Originally Posted by
rsanchezsaez
rec, funny that you revived the thread, I was just reading it.
I'm considering getting a Brompton (my first foldable, and first bike really), and I'm trying to decide between 3 and 6 gears. I'm leaning due to the 3-gear due to simplicity and easier maintenance, but I live in a hilly area so I have doubts.
I understand how the internal 3-gear one works. Could you explain in newbie terms how the 6-gear one works? Are there 3-gears in the back wheel and 2 additional gears elsewhere? If somebody can post detailed pictures of the 6 gears that would be much appreciated, I'm curious about how they look.
Cheers!
rsanchezsaez- I'm in the same boat as you, trying to pick between the 3s and 6s.
I borrowed a 3s bromp way back in 2000, really liked it and i haven't inspected a 6s BWR bromp since then but I think the way the 6s system works is that the right handlebar shifter controls the internals of the 3s IGH while the left shifter controls a rear derailleur to shift between two cogs on the IGH.
Prior to finding and reading this thread, I thought that the 3s and 6s Bromps used the same custom SA 3s BWR hub. The only diff between them, besides a derailleur and second shifter, I thought, was that the 6s had two cogs on the mini cassette body instead of only one. So, I was also leaning towards a 3s and thought that it wouldn't be much a problem to make it into a 6s if I found the 3s lacking. I don't shift my derailleur equipped bikes very much; I'm more of a low rpm, hi gear masher than a spinner even though I live in a sorta hilly area, too. Shift only between my cruising 16t cog, low 32t cog and sometimes use the 12t if getting a tailwind. So I think I would like the BWR. If most of the info in this thread is correct, it will now be an easy decision to select the 6s over the 3s to get the wider range that the BWR offers.