Periodically when I travel with Brompton packed folded into a suitcase or bag, I find its rear rack getting shoved into the inside of the fold, i.e. drive side. The rack pushes the fender that locks the real wheel. This is some pain when you are away from the base and lack large tools or even a piece of wood that you could afford marring in straightening the rack. After a few times like this I decided that I should do better. If you have some experiences or better solutions, I would love to hear about them.

The rack is the original Brompton rack. It has alu stays and the stays get bent in the middle, apparently when the luggage is tossed around leading to the rack's rear getting displaced to the side. I thought about replacing the rack, but the aftermarket racks notoriously look less structurally sound than the original Brompton rack. I thought about replacing the alu stays with stainless steel stays, but that would increase the weight. Finally I came up with a brace connecting the stays in the middle that should make the rack more rigid. The brace is out of a flattened alu tube and it is attached to the stays with mini hose clamps. At this point I only have one brace on the nondrive side, but I might add one on the other side depending on how the situation progresses.