Folding Bikes - Modified Brompton with Shimano Alfine hub

I've finally saved up and had my Brompton modified to the kind of spec I always wanted. I went to Fudge Cycles in Kensal Rise London Please pm me if you want details of the bike shop or you can Google it). The owner Andrew has a real can-do attitude and is a major UK Dahon dealer who started stocking Bromptons recently. He even has the Go cycle which ones doesn't often see in both its electric and normal forms! After some discussion Andrew was up for the mods and ended up doing a superb job. I guess Andrew can be added along with Steve Parry (UK) and Julianna Neuss (Germany) as serious Brompton modder now! The Alfine works a dream on the Brompton. Details as follows:
1) An 8 speed Shimano Alfine hub. I love the silent and smooth shifting of this hub and it can achieve a very nice range with the right chainset. The range on my Brompton is now 28"-101" which is pretty respectable. Pound for pound the Alfine hub is as good as it gets.

2) A front Son dynamo hub to power the rear light and a new Lumotec IQ Fly Senso front light which has great luminosity and uses an life-long LED emitter rather than a bulb.. I'm really pleased with the power of the Son hub and the Lumotec light has a great beam for a dynamo driven light at night. Both front and rear lights have built in capacitors and standing lights when stationary.

3) Added new Shimano brake levers and Koolstop brake pads.The brakes on the newer Bromptons are better but there was always room for improvement to make them a little more responsive.

4) I intend to add a Titanium seatpost to complement the raw lacquer more but it also has the small bonus of taking around 1kg off the total weight of the bike. The mods added only a marginal amount of weight. My aim was a highly specced Brompton rather than a featherweight one. I'm happy to carry 11-12kg for shot bursts and the bike rolls very nicely on the Eazy wheels anyway!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/3672838531_a8d1aa0619_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2581/3672840301_d6e057e148.jpg

Above the Alfine grip shifter adapted to my Ergon grip on the right-hand side.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3388/3672812973_deacc3d39f.jpg

The adapted alfine hub. As usual the rear triangle was stretched to allow this mod.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3584/3672810771_dd812a232d.jpg

The front Son Dynamo hub which is specially made for smaller wheeled folding bikes such as the Brompton and it's incredibly efficient.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3590/3673617824_322b2241e2.jpg

The Lumotec IQ Fly which is far superior to the standard front Dynamo light Brompton supply. Highly recommended!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3673653190_2dd81b96ec_b.jpg

The revised chainset.

And finally below the bike folds perfectly as ever and I'm still allowed in premises such as pubs for a nice refreshment!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/3672847875_b830968458_b.jpg

Nice lookin bike! Thanks for posting such nice pictures. It looks really nice with the hub. I would love to do that set up. Please keep us updated on how it performs!

I guess Andrew can be added along with Steve Parry (UK) and Julianna Neuss (Germany) as serious Brompton modder now!

Don't forget about Ben at Kinetics in Glasgow, also does a IGH Brompton:

http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/8-speed.shtml

P.S. Lovely bike, Mulleady!

wow, nice bike. can i ask - do you experiance any drag or resistance with either of the hubs? also how do your vbrake levers fair with the caliper brakes. i have a pair laying around that i want to use but was told that it would be a bad idea to mix vbrake levers with caliper brakes.

Very nice! If it's not too rude a question, how much did it cost? I'm happy with my old 6-speed, but of course, I wouldn't mind one lower and one higher gear, which it sounds like you have - and with the added bonus of only having one shifter to worry about.

hey mulleady.. How much wider did the rear triangle need to be? It's a really nice mod. ARE YOU LISTENING BROMPTON? LOSE THE BAKELITE SHIFTERS AND BIZZARE 3/2=6 SHIFTING SYSTEM.

Rant over. But really - they should be rolling these directly out of the factory, with v-brakes and aberhallo stem adapters. And doing 'cool' urban ones with black rims and kojak tyres.

Silly conservative engineers! :)

Great job, Mulleady! You've got a premium folder there.

I totally agree with LP's comment also. Brompton should be offering this type of choice.

Answers to a few questions:

1) I've encountered little resistance from using front and rear hubs. There is probably a tiny amount but it's barely perceptible and well compensated for by the smoother transmission and superior gearing range.

2) If I isolate the various mods, I'd say the Alfine hub mod was around £500 in total including labour and materials. It's a lot but worth every penny long-term. I believe the Alfine hub provides more 'bang for buck' than say a Rohloff

3) I'd have to check what the rear spacing was widened to. I do know the Alfine threads were also ground down slightly.

Hi Sesame and Littlepixel I hope you are both keeping well! :-)

Don't forget about Ben at Kinetics in Glasgow, also does a IGH Brompton:

http://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/8-speed.shtml

P.S. Lovely bike, Mulleady!

Thanks Ben.

I think the Alfine hub provides better performance than the SA 8 speed. I used to get a lot of slipping in 6th gear. Perhaps that has improved in recent SA hubs?

Hi Mulleady,

It is great to see that you are still enjoying the Brompton :thumb:
Bike looks good in that Raw Lacquer finish...... but I’m biased:)
Bromptons are just such a great design for train travel, I don’t know why I didn’t just buy one in the first place ;)

fantastic bike. please keep us inform about the gears in practice.
Hope they keep working well and that the Brompton guys will read this, maybe they might... but I think they don't!

Thanks Ben.

I think the Alfine hub provides better performance than the SA 8 speed. I used to get a lot of slipping in 6th gear. Perhaps that has improved in recent SA hubs?

I dunno. Never used one. Kinetics is right around the corner from where I live, and your post reminded me of the conversions that he does. Just thought I would post it here for the benefit of others. (I've got no affiliation with him, other than living nearby and popping in to say hi from time to time.)

It can't be a proper bike. It drinks lager.




(Sell me your DownTube, Mulleady. )

S.

It can't be a proper bike. It drinks lager.




(Sell me your DownTube, Mulleady. )

S.

The return of Snafu21, my god, what will it be next, the crew of the Marie Celeste returning their library books. Hope you're well happy down in darkest Hants.

The return of Snafu21, my god, what will it be next, the crew of the Marie Celeste returning their library books. Hope you're well happy down in darkest Hants.

Thank you. I was ill, but unfortunately, I got better by accident.

Mulleady's scoot looks funny without no paint. It's like a cat without fur. Hmmm.

I like the Deore (Dior?) brake levers. I got them on my HH7, and the thing stops like, er, a thing with Deore brake levers.

That Brommy just needs some knobbly tires and a coating of cow-pats, and he can come bicycling with me again.

Sue

1) An 8 speed Shimano Alfine hub. I love the silent and smooth shifting of this hub and it can achieve a very nice range with the right chainset. The range on my Brompton is now 28"-101" which is pretty respectable. Pound for pound the Alfine hub is as good as it gets.

Very nice upgrade on the standard gears. Widening the rear-frame usually means that the clearance of the tyres becomes smaller. I thought that Julianna who does the mod to nexus 8 warned that you can't use a schwalbe Marathons anymore because of the 1mm clearance. How much clearance do you have on the rear frame?



4) I intend to add a Titanium seatpost to complement the raw lacquer more but it also has the small bonus of taking around 1kg off the total weight of the bike.

1 kg of weight savings for just changing the seatpost to titanium would be nice. But I read somewhere in a Brompton catalogue that the bonus is only a 74 grams drop in weight.:)

Luca

how does widening the rear dropouts reduce tyre clearance? Surely the opposite is true?

I've plenty of clearance not an issue :-)

It can't be a proper bike. It drinks lager.




(Sell me your DownTube, Mulleady. )

S.

hahaha I train my bikes well Snafu. I forgot to mention the Brompton was also modded to lubricate itself with a variety of beers but it doesn't like shorts ::thumb:

I'd sell you my modified DT if I could steal it back off my friend who I sold it to. I met him last year when my male border collie befriended his female collie. Sadly my fellow had been castrated but they still play with each other :lol:

Don't you have a nice Dahon Jack anyway or have the cowpats dissolved it by now?

how does widening the rear dropouts reduce tyre clearance? Surely the opposite is true?

I meant the clearance between the tyre and the tube that connects the left and right part of the rear end, not the clearance between the rims and the rear end. Can't describe it any better.

That clearance is very tight, just a few milimeters. I hope the pic comes through... (I snapped it from an Ebayer and edited, so if it's yours and you want me to remove it, just PM me!:))
http://users.edpnet.be/xirron/ForumPics/Bromptonclearance.jpg

Luca

Your Brommie's looking very nice and I applaud your taste in beer!


It can't be a proper bike. It drinks lager

And Snafu can't be a proper drinker!!!!! That's a German Weizen (bottle conditioned wheat beer) Franzinkaner according to the glass. LOL!

And Snafu can't be a proper drinker!!!!!

You Sir, could not be more correct. I stopped equating drink with virtue aged fourteen. As you so pertinently demonstrate, it robs men of their intellect.

...As you so pertinently demonstrate, it robs men of their intellect.

Not true! Drink does not rob men of their intellect - we gladly surrender it just for a sip of the heavenly golden nectar. :beer: Exchange is not robbery!

I got a bottle of beer for my ex, once. It seemed a fair swap.

Hope it was a good quality beer Snafu

B=F+S

(Beer makes you fat and skint)

Are you bringing your scoot along on the 30th?

mulleady,

What sprocket are you using in the rear? Is it this one:
http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Brompton-Brompton-Sprocket-13T-R--2-mm--SRAM-6-Spd-for-3-32-Inch-Chain--ISO--QRSPR13DR-22344.htm

If I'm bought a pie I can be bribed to appear on the 30th Snafu lol!

Do you people think I'm made of pies? Hmmm?

Very well. Let there be pies. I believe page 375 of the Society Handbook forbids the eating of them whilst in motion though, or the throwing of them at policemen. Health & Safety fears, I 'm told.

Chucky wants to talk you about sprockets. It's probably for a bicycle or something.

Well, i got the bubble wrap off the Strida like Bike and blew up the tyres, found the secret clamp to stop the handle bars wobbling around, just not sure how tight the belt is supposed to be, at the moment you could almost play a tune on it. I have a mis-firing brain cell that had convinced me that tomorrow was the 30th, but never mind, I'll take it out tomorrow anyway, as I'm thinking its going to need a bit of practice if i'm not to be falling off all the time on the actual day. There is a useful pie carrier on the back, and the spokes have a strange asymetrical pattern, which is just as well as it looks like the only way to lock it up is throught the wheels. Now of course, i have to put it back on top of the wardrobe......

"pie-carrier"

We need photographs of this fabulous beast. ;-)

I'm briniging Mulleady a can of green Hammerite so we can finish off his bike top coat for him. It's either that, or wood-grain sticky-back plastic.

Chucky wants to talk you about sprockets. It's probably for a bicycle or something.

Yes if I could count the teeth on the chainring then I could back calculate the size of the rear sprocket based on stated gear range, but the picture isn't clear enough for that. Therefore, I need mulleady to open up his pie hole and divulge the size of the sprocket. :)

chucky, I think she is using a 16T sprocket as that is the smallest one that the nexus/alfine hubs will accept. In addition, it is the one that gives a better gearing on small wheeled bikes, as bigger sprockets will provide a gear that is too low.

chucky, I think she is using a 16T sprocket as that is the smallest one that the nexus/alfine hubs will accept.

I don't think that's really true. I know it's what Shimano specifies, but by measurement it appears the Nexus should clear at least a 14T sprocket, provided the chain is narrow and the sprocket is undished, and definitely a 13T if you also remove the dustcap.

Perhaps Shimano doesn't acknowledge this because sprockets smaller than 16T aren't mass produced in sizes to fit narrow chains and perhaps they don't produce such sprockets themselves because they figure ridiculously small undished sprockets won't clear the stays on a typical bike unless a ridiculously large chain ring is also used? But neither of these considerations take into account the facts that:
1. Small wheeled bikes require ridiculously large chainrings coupled to ridiculously small sprockets.
2. Brompton makes a custom 13T sprocket for narrow chains (for their pre2010 6 speeds).

So I'm wondering if this special 13T sprocket from Brompton will fit the Nexus without modification. I think it will fit, but tolerances are so close that I don't trust the measurement. Moreover I can't get the part locally nor can I return it for a 14T (because Brompton doesn't make it in 14T) nor am I willing to remove my dustcap. So I'm trying to find out if it actually fits in which case I will order the part forthwith (especially now that it's obsolete and not likely to be well stocked).

:deadhorse2: London calling Mulleady! Hello Mulleady ?- Control Tower Calling Mulleady! Over! :deadhorse2:

... .- ...- . --- ..- .-. ... .--. .-. --- -.-. -.- . - ...

Shot down by a Fokker over Essex, I shouldn't wonder.

:deadhorse2: London calling Mulleady! Hello Mulleady ?- Control Tower Calling Mulleady! Over! :deadhorse2:

... .- ...- . --- ..- .-. ... .--. .-. --- -.-. -.- . - ...

Shot down by a Fokker over Essex, I shouldn't wonder.

lol

"pie-carrier"

We need photographs of this fabulous beast. ;-)

I'm briniging Mulleady a can of green Hammerite so we can finish off his bike top coat for him. It's either that, or wood-grain sticky-back plastic.

Here it is, i would say it was good for a kilo or so of good quality crusty veal & ham, wouldn't you ?

151217

Egads! Good for a gross of Ginsters, I think.

I note you have a second wheel at the back to carry the extra weight. That's the spirit!

Well, if we're having an old-school reunion, I'll stick my head above the parapet. I always said the 6 speed thing was a cludge Mulleady - this looks like just what you'd want! BTW, do you still have the giant chainring that Sesamecrunch brought over for me? I really must arrange to collect that :)

Not to derail the thread too far, but although I've just bought a Vitesse p18, I've been intrigued by Bromptons for some time due to their reputation for quality.

But they seemingly are made for small folding convenience, rather than sport/performance, like a VP18 or Speed pro TT...or is there a brompton model that has similar specs to the dahon road bikes that is made for long distance, very fast riding?

---------------

EDIT: New thread started on this topic...

I can only say, that if you have followed Mulleady belting up the Mall toward Buckingham Palace on his Unleaded Brompton, his shoulder length hair billowing in the wind, his legs a blur and moustachios twitching with excitement, his bicycle flying at a seemingly impossible lick, and with the constabulary in hot pursuit, you, even now, would be trying to track down this mysterious speedy stranger to learn his dark secrets.

Samuel, are you coming to The Park on the 30th? Naked or otherwise?

Well, if we're having an old-school reunion, I'll stick my head above the parapet. I always said the 6 speed thing was a cludge Mulleady - this looks like just what you'd want! BTW, do you still have the giant chainring that Sesamecrunch brought over for me? I really must arrange to collect that :)

Holy Moly! You still haven't collected that 60t chainring?? It's been a year! When are they planning to introduce postal service in England? ;)

Knowing Mulleady, he's probably pawned it for a case of beer....

Lovely looking Brompton. Quick question. How much did the Dynamo Hub lights cost and are you happy with them? I have had nothing but trouble with the lights Im using and am looking for a better solution.

Oh no! It seems Mulleady has lost the plot, given his Brom' a Psychedelic makeover and emigrated to 'Frisco; but without flowers in his hair...for technical reasons.

151415

(I think I'm going to throw up. ) Do you think Mulleady is on holiday, or in The Scrubs, or shot down by ack-ack on the Balls Pond Road? Where can he be?


Edit: The HPFBS now has its own domain and whatnot, if you have any pics you want to contribute, do.

www.hpfbs.org

Samuel, are you coming to The Park on the 30th? Naked or otherwise?

The Park? The 30th? Naked? Say more of this! The only cycling date currently in my diary is, strangely, World Naked Bike Ride on 11th June, but if there's something else I should know about......

The 'lads' are having a bicycle fest, Hyde Park, Sunday 30th MAY . Meet at the cafe by the Serpentine at 10.00 for coffee and pies then cycle off to......



I believe clothes are a requirement in The Park. A bicycle may prove useful.

The 'lads' are having a bicycle fest, Hyde Park, Sunday 30th June.

Sunday, 30th May, n'est pas ?

I am truly a noodle, thank you : 'tis the 30th MAY

I'll edit, necessarily