Cheers all - appreciate the continued interest
As with the rest of life the situation with the Brompton continues to grind onward with crushing mundanity; the passage of time perhaps mercifully softening the painful detail with which these micro-events are recounted in this thread...
I'm still commuting regularly on the Brompton; however don't really feel like I've earned my winter badge yet due to the uncharacteristically mild weather and fact that I've had a week off sick this month.
Thanks to picking up another litany of punctures on the tow path I've now changed my route to cut out most / all of it; which is less pleasant in many ways but a little cleaner and more direct.
The route now consists of the gloriously wide cycle path from Yarnton to Peartree, across the now-traffic-light-controlled sliproads to / from the A34 (loved as a cyclist, hated as a driver). As of yet the cycle path is still to be completed on the Oxford side of the Peartree; and rather than follow the convoluted route prescribed by the workmen. I usually just ride straight up the centre of the dualled section between the two roundabouts since the vehicles present tend to move slower than you'd expect in your typical car park.
From here it's across the Woodstock road roundabout and into town; smashing it down the bus lane convincingly passing the 90% static traffic.. it really is hellish and I can't fathom how people can subject themselves to this crap every day. What takes me 20 minutes to cover on the bike must take at least double, maybe triple in a car...
I'm yet to encounter any ice with the lowest temperature I've endured being around 2 degrees IIRC - I remain alive but neither my physiology or wardrobe are well-suited to such conditions. While we're thankfully past the solstice so will be seeing gradually longer days, I'm painfully aware that temperature-wise the worst is likely still to come.
There have been the usual highs and lows - coming home in the bitter cold after the man-flu set in had me unsure I was going to make it at all; while the first day back afterwards was viewed with anxiety but actually panned out really nicely - gifting me a mild morning with a glorious sunrise
The bike itself remains largely unchanged. Some time ago I modified the front mudflap in an effort to minimise the crap plastering the bike's frame..
This current solution was meant really as a proof-of-concept and has acquitted itself well.
The tape is peeling on the inside thanks to continued exposure to moisture and once I attain a reasonable amount of speed it tends to fold back and limit coverage... however it's massively reduced the amount of particulate matter on the bottom bracket; and by extension that accumulating inside the seatpost tube.
This area still doesn't remain completely clean and still gets moisture inside, however the amount of grit has been massively reduced to the extent that operating the seatpost is no longer accompanied by the sickening, default sound of the grit in the seatpost tube ruining the finish inside the frame.
By way of comparison here's a recent pic of the BB before the bike was last cleaned, prior to the extension being fitted:
... and here's the same area as it currently stands; after around 250 miles of mixed-condition commuting with the extended flap in place:
Granted my route is cleaner now, however still encompasses plenty of rotting slush and the other areas of the bike look comparably grotty to last time.
An additional bonus thanks to my cost-no-issue use of a high-quality transparent engineering thermoplastic for the extension is that with a casual glance downward you can smugly witness all of the detritus smashing into the flap that would otherwise have ended up all over my feet and frame
I'm not sure where I'm going to go in this area yet - the guards themselves could offer a lot more coverage with few practical drawbacks; however I lack the facilities to make owt better. The extended front flap is definitely a win but I'm not sure how to best address the shortcomings of the modification - maybe with a larger single-piece flap and some reinforcement to keep it in place.. I did toy with the idea of some ties from the lower corners to the axle but this seems a bit fussy.
The brass protection plates on the frame continue to do a stirling job; fap knows what sort of state the various areas of the bike would be in after being repeatedly folded / unfolder while covered in all this abrasive crap..
In less-great news I found some light surface corrosion inside the seatpost tube in the frame - not at the bottom end as expected where the grit from the front wheel had abraded the inside of the tube; instead at the top end near the clamp - thanks it seems to Brompton's reluctance to apply any finish or rust-proofing in this area. I also found a load of very obvious, rampantly red surface corrosion inside the tubes of the rear assy too
IMO there's no excuse for this and it would be a non-issue for the sake of a few quid's worth of cavity wax applied at manufacture. I'm still on the fence about what to use / how to get it in there, buy hopefully come the summer when all's warm and dry I'll get some rust-proofer stuffed up it. For now the grot in the frame has been treated with light oil to prevent it worsening..
Elsewhere I had a scare recently when I hit a bump and the rear wheel inexplicibly locked solid causing me to skid to a halt.. transpires that the Brompton-branded Lezyne pump mounted to the rear frame had finally had enough of life and leapt from its mount; becoming jammed between the frame and wheel
Thanks to all the grit on the frame this has taken off some of the finish as well as comprehensively knackering the pump; deforming its OD sufficiently to cause the piston to hang up inside and knacker its ability to move any air.
On the one hand this is clearly not an ideal development; on the other the pump was shite anyway for many reasons and part of me is not-so-secretly glad that the universe has seen fit to end its pitiful existance..
On the down-side it's going to mean more money for a suitable replacement, which no doubt is going to have to be carried in the bag rather than on the frame..
Anyway, I think that's all for now. The bike has now covered around 1400 miles in my ownership; having saved the car from swallowing a comparable mileage so prolonging its life by maybe three months before inevitably something catastrophically fails and kills it.
The bike has so far recovered around 20% of its total cost in fuel savings and continues to serve me well, however remains a work-in-progress and many areas are still ripe for improvement; the liklihood of any gains in these areas being variable, but I'll persevere as best I can
