ukny

OK Bromptonions.. I just got me a brand spanking new S6L in clear lacquer.. yum.. Yep will be removing the mud guards (fenders).. ok well they did not have an E in stock and Brommies are like hens teeth right now..

Hers the thing.. I live in the USA but I come from the UK so I always have my bikes set up with front brake right... This bike came with front brake left... argghhh..

Am I right to assume the cables are of a length that a simple swap will not hinder folding ?? Seems like they would take that into consideration.. Just want to know if anyone did it to avoid trying it out and then having to make up another cable.. with the ensuing down time..

fietsbob

Should only take a couple cold pints worth of time. loosen the cables where they clamp to the brakes

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/85...n-Bicycle.html

Me? It only got complicated with My Magura rim brakes ... hose swapping..

don't forget the disc cable guard when you take off the front mudguard, or the brake housing drags on the bare tire otherwise..

I've seen aftermarket parts making that disc out of carbon fiber sheet ..





..

rhenning

IT should be able to shift the cable from left to right side unless Brompton did something weird. I would take it to the place you bought it if its new and have them do it for you Roger

ukny

Ok so the act of switching the cables is nothing that I cannot do in my sleep.. I was just wondering about housing lengths and if any one had experience.. Guess I could be the canary on this one.... Seems like they should have provided enough length for either side.. seeing as they service the UK and the world right.. ??

fietsbob

Symmetry is your friend..

Jipe

The cable and housing lengths are different for right hand front and left hand front.

Brompton has different cables+housing sets for the two configurations with different parts numbers.

And also different sets for the several handlebar+stem S, M, H P.

ukny

Do you have a link to this info you could share ??

fietsbob

Brompton website has a lot of information if you navigate their site..

Im in the States, so https://us.brompton.com/

Jipe

In the Brompton terminology, the normal setup is front brake at right hand, the opposite = front bake left hand is called "reversed"

Look for instance at SJS Cycles

Note that the cables changed when the brake handles changed in 2013. The older brake handle need other cables.

PDR

Good choice on the Raw Lacquer, it is my favorite finish.

I was actually looking at new cables myself today on St. John Street Cycles website and they list different part numbers for (normal, UK spec) and what they called "Reversed" as in USA Spec.

The four cables have differnt part numbers so there may be a differnce between the pair of cables according to which countries the bike are sold.

Whatever the case, to replicate UK spec. these are what you need to find (from a USA distributor):

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cables/b...e31d9a37ce1d74. REAR
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/cables/b...e31d9a37ce1d74 FRONT

I hope this helps.

ukny

So couple of things.. Yeah the Brompton website was the first I went to.. but is a maze cannot find info on that...

I sw SJS but they want 36 pounds sterling for delivery to USA ... WTF... other UK based places won't ship to the US..

Looking more at the cables.. yep the left rear cable will wind up being a tad long.. So with that I can just measure the outer and cut down to the UK standard left rear cable..

The front is going to be too short.. so that just means probably a new inner cable and a bit of Jagwire outer for the top half to make it the correct length.. Thats if I can't find a decent price for a UK one here in the US..

Thanks all...

PDR

It might be possible to buy 2 rear cables and then chop one down for the front?

fietsbob

I went to a normal MTB brake lever ..that cable was not exiting the from the lever at a downward angle
so I needed a longer front cable& housing ..

cheap to do... if you already own a proper cable cutter..

rear; the housing is in 2 sections separated by the gathering loop that the front cable & rear shift cable pass through..

cables are sold in one size* but several types housing by the foot @ LBS.

*well there are extra long for tandems, but that is beside the point here.





...

ukny

Ok 2 replies here..

Why need to buy 2 rear cables.. I only need to slightly shorten the one I have and change out the front cable..

AND..

Nope it's the Front cable that is in 2 sections.. Again no big deal.. I will grab some haywire and use the published lengths I found on line to arrive at the correct cables..

Jipe

SJS shipment costs were OK in the past, but since several months became very expensive also to ship to EU counties, don't know why, covid or Brexit or... ?

ukny

After all this googling about trying to find exact lengths of UK (Moto Style) cables I finally found a US seller.. Universal Cycles have them in stock,, Yippee..

Thanks all for the input ..

fietsbob

Brompton dealers in UK can't ship Brompton parts to the US, anyhow, since there are dealers in the USA.

2 I've used; Perennial Cycles in MN. & Clever Cycles In Portland Oregon..

There are Brompton dealers in Metro NYC too.. .




...

PDR

Yes, of course, you are right! I forgot that you have a brand new Brompton and can re-use the original rear by cutting it down to work on the front.

zebede

Why Brompton does not include slots or slits in there brake levers (as does almost every other upright riding stype brake lever) for easy cable removal is questionable. On normal bike the O.P.'s swap is a 2 minute job with NO COST.
I put 3SIXTY levers (which were a definite upgrade from the plastic crap Bromptons) and recabled with off the shelf cable and housing. No good reason to pay exorbitant prices for Brompton parts if not necessary.

2_i 

I am looking at the 3Sixty levers on AliExpress and they appear to be a literal copy of the levers on my 2016(?) Brompton. Am I missing something?

fietsbob

looks like a copy (Though they find many Not British component parts sources)

zebede

Maybe some one here knows, where the Brompton levers are made, My understanding was the majority of components are from Taiwan or PRC. Could be made at same factory, for all I know.

Schwinnsta

It is curious, that the cable gatherer is on the front brake cable regardless of which side the front brake is mounted. I guess this is true. Is it?

fietsbob

By 'Here' you mean Florida?


the front brake housing is split @ the gather the rear passes though , being gathered in that 1 place, which lever,
really does not matter..

Fentuz

I saw several brompton fitted with litepro lever... supposed to be much lighter although I think there is not much between litepro levers and avid levers