Bromptons arrived! And now for accessories and mods...

[Ozonation]

Yes, the Bromptons arrived! Very nice. The sage green looks far sharper in person, and the red for my wife's bike is a much nicer red than I thought. In fact, I suspect the red bike might be a model from a couple years back that did not sell. I notice that my sage green bike has a 2010 sticker commemorating the Queen's Award for Enterprise, but the red one doesn't. The red seems to be slightly deeper than the current red. In any event, the bike still looks new.

And now for mods and accessories! Well, we bought the S-bag for her and the T-bag for me. But I find the grips to be less than stellar after my first ride earlier this evening. I think in fact in my overzealous test riding of a Brompton some time back I strained my elbow. So, I'm thinking of the Ergon grips that everybody seems to like. I think the oft-mentioned GC2 has been replaced by the GP2. But what size do I get? The small? The large?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

P1030075.jpg

[jur]

Unless you have large spades, get the smalls, they are plenty large.

[pacificcyclist]

Have you considered alternatives like the Portland Design Works Whiskey lock on grips? It is shaped like Ergon GC2, but it is made with leather like your Brooks saddle. An excellent match and if you use it lots, it will eventually mold to your fingers increasing comfort like your Brooks. I have the Whiskey on my Dahon Mu and the Bourbon on my Speed Uno. Ladies love those grips!

And they are available at your local MEC store, which has an excellent return policy.

[Purpleorchid]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! How exciting! I am in the middle of a grip upgrade too. Over the weekend, I ordered a pair of Ergon GP1 Biokork "grip shift" grips off a store on eBay that had them new for $28 (vs the $~40 you see elsewhere). They were shipped yesterday, so I have nothing to report on how easy it is to install or what they look like before/after. I was planning on doing a little writeup.The GP1 have no bar ends. I think the GC2 do have bar ends. I never really used the bar ends on my previous bike, so I opted to go for the non-bar end version (GP1)."Grip shift" grips mean that they are shorter in length and therefore suited for those bike with those twisty shifters. The "grip shift" grips are something like 94.5mm long, which is just a few mm shorter in length than the stock grips, so they should fit fine. If you order the regular ones, you'll have to cut some of the grip off to make it fit...at least that's what I found from my research over the weekend.As for small vs large, that refers to the diameter of the grip...small for smaller hands and large for larger hands. I ordered "small" since my hands are small.Have fun!!!!!

[Purpleorchid]

BTW, you can tell what year the bikes were made in via the serial number. The first two numbers are the year, the second pair of numbers is the month of manufacture...that's what was indicated when I went to the Brompton site to register my Brompton.

[Ozonation]

Have you considered alternatives like the Portland Design Works Whiskey lock on grips? It is shaped like Ergon GC2, but it is made with leather like your Brooks saddle. An excellent match and if you use it lots.... And they are available at your local MEC store, which has an excellent return policy.

Really, you can get them at MEC? I was on their website, but didn't see anything. Maybe I missed it. Leather - cool! But how do they stand up to inclement (wet) weather?

[Ozonation]

CONGRATULATIONS!!! How exciting! I am in the middle of a grip upgrade too. Over the weekend, I ordered a pair of Ergon GP1 Biokork "grip shift" grips off a store on eBay that had them new for $28 (vs the $~40 you see elsewhere).... The GP1 have no bar ends. I think the GC2 do have bar ends. I never really used the bar ends on my previous bike, so I opted to go for the non-bar end version (GP1)."Grip shift" grips mean that they are shorter in length and therefore suited for those bike with those twisty shifters. The "grip shift" grips are something like 94.5mm long, which is just a few mm shorter in length than the stock grips, so they should fit fine. If you order the regular ones, you'll have to cut some of the grip off to make it fit...

Too cool! Let me know how it works for you. And thanks for the help on the serial numbers.

[pacificcyclist]

Really, you can get them at MEC? I was on their website, but didn't see anything. Maybe I missed it. Leather - cool! But how do they stand up to inclement (wet) weather?

Here's the link..

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cyclin...k-on-grips.jsp

And they have in stock in Ottawa and Toronto as we speak..

http://www.mec.ca/Products/store_stock_check.jsp

They stood up really well in inclement wet weather, especially where I'm coming from in Vancouver and they provide a better grip than cork based grips. However, like your Brooks and any leather products is that you really need to take care of it after it got rained on like wiping the water off with a soft dry cloth and to never let it out in the rain for long periods of time uncovered. But that wouldn't be a problem with your Brompton because you'll be taking it into your office right and if you're riding, your hands are covering the grips like your rear end does with your Brooks! And for better security, you can ride your Brompton with a rain cape. This covers the whole handlebar from rain. MEC sells that too!

http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Cyclin...ape-unisex.jsp

I have the yellow color cape. Works really well with an upright riding style like on the Uno and the Mu and of course your Brompton.



The prices are a bit higher than Ergon, but like the Brooks saddle, it ain't cheap and I found it to be extremely comfortable gripping compared to the smaller Ergon GC1 which is half the price or less than these.

[chagzuki]

If you're going to be shortening grips (as one likely would with the M type handlebar) you need to make sure they'll lock securely from the outer end.

[Purpleorchid]

Ozonation - Check out that new thread "Proud owner of H6R"...he has the "grip shift" Ergon Biokork grips that I was talking about (and the ones that I have on order). Notice how they fit perfectly with the placing of the shifters. I'm extra excited to get my grips now!

[Ozonation]

Ozonation - Check out that new thread "Proud owner of H6R"...he has the "grip shift" Ergon Biokork grips that I was talking about (and the ones that I have on order). Notice how they fit perfectly with the placing of the shifters. I'm extra excited to get my grips now!

Very cool. But do you think you'd miss the stems that the GP2 offers to change up the hand position?

[Purpleorchid]

I personally don't think so. When I had the bar ends on my other bike, I rarely used them and if I did use them, I actually just held the corner where the grip and bar end met. I never actually held the actual bar end. The GP1 ends have the wider end, so that may end up being my equivalent of a bar end.Unless of course, I am totally wrong and end up selling a "used once" pair of GP1s to buy some GC1s LOL.

[fietsbob]

I've got the longer end GC3 on my M bar.. I loosen the bolt and rotate the longer bar end,
when I fold it up. [1, up the other down]

Found I liked MTB 2 finger levers better, so I changed them.
mountain drive Schlumpf crank and my 3 speed is a mountain climber ..


The low light scheme on the Brompton was such a good idea,
[though for different reasons]

I did a low mount set up on my Bike Friday , myself..
to keep the Rain cape from draping over the lights.

[Ozonation]

Ergon Biokork GP1.JPGI can't believe it! No Bromptons (or other folding bikes) in my town at all, but my LBS had a whole wall full of Ergon grips - even the Biokork ones! I tried the GP2 ones, but found, strangely enough, that it felt "smaller" than the Biokork version. I'll have to cut it down a bit though.

[2_i]

One issue of concern with Ergon grips is of the metal strap that sticks out and makes touching the grips problematic when it is cold, not to say about freezing. Certainly this should be considered in Canada. I found similar BBB grips where metal parts are concealed and the problem absent. An additional benefit of the BBBs is that they are invertible. Once the grip material deteriorates from one side, you can invert them doubling the lifetime.

P.S. Similar is not quite accurate: I am unaware of BBBs being available in the cork version.

[Ozonation]

True... but I find I prefer to wear gloves regardless, unless it is very warm outside. Ah, what are "BBBs"?

[2_i]

BBB is a Dutch component supplier.

[Ozonation]

Ah... I see - the BBBs look very nice. I have to admit I'm vain.... the cork feels very nice - a bit grippy but not excessively so, and it complements the Brooks brown saddle. I can't believe I'm obsessing over a bike...

[2_i]

One pair of those BBBs is in leather.

[Ozonation]

BTW, you can tell what year the bikes were made in via the serial number. The first two numbers are the year, the second pair of numbers is the month of manufacture...that's what was indicated when I went to the Brompton site to register my Brompton.

Ah... that makes sense. I guessed correctly - mine was manufactured in November 2011, but my wife's was built in December 2009. That explains the nice red her's came in.

[Purpleorchid]

My grips arrived today too! I hope to get started installing them tomorrow.