Who else wants one of these?
#101
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Super-compact bike went to the park today.
#102
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#103
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Where did you order yours? I've seen several sellers on AliExpress and one on eBay.
#104
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#105
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I bought mine from a seller on AliExpress.com. On the "orders" page, there is a status link which showed me the tracking number after the product was received by FedEx. At first, that tracking number was unknown on the FedEx site, but later it showed up with tracking progress reporting.
Where did you order yours? I've seen several sellers on AliExpress and one on eBay.
Where did you order yours? I've seen several sellers on AliExpress and one on eBay.
Ozonation: I'm in Southern California, where drivers are less tolerant of bikes (motored or foot powered). Although the weather has been good, I try to stay off busy streets. Too many close calls.
#106
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That happened to me, too. There's a time limit for the seller to ship the product and notify AliExpress, otherwise the order gets canceled and your money is returned to you. The seller didn't have the bike on hand; she ordered from the factory to ship it to her. Because time was running out, she entered into AliExpress that she had shipped it, when in fact she had not yet. When she actually did ship, she canceled that prior notice and entered the actual correct FedEx number, which was recognized by FedEx. You can chat with her to confirm that's what's going on. Be aware of the time difference between California and China. (You can get current time in China by entering "China time now" in Google search.) The AliExpress page has a link to start the chat. Once FedEx has it, you can watch the progress on FedEx's tracking site. Mine took 6 days exactly to arrive at my door. It moved around Asia for most of those days, getting the airplane loaded fully I suppose, and then once it left Asia, it got to me amazingly fast.
#107
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Thinking about some more upgrades
I got the idea of replacing the seatpost with a telescoping post. The seatpost on the bike now is outside diameter 31.8 mm. If I can't find a telescoping post that is 31.8, I will try to find a post that is a good fit of the inside diameter of the 31.8 seat post and then use a 31.8 seatpost clamp (which is intended to clamp around a 31.8" O.D. seat tube of the frame). This home-made telescoping seatpost was mentioned on another forum here, which is where I got the idea. Making a slit with a stress-relieving hole at its bottom will allow the seat tube to grip the new inner post when the clamp tightens, just like the real seat tubes. I would either buy a cheap alloy 31.8" seat tube and cut off the top end and slit it and use it as the outer sleeve of the telescope, or sacrifice the one that came with the bike.
With a telescoping seat tube, the rider can have better leg extension like a larger bike. Then the next challenge would be to extend the steering stem if possible.
With a telescoping seat tube, the rider can have better leg extension like a larger bike. Then the next challenge would be to extend the steering stem if possible.
#108
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So in other words both crank arms are "special" in that you can't use standard crank arms if you're worried about pedals loosening. I think that's what tk1971 was getting at with his question.
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It's amazing how quickly orders can be delivered nowadays. I had a a hi-res photo of a cathedral that I wanted printed on canvas to mount on a 36"X48" stretcher frame. I placed the order on a Tuesday morning and got the canvas by Wednesday afternoon... it came from China.
#112
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It's amazing how quickly orders can be delivered nowadays. I had a a hi-res photo of a cathedral that I wanted printed on canvas to mount on a 36"X48" stretcher frame. I placed the order on a Tuesday morning and got the canvas by Wednesday afternoon... it came from China.
one day last year, i was in greenpoint, brooklyn then, almost exactly 24 hours later, i was in jakarta, indonesia.
#113
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also, 31.8mm is exactly the same diameter as the brompton seatpost which comes in three sizes. one of those sizes is actually telescopic. the outré coincidences of this weird and wild modern world keep piling up...
#115
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It appears to me that the crank arms are normal crank arms but they are 160 mm long (center of bottom bracket shaft to center of pedal shaft).
#116
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Maybe the post is available from a US dealer of Brompton bikes for US delivery or pickup.
UPDATE: Yes, it is available only in steel from NYCeWheels.com: https://www.nycewheels.com/brompton-t...tube.html#tab2
This site confirms that the outside diameter of the Brompton seat post is 31.8mm:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brompton-...d2929/?geoc=us and that the UK Brompton dealers can't ship it outside of the UK.
Last edited by overbyte; 04-10-14 at 08:18 PM.
#117
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#118
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Yes, it has a normal chain drive (except for the custom tensioner sprocket) on the left and a toothed belt on the right side from jackshaft to rear sprocket. The belt is necessary to allow the rear wheel to fold up.
#119
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If you have any interest, I've got a new full carbon seatpost that measures 279mm and a new black aluminum that measures 330mm from min insertion to top of post before seat mounting hardware in 31.8 ..
#120
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I've found several 31.8 mm seat posts on Niagaracycle.com for not much money, including one that is 400 mm. I need to measure my other bikes to decide what is the ideal seat height for me, and then figure out what seatpost length to get. To preserve the compactness when fully folded, I think I'll need to go with a telescoping seatpost to make a significant increase in seat height.
#121
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No, that's not what I mean. The crank arms are both the kind that mount onto square tapered bottom bracket shaft. That looks normal to me. The pedals screw into the crank arms in the normal way. The left pedal is a standard left pedal with 9/16" reverse thread (left-handed thread) that screws into the crank arm by rotating the screw counter clockwise when viewed from the outside of the bike. The right pedal is also standard in that it screws in by turning clockwise (right-handed thread). The pedals are interchangeable with any other 9/16" pedals. In fact, I removed the folding pedals from a different bike (which has a normal right-side chain drive) and put them onto the little super-compact folding bike. The pedals don't loosen on their own. You need a 15 mm pedal wrench.
It appears to me that the crank arms are normal crank arms but they are 160 mm long (center of bottom bracket shaft to center of pedal shaft).
It appears to me that the crank arms are normal crank arms but they are 160 mm long (center of bottom bracket shaft to center of pedal shaft).
#122
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If you take a standard right side drive crank arm (the one with the chain ring spider) that has a standard "clockwise to tighten" pedal threading and mount it on the left side, the pedal threads are now reversed because on the left side the pedal threads should be counter-clockwise to tighten. So yeah, those appear to be special cranks.
In summary, yes they are special crank arms due to the chainring, but you can use any normal pedal in the normal place.
Last edited by overbyte; 04-11-14 at 07:37 AM.
#123
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Are you a politician? You seem to be babbling on about stuff that was never a concern. The point is you cannot really replace these cranks with just any readily available set of cranks.
Last edited by BassNotBass; 04-11-14 at 07:59 AM.
#124
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The bike has mostly special parts, custom made for this bike only, in the frame and drive-train. In a way, that's the reason for its charm and unique folding, but it's a risk you take. The seller says she can get spare parts directly from the factory.
Last edited by overbyte; 04-11-14 at 08:20 AM.
#125
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Sounds like one might be able to find compatible crank designs from those made for tandems - i.e. it's common for the rear (stoker's) crankset to have chainrings mounted on both left and right sides while the front (captain's) set only has a chainring on the left side. Therefore a replacement captain's crankset should work on these bikes if they use a standard square-taper BB. Certainly not as easy to find as a regular set of cranks, but might be an option if the special parts for this bike became unavailable (company goes under, etc.).