Originally Posted by Wavshrdr
EV – they have braze-ons the forks for the mounts. You could have this done. There are places that do this. The Kool-Stop (Salmon colored MTB) pads will help too. This is very important to get the salmon colored MTB pads. You have to juggle them a little getting them in there and due to the small diameter rim they have to be aligned perfectly but what a great improvement. We go from marginal Brompton brakes to at least adequate. By adequate I mean they will actually slow you when needed but if you are heavily loaded, touring and in the hills I would still exercise caution.
The upgraded brakes on the Merc GT6 will stop on a dime and give you change. EV, another upgrade that will help is possible better levers in general. I don’t know on the Merc GT3 what they have but if they are like the C model Bromptons they are pitiful and pathetic. The higher end Brommies levers are better than the C models but still not great.
EV- if you can’t find anything PM me and I’ll see what I can do to help. If need be I could ship you something as US mail to the UK isn’t that expensive. I have found that compared to EU prices it would be cheaper to buy here and then send there even after you pay postage on smaller items. For example a mirror here that was $15 was 20Euro. It would cost about $4 or so to mail it via airmail. Still works out to be a decent cost savings especially if you buy several parts at once that aren’t super heavy.
The beauty of the Merc is it starts out inexpensive so even if you do upgrades that net you a better bike than a Brommie you still have less money in it. FYI, you could drop your gearing if you want to so it will climb hills better and give up a little top speed. For me I'll gladly make that trade-off as if necessary I can try and pedal faster.
Thanks for the information Wavshrdr. I think I'll try the Koolstops before going to the braze on modification. If it improves the performance enough, I'll leave it alone, but I have to do something. On a hill I ride every day, I can apply the front brake at 15 mph and just sail on down without a chance of stopping unless I put the rear brake on as well and SQUEEZE until my knuckles go white. Thanks for the kind offer to arrange shipment. Leave it with me a while, because they are probably available here. I have to go to the bike shop today, because yesterday, I bust a spoke in the rear wheel. There's a Brompton dealer about ten miles away who may keep the right type of spoke. It looks to be about 152 mm - same as the Brompton rear, but I'm not sure what gauge it is. It's the same as the front, so it's probably a 14 gauge spoke. Brompton upgraded their early design from 14 gauge rear spokes to 13. While I'm there, I'll ask about the salmon Koolstops.
I didn't realise I'd bust a spoke until I was cleaning the bike yesterday afternoon, but I did hear a sharp metalic twang yesterday morning as I was pedalling along, and thought I'd run over some debris. I stopped and looked but could see none. Strange really, I hadn't hit a pothole or anything, I was just accellerating after a junction.
Bookishboy -
Yes, I did have a bit of bother with the heal / pannier contact. I mounted the bag as far to the rear as I could and had to use my instep for pedal contact, rather than the ball of my foot - a bit un-natural at first, but I got used to it.