# Madness I tell you



## Blue Hills (21 Jul 2017)

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/bikes/brompton-s6lx-2017-nickel-edition-folding-bike-nickeltitanium/

I'll stick to my trusty 5 speed - no mech.

Coloured


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## Rooster1 (21 Jul 2017)

The word "nick" is more appropriate.


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## midlife (21 Jul 2017)

There's one of them in one of our local LBS's window.....now I know what it is . No price tag on it lol


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## bonzobanana (21 Jul 2017)

The standard Brompton is expensive enough for me let alone that model. Looks lovely though.


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## TheDoctor (21 Jul 2017)

Indeed. My M6R was expensive enough at £695...


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## chriscross1966 (21 Jul 2017)

I've just bought a Nickel.... as I had a spare set of titanium extremities kicking around I didn't order the X, but as well as putting them ojn I've swapped out the crankset (Campagnolo Chorus Carbon UT) bars (Nitto bullhorns), saddle (BROOKS b15) controls (Vision TT) rear wheel (now 5-speed) and I'm going to make the carriers over the weekend so I can run 80:21 gearing for that mad motorpacing look... selling the spare bits on ebay if anyone wants them...


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## chriscross1966 (21 Jul 2017)

chriscross1966 said:


> I've just bought a Nickel.... as I had a spare set of titanium extremities kicking around I didn't order the X, but as well as putting them ojn I've swapped out the crankset (Campagnolo Chorus Carbon UT) bars (Nitto bullhorns), saddle (BROOKS b15) controls (Vision TT) rear wheel (now 5-speed) and I'm going to make the carriers over the weekend so I can run 80:21 gearing for that mad motorpacing look... selling the spare bits on ebay if anyone wants them...




Her name is Persephone, for she is both dark and shiny


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## chriscross1966 (21 Jul 2017)

midlife said:


> There's one of them in one of our local LBS's window.....now I know what it is . No price tag on it lol



If that was Warlands then that was mine, she turned up while I was away... You saw her before the modding started..


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## midlife (21 Jul 2017)

chriscross1966 said:


> If that was Warlands then that was mine, she turned up while I was away... You saw her before the modding started..



Bike shop in Penrith


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## chriscross1966 (21 Jul 2017)

Blue Hills said:


> https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/bikes/brompton-s6lx-2017-nickel-edition-folding-bike-nickeltitanium/
> 
> I'll stick to my trusty 5 speed - no mech.
> 
> Coloured


Which is why I'm putting a 5-speed in there... I might swap it out for the 8-speed in my T8.... but that's a 32-spoke unit in a CR rim and I think I'd ratehr stick with the stock Black Edition rim....
Saving up for a pair of Andoza Hawk B1's though.... and a set of Vostok extremities .... and full disks..... and probably another Alfine 11-speed hub to match what my H11 has.... argh, the shiny bits are soooo expensive, and utterly addictive....


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## chriscross1966 (25 Jul 2017)

midlife said:


> Bike shop in Penrith



Ahh... they only make 400 Nickels a year, the order book opens in April and generally is filled in a few weeks, so I suspect it was one they'd ordered for a customer and were waiting for them to pick up.... I know Warlands had mine up on display (it turned up while I was away for three weeks...). With the amount of interest it generated they're thinking of ordering one on spec next year, probably in S6 spec...


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## simon.r (18 Aug 2017)

Who'd be daft enough to fork out that sort of money for a shiny Brompton










But ain't she pretty


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## Profpointy (18 Aug 2017)

ooo, I do like that a lot.

My gripe with bromptons is the, to my mind, daft gearing set up. If only the rear triangle was wide enough for sensible Shimano affline hub gears (or even Roloff), or alternatively a 9 speed freehub. The 2 x 3 arragement, whilst it does work, is a bit pants really and the plastic derailleur mech is plain nasty.


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## Drago (18 Aug 2017)

You'd think SJS would wipe the fingerprints off before taking the photo.


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## simon.r (18 Aug 2017)

Drago said:


> You'd think SJS would wipe the fingerprints off before taking the photo.



Or it could just be demonstrating Brompton's blurb that "Minor variations to the finish appear on each bike, ensuring that the final look is incredibly unique".

Which I interpret as "We tried really hard to get a smooth, consistent finish, but we couldn't so let's get our marketing people onto it..."


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## simon.r (18 Aug 2017)

Profpointy said:


> ooo, I do like that a lot.
> 
> My gripe with bromptons is the, to my mind, daft gearing set up. If only the rear triangle was wide enough for sensible Shimano affline hub gears (or even Roloff), or alternatively a 9 speed freehub. The 2 x 3 arragement, whilst it does work, is a bit pants really and the plastic derailleur mech is plain nasty.



I can see where you're coming from, but I've found that 2 x 3 arrangement soon becomes intuitive. Agreed that the plastic mech is a bit cheap, but it's working fine so far and I've not read any reports of it failing.

Kinetics in Glasgow offer replacement rear triangles for Alfine and Rohloff: http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/folding-bikes/brompton/brompton-rear-triangle/


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## Jason (18 Aug 2017)

I get folding bikes (own one and enjoy it), The Brompton doesn't tick any boxes for me, as it doesn't ride very well if your a tall or fat (or both) man. I really wanted to like em on a test ride, but alas, my frame didn't suit it's proportions ... oh and the price of them is extortionate


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## simon.r (18 Aug 2017)

Jasonbourne said:


> I get folding bikes (own one and enjoy it), The Brompton doesn't tick any boxes for me, as it doesn't ride very well if your a tall or fat (or both) man. I really wanted to like em on a test ride, but alas, my frame didn't suit it's proportions ... oh and the price of them is extortionate



Each to their own. It maybe just the stage of my cycling life, but I really have fallen big time for Bromptons. I've owned a couple of folders in the past - Giant Halfway and Dahon Speed Pro - and ridden a Birdy for a while. And MrsR has a Dahon Vitessse, which I've obviously tried out!

I'm 6'2". With the telescopic post, the H type and the pentaclip reversed the position works for me.


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## Blue Hills (18 Aug 2017)

Ah the dahon speed pro, don't get me started on that smonr


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## simon.r (18 Aug 2017)

Blue Hills said:


> Ah the dahon speed pro, don't get me started on that smonr



Do tell. My recollections are that it was very flexy front to back, but otherwise ok. Had a 3x7 gear system if memory serves.


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## srw (18 Aug 2017)

Jasonbourne said:


> I get folding bikes (own one and enjoy it), The Brompton doesn't tick any boxes for me, as it doesn't ride very well if your a tall or fat (or both) man.


As a (reasonably) tall and (certainly) fat man I disagree. It rides extremely well.


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## srw (19 Aug 2017)

User said:


> Oh really? As a 6' *mumbles* stone man I beg to differ....





User said:


> Can you ride it no hands?


(I don't want to admit that I can't ride any of my bikes no hands - and that's because my core stability isn't what it might be.)


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## chriscross1966 (19 Aug 2017)

Jasonbourne said:


> I get folding bikes (own one and enjoy it), The Brompton doesn't tick any boxes for me, as it doesn't ride very well if your a tall or fat (or both) man. I really wanted to like em on a test ride, but alas, my frame didn't suit it's proportions ... oh and the price of them is extortionate



The price is what you pay for a bike where most everything is made for them and your LBS can get bits for a 20+ year old bike "...by the weekend probably, Monday latest....".... Try that with a Dahon


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## chriscross1966 (19 Aug 2017)

simon.r said:


> I can see where you're coming from, but I've found that 2 x 3 arrangement soon becomes intuitive. Agreed that the plastic mech is a bit cheap, but it's working fine so far and I've not read any reports of it failing.
> 
> Kinetics in Glasgow offer replacement rear triangles for Alfine and Rohloff: http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/folding-bikes/brompton/brompton-rear-triangle/



Vostok make a titanium wide-hub rear triangle and I replaced my Kinetics one with one.. I like the lack of weight (it is very noticeable given that it is unsprung) tho on my carbon and titanium 11-speed it makes the rear end match the front.. Everything is light except the hubs, an Alfine on the back and a SON dynamo on the front running in carbon rims...


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## MacB (19 Aug 2017)

chriscross1966 said:


> Vostok make a titanium wide-hub rear triangle and I replaced my Kinetics one with one.. I like the lack of weight (it is very noticeable given that it is unsprung) tho on my carbon and titanium 11-speed it makes the rear end match the front.. Everything is light except the hubs, an Alfine on the back and a SON dynamo on the front running in carbon rims...



Is there much difference between the steel Kinetics triangle and the Ti Vostok one?


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## Jason (20 Aug 2017)

User said:


> Oh really? As a 6' *mumbles* stone man I beg to differ....



yeah,each to his own. Wonderful thing about bikes is they are like people : different


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## chriscross1966 (20 Aug 2017)

MacB said:


> Is there much difference between the steel Kinetics triangle and the Ti Vostok one?



They are both very well made, the Vostok comes with an optional chain tensioner that is a lot better than stock and not stupidly priced. They both took a while to arrive, the Kinetics cos Ben is sometimes too busy on other things to make triangles, the Vostok because I was buying one of the first ones made off an Indiegogo funding campaign, and I've never seen a crowd funded project complete on originally proposed date, I believe they are from stock now so might be quicker. The Vostok is a lot lighter, it also comes with a dropout adapter to run derailleurs should you want to.


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## chriscross1966 (20 Aug 2017)

User said:


> Kinetics do an integrated rack, which looks good.



Yes, I was tempted by it, but in the end I went with an H+H Q-rack in titanium, it weighs next to nothing and takes the full-size racsack happily.


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## MacB (20 Aug 2017)

What appeals about the integrated rack is that it removes fixings, obviously, but can also be used for mudguard attachment doing away with stays.


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## CanucksTraveller (20 Aug 2017)




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## CanucksTraveller (20 Aug 2017)

User14044mountain said:


> Where did you take that picture of Reg?


I think he was on Parker's Piece. You may insert your own punchline here.


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## Kell (21 Aug 2017)

simon.r said:


> Or it could just be demonstrating Brompton's blurb that "Minor variations to the finish appear on each bike, ensuring that the final look is i*ncredibly unique*".
> 
> Which I interpret as "We tried really hard to get a smooth, consistent finish, but we couldn't so let's get our marketing people onto it..."



Major bugbear for me.

Uniqueness is a binary state. Something is either unique or it isn't.


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## Kell (21 Aug 2017)

Profpointy said:


> ooo, I do like that a lot.
> 
> My gripe with bromptons is the, to my mind, daft gearing set up. If only the rear triangle was wide enough for sensible Shimano affline hub gears (or even Roloff), or alternatively a 9 speed freehub. The 2 x 3 arragement, whilst it does work, is a bit pants really and the plastic derailleur mech is plain nasty.



The 'plastic derailleur mech' is not a derailleur. The actual job of shifting gears is done by a chain pusher.

Though I do agree on the 3x2 gearing system.



User said:


> Can you ride it no hands?



Yes. I rode mine for about 1/2 a mile the other day with no hands. But it never felt completely stable and I don't think I'd have liked to try and turn it no-handed.

That said, I do have wider than standard bars on mine. So maybe they contributed to the stability.


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