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Hi,
I have just convinced my employer to sign up for the Cycle to Work scheme and am considering getting a Brompton through it.
I am looking at the A and C Line ranges which offer 2, 3, 6 and 12 speed options. My conventional bike experience says more gears = better but I am wondering whether this applies to the Brompton world.
I would not want extra gears to compromise ease of folding and reliability but the extra range would be nice to have.
Primary uses will be local commuting trips of less than 4 miles. The main reasons for having a folding bike are so that I can charge our soon to be delivered EV at my work overnight - they offer a VFM scheme for charging using their points - and also going to the gym. This is in the city centre and I have noticed that bikes locked up outside are often vandalised/stripped of components if left after dark.
I might be tempted to try some shorter audax rides on the Brompton in which case more gears would be welcome.
Any other Brompton related wisdom also welcome - e.g. what bars to get, luggage options etc.
There have been a number of threads here before - worth searching them out.
gearing depends partly on your terrain - flat vs hills. Some will tell you single speed is fine, I’m not a fan. The 2x3 setup I have will cope with the hills in London.
im tall (6’4”) but both K and I ride m bars. Its a sit up bike - my brief rides on the lower flat bar did not convince.
luggage on front block. Bag will depend what you want to carry, but the carradice is best value imo. Ortlieb lovely but super pricy and doesn’t hold as much as you’d hope. The mini ortlieb is useful when travelling light.
Rack more use for folded stability and wheeling along than luggage.
People ride vast distances on Brompton but that’s not what they’re for and it’s when the compromises on ride position really show.
People ride vast distances on Brompton but that’s not what they’re for and it’s when the compromises on ride position really show.
I did the L2B on one many years ago (2 speed, I think) and also did it on a Mezzo D10 which was much better - can't believe they stopped making those.
I found you have to ride them with a very smooth cadence to get the best out of them - otherwise if you haul on the bars for power you just get a rowing machine effect and little else. This would suggest more gears is betterer......
I must admit the new gravel version has me looking at them again.
I’d go for the two speed as the hub gear is a bit of a boat anchor. This allows start and overdrive. If finances stretch I’d push to a 4 speed P line as the weight saving is significant and the four gears are nice. I used to have a six speed original and two gears, well chosen, is enough for flatter parcours.
I now have a mezzo i4 and a Brompton T-line 4 speed. The mezzo is a better ride. But the T-line is a better fold. And it’s four kilos lighter. Yes you read that correctly!
My T-line is flat bar. Had to move the saddle back to get the reach and avoid a more upright position. The luggage block is a must (and absent from the mezzo). I use a small roll top bag to take laptop and some extra kit. I also bought a folding helmet that fits inside. I rode the Dunwich Dynamo on my previous six speed in a very respectable time with clipless pedals and bars rotated forwards. The six gears helped but it’s not what the bikes really about. I always wanted the S2LX but it’s discontinued and morphed to the P-line four speed.
The fold is so good that when I was working in London I folded it and hid it under my desk. People coming in to work later didn't know I was using a Brompton it was so discreet. Would suggest buying one that works for the 90% use case and accept any compromises for the 10% that might just be wishful thinking.
Spd pedals and velosambas probably a good option for business casual workplaces
Gears: Brompton are moving to derailleur-style gears only, but the gears available can come as combinations of derailleur-style _and_ hub gears. I have an old two-speed: that's a two speed derailleur. (It feels a bit like switching chaingring: one gear for climbing/starting, another for along and descending). The three-speed is usually a hub, making the six speed a hub _and_ a derailleur.
12 speed is a four-speed derailleur with a three speed hub. The hub gears are heavy and add to weight. Increasingly, Brompton seem to be doing just four or six-speed as derailleurs. Check which setup you're looking at; personally, any derailleur-only setup is good (eg 2, 4, etc; I have forgotten how it changes).
I find, for razzing around, two speed is OK, but I really don't want to do much serious climbing on it. Gearing doesn't compromise folding at all; it just compromises weight. A Brompton is reasonably heavy as it is: it folds up wonderfully, but you really do want to carry it as little as possible, wheeling or riding always wins.
Bars: in my opinion, M or H. I didn't enjoy S. M has higher bars, but a shorter stem than S (the stem on a Brompton is vertically very tall); the S has a very, very tall stem, and a flat bar.
I personally ended up with an S-barred bike and put Kuosac low-rise Brompton bars on it, which are great - low-rise, on the high S stem, gives me something more like an M, but with wider and nicer bars. Big fan of them. Stuck Ergons on and off we go.
To add - my Brompton is heavy but convenient- hub dynamo and lights as well as 6spd and rack.
I’ve been an spd rider on road bike and off road forever (though moved to flats off road last year). I really don’t understand using spds on city bikes. I ride a Brompton in whatever I’m wearing for the destination. But if I was all weather commuting and changing shoes I’d just ride a suitable MTB flat shoe.
Mine was an S6L - that's flat bars, 3-speed hub/2-speed derailleur, rack and mudguards, on cycle to work. When I picked it up from Evans I thought they'd assembled it incorrectly - but it's just that the brake and gear levers have to be like that for the fold. The gearing is a bit odd but you get used to it - the gaps on the hub gears are huge so you use both shifts - 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, 3-1, 3-2. So every other change needs you to use both shifters. I spent most of the time in the middle hub gear just using the derailleur. If you use the fastest gear on the flat you are Chris Hoy - I think the bigger chainring would be a sensible option.
Once you get used to the eccentricities they are wonderful things.
One last point, the new 4-speed Brompton-designed derailleur bikes have a freehub ratchet noise that would make Hope blush. The hub bikes are silent.
Two speed user here. Mainly used for getting across London rather than in or out (I occasionally use it for this, in tandem with the train, and it knocks about half an hour of the journey) and it is superb for that. I changed from flat bars to Kuosac mid rise bars with ergon grips. They effect the bike standing folded slightly as I’ve never bothered trimming them down any but it’s no real faff. Mine has mudguards, larger aftermarket wheels for dragging it, superstar flats for pedals and a brompton front bag complete the package.
The brompton bag is ok on the bike but if I’m lugging that and the bike about I tend to use a chrome courier bag as the brompton one ways a ton even when empty.
I find the gearing fine for in town but I’m not doing any big hills at all on it.
I’m not sure why one would chose to audax on one, other than maybe having to get to the audax by tube, there’s far better folders for distance.
I really don’t understand using spds on city bikes
The sprint from the pelican crossing on the Mall down to Buck House is proper competitive - flats just wouldn't cut it 😋
That and my abysmal ability w flats having ridden spds for the last 25 odd years
I'm not sure where you're based but you can hire them if you wanted to try one out:
https://bromptonhire.com/our-locations/
The sprint from the pelican crossing on the Mall down to Buck House is proper competitive
My abiding memory of my first forays into that London with the Brompton is just how fast some of my fellow Brompton riders were.
On the pedal question, I don't think I'd go for spds, but I did find the folding pedal worthwhile.
just how fast some of my fellow Brompton riders were.
Waterloo Bridge has a 20 mph limit. It's always nice to leave the Aldwych and sprint across the bridge bypassing the dedicated cycle lane and cyclists. Have to get aero on the T4, but I exceed 20 and don't hold up traffic.
The new Bromptons have a removable rather than folding pedal, that clips into a hole at the rear of the front fork bridge. I seldom remove mine. You can use a removable SPD but I don't know if it will store in the same hole. The new design doesn't bang into the frame and is MUCH lighter.
I had a 2 speed, when I get hankerings for another I'm usually drawn to a 2-speed C-Line. A-Line gets all the old bits (brake levers etc) and you'll want mudguards. Unless you're going touring up long hills then I find the gearing OK, easy gear for hills, harder gear for flat and just freewheel down the hills. From what I remember it added about 450g to go to a hub gear one and I'd rather go cheap(er) and simple than try to lose that weight again with the fancy bits. Rack seems a bit pointless unless you need to wheel it about folded, anything of any size will catch on your feet.
I might be tempted to try some shorter audax rides on the Brompton in which case more gears would be welcome.
Ride one a while before basing a purchase on that idea : ) Some do, but ime of owning a Brompton as well as liking audax rides / distances is that the Brompton is a terrible bike for that kind of thing. If you're lucky it'll fit you well enough (I'm 6', couldn't sit on it that long) and the suspension squat from even the smaller opton chainring my S2 has is noticeable when you're climbing, even with a firm spring. But it's an awful climber anyway so who cares - it's a brilliant flat city traveller bike and I'm glad I specced it for that and nothing more. I did have some ideas about train touring but it's just not a day ride bike for me.
Luggabe block and bag is a great system.
Mine has a smaller front ring so I have a general flat roads gear and a minor hills gear.
I had a Ti post but sold it and went back to the steel one, the Ti post was too flexy.
Got some old Ti XC MTB bars on it and those Togs inner grip thumb hooks, I like those for cruising on the road.
The Conti Contact 35mm tyres are great. A Quad Lock or similar is good to have as I'm often trying to find somewhere in a town or city and googlemaps/phone is ideal. And a small seatpack to hold a cut-down 15mm spanner, levers and a spare tube and some latex gloves..
Oh, and when commuting regularly with it, going the dynamo hub option was a great decision. These days it's not really needed but if using it a few times a week in winter it's money well spent imo.
I really don’t understand using spds on city bikes
The sprint from the pelican crossing on the Mall down to Buck House is proper competitive - flats just wouldn't cut it 😋
That and my abysmal ability w flats having ridden spds for the last 25 odd years
I've been on SPDs for about the same amount of time, and I've more or less settled on toeclips for folders. I've never found any casual SPD shoes that are actually comfortable all day off the bike, and carrying an extra pair of shoes all the time is really annoying. I use wellgo QRDs, so I can swap between different pedals pretty easily if I really want SPDs for some reason, but for the most part, toeclips are the best compromise for me.
As for audax - people show up on all kinds of things. I think you have to really want to make a point of riding them on a "odd" bicycle to do one on a Brompton (and there's not even much novelty value to it any more). If that appeals to you, great - but if you just want to do an audax, there are much better tools for the job.
I’ve got a 6 speed from 2002 - back then I hardly ever saw any others commuting in and to and from London! I bought it after chatting to a new young engineer at Brompton at the London Boat Show - he’s the boss there now, has been for years.
It doesn’t get used much nowadays but it did in the early years. I have no idea how I tolerated the standard seatpost - I swapped to the longer one once I got back into MTBing and found my Brompton saddle was way too low.
Get it with a smaller chainring if you live somewhere hilly - on other bikes I like to climb standing but the Brompton is too small and too bendy for that to feel great. It is brilliant on the flat and in traffic - hills and potholes are its nemeses.
Also, just to reinforce: they can be very entertaining to ride. Slow on hills, but you can put power down on the flat and they handle a bit like a go-kart. I wasn't expecting to grin so much the first time I took mine for a razz, but they are entertaining and can shift when they need to - sometimes to the surprise of other cyclists.
Also, just to reinforce: they can be very entertaining to ride. Slow on hills, but you can put power down on the flat and they handle a bit like a go-kart. I wasn't expecting to grin so much the first time I took mine for a razz, but they are entertaining and can shift when they need to - sometimes to the surprise of other cyclists.
They can be fast off the line, thanks to their small wheels, but I find the limited gear range means you top out pretty early.