Brompton Mods

[rualexander]

The OP was asking for 12-14-16 - not the 12-14-17 the minimods-kit offers. Furthermore the 44 Pounds for the kit seem a bit ambitious. You can simply buy Shimano sprockets and use them: 12t, 14t, 16t - alltogehter this will cost you a freaking 9€. You will need a new chain (9 or 10 speed, depending from the sprockets you are using). You will need to modify your shifter or buy a Sunrace friction shifter. You won't need the spacer from the minimods kit as you can use your existing one and you can also reuse your existing lock-ring after filing on the 12t sprocket or create one from an old spoke. So you end up with 9€ of cost instead of 44 Pounds and you have the spacing you wanted instead of what Minimods offer. For the difference in price you can buy the missing bits like chain and shifter (that you would have to buy additionally to the upgrade kit anyway) plus a couple of beers to consume during and after the conversion.

Yes I know the OP was looking at 12-14-16, but I was simply giving the information about what I did as a possible alternative. I did acknowledge that the sprocket combo was not exactly what they were looking at.

Where are you getting Shimano sprockets for €3 each?

The existing spacer on a 2 sprocket setup will be too wide for a 3 sprocket setup.

Not everyone wants to get involved in filing down sprockets or creating snaprings out of old spokes.

 

[rogerzilla]

If you put the "wrong" bars on a particular stem, there are a couple of issues to watch for:

1. Folding might be compromised; the bars can hit the ground, the front hub or something else.

2. You'll need to work out cable lengths for yourself if you want them to fold and sit just right when the bike is unfolded. The stock cable lengths assume a particular combination of factory bar, stem and frame length (SWB or LWB).

 

[berlinonaut]

Where are you getting Shimano sprockets for €3 each?

I linked the source in my posting. I'd assume these to be more or less standard prices. Just follow the links in the post.

The existing spacer on a 2 sprocket setup will be too wide for a 3 sprocket setup.

Strange than that my 3 sprocket setup is running with exactly that existing spacer and is has been for years.... I hope it will not suddenly stop working now that you said it would be too wide to work.

Not everyone wants to get involved in filing down sprockets or creating snaprings out of old spokes.

Everybody is free to buy a locking for the equivalent of 40 Pounds - 9€. Pretty expensive lockring I'd assume. And I also woud assume that it should be possible to buy a suiting slimmer lockring for a maximum of let's say four or five quid, if one would search for one (which I did not do as there was no need for it).

 

[berlinonaut]

If you put the "wrong" bars on a particular stem, there are a couple of issues to watch for:

1. Folding might be compromised; the bars can hit the ground, the front hub or something else.

S-bars on M-stem and P-stem work and fold flawlessly - I know people who run both of these setups.

2. You'll need to work out cable lengths for yourself if you want them to fold and sit just right when the bike is unfolded. The stock cable lengths assume a particular combination of factory bar, stem and frame length (SWB or LWB).

That's obvious but not too hard to figure out. Especially if the OP sticks with the S-bars or at least with a similar width it is more or less 1cm less cable length per cm lowered bars. A bit too long cables do not hurt during experimenting and testing and 2-3 cm too long cables are not a real issue in practice (while massively longer may start to be annoying and get in the way). Personally I am i.e. running the new H bars on the old H stem, so overall height is more or less what P used to offer. Still using the original cable-lenght w/o issues. Before that I had an S-bar with a riser on the same old H-stem, again using the original cables. This was clearly too long with the consequence that sometimes cables would get caught by the hinge on the stem when unfolding and rarely the rear brake cable managed to throw the chain off the chainwheel when unfolding due to being massively too long. Apart from that no real issues in practice - still I wouldn't recommend running with way too long cables.

 

[rogerzilla]

"S-bars on M-stem and P-stem work and fold flawlessly"

That's useful to know. M-bars on an S-stem wouldn't fold at all, I suspect. One grip of an M-bar already grazes the ground with an M-stem.

 

[Pale Rider]

Are you for real?
Put your prejudice to one side and you’ll find there are some fabulous Brompton member sites with serious knowledge and global experience of every facet of Brompton modification and customisation.
Jeez...You can lead a horse to water.....

The purpose of posting answers on here is two fold.

Help the OP, but also maintain and build the CC community.

There is a judgement to be made, but simply shunting posters elsewhere may achieve the former, but it does nothing for the latter.

We do have expertise in Brompton bits on here, so there's no valid excuse to bat away the inquiry.

Ebikes is another example.

A few years ago it was only me and Emma - @voyager - who knew anything about them.

Some inquiries were just sent to the Pedelecs forum and the threads stopped there, but we now have a decent handful of posters who can answer ebike queries.

Thus we've achieved both aims, the OPs are answered and the CC community has grown.

 

[berlinonaut]

"S-bars on M-stem and P-stem work and fold flawlessly"

That's useful to know. M-bars on an S-stem wouldn't fold at all, I suspect. One grip of an M-bar already grazes the ground with an M-stem.

Short overview about the topic: Typically you won't run into issues if you go lower than than the stock configuration that is delivered from the factory. You typically will if you want to higher oder wider, with the S-stem being an exception from the rule. With the S you can go 10cm higher if you maintain the widht, if you want to go wider you can't go as high. H, P and M outlast the possible height and width limits already with the factory bars. You will however gain a cm or two if you have a rear rack mounted to your bike as this lifts the bike a tiny bit higher on the bar side than the L configuration w/o rack does.
Obviously bars of other shape like bullhorns, racing bars, Jones bars or alike won't work with the fold if you do not implement a kind of quick-release as an additional folding possiblity to them. Still they may or may not work and almost always supersize the folded package considerably.
Risers like the AberHallo can only applied to S-bars (on any stem) or third party bars as the M/H bars lack a wide enough clamping area for those (no matter on which stem), furthermore even if if was possible on M and H stem with riser and M/H bars of the same generation you'd hit the ground when folding.
Third party bars that offer considerable rise and at the same time enough grip width and can still be folded are not that easy to find - the Joseph Kusoac ones are the easiest to go for (available in two sizes). I found one bar on ebay from Asia that is available in 8 and 10cm rise that fits as well. Apart from that you are basically limited to MTB bars which in most cases limits you to about 3cm rise to maintain enough grip width once the bar is cut at it's sides as the rise on MTB-bars is typically way less steep than on Brompton bars.

 

[rogerzilla]

Oddly, given that Brompton have never offered such things, stubby bar-ends on an S-type don't interfere with the fold at all!

 

[berlinonaut]

Oddly, given that Brompton have never offered such things, stubby bar-ends on an S-type don't interfere with the fold at all!

They did, on the New York Edition:

But indeed this was the only time until now.

 

[Fab Foodie]

The purpose of posting answers on here is two fold.

Help the OP, but also maintain and build the CC community.

There is a judgement to be made, but simply shunting posters elsewhere may achieve the former, but it does nothing for the latter.

We do have expertise in Brompton bits on here, so there's no valid excuse to bat away the inquiry.

Ebikes is another example.

A few years ago it was only me and Emma - @voyager - who knew anything about them.

Some inquiries were just sent to the Pedelecs forum and the threads stopped there, but we now have a decent handful of posters who can answer ebike queries.

Thus we've achieved both aims, the OPs are answered and the CC community has grown.

None of which means we shouldn't be able to direct people to other sources of knowledge that we have found useful or be castigated for daring to do so....

 

[berlinonaut]

None of which means we shouldn't be able to direct people to other sources of knowledge that we have found useful or be castigated for daring to do so....

Agreed. But as a lump-sum first answer to a concrete question in a forum where this question is totally on topic to redirect someone "to facebook" is no concrete advice and in my eyes intimidating for a forum. I also consider it insulting towards the other members of that forum as they are obviously considered to be incompetent by the person posting such an answer. Different story if one says: For your specific question there's this thread, this blogpost, this bit of information or this person somewhere else who might be able to help. Or to redirect someone who has a really esoteric question and after some time there has been no useful help or advice for him.

 

[u_i]

Because more Brompton questions are answered on the FB site. There are more Brompton owners on the Brompton FB site and therefore more experience. Brompton questions are replied to quicker on the Brompton FB site. This is not a Brompton site. It is a folding bike site

If you can find someone to point you in the right direction on here. Does that not serve its purpose?

I do not know what is meant by 'Brompton FB site' but I found 'Brompton Hacks Public Group' there, that topped popularity. I scrolled about 50 Page Down worth of material there and found that I must be particularly dense as I could not identify a single significant passage of useful information. (There was quite a bit that I knew to be wrong and/or trivial.) After 50 pages my browser choked up and I went to another browser and after a comparable amount of scrolling it choked up too. Yes, obviously people can post as well here as there and elsewhere, but FB seems to lack structure it filtering out useful info, with Post-It tacked to a Post-It to a Post-It, sort of like my table. I communicated with other people to figure out whether it is the problem with me or FB and they seemed all to lean to the fault being there. I guess ideas need criticism, alternatives, discussion tweaking and cataloging and not all platforms work equally well.

 

[cyberknight]

Heres me expecing a chap in a parka with a load of wing mirrors

 

[steveindenmark]

I do not know what is meant by 'Brompton FB site' but I found 'Brompton Hacks Public Group' there, that topped popularity. I scrolled about 50 Page Down worth of material there and found that I must be particularly dense as I could not identify a single significant passage of useful information. (There was quite a bit that I knew to be wrong and/or trivial.) After 50 pages my browser choked up and I went to another browser and after a comparable amount of scrolling it choked up too. Yes, obviously people can post as well here as there and elsewhere, but FB seems to lack structure it filtering out useful info, with Post-It tacked to a Post-It to a Post-It, sort of like my table. I communicated with other people to figure out whether it is the problem with me or FB and they seemed all to lean to the fault being there. I guess ideas need criticism, alternatives, discussion tweaking and cataloging and not all platforms work equally well.

I have not been on Brompton hacks. Just London Brompton Club and Brompton Folding Bikes and so cannot comment.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Agreed. But as a lump-sum first answer to a concrete question in a forum where this question is totally on topic to redirect someone "to facebook" is no concrete advice and in my eyes intimidating for a forum. I also consider it insulting towards the other members of that forum as they are obviously considered to be incompetent by the person posting such an answer. Different story if one says: For your specific question there's this thread, this blogpost, this bit of information or this person somewhere else who might be able to help. Or to redirect someone who has a really esoteric question and after some time there has been no useful help or advice for him.

It was good advice well meant. Get-over yourself.