bhkyte

I would love an afline brommie with versa brifters and low profile road race bars. I had the a 5 speed brommie with lowprofile bars until recently. It's riding position was great.

Mulleady how did you get the afline to fit. Was it a custom frame or a cold set and hub narrowing combination.

There is a kinetic kit for the 8 speed SA conversion that cost about 250 pounds in UK.

jur

I have 2 modern 9-spline 5-sp SA hubs in Brompton wheels. Not a single problem adjusting. No tinkering involved. Face it, the gearing excuse is exactly that - just an excuse.

dynaryder

Looked on SA's site,they have a 120mm OLD 8spd;you might be able to squeeze that in without frame mods. Otherwise,you'll be looking at getting the frame modded or a custom built rear triangle. As bhkyte said though,the 5 and 8spd SA's don't have as good a rep as their 3spds. Also note that 1st gear on the 8 is direct drive(the rest of the gears step up from there),so you'd need to set your gearing up accordingly.

tds101 

I have a bike w/a Sturmey-Archer 5 speed hub, and it's reliable once you get the hang of adjustment. The gearing is waaaayyyyyyyy spaced out, but it's quite solid. I might look into the 120mm OLD 8-Speed now,...And a Brompton. The 1st gear will just be my granny gear - or a reasonably low gear - for hills. I appreciate the information.

dezzie

Fudges site in the uk do an alfine 11 brommie and you can buy the kit to fit it comes with a new rear frame triangle the works they do one for moultons aswell.

tds101 

Thanks, I'll remember that for future reference. I'm preferentially contemplating Sturmey-Archer tho, as it requires no modification of the bike itself.

bhkyte

I had a bid on an ebay fudge brompton. Afline 11 matched to low profile bars and versa brifters. Folds as small as standard bike. Went for 1300 pounds. Nice bike. Reanable value that. Bit rich for me.

Good to hear the more modern 5 speed sa seems to be holding up well. I did think about doing the twin chainwheel mod you mention jur. I would not have got to where I wanted the bike for less than 600 pounds. I wanted to have sti brifters and that really means changing the frame and hub.

People who want flat bars are better served by the standard options.

Might be something I try in the future.

tds101 

At that price, considering the components, it sounds like a fair price actually. Can you manage to post a picture?

dezzie

Fudges Brompton S11L Black Custom 11 Speed Alfine Folding Bike Only £1,519.99
Shimano 11 Speed Alfine Upgrade Kit Only £899.99

tds101 

Thanks for the link. Too bad they don't ship to where I live. I'd have to find something a bit more local. There are 2 sellers of Brompton in NYC, and I'm willing to investigate now. My interest is piqued.

Sixty Fiver

The Alfine 11 would turn most swbs into fairly capable tourers... cannot say that I see the more upright position on a Brompton as being a positive for long distance riding although lots of people would disagree.

There is an 11 speed Alfine in my future... my Moulten is geared well for the local conditions but would need that wider range for more intense touring.

I have a SRAM 9 speed dual drive that will be going into my P20... I built it with 132 spacing to handle any hub.

bmac.to

Check out

Kinetics ? Recumbents, Folding Bikes, Custom Bicycles | Brompton 8-Speed Kit

It is simple as it comes as a kit, or you can get them to install it for you - no tinkering necessary.

tds101 

Woohoo! I bookmarked that site! Excellent,...

bhkyte

I agree with the upright riding postion , but the fudge nike I was bidding on had bullbars on.
Did you see the tread i did on my brommie woth dahon andres stem extender and mini drops/low profiles?

1nterceptor

I was a volunteer marshal for yesterday's New York City Century.
Rode over 100 miles(160 km.) on a Brompton folding bike. I listed
the parts I changed in the photo's comments:

100 MIles on a Brompton by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

fietsbob

FWIW.. Ben Cooper has posts in the frame-builder's forum , here..
Kinetics ? Recumbents, Folding Bikes, Custom Bicycles | Brompton Disc Brakes

invisiblehand

For whatever reason, I'm unable to reply with a quote via the website application at work. I've used a bit of html below, my apologies if anything is unclear.



It's not very convenient gearing, IMO. Regardless, 10 speeds would be very useful. I'd probably try to maximize the total width and stick to a single cog depending on whether I was riding on flatland or hills.

So I gather from your post that you successfully got two cogs onto the SRF5(N)? The Brompton Wikispaces appears to be waiting for someone to confirm.

https://bromptontalk.wikispaces.com/5x2



Sweet.

This is what annoys the hell out of me with Bromptons. If your ~130mm OLD rear wheel -- I assume it's modified somewhat despite having a new rear triangle -- can fit without any practical impact on the fold, then why does Brompton stick with the teeny tiny OLD hub? Why not use a v-brake -- which I think works better with wider tires -- instead of the generally more expensive caliper brake?

I can understand why a small company can't offer loads of different builds and that development is more incremental. But some of these choices seem to be more about locking one into a set of components rather than any meaningful advantage.

echotraveler

Talking about more gears. What happened to the nuvincci infinity gear hub! Anyone try one out?

DoubleDiamonDog

My wife and I use our Bromptons occasionally locally for picnics or a trip to a farmers' market but primarily use them for travel. We have ridden 30 - 40 miles many times but our longest day of riding the Brommies was probably about 70 miles. During a three week trip in Spain last September our only luggage was the T-bag and the b-bag used for the Brompton on the plane.

On the 70 mile day we rode through Rioja, with the b-bag folded and strapped on the top of the t-bag. Obviously we all have our particular preferences but we found the 6 speed wide range, with the lowest standard gearing option to work great for us. We aren't too worried about the top end speed and don't feel a need for a bigger gear as we tend to glide on the steeper descents which is fast enough for us. When I do a gear change that calls for using both shifters I just shift them simultaneously. While I enjoy the brifters, 10 cog cassette and triple chainring on our tandem, I get along just fine with the Brompton 6 speed IGH and the Brompton shifters. Maybe I am not fussy enough - I am also satisfied with the standard saddle and grips which many people feel compelled to replace before they have ridden the bikes.

On some shorter rides we have essentially been on the bike all day long - just puttering around and checking things out - for example, more fully exploring a place than we would on foot.

fietsbob

We have sold a few bikes out of the Local with them .. Sun has a Fat bike with that hub & disc brakes

and seen a couple Infinity, Tikit, Bike Fridays that owners left for brake tuneups & such.. for a few days ..


go seek one out and try it yourself ..

a Rohloff is actually lighter .. 166% wider range..

tds101 

My Xootr Swift has a NuVinci hub. I'm personally not too fond of it.

Winfried

I did about 150k yesterday on my six-speed Brommie and a 10kg bag in the front, but the last 20-30k were very painful on the rear-end.

Still haven't found a saddle that will let me do that kind of daytrips with no pain.

1nterceptor

Some riders are very happy with their Brooks saddle(s).
I never tried one before because it had too many drawbacks
for me. That all changed with the introduction of the C17
Cambium model. There were test models available, water-
proof, no break in and the price wasn't too bad. It still
uncomfortable towards the end of my 100 mile/160 km.
trip; but it's been the least uncomfortable of the seats that
I have ridden that distance.

BROOKS C17 LOANER FROM BFOLD by 1nterceptor, on Flickr

Winfried

Thanks for the feedback.

Finding the right saddle looks like black magic

Or does everyone's butt hurts after 100 miles, regardless?

fietsbob

pretty much, no matter what the saddle is on ..
Ass hands and feet remain the contact points..

I stopped the high milage goals and JRA.. anymore..

Folding bikes and getting on the Bus or train is easier than on a Fully loaded big touring bike .

but I've Done that with one of those too.