
I've never had panniers on any bike so can't comment. What I can say is that I'm not a massive fan of the bags on the carrier block - but I'm almost alone in that. Most people like them and say they even improve the handling a little.
Main frame where the gear cables and rear brakes run over the top. It looks dirty rather than worn, but won't come off the powder coating.
Chainstay on drive side. Worn through the powder coating to the metal.
My Brompton sticker looks awful too - it's all mangled. Though I assume I must have kicked it when getting on. Didn't happen at first as I still used to swing my leg over the saddle for the first few months after getting it.
For some reason the wheel nuts on mine rust terribly and so has the external collar on the headset. None of which has a result on performance, but it does make it look a little uncared for.
I've never had panniers on any bike so can't comment. What I can say is that I'm not a massive fan of the bags on the carrier block - but I'm almost alone in that. Most people like them and say they even improve the handling a little.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I don't have much to add to what others have already said.
My size-12s get heel strike when I put anything on the rack. The idea of panniers would be unthinkable for me. Use a bag wot goes on the front. (Not terribly aero!)
The nut covers are only £3
https://brilliantbikes.co.uk/brompt...of-4.html?search_query=Nut+covers&results=201
berlinonaut
Veteran
- Location
- Berlin Germany
Hard to believe. I do have large feet but no issues. Possibly, like many, you are not aware how the Brompton rear carrier works. It has at it's underside - depending from the age of the bike - one or two little knobs. The luggage straps are intended to go behind these knobs, this way effectively keeping the luggage out of the way of your feet.
Also, when travelling for longer with a lot of luggage I do usually put a large backpack on the rack like that:
Works flawlessly.
Other than that obviously the Brompton Rack Bag, bein slim, is not prone to heel strike as is the Carradice Super C Rack bag.
Panniers do not work with the Brompton apart from you have very (!) small feet, very (!) small panniers and you put them further back. Normal panniers will hit the ground and even typical front panniers will be in the way. I do have a pair of very small panniers that work with the Brompton rack - but only with the Breckie. Being a recumbent there is no issue with heestrike.
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tinywheels
Über Member
- Location
- South of hades
Being now-quite invested in the idea of one of these pricey little toff-trolleys I find myself with many questions, and would appreciate the input of those more experienced in the field than I...
1. Panniers - does the Brompton (or indeed aftermarket) rack(s) take standard size pannier bags, or does this cause issues with the smaller wheel size? Is this likely to depend on the size of the bag, or is there clearance for all but the largest? Work demands a laptop and paraphanalia; and I'm thinking that while I can potentially take my "daily" stuff in a rucksack, the work gear might be better carried on the rack.
2. How do you approach security? Obviously with a full-size bike it's normal to lock it up outside the destination; while Bromptons give the option of locking up or taking inside; with the latter presumably being more secure. Do you always opt to fold your bike and take it with you, or do you sometimes lock it up?
3. Do you find that there are any areas of the bike that get a particularly hard life / require particular care or protection? For example, I see the rear wheel folds against the bottom bracket area of the frame; which over time I assume could damage the paint in this area.
4. Are there any tweaks, tips or accessories you consider essential to getting the most from the Brompton experience?
Cheers
I find my tweed jacket and matching plus fours to be indispensable to the Brompton experience
oldwheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Isle of Mull
There is a standard very light Ikea bag which holds the folded bike as tho’ it was made for the purpose. Cannot remember the name just now and it lives folded up in the front bag which is outside in my shed so not handy to check just now.
Dimpa.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
You're obviously not trying hard enough.
oldwheels
Legendary Member
- Location
- Isle of Mull
Thanks for reminding me. It folds up nice and small and the bike fits in perfectly.
Origamist
Legendary Member
1. Full size panniers do work with the Kinetics pannier front rack. However, this is a quality bespoke item and expensive: https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/folding-bikes/brompton/brompton-pannier-rack/
2. I no longer lock my Brompton outside. 20 years ago I would occasionally lock it up outside, but only for a few hours. Given how desirable Bromptons have become to thieves, I would no longer entertain this.
3.if you are concerned about paint rub you can use heli tape or metal patches to protect the frame. See areas in the image below.
4. Modifications and upgrades can be useful and/or an entertaining rabbit hole. Generally they fall into two areas: weight saving and practicality/comfort, but the intersection between them is limited. Costs can range from a few pounds to a few thousand pounds. I'd recommend test riding all three stem/handlebar types and different gearing options if possible, focusing on riding position and contact points. Getting the base bike right makes things easier...
2. I no longer lock my Brompton outside. 20 years ago I would occasionally lock it up outside, but only for a few hours. Given how desirable Bromptons have become to thieves, I would no longer entertain this.
3.if you are concerned about paint rub you can use heli tape or metal patches to protect the frame. See areas in the image below.
4. Modifications and upgrades can be useful and/or an entertaining rabbit hole. Generally they fall into two areas: weight saving and practicality/comfort, but the intersection between them is limited. Costs can range from a few pounds to a few thousand pounds. I'd recommend test riding all three stem/handlebar types and different gearing options if possible, focusing on riding position and contact points. Getting the base bike right makes things easier...
Attachments
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Thanks all - what a mine of information; really appreciate the input
I'd only considered pannier bag issues from the perspective of excessive depth causing them to drag on the floor; but of course heel clearance is another big one that I'd not thought about. Given the folding nature of the bike, obvious it can't be treated like a full-size ride where the bags can remain attached while the bike is not in use.. so obviously the attitude towards bags needs to reflect this and a pair (of even small ones) would probably be a pain to carry if they had to be removed every time the bike was folded.
I'm not usually keen on front bags from a handling / clutter perspective, but it seems that there's a lot of love for them on Bromptons; understandably so given the situation at the rear.
From a commuting perspective I'm torn with luggage.. I usually have to carry a laptop bag and also have a "daily" rucksack full of the usual anxiety-driven boyscout provisions (which are genuinely useful tbh!). When I'm on the bike I have a specific Osprey rucksack. I don't want the hassle of swapping daily stuff in and out of the bike rucksack, while I don't want to carry the daily rucksack on the bike as it will result in a sweaty back. I'd rather keep the laptop bag separate if I can since again, transferring its contents repeatedly to and from a rucksack will get tired quickly..
Since my daily rucksack needs replacing anyway I was considering something maybe more bike-friendly (unfortunately however better breathability means less room), while ideally being able to mount the / a new laptop bag as a whole somewhere on the bike.. meh, something that requires more thought evidently.
I appreciate the thoughts on security - personally I never leave stuff locked up for any length of time (expensive gear never, cheaper / utility stuff for as little time as possible) and would feel very uncomfortable doing so with something as thievable / prices as one of these.. so I'd aim to fold it and take it with me wherever possible.. which most of the time shouldn't be a problem I guess. I imagine it could be a bit of a pain if you're in and out of shops all the time..
A lot of the suggested upgrades make sense; however I remain torn between both ends of the spectrum - cheap and tatty as better befits utility riding or expensive and shiny because I'm a tart and we all like nice things. This transfers to the wear too; part of me wants to get a minter and cover it in helitape; part of me wants to get something already well-worn that I'll be less precious about. I can deal with wear; damage less-so.. and appreciate that by the bike's nature it's likely to pick up scratches etc.
I nearly chucked a grand at a nice-looking example on ebay last night; however information was not fourthcoming and I'm increasingly resentful of how draconian ebay are - essentially prohibiting you from viewing big-ticket items before buying for fear of losing their fees..
Meh, who knows. I remain really keen on the idea of a folder and tbh the thought of avoiding the vile stop-start, significantly-longer-than-it-should-be commute is intoxicating; but currently I haven't had the opportunity to look at / buy anything suitable. I'm getting a bit more familiar with models and used pricing; most stuff for sale seems unsurprisingly to be in London; which on the one hand isn't a million miles away, on the other is a pain to get to and typically commands a premium on prices.
I'm also aware that while a folder would potentially be handy for many reasons, realistically I'm only likely to commute on it during the better half of the year; and potentially will have less of an incentive to do so during the school summer holidays as the traffic usually seems to be fine when the bloody kids aren't at school (although it's ruined currently by roadworks en-route). Of course traffic avoidance isn't the only reason to cycle; however the fuel saving would be relatively small and the time saved by remaining in the car on a clear run might be preferable..
Just thinking out loud / for future reference (and in the absence of anywhere more appropriate to put this)... Ideally the commute in the car, via my preferred route is about 22 miles and 35 minutes under optimum conditions; costing about £6.40 daily in fuel for the round trip; assuming 45mpg and £1.45/litre.
Currently, thanks to sodding roadworks compounded by the bloody school run traffic the commute is a shade more than 27 miles and an hour; so around £8.00 in fuel for the round trip.
The optimium approach with a folder would seem to be to dump the car as close to the city as I can get whilst avoiding the traffic, then cycle the rest of the way predominently on the tow path. This would be a 13.5 mile car journey (so around 20 mins and £4.00 in fuel round trip) plus an 8 mile ride that Google slates at 45 mins; so probably a total journey time of 1hr 10-15 mins once the faffing of sorting the bike out has been taken into account.
So... comparing the "hybrid" commute against the best-case car journey gives an increase in travel time of around 40 mins from 35-75 minutes or a bit over double, and a decrease in fuel cost of £2.20 or around 35-40% from £6.40 to £4.00.
Conversely comparing the bike-based commute to the worst-case journey gives an increase in travel time of around 15 minutes or maybe 25%, while fuel cost drops by around £4.00 / 50%.
Of course this is broad-strokes and doesn't take into account less quantifiable factors such as wear and tear on the car and bike, differing real-world fuel economy due to driving conditions or the effect on either on my mental and physical health. Under optimum driving conditions I think there's little incentive to add the cycling; however it makes for a pretty compelling choice compared to the hell I'm currently enduring.
As it stands I think I'll just sit on my hands and see what comes up locally - perhaps leaning back towards something older / cheaper just to dip my toe in the water and see how viable it all feels in practice.
Thanks again for all the input; appreciate that I've gone off on a rambling tangent and I don't expect people to respond directly to any of this
I'd only considered pannier bag issues from the perspective of excessive depth causing them to drag on the floor; but of course heel clearance is another big one that I'd not thought about. Given the folding nature of the bike, obvious it can't be treated like a full-size ride where the bags can remain attached while the bike is not in use.. so obviously the attitude towards bags needs to reflect this and a pair (of even small ones) would probably be a pain to carry if they had to be removed every time the bike was folded.
I'm not usually keen on front bags from a handling / clutter perspective, but it seems that there's a lot of love for them on Bromptons; understandably so given the situation at the rear.
From a commuting perspective I'm torn with luggage.. I usually have to carry a laptop bag and also have a "daily" rucksack full of the usual anxiety-driven boyscout provisions (which are genuinely useful tbh!). When I'm on the bike I have a specific Osprey rucksack. I don't want the hassle of swapping daily stuff in and out of the bike rucksack, while I don't want to carry the daily rucksack on the bike as it will result in a sweaty back. I'd rather keep the laptop bag separate if I can since again, transferring its contents repeatedly to and from a rucksack will get tired quickly..
Since my daily rucksack needs replacing anyway I was considering something maybe more bike-friendly (unfortunately however better breathability means less room), while ideally being able to mount the / a new laptop bag as a whole somewhere on the bike.. meh, something that requires more thought evidently.
I appreciate the thoughts on security - personally I never leave stuff locked up for any length of time (expensive gear never, cheaper / utility stuff for as little time as possible) and would feel very uncomfortable doing so with something as thievable / prices as one of these.. so I'd aim to fold it and take it with me wherever possible.. which most of the time shouldn't be a problem I guess. I imagine it could be a bit of a pain if you're in and out of shops all the time..
A lot of the suggested upgrades make sense; however I remain torn between both ends of the spectrum - cheap and tatty as better befits utility riding or expensive and shiny because I'm a tart and we all like nice things. This transfers to the wear too; part of me wants to get a minter and cover it in helitape; part of me wants to get something already well-worn that I'll be less precious about. I can deal with wear; damage less-so.. and appreciate that by the bike's nature it's likely to pick up scratches etc.
I nearly chucked a grand at a nice-looking example on ebay last night; however information was not fourthcoming and I'm increasingly resentful of how draconian ebay are - essentially prohibiting you from viewing big-ticket items before buying for fear of losing their fees..
Meh, who knows. I remain really keen on the idea of a folder and tbh the thought of avoiding the vile stop-start, significantly-longer-than-it-should-be commute is intoxicating; but currently I haven't had the opportunity to look at / buy anything suitable. I'm getting a bit more familiar with models and used pricing; most stuff for sale seems unsurprisingly to be in London; which on the one hand isn't a million miles away, on the other is a pain to get to and typically commands a premium on prices.
I'm also aware that while a folder would potentially be handy for many reasons, realistically I'm only likely to commute on it during the better half of the year; and potentially will have less of an incentive to do so during the school summer holidays as the traffic usually seems to be fine when the bloody kids aren't at school (although it's ruined currently by roadworks en-route). Of course traffic avoidance isn't the only reason to cycle; however the fuel saving would be relatively small and the time saved by remaining in the car on a clear run might be preferable..
Just thinking out loud / for future reference (and in the absence of anywhere more appropriate to put this)... Ideally the commute in the car, via my preferred route is about 22 miles and 35 minutes under optimum conditions; costing about £6.40 daily in fuel for the round trip; assuming 45mpg and £1.45/litre.
Currently, thanks to sodding roadworks compounded by the bloody school run traffic the commute is a shade more than 27 miles and an hour; so around £8.00 in fuel for the round trip.
The optimium approach with a folder would seem to be to dump the car as close to the city as I can get whilst avoiding the traffic, then cycle the rest of the way predominently on the tow path. This would be a 13.5 mile car journey (so around 20 mins and £4.00 in fuel round trip) plus an 8 mile ride that Google slates at 45 mins; so probably a total journey time of 1hr 10-15 mins once the faffing of sorting the bike out has been taken into account.
So... comparing the "hybrid" commute against the best-case car journey gives an increase in travel time of around 40 mins from 35-75 minutes or a bit over double, and a decrease in fuel cost of £2.20 or around 35-40% from £6.40 to £4.00.
Conversely comparing the bike-based commute to the worst-case journey gives an increase in travel time of around 15 minutes or maybe 25%, while fuel cost drops by around £4.00 / 50%.
Of course this is broad-strokes and doesn't take into account less quantifiable factors such as wear and tear on the car and bike, differing real-world fuel economy due to driving conditions or the effect on either on my mental and physical health. Under optimum driving conditions I think there's little incentive to add the cycling; however it makes for a pretty compelling choice compared to the hell I'm currently enduring.
As it stands I think I'll just sit on my hands and see what comes up locally - perhaps leaning back towards something older / cheaper just to dip my toe in the water and see how viable it all feels in practice.
Thanks again for all the input; appreciate that I've gone off on a rambling tangent and I don't expect people to respond directly to any of this
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Something that's proving easier said than done; as per the above post...
EltonFrog
Legendary Member
I take mine in the shop, always, use it as a shopping trolley. Fold the rear and front wheels, then push the bike around shop using the bars, like a trolley. Did it this morning in fact , around both the little Sainsbury’s & Co-Op. I’ve also pushed it round Wickes, and the big Sainsbury’s.
Have you ridden one yet? If not get yerself over to Warlands, they’ll let you test ride one. Or you can come over to Didcot have a go on mine. Better still, do like @Gunk says and just bloody buy it.
