Which Brompton?

[All uphill]

I only tour on my Brompton these days. I’m not in the first flush of youth or particularly fit. I’ve just calculated my BMI and it’s 26 - that should give you an idea of my shape!!

I find 60 mile days relatively easy (split into three sessions with longish cafe stops in between. I travel light and stay in hostels, B&Bs and the occasional hotel. The Brompton is the ideal bike for this…..and if life becomes too much, I fold it, take a bus or a train and never ever feel guilty.

That's really helpful- thanks.

Your idea of touring sounds a lot like mine; enjoyable and nothing to prove.

 

[All uphill]

Sounds like 20 year old talking about getting married to his future wife one day.

Where did you go on honeymoon with your Brompton?

 

[HobbesOnTour]

The person I spoke with in the shop has a Brompton and frequently tours on conventional bikes. His colleague, who also has a B and tours, backed up what he said.

Neither said that you can't tour on a small wheeled bike, just that long days take a bit more effort

That's fair enough. I give more weight to advice that matches my own plans and uses.

The thing for me about using a folding bike for touring is that it would probably mean a substantial change in my style of touring.
I'd travel lighter, for sure , but it would open up opportunities that currently don't exist or are too much hassle. For instance, plane travel becomes a whole lot easier (and probably cheaper) but the real game changer is the ability to hop on a train (or bus) with minimum fuss. It opens up all kinds of possibilities that I either don't have with a "normal" bike or that are just too much hassle.

I was very fortunate when I lived in NL to be able to use an excellent train network as a fallback - it was a real "comfort blanket" and was one less reason not to go off for a weekend. Here, in Spain, trains are quite bike friendly too - when there is a train My impression, perhaps wrong, of the UK is of a very confused and confusing train system that requires reservations (often multiples for one journey, it seems). A bike that I could fold up and carry on along with my gear would open up so much for exploration.

It's a gamechanger.

 

[EltonFrog]

Today I cycled over to the local 'proper' Brompton dealer with creditcard in hand. Great service, but I left having been advised that 50 mile days on a Brompton will be quite a bit tougher than 50 mile days on my tourer

This, in my experience, is utter cobblers.

 

[albion]

My first folder was bought for the train strikes. 6 gears was the compromise so I limited the routes I did.

30 mile + day rides are fine, as long as the route is relatively flat.( My road bike is concerted to a single chainwheel with an 11 speed 11-50T cassette).

 

[Tenkaykev]

Evans Cycles have recently uploaded a YouTube video featuring two people cycling " The Way of the Roses " on Brommies. They travelled by train to reach the start ( including cycling across London ) They were quite heavily laden and had rear panniers ( 2Bikes4Adventure on YouTube have some excellent content, including brompton pannier options )
With regard to buying used, Mrs TKK and I were fortunate to get a couple of barely used Bromptons locally from a Gumtree ad. They were both 2015 M6L. We got them in 2017 and have since added to the fleet with a couple of " Special Editions " which are noticeably lighter to carry.
I've mentioned it in other posts but we did a 70 mile ride along the Canal towpaths that link Glasgow and Edinburgh, cycled to the station in Poole, cycled across London, overnight sleeper to Glasgow ( both bikes fitted under the bottom bunk in our compartment ) The Towpath was a lot better than we expected, the cobbles under the bridges were a bit sketchy so we got off and pushed the bikes the very short distance.
All in all it was " A grand Day Out " as Wallace and Grommit would say.

 

[wafter]

Oh, another point worth mentioning is that it seems the 6sp Brompton has a similar gear range to (if slightly higher than) the middle ring on my Fuji - which is 36t with an 11-34 cassette at the back (and I find almost exclusively ideal for what I use it for).

As per TKK's post above, the youtube channel mentioned has an excellent breakdown of Brompton gearing which is worth a watch if you want to know what you're getting yourself into.

FWIW I'd not want any higher gearing on the little B as aero drag renders this pointless (best I've managed with current gearing is 26mph on the flat!) while lower is always useful, however I rarely find myself venturing into the low end of the hub on my (admittedly pretty flat) commute.

Considering the limited choices available due to packaging constraints, I think the current 6sp setup is a pretty good solution

 

[yoho oy]

One thing for sure - get a proper saddle for your brompton. After 50 miles a day your bottom part will say thank you. I haven't tested original bike saddle on brompton, mine came with brooks cambium and after few miles I was so sore that I felt it for a few days.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

A 36 x 34 granny gear scares the bejaysus out of me

Can I ask you to elaborate on what you mean by "packaging constraints"?. Thanks

Considering the limited choices available due to packaging constraints

 

[wafter]

A 36 x 34 granny gear scares the bejaysus out of me

Can I ask you to elaborate on what you mean by "packaging constraints"?. Thanks

Aye; lower is nicer if you can have it, but in practice I rarely use the 26T ring on the Fuji.

There's not a lot of room on a Brompton to fit all the drivetrain bits you'd otherwise expect to find on other bikes..

 

[Gunk]

. I haven't tested original bike saddle on brompton,

unbelievable comfortable

 

[HobbesOnTour]

There's not a lot of room on a Brompton to fit all the drivetrain bits you'd otherwise expect to find on other bikes..

That makes sense. Thanks

 

[Kell]

WRT saddles.

I find the original Brompton saddle is ok for anything up to an hour. After that it starts to become a little uncomfortable.

 

[Gunk]

WRT saddles.

I find the original Brompton saddle is ok for anything up to an hour. After that it starts to become a little uncomfortable.

I’ve never ridden a Brompton for that long!

 

[EltonFrog]

WRT saddles.

I find the original Brompton saddle is ok for anything up to an hour. After that it starts to become a little uncomfortable.

I’ve never ridden a Brompton for that long!

Back in May, I did some rides that were 30 to 54 miles on the stock saddle, it wasn’t too bad, though I was wearing padded shorts.

I could have left it on but, changed to a Brooks B17, just ‘cos I can, it is for me a much more comfortable saddle.