raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
I thought Brompton used 'Powder Coat' instead of Paint
The heretics guide to Brompton use - Part two - it is not a premium product!
- Thread starter Time Waster
- Start date
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I thought Brompton used 'Powder Coat' instead of Paint
Fastpedaller
Über Member
I described it as paint/powdercoat because I'm unsure. I have to say I'm not a fan of powdercoat - from what I've seen it's not durable unless it's applied correctly, which is expensive and difficult, thus raising the cost.
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
"All the other boys and girls have them. They'll tease (bully) me if I have a Decathlon" (dear at half the price. )
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
What happened to stove enameled?
Fastpedaller
Über Member
Too smelly?
Gwylan
Veteran
- Location
- All at sea⛵
But it stuck!
Fastpedaller
Über Member
I agree - unfortunately the powers-that-be- think smelly is really evil.
All uphill
Still rolling along
- Location
- Somerset
Our Volvo was painted with low VOC paint and looked good after 18 years, so it can be done.
brommieinkorea
Well-Known Member
Maybe a premium product because the frame and assembly are built in the first world by people who are paid a living wage? Much of the cost of any bike is greed, by the people who resell or work in the office, doubley so for most "asian" brands.
No doubt the design retains crud, partly because someone decided to stick with rim wreckers instead of putting brakes on it.
Never had an issue with the paint job( my oldest B is a 2009) or rust , maybe older bikes have rust issues ?
The seatpost slipping plastic insert piece of crap is the other engineering snafu I can't understand, why won't they fix this?
All of this said, one thing Brompton marketing pivots on is being an "iconic" brand, much like Harley Davidson is unable to dump its 45° single pin air cooled twin engine because of the look and sound, Brompton may fear making changes that would make the new ones look radically different (brakes anyone?).
Oddly the lack of stainless fasteners can only be part of the greed thing, but my newer Bromptons don't seem to have these rust issues, did they change the specification in 2016 or thereabouts?
Are they worth the money? Maybe, if you need a compact easy to fold and easy to transport folder. If your only requirement is small enough to ride the train, there are other options available.
No doubt the design retains crud, partly because someone decided to stick with rim wreckers instead of putting brakes on it.
Never had an issue with the paint job( my oldest B is a 2009) or rust , maybe older bikes have rust issues ?
The seatpost slipping plastic insert piece of crap is the other engineering snafu I can't understand, why won't they fix this?
All of this said, one thing Brompton marketing pivots on is being an "iconic" brand, much like Harley Davidson is unable to dump its 45° single pin air cooled twin engine because of the look and sound, Brompton may fear making changes that would make the new ones look radically different (brakes anyone?).
Oddly the lack of stainless fasteners can only be part of the greed thing, but my newer Bromptons don't seem to have these rust issues, did they change the specification in 2016 or thereabouts?
Are they worth the money? Maybe, if you need a compact easy to fold and easy to transport folder. If your only requirement is small enough to ride the train, there are other options available.
FrankCrank
Old layabout
BrilliantBikes did a recent utube vid about a visit to the Brompton factory, or more exactly the R&D department where they to all the testing.
The amount of testing was truly amazing to behold, way beyond what I would have thought. Contrast that with the end product, and going by the comments here, you'd thing the two things were worlds apart. A cynic might conclude it was just a set up to justify the high cost, but that's not me
Old British motorbikes were said to have 'character', meaning oil leaks and unreliability was to be expected. Maybe rusty nuts&bolts and whatnot are merely part of its unique character
The amount of testing was truly amazing to behold, way beyond what I would have thought. Contrast that with the end product, and going by the comments here, you'd thing the two things were worlds apart. A cynic might conclude it was just a set up to justify the high cost, but that's not me
Old British motorbikes were said to have 'character', meaning oil leaks and unreliability was to be expected. Maybe rusty nuts&bolts and whatnot are merely part of its unique character
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Undoubtedly.
But it's a premium price, and a premium image, but most definitely not a premium product.
And herein lies the rub. Items from other manufacturers able to exploit lower cost labour abroad are providing items of genuinely premium design, finish and equipment for a similar or even lesser price, but bizarrely aren't regarded as a premium product. This is likely because such excellence is considered normal among such rival products.
Which goes to show how a culture among consumers determines what is considered premium, rather than any superlative attributes the product itself may possess.
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This, in spades, as is my experience when I owned a Brompton.
Profpointy
Legendary Member
I have an older Brommie which I bought secondhand. I barely used it because my reason for buying it (working away and wanting to ride to the station each end) disappeared almost immediately so it's lain idle ever since.
Anyhow, the most obvious disappointing thing was the blatant crapness of a lot of the components. In fairness, the horrid brake levers are much much better on modern ones, which I bought as an upgrade. The craptanstic 2 speed derailleur thing combined with the awful 3 speed hub is more unforgivable. I'd hoped I'd seen the back of those horrid SA 3 speeds in the 1970s so there's little excuse for them on a modern machine. Worse - the spacing is too narrow for something sensible like a Shimano 7 speed hub which would dispense with the SA and the plastic derailleur.
Now moaning out of the way, it is otherwise well designed and to be fair seemingly well built strong product. I hadn't particularly noticed poor fasteners but concur that for the price it wouldn't have hurt them to splash out an extra two quid or whatever and have stainless screws throughout.
Mildly silly, but to be fair probably driven by market demand, is it came with heavily treaded tyres. You really don't want extra rolling resistance on such a road-oriented bike, as tread is valueless on the road. But as I say, prospective buyers likely don't understand this. Not a biggy to put top notch smooth tyres on as the originals were likely half-perished anyhow
I must finish replacing those brake cables and flog the thing, as I the only use I can now envisage is stashing it in a hedge for the return leg to the car for a point to point hill walk.
Anyhow, the most obvious disappointing thing was the blatant crapness of a lot of the components. In fairness, the horrid brake levers are much much better on modern ones, which I bought as an upgrade. The craptanstic 2 speed derailleur thing combined with the awful 3 speed hub is more unforgivable. I'd hoped I'd seen the back of those horrid SA 3 speeds in the 1970s so there's little excuse for them on a modern machine. Worse - the spacing is too narrow for something sensible like a Shimano 7 speed hub which would dispense with the SA and the plastic derailleur.
Now moaning out of the way, it is otherwise well designed and to be fair seemingly well built strong product. I hadn't particularly noticed poor fasteners but concur that for the price it wouldn't have hurt them to splash out an extra two quid or whatever and have stainless screws throughout.
Mildly silly, but to be fair probably driven by market demand, is it came with heavily treaded tyres. You really don't want extra rolling resistance on such a road-oriented bike, as tread is valueless on the road. But as I say, prospective buyers likely don't understand this. Not a biggy to put top notch smooth tyres on as the originals were likely half-perished anyhow
I must finish replacing those brake cables and flog the thing, as I the only use I can now envisage is stashing it in a hedge for the return leg to the car for a point to point hill walk.
Time Waster
Veteran
I think it is possibly because you do have 19.5 years experience with your Brompton that you do not have this experience!!
I only have 4 years with mine and 6 months in I got surface rust on the nuts and bolts on the bike. No £1300 or so bike should have that happen so quickly into its life, IMHO.
I did hear that post design change I think there has been comments about quality issue, I think that happened was it 2017?
I only have 4 years with mine and 6 months in I got surface rust on the nuts and bolts on the bike. No £1300 or so bike should have that happen so quickly into its life, IMHO.
I did hear that post design change I think there has been comments about quality issue, I think that happened was it 2017?
