I had a Brompton for a few years and loved it. Easy fold, good ride and luggage. But some things it just could not do. Position was always a compromise, flat bars and no chance of fixed wheel. You’ll know I ride a lot of fixed bikes. And with the best will in the world, they are not exactly light. Mine was over 12 kg. A titanium single speed with no bits will be over 9 kilos and £1500.

So I bought a Tactic Panache that was once a quality alloy not steel Brompton rival for £75, put it on a diet, including fixed wheel, added a Brompton luggage block to what was a front light mount. And voila. A real 9.5 kilo folding fixed wheel bike that rides better than a Brompton, weighs a lot less and has coat me £200

looks stealthy

Can’t see the pics…but it’s a Dahon style fold IE way bigger than Brommie?

Let’s try again – measured folded at 25″ x 26″ x 12″ or 10.5 cuft compared with 23″ x 22.2″ x 10.6″ for a Brompton. It will fit inside my Airnimal case without dissassembly. I had to take the Saddle off the Brompton, which is a pain because you can’t just slip it out. Very pleased. A Brompton with drop bars becomes a LOT bigger as the bars can’t fold inside the frame as they can here.

#Searches in vain for some sort of system to display approval.

Sorry but looks scary to me. Riding on the drops hitting an unseen pothole looks like a guaranteed OTB !!! Mate of mine really smashed his face up in London on a Brompton due to the lack of roll over ability in the small wheels. Shifting your weight down and forward is only going to make that more likely it seems.

I there a clown standing just out of shot?

Nice flite ti.

My God
My Eyes

Wow that looks pretty good!

Now looking for one myself…. need a folder but refuse to pay Brompton prices.

It looks pretty long – I’m only 5’7” do you think one would work for me?

What are the tyres you used?

Now looking for one myself…. need a folder but refuse to pay Brompton prices.

Dahon?

Will fit smaller riders. Both bar and seatpost rotate 180 degrees. Normally they both face inwards when you buy one. I reversed them to match my road position. Pay up to £100 for a good one. They are all about 18-20 years old now. They were £700 when new.

305 tyres are a bit rare. These are 1.25” Ken’s Kwest at 100 psi. They go wider and I removed a set of 1.75” to save a huge 75 g. Brompton use 349 which were even rarer years ago but became as ubiquitous as the bikes!

Rode five miles this morning to Heathrow then caught the tube. The track bars are more of a reach than I’d like, but they were very cheap and 1” diameter of course. Could do with some cliplesa pedals or toe lips for faster down hills. And probably need a 13T not 14. Upgrades would be a set of larger 349 Brompton sized wheels which the frame will take, with a Phil Wood 110 OLN track hub. That would be about £400 with a set of Kojac tyres.

And I’ve ridden small wheel bikes for years and am more than aware of pothole risks, even on full sized wheels with tragic consequences (see previous posts).

Looks good.

Even smaller wheels than a Brompton? Eek! 🙂

Wouldn’t fancy that with flat pedals tbh. I guess the whole point of the folder is you ride them in your brogues, so it would need to be toe straps rather than a spd or similar.

I have look pedals with pedalbobs for flats and flat/spds too as alternatives for travel. Wheel size with normal wheels is about the same as 349’s. I just wanted higher pressures as an experiment. It will take Brompton wheels, and of course being fixed should have a lockring, but you need a 110 OLN track hub, and Phil Wood is the only person that makes one (most are 120 OLN). So Proof of concepept first, then spend more, then find another frame, then powder coat etc…

It rides fine. I was most pleased with the fitting of the luggage block. This is what it started as – 12.8 kg. The saddle alone was over 800g compared with 200 for the Flite. The rear SA 5 speed was 2.1 kg with tyre and sprocket, compared with 1.05 kg for the fixed wheel.

That crack in the kitchen floor looks nasty

being fixed should have a lockring

I’ve been riding my commuter for years now with no lockring, it’s disk one side and threaded for a single speed freewheel on the other. I’ve nut unscrewed it yet because with two proper brakes you don’t need to use your legs. Was a bit apprehensive at first, but don’t give it a second thought now.

One of my fixed road bikes has a front brake only, the other has two. I found no difference really and seldom use leg pressure to slow. So I thought why not? It saves 450g. But no lockring is a little concerning still. Chainline is also an issue with such short chainstays, it’s not bad, but about 2 mm off at the moment on 1/8″ chain. A track hub would cure that too.

The crack in the floor was due to the previous owners very poor choice of renovating floor tiles – thin limestone on a spung wooden Victorian Floor. It’s not worsened, but must have cracked after a year (we’ve been there nine years).

Nice. I have a Dahon Mu Uno frame in my cellar I plan to do something similar with, but I’ve been struggling to find a wheel (and CBA building any). I have the opposite problem though – I need a 130mm hub.

For yours – aren’t BMX hubs 110mm? You could get one of those and JB weld/rotafix a cog on.

Think that looks great fun. Re the rear hub, couldnt you just use a front boost disc hub with qr adaptors and velosolo 6 bolt on cog that bolts onto the disc mount?

What sort of cake have you got in that tin?

Is the fork ok?? It looks a little bent backwards. Maybe just the angle of the pic?

Might be worth looking at Wello QRD quick release pedals. I use some MG-1 versions on my Brompton. You can get SPD, SPD-SL or Flat versions that just clip in place.

I think Brompton are really missing a trick by not doing a much lighter model.

A carbon model would certainly sell in smaller volumes but given the clientele they could probably still sell them at £3k a pop. For any commute where the Brompton has to be carried.m e.g. up stairs changing platforms etc. the heft of a Brompton can be a bit of a faff.

the heft of a Brompton can be a bit of a faff.

Totally agree. I borrowed a friends Brompton which had cost him £1.2k and was amazed at how much it weighs. I know it’s a classic design but how they think they can get away with the frame being made of mains gas pipe amazes me.

Dahon Curl (alloy) and Java Neo (carbon) both have copied Bromptons folding design, but neither have ended up being lighter than the Brompton.

Weight is an issue. The 9.5 kilos is enough for me. I carried the bike from tube to outside the station. It’s heavy enough But it was not onerous. When I had a Brompton it was always too heavy.

That frame is not helping. An alloy or carbon version would help. But the hubs! I saved over a kilo. Could also go carbon bars and seatpost, lighter wheels. The Tactic was a great bike when it came out, but the Brompton was better. Others have come and gone too. The Uno was another option but bigger and I wanted Brompton size. The frame has a nice clip to hold the bike closed and locked.

Boost front hub is a nice idea. But but Phil Wood! I toyed with a tax free Ti Brompton, which is reuse the wheels for. Will see how this one goes first.

Ive looked at mms removable pedals too. I liked the option of storage using a wheel but adaptor. Surprisingly the plastic Welgos are VERY light. I’m thinking look pedals tomorrow with spare shoes.

And the forks are fine. It’s just lens distortion. Cakes vary but carrot or banana bread. The Bread bin is full of SIS supplies!

I think the bike looks great OP but on to the more important topic.

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What sort of cake have you got in that tin

I don’t know what cake the OP has but my wife made banana and choc chip loaf last weekend. I only had one slice but it was lovely.

My brompton s3 is c 11kg, I ve solved the carrying weight issue by just wheeling it everywhere. Just fold it at the train door for eg. Ok I m not crossing london at peak times so the station concourses are fairly quiet. Before lugging it folded was a real pita. If the carriage is quiet i just stand the bike on its rear folded wheel.

Ought to weigh mine, it’s an older one at least 12-15 years now. I wasn’t keen on the heft so carbon Seat post, light saddle, ti BB, lighter inner tubes and tyres, foam grips, few lighter bolts/nuts. This all made it noticeably lighter /easier to carry and definitely quicker off the lights.

Despite being a diehard Brommie fan/owner of 6 years only, this has got me thinking.

But…I guess spares (hinges etc) are unavailable, as are racks/mudguards?

My Mezzo D10 weighs 10kg with a couple of upgrades (titanium pedals and saddle, carbon bars). Folds quicker than a Brompton and almost as small. 10 speed 105 mech for proper gears and much better brakes than Brompton. It has a monocoque alloy frame with no fold and the whole thing with upgraded parts was less than 1000.

Used to get off three stations from home on nice evenings and ride 20 hilly miles home.
For some reason they never were successful but I still love mine even though I don’t commute on it anymore.

Spares will be an issue. The seat and handle bar posts are custom. And the QRs are welded in place. The hinge is just a bolt which looks ok. But for 75 pounds I thought it would be worth a punt. Will actually take a full size rack and fold fine.

As I said it was a good bike, but overshadowed by the all conquering Brompton. I’m most impressed with the fold. It rides better than a Brompton, but that’s just wheelbase. The mezzo was the next challenger. That’s gone the same way, sadly.

And yes I’m a folding bike geek. Had a Brompton, Airframe and an Airnimal. Now this. About 15% of the price of the Bike Friday Gates drive Pakit too.

couldnt you just use a front boost disc hub with qr adaptors and velosolo 6 bolt on cog that bolts onto the disc mount?

Velosolo cogs only go down to 16T – obviously due to the BCD. Would need to go a lot larger on the front to accomodate this for a reasonable gear – I’m running 52×14 at the moment, and would quite like a 13T.

Rode five miles in the wet today, now looking at lighter SKS black mudguards – had an Ass saver at hand. 😀

I’ve always been folder-curious. Are any of the cheaper models realistically going to fit someone who’s 6’3″? Is there a specific forum/classifieds one could go to for more info or a second hand deal? Where did you (OP) source this one?

Velosolo cogs only go down to 16T

I did wonder that after posting…. oh well there is a cheap Phil wood on ebay at the moment. Sure not too difficult to get the axle respaced either through Phil or via local machine shop.

Sourced mine on Ebay – search the folding bike section and avoid Bromptons with a “-Brompton”. I was originally considering a Strida, I’ll have on of those too I think, but I wanted fixed wheel drop bar road position bike for travel. Gumtree is another favourite. I’ve not seen a facebook folding sales site.

A Tactic should fit 6’3″, I’ve reduced the reach sligtly by moving the saddle a little forward and I’m 179 cm (74cm BB to saddle). Bromptons are ridden with an extending seatpost by tall riders too. There are lots of options, but buy cheap first, or buy a used Brompton for resale value and see how you get on. If you do go for a Brompton, check it’s not stolen. The ompany have a registry.

I was originally considering a Strida, I’ll have on of those too I think

Don’t! I have ridden one. Little short of a deathtrap.