Bye bye Dora the explorer, hello Ben 10
Discussion
Some of you will know I hired a Brompton to see if I could get on with it before ordering one of my own.
It was christened Dora because of the colour.
Had it about a month and completed just under 200 miles on it.
Took that back yesterday and picked up my new one this morning.
I bought an H type Brompton - which is the most upright one available, but I had a plan. The S type was too low for me and the M type too high. So I got the H and fitted some old MTB riser bars I had in the shed.
How it arrived:
How it looks now:
A little less spoddy, but then it's a bit like putting lipstick on a pig.
It was christened Dora because of the colour.
Had it about a month and completed just under 200 miles on it.
Took that back yesterday and picked up my new one this morning.
I bought an H type Brompton - which is the most upright one available, but I had a plan. The S type was too low for me and the M type too high. So I got the H and fitted some old MTB riser bars I had in the shed.
How it arrived:
How it looks now:
A little less spoddy, but then it's a bit like putting lipstick on a pig.
My big issue with every Brompton I've tried has been how short they are.
So i wanted to stretch it out a little too, hence the bar ends.
I've not ridden it far yet, but it does feel a lot more like a 'normal' bike than a standard
Also, the bars look a lot wider than the standard ones but there's probably only 3-4 cm difference. They were wider but I hack sawed the ends off to make them a little narrower.
One of the big benefits of Bromptons is he narrow bars make it easier to filter through traffic.
So i wanted to stretch it out a little too, hence the bar ends.
I've not ridden it far yet, but it does feel a lot more like a 'normal' bike than a standard
Also, the bars look a lot wider than the standard ones but there's probably only 3-4 cm difference. They were wider but I hack sawed the ends off to make them a little narrower.
One of the big benefits of Bromptons is he narrow bars make it easier to filter through traffic.
Edited by Kell on Saturday 1st August 15:46
Kermit power said:
Does it still fold away properly with the new bars?
Yep. No problems at all.They're wide enough so that the bar ends tuck either side of the wheel. The only faff is making sure the angle of the brake levers is right so that they don't stop the bars from clicking in when they drop down.
I just need to trim the cables and have a look at the routing as they're a bit long at the minute.
But I don't want to do too much yet until I decide if those riser bars are high enough or if I might need a pair with slightly higher upsweep.
daddy cool said:
CoolC said:
I was expecting a thread on kids bikes 
...and you got one!But having spent about 2.5k on three bikes that have all fallen apart (although the first one did get run over) I figured the time was right for something genuinely useful.
It fits in the boot of our convertible mini, so it means I can still use it when my wife needs the bigger car for work and it causes less hassle on crowded trains.
I'm fully aware that I look like a fat, middle-aged man on this. But then I am...
Back to my summer commute now on the Brompton. This includes a pretty hairy downhill on the way to the station. Was worried what the Brompton would be like at speed. Certainly not as stable as a big wheeled bike, but managed to top out at 44.3mph.
Edited by Kell on Tuesday 4th August 11:17
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