Hi all, over the past months I have been making some mods to my Brompton. I love tinkering with my bikes and the Brompton is certainly a unique 'canvas' to work on. Here are the mods that I have made so far:
Upgraded Roller Wheels. The original rollers don't really roll. With this upgrade I can push the folded Brompton and it will easily glide 50 feet across a subway platform. The rear wheels are
72mm inline skate wheels that I got from my nephew's skates which he outgrew (I slipped him $5 for it). The front are
100mm in diameter I think, and they came from some kid's broken
Razor scooter that he left in front of my house here in NYC. I had to buy longer bolts for the front and back and it cost around $1.50 for the hardware. A must for all Brompton owners methinks.
When folded they give much clearance and can easily travel over sidewalk cracks that would bog down the original rollers.
Improved Braking. I changed the pads to the
Salmon Kool Stops. They brake so much better. I also inserted
V-brake noodles into the brake line. This allows better cable pull in the tightly curved area. Works great.
Comfy Seat. I ditched the original Brompton seat and put in a green
Brooks B17 with copper rails. I love it! The green color became darker with each ride. It is attached to the post with a
generic seat adapter that I got for around $2. I can't bring myself to get the $30 Pentaclip which does the same thing. Note that I have a 'seat backward' position so I can stretch out.
The Cockpit. I replaced the M handlebar with an
Azonic MTB handlebar with a 2.5 inch rise. This lowers the handlebar a bit which I like, and it is probably the same height as the S type handlebar now. Even though I cut around 1 1/2 inches off each end of the bar it is still around 2.5 inches wider than the M bar. I like this wider grip as it allows me to breath a bit easier and in a way maneuver the bike better. When folded there is a lot of clearance from the sidewalk, always a good thing.
I changed the brake levers to
Shimano R550's. The original ones felt mushy to me, and I found out why when I took them out, they didn't have a return spring! These Shimano levers have a strong one in each lever, and they make for a snappy positive return. I put black tape over the Shimano logo to keep it stealthy. The bar ends are from
Singletrack Solutions. I like them as they are lightweight and comfortable, but one must resist the urge to over-torque them because they break when done so. I found out the hard way. They do not interfere with the fold. The bar end plugs are
wine corks that I whittled down to fit. They came from a Cabernet but I guess any wine will do
Though I got used to the original shifters, I really didn't like them as they felt and looked clunky to me. I was able to get this
SRAM Spectro T3 Twist Shifter for 99 cents at Ebay, though shipping was a whopping (relatively) $5.99. I was pleasantly surprised as they worked well with the SRAM 3 speed rear hub. There is a bit of a learning curve as I used this shifter, and now I am used to it. I like the cleaner look. For the left twist shifter. I could not find a 2 speed one so I opted to get the
SRAM MRX shifter, micro adjust version, for $15 shipped, and it just arrived yesterday. I am thinking that I can rely on the limiting screws for controlling the shifting, with the micro adjust feature as some sort of friction mode. I will report as soon as I have set it up and tested it when I have free time.
A view of the whole cockpit.
Continued on next post.....