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!
I recommend you get a six for hills, and consider the -12% chainring (44t instead of 50t) option. Another option would be the Schlumpf Mountain Drive, which when engaged gives you an additional bank of gears (six more for a 6-speed) 40% of the standard gear range. In the present 6-speed with a Schlumpf, there are practically 10 useful gears, given a 2-gear overlap, but a huge 760% range. On the old SRAM/Sachs 6-speed systems, there is no overlap, 12 useful gears, but only a 540% range (but still more than on a Rohloff.) If you go with the Schlumpf, it's best to go with the +8% (54t) chainring for most useful range.