N+1 Tiddles

[Arch]

Wow, brilliant!

Does it 'click' into place like the Brompton issue frame does?

What next - a woodgrain paint effect on the bike?

(Hmmmmm. A Bamboo Brom.... )

 

[Night Train]

Yep, completely Brom functional and a direct replacement for a standard Brom bag.

I have now made a strap on (Ooohh Errrr Missus!) adaptor for Granville to accept a Brom block too.
Photos later though.

 

[Night Train]

Here is Granville with his Brompton block.
The block mount was made of half a bit of steel tube with a bit of steelwelded to the front and two M5 holes drilled and tapped into it. The whole thing was then sprayed in primer and slipped into a bit of old inner tube to save damaging the valuable 'Pannonia' and 'Made in Hungary' transfers on the headstock tube. It was then strapped in place with two decent quality hose clips.

Granville and Tiddles can now share front luggage!

Tiddles didn't escape attention. Following a ride this morning I made a rear bag for him.

I used a scrap of left over roller black out blind material, as used for the Ratrike panniers and trailer.
The material was sewn into a tube and then flat sewn at the bottom to keep the shape narrow. The top was then rolled down and webbing straps sewn in so it can be rolled and clipped like an Ortlieb bag.
Two toe clips suspend it from the saddle and a double sided velcro band keep it attached to the seat tube.

By releasing the velcro Tiddles can still be folded with the bag being a minimal addition in size.

The top roll fastening can also clip around the seat tube to keep things snug.
This is the bag with waterproof coat, gloves, buff and a few tools in it.

There is also a dedicated Haribo pocket inside near the top as a reserve fuel tank.

 

[Night Train]

I had a front wheel squeek that gradually got worse and worse. I thought it was just a slight rim wobble on the front wheel rubbing the brake blocks but it turned out to be loose bearings.

I stripped the hub to clean it and it seems that ferrous oxide and water do not make a good bearing lube.
The cups are a little pitted but the cones look ok. The balls also looked ok so with a clean and regrease it is all back together for now.



Can I get new cups, cones and rubber seals for it or will I be better off getting a new hub and lacing the wheel rim to it?

 

[Arch]

I know the rear dropouts are a non standard width, so the front ones may be as well, which might narrow your choice of hubs?

Worth seeing if you can get the bits more economically first, I suppose...

Now, with Tiddles and Granville sharing a bag... How can I put this delicately. Well. You better make sure they are both, um, in good health. Wouldn't want either to catch anything from the other!

On the other hand, that strap on block holder is covered in rubber, so you might be ok....

 

[TheDoctor]

Where is Fnaar when we need him?

 

[Night Train]

On the other hand, that strap on block holder is covered in rubber, so you might be ok....

Ahhhh, I used a 'dead' inner tube that had a puncture.....

Seemed a waste to cut up a good one.

 

[Night Train]

Saddle bag number two!

Note adustable positioning fo the hanging straps.

The gaping mouth. There is a pocket in there on the back face of the bag to see if it is better that way round. Might still reverse it back again and adjust the height it it.

I will need to change the making process a little to get a tidier seam at the top.

Just needs my name and some reflective tape on the back.

 

[Arch]

Very neat!

A good source of reflective tape is hi-vis vests from a poundshop when they have them. The vests are very thin and wouldn't last long, but the tape is pukka Scotchlite stuff, and you get over a metre for a quid.... If you unpick the stiching, you even have holes ready pierced in the tape to re-use as a guide for sewing it on to stuff.

I've got some knocking about, if you want a bit.

 

[Night Train]

Cheers Arch. I will look out for Poundshop ones to cut up.

I have sorted out Tiddles' squeeking. The bolt in the rubber spring was the culpret in the end. A good squirt of lube and it is silent now.
The only remain squeek seems to be the front brakes if I rock back and forth with the brake on. The blocks shift a little on the rim as the rim tries to bend the calipers.
However, it is quiet when riding now. Glad it wasn't the rear triangle pivot!

 

[coffeejo]

It's brilliant, NT!

 

[Night Train]

Cheers Jo.

I have just packed mine ready for a weekend. Not with all my weekends stuff mind, I have a front bag for that. I managed to stuff in a bag off tools, a waterproof coat, a D lock, a puncture kit and a bag of Haribo.

There is still room for more Haribo so it is almost touring size!
I should be able to get gloves and buff in there too.

I might look at doing that all around zip thing to make it expandable, or have a zippered section with a concertina'd expansion area for better stuffing.
Perhaps the Haribo pocket should be on the outside with a flap...

 

[TheDoctor]

Cracking job, NT.
On the topic of tyres (which I think cropped up a few pages back) how did the Marathons off Ebay work out?
After three years I think I might fit new tyres on mine

 

[Fnaar]

Where is Fnaar when we need him?

I'm never far away...

 

[Night Train]

Cracking job, NT.
On the topic of tyres (which I think cropped up a few pages back) how did the Marathons off Ebay work out?
After three years I think I might fit new tyres on mine

The Marathons were fine.
The only thing I noticed was that one had the printed Schwalbe text nicely equidistant with the mounded size and pressure text whereas the other one had the printing overlapping the mounded text a little bit.
I asked the seller if they were seconds but he said they were just standard stock left over. He has more. When I have a better BB signal then I do now I will post a link to the seller as he has more of the same.