Changing gear shifters on the Brompton

[mulleady]

I have a 6 speed Brompton, as some of the regulars on here are already aware. Great bike and thoroughly pleased with it except for the 2 cumbersome gear levels on each side of the Brompton handlebars. Is it possible to convert these over to one combined twist-grip mechanism or a single 6 speed shifter? I once remember Folder Fanatic posting a picture of a twist grip mechanism for the Brompton but wonder if it can be used for the 6 speed.

Contributions most appreciated................

[Sammyboy]

There's a twist grip for the hub, but a combined shifter would have to be a very clever piece of kit indeed. I'm an admirer of Brommies in general, but give the availability of 5, 7 8 and 9 speed hubs, this system is a horrible cludge.

[mulleady]

The shifters are a little cumbersome rather than that bad, however the gears in operation themselves are very well-spaced and efficient and I love them.

[Dynocoaster]

I had to look up cludge.

[Sammyboy]

It's the need to have two shifters at all when a better spread with similar gaps in the ratio could be had in a hub with a single shifter, that's what gets me. It's a fun solution for those of us messing about with old 3 speeds, not a real world solution for people selling premium price folders. The rest of the Brompton is so well thought through that I just think this lets it down.

[folder fanatic]

I have a 6 speed Brompton, as some of the regulars on here are already aware. Great bike and thoroughly pleased with it except for the 2 cumbersome gear levels on each side of the Brompton handlebars. Is it possible to convert these over to one combined twist-grip mechanism or a single 6 speed shifter? I once remember Folder Fanatic posting a picture of a twist grip mechanism for the Brompton but wonder if it can be used for the 6 speed.

Contributions most appreciated................

Why don't you contact them yourself and ask the company directly?

http://www.hubbub.com/

Click on contact and ask your question & include their product title:

Drop bar adapter for twist shifters

I was thinking about asking them myself, but I have not bought the 6 speed Brompton yet (and not for a while).

[somnatash]

Hi
I would be surprised if a shifter exist that one can use on the brompton for all 6 gears directly. You CAN change the 3gear-shifter for a grip-shifter (Sram or Sturmey Archer) but then you still have the 2gear-shifter.

Hmhm actually the brompton solution is something like dualdrive (which I agree is odd for so little number of gears) but perhaps the SRAM Dualdrive is a possible starting point for a home-made modification. Tell us when you were lucky
Somnatash

[PDR]

I spoke to Steve Parry about this subject a while back and he said that there was no reason why you couldn’t fit a grip shifter on each side.

[Dynocoaster]

http://aebike.com/page.cfm?action=details&PageID=30&SKU=LD6087

[somnatash]

One grip shifter on each side - not as elegant as one but why not. Is there a 2gear shifter? Or maybe on has to modify a 3gear-shifter. The problem that the M-bar being narrow has little space for gripshifter could be solved by the linked HubBub twist shifter adaptor.

[imosqueira]

I have installed an SRAM twist grip shifter on the right hand side only, as that gives me 3 speeds to play with easily, and only use the left one with tackling some hilly street. The improvement was significant, and the change was simple enough.

[Sammyboy]

I'm not sure that I haven't misunderstood. Mulleady, if you're looking for a single shifter to cover all 6 speeds, it don't exist. If you're looking for grip shifters, it should be no problem.

[jur]

There's a twist grip for the hub, but a combined shifter would have to be a very clever piece of kit indeed. I'm an admirer of Brommies in general, but give the availability of 5, 7 8 and 9 speed hubs, this system is a horrible cludge.Well, I'm not so sure... consider the Brommie design. Its folding rear triangle needs a chain tensioner, so there is an almost-derailer "for free". So the simple addition of another cog on a standard time-honored 3sp hub will give 6. So it seems to me the step from 3 to 6 is fairly trivial, not a kludge at all. But perhaps you are referring to the ****fer ;) ?

[Sammyboy]

I actually can't work out what your starred thing is referring to! :) The fact that an almost derailleur is there for free doesn't make me want two shifters for 6 gears at all! I can see that it was an easy thing for Brompton to do, but I can't imagine it was a solution customers were crying out for. "For free" for the manufacturer doesn't necessarily mean good for customers.

[jur]

heh heh, ***fer was BF's censoring of s h i t f e r.

[LittlePixel]

I think Brompton sallies on with the three speed due to a clandestine under-the-table agreement to keep Schlumpf and their mountain/speed drives afloat.

[New Yorker]

After researching the Brompton for weeks, I was leaning towards purchasing the simple 3-speed—or even the 2-speed—version. I kept reading about how cumbersome, counter-intuitive and archaic Brompton's two-handled, 6-speed setup was.

Well I've had my 6-sp Brompton for a month now, I'm bike commuting daily, and I've gotta be honest—I shift up and down effortlessly, finding whatever gear I want without giving it a second thought. I know many don't like Brompton's 6-speed setup but, in my opinion, it's much ado about nothing.

[mulleady]

After researching the Brompton for weeks, I was leaning towards purchasing the simple 3-speed—or even the 2-speed—version. I kept reading about how cumbersome, counter-intuitive and archaic Brompton's two-handled, 6-speed setup was.

Well I've had my Brompton for a month now, I'm bike commuting daily, and I've gotta be honest—I shift up and down effortlessly, finding whatever gear I want without giving it a second thought. I know many don't like Brompton's 6-speed setup but, in my opinion, it's much ado about nothing.

Agree totally about the 6 speed operation in itself, they are smooth shifting and well spaced gears and very efficient. I just find the dual shifters take up a lot of handlebar real estate.

[Diode100]

How about this from the Merc ebay shop ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Handlebar-gear-change-Fits-Merc-and-Brompton-bikes_W0QQitemZ250026110482QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

[mulleady]

How about this from the Merc ebay shop ?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Handlebar-gear-change-Fits-Merc-and-Brompton-bikes_W0QQitemZ250026110482QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

Great suggestion Diode :D. Wlould at least reduce to one shifter on LHS of handlebar which would be fine and much neater. If this can fit on the side of my ergon grips I'm going to get this! :thumb: