I continued torturing my Brompton today. This time the mail brought in a new sleek black crankset, a pair of sleek black folding pedals and a rack and mudguard set (guess the color). Of these I had a real justification for the pedals (the ones I had before, also non-originals, were no good, instead of folding, one of them was removable, and I got tired messing around with it), a partial justification for the rack and mudguards (for some reason, my Brompton falls over when folded, I have to prop it all the time, so having the EZ wheels further apart may rectify that, and also, why not have a rack while at it) and no real practical justification whatsoever for the crankset. Well, maybe just that the silly plastic guard is annoying.
The crankset was easy, though the crank wheel seems to have arrived a tiny bit bent (I adjusted it with a disc brake tool). The pedals - even easier. They are a bit heavy to revolve, perhaps somebody used too heavy a grease on them? We'll see how that develops. The rack and mudguards set was a torture, both for me and the bike. Needless to say, there were no assembly instructions. I figured it all out after a couple of unsuccessful attempts, but it took forever, I still need to figure out where the rear light goes now (it no longer fits on the brake pivot) - probably on the saddle rails - and I only finished the rear one. The front one should be easier, and once done with that, I think I'll finally be happy with my Brompton (for a while at least).
Oh, I also finished maintenance on my son's Giant Rincon. It's too small for him (size XS, been with him for quite a few years), so I'm probably selling the Giant, and will give him the Gary Fisher, if he wants it - I think it's a perfect fit for his riding needs.
Just remembered another thing: lately I think it starts taking time until the freewheel engages on the Brompton. I suspect one of the pawls is broken, or maybe the spring lost its youthful spring. The bike is around 15 years old, I would say, so maybe it's time to service the freewheel. I'm fine with taking it all apart and then putting it all together, but I'm not sure what I'll do if one of the pawls is indeed broken - can I get a replacement for just that part, I wonder?
