What folding bike???

[Piperdave]

Re:

http://www.custombrigad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14577

A home made one in france…….c'mon guys....

 

[flash]

PiperDave. I'm the sort of person who'd actually ride one of those.....but it looks well scary.....oh and they wouldn't fit in the boot.....

 

[shedobits]

Re:

You brought back some memories re working away and the slippery slope of hotel bar drinking. I kept a solid Lava Dome SS in the boot. With the front wheel removed it fitted in easily and gave me some great summer evening rides in the Dark Peak, the Brecons, Dartmoor and Exmoor.

In the winter I fitted some lights and would explore the town I was staying in, (then I would go back to the bar).

Good luck with your choice and I hope you enjoy your rides.

 

[flash]

Shedobits, your call obviously had a bigger boot than mine. I have a spare Explosif frame lurking somewhere......but where I parked in London last night meant nothing on display in the car was pretty essential. So bar drinking it was......

 

[Joe_Rides]

Re:

Had a few old folders and they're good fun. Me and the missus have taken them camping a few times, handy in a small car and quite capable little things. The last one I had I put some BMX bits on it just because it's what I had lying about.



In the original Richards Bicycle Book, he only rates the Bickerton as a folder worth owning - but this is pre-Brompton.

 

[pigman]

Re: Re:

In the original Richards Bicycle Book, he only rates the Bickerton as a folder worth owning - but this is pre-Brompton.

a few years on and the bickerton has a poor reputation. It was made of aluminium, so was lightweight, but is known to flex like a snake and ride badly.

 

[pigman]

Re:

what about this? Not mine, nor do I know the seller, but it looks unsold for a few weeks, so they might be up for an offer

https://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=126268

 

[greencat]

Bromptons are very good at what they do. Great design, ride well but quirky and perhaps no so great engineering. I wonder if I'm being churlish about my 25 year old Brompton when I say hardly a month goes by without something breaking. Maybe it's an age thing, but you have to worry about more than the obvious parts. For example, recently my front brake lever snapped while braking - presumably due to fatigue. Thankfully I did not die. In the last year, I've replaced seat sleeve x2, hub gear adjuster, chain tensioner and brake lever - all due to age. It's had two tyres and two tubes as well.

I say this not to put you off, but be aware that if you are after a cheap brompton, the chances are it will be old and even parts like handlebars might be at the end of their useful life. They are regarded as a consumable. Repairs due to proprietary parts is not cheap, but at least they are widely available.

A five year old brompton would be a good buy, an older one I'd be circumspect about it.

The Dahon above sounds good (I tried one and they are stiffer than a brompton), but I'd be suspicious about the spokes needing replacing. I've replaced one spoke in the 15 years I've had my brompton.

 

[flash]

I think Joe has cottoned on to my way of thinking. Bromptons are great but too expensive for the amount I'll actually ride it. A cheap and cheerful folding shopper with a few swapped parts.
If someone has a shopper, could they please post a pic of one folded up with a boot to put it in scale. If it won't fit in my boot I may be barking up the wrong tree...
Oh and a mate had a Bickerton and showed us the trick with the bendy handlebars.....now that was scary.....

 

[Jonny69]

Second hand Brompton will always hold its value though. It will have cost you nothing when you come to sell it on.

I don't like the way they ride, but the way they fold (and how quickly) is unbeatable for London use with the train. As much as I couldn't get on with how the one I borrowed rode, the folding method was the bit that made it really hard to give back!