Mid-June marked a year of commuting on the Brompton.
In the preceding twelve months it's done circa 140 days of commuting in all weathers, covering around 2700 miles in total (most, but not all on the commute).
This has saved around 3000 miles travelled in the car, around 300 litres or £450 in fuel along with all the associated, unquantifiable wear. This is about a third of the total distance I would have travelled on four wheels, so if we assume mileage-related factors ultimately bring about its demise the bike should extend the car's life by around 50%..
Across all of my bikes I've covered around 3750 miles in the time I've been commuting on the Brompton, which I think is the most I've ever ridden in any 12 month period. My cardio health feels good, my legs look and feel stronger and more defined than I've ever known. I shudder to think where my mental health would be if I'd had to endure the commute in the car for the past year.
A few weekends ago the bike got a birthday - join me for a wonky, disjointed and OCD-fuelled rendition of how it's fared after 12 months and 2.7k miles of all-weather use
The bike hadn't had a bath since around six months and 1400 miles ago in mid-December, so was pretty grubby. Short story being that the wheels were pulled, stripped, washed separately and rims waxed... the rest chucked in the Park workstand, thoroughly cleaned and waxed; along with being checked over with attempts made to address any issues..
The fork assy covered in grime; the bit of PVC tape still doing a good job of protecting it from cable rub.
The back end was similarly filthy, although in some areas I think markedly better than it might have been thanks to the extended mudflap on the front.. although it's probably not made that much difference this far back. I notice that the bike is somewhat reluctant to shift sprockets if its dirty, which I suspect is due to filth limiting the travel of the guide...
The mud in the rear guard was a real pig to get out; I only realised mid-scrub that this was probably due to the presence of tyre sealant lost during various punctures..
On top of that there's wear at the stay mount from contact with the tyre - I've had to resolve rubbing here several times; I think as the result of the guard's constant impact with the ground during folding gradually bending the stays and pushing it closer to the tyre.
The budget PVC frame tape had generally held up pretty well, other than on the stem and underside of the main frame that contacts the rear wheel when folded; causing it to migrate:
As one would expect the finish has completely worn off the mating faces opposite to the frame's hinge; with a little light surface corrosion which is to be expected; and thankfully doesn't appear to be creeping under the remaining finish.
More disappointingly the inside of the frame shows obvious corrosion (hard to photograph but that on the sock is an example of what was present). The rust is light and certainly not structural, but there none-the-less. Evidently despite their marketing bluster Brompton refuse to apply an effective anti-corrosion treatment to the inside of the frame during manufacture; which I think is pretty bloody poor. Cavity wax is on the list..
Unfortunately there is now detectable slop in the hinge pin; it doesn't appear excessive but there's definitely more play than when new - maybe 0.5mm vertical movement between both sides at the mating faces on the LHS of the bike. I'm not sure what's considered normal, so would be interested to hear from other owners on this subject...
The bought, 3D-printed insert in the clamp (to aid alignment) works most of the time but has been a bit sketchy and I'm not hugely impressed..
Moving back to the rear post-clean it was evident that the chain has been striking the rear frame assy near the dropout - both at the leading edge of the flat section and the inside end of the chainstay - resulting in loss of finish in both cases and corrosion on the droput..
This is both disappointing and somewhat bizarre - I can only assume this is happening during shifting - perhaps moving from the 13T sprocket on account of its deeper teeth..?
The flaking finish was removed from the dropout (which I now can't unsee as approximating a startled seahorse), before the corrosion was treated with successive applications of 85% phosphoric acid - which worked beautifully to get it back to bare metal.
A sharp edge was tickled with a fine file before the whole lot was degreased and touched up with gloss black paint (by which time it'd gotten too dark to get decent photos). I also treated and painted a couple of other spots - including the end of the chainstay, stem hinge and inside of the fork where something had rubbed..
Having just checked the dropout (some few hundred miles later) the edge of the flat plate seems all good, while the finish is again damaged on the chainstay. Might abuse Brompton over this as it's pretty crap..
The seatpost was removed, cleaned, waxed and refitted - showing considerable wear at the base where it's clamped in the frame during use. The bung in the end has also taken a bit of a beating, although I guess this is to be expected.
While to an extent the abrasion to the seatpost is inevitable due to movement between components during pedalling, it's doubtless made so much worse by the contamination that finds its way onto the post after being thrown up into the underside of the seatpost tube in the frame by the front wheel. Thankfully this seems to have largely been eliminated by fitting the extension to the mudflap; although I suspect there are still plenty of abrasive particles remaining embedded in the plastic seatpost sleeve that continue to cause damage..
Again this problem shouldn't even be an issue and if left un-addressed this impromptu grinding paste between the seatpost and tube will cause serious damage to the frame as the finish is destroyed and corrosion sets in
Moving onto other areas, the brake pads were checked and re-aligned; the fronts being noticeably worn more on one side than the other - I suspect due to caliper mis-alignment.
Rim thickness was measured; varying (from memory) from about 23.0mm to 23.6mm at the inside and outside of the rim respectively. I assume these were probably 24mm nomnial when new..? The rear was similar if a bit more worn - I suspect despite the fact the front brake is used more / does more work, the rear wears quicker as it seems a greater amount of abrasive corrosion on the rim thanks to the marginal effectiveness of the mudguard...
While I'm largely unconcerned about not having washed the bike for six months, the rims are probably one area that would have benefitted from contamination being removed to reduce corresponding abrasion; something I'll aim to stay on top of in future even if it's just a quick swill of the wheels and brakes.
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