Originally Posted by
avole
Berlinonaut, you make no sense. Of course I'm going to judge the ergonomics of Brompton on my own model, it would be senseless to do otherwise. The fact Brompton has updated some features indicates they recognize they got some things wrong, so good on 'em for that. .
Well, not that senseless: From the range of Brompton-models you choose one that did not fit you sizewise regarding handlebar- and seat- height (aka seat-post length). You could have chosen differently w/o spending one penny more. To judge afterwards that the Neo would be a better fit in terms of ergonomics and therefor to claim that "the Bromton" in general is worse than the Neo seems a litte ridiculous in fact. You claim that the Neo would be lighter (w/o weighing either of the bikes) but ignore the fact that your Brompton has a Shimano dynamo hub, adding about at least 550g including lights, the six speed (230g penalty) and heavy Schwalbe Marathons, adding another couple of 100 gramms. All these parts you went for consciously - you could have chosen differently as you have the choice when buying a Brompton. So complaning seems a bit pointless. Your Neo has no lights, a three speed and Kenda-tires w/o puncture protection (and you have no choice of features when buying a Neo). Obvious that non existing features save on weight. Unclear, if the Neo is lighter and if so if it would still be lighter when equipped equally. And if so if that is due to a lack on endurance.
To complain about other things that already changed on the Brompton already years ago to the positive does not make sense again. If you buy a Neo in 2018 you should obviously compare it to a 2018 Brompton, not to one that is more than five years old and does not fit you.
On can compare apples and pies - the question is wether this makes much sense.
At least, after five years, you followed other peoples advice and
upgraded your Brommi in seat-post-lenght and handlebar height (and lately regarding the tires as well).
Less to complain now I guess. You could have had this from the start w/o fiddling around yourself.
I'd be interested to hear what you say about the Neo after having it used on a daily basis for five years. Will it still be promising? Will it last? Where do you get spare parts from and how long does it take? Stuff like that.