Maverickmsk

Dear friends, i need you help!
Recently i got a new Brompton M6L.
When i fold it, my bicycle is trying to fall dawn and stay on one easywheel.
I 've written to Brompton main office and got an answer:
Thank you for getting in touch.

Due to the multiaxial, handmade nature of our bikes, each bike will fold and stand differently. Factors such as the tyre type, mudguard or rack fitted and roller wheel type setup will dictate this. I have noticed that you have non Brompton roller wheels fitted to the bike. This may have something to do with this.

I hope this helps,

Joseph

Joe Remi

They've answered the problem. You may have better luck with stock or optional Brompton wheels, but even then it may still be a little wobbly without a rack. My new M6L with Easy Wheels balances ok, but it's not near as stable as my old M3R with rack was.

Hisamatsu

try MiniMods X-Roller EZ Extender https://www.nycewheels.com/xroller.html
Got it on order for myself. I have a rack on mine with 4 wheels, but in cart mode it will easily tip over since the weight in the front bag is off center.

fietsbob

The wheel width of the 2 frame wheels, rear fold under, is just not that far apart...
(As Is people complain about their heels hitting them, pedaling, as wide as they are)

the after market accessory mentioned above, was created, by a 3rd party vendor, to resolve that lack of width, & be retractable.

[I have an M3L, with their EZ wheels, it is adequate, it does fall over, occasionally , small bump is all it takes ]





....

reppans

Yup X-Roller will fix that, but not sure it's worth the investment since the L models don't roll while folded as well as the R's. You could use a few washers and space one wheel out a bit - just watch the heal strike. The X-roller mod widens the wheel track a few millimeters and even that little bit really adds a lot to the stability, even when the wheel is not extended.

sdwphoto

[QUOTE=Maverickmsk;19858285]Dear friends, i need you help!
Recently i got a new Brompton M6L.
When i fold it, my bicycle is trying to fall dawn and stay on one easywheel.
I 've written to Brompton main office and got an answer:
Thank you for getting in touch.


Haven't checked the latest updates on Brompton's policy,(mines 5years old)but you may have also voided your bike's warranty by replacing the wheels with after market ones.Mine has rear rack and changing the easy wheels voids the warranty for some parts.Since they didn't mention it in their reply,maybe it depends on the model?

1nterceptor

Photos of your bike op?

Hisamatsu

They are just screwed on wheels, just put the old one back on when you want warranty service?

HGR3inOK

And how does one justify/rationalize that dishonesty?

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

bmxfolderbike

I have the minimods x-roller on my 2017 S2L. I replaced the stock rollers with NOV easy wheels.
Perfect.

jur

I would ask the question the other way: How does replacing the roller wheels invalidate the warranty? Where's the reasonableness in that?

It's like putting mag wheels on a car and that doesn't crap out the warranty.

HGR3inOK

The Brompton wheels are designed in conjunction with their support pieces. Aftermarket wheels may result in forces on the support pieces for which the support pieces are not designed.

And, in the USA, putting after-market wheels on a car that don't conform to the manufacturer's specifications for wheels for that vehicle may void the manufacturer's warranty, especially on suspension parts that are not designed for the forces generated by the non-conforming wheels.

Let's be clear. Making a potentially warranty-voiding modification to any bicycle, and then undoing that modification in conjunction with making a warranty claim on the bicycle without disclosing that the bicycle had been modified. is, in almost every instance, dishonest.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Schwinnsta

This analogy is over the top. The forces on the easy wheels are minimal. None of this should effect the warranty, unless the manufacturer is looking for an out. In the folded position, weight of the Brompton is toward the overhanging front wheel. The X-roller helps and the rack helps too. That is the way it is designed.

HGR3inOK

Please reread my previous post. My response was regarding non-Brompton wheels. Afermarket wheels that increase the "wheelbase" in order to provide additional stability may also increase/alter the forces on the support brackets. My understanding is that Bromptons are designed for the wheels available from Brompton.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Joe Remi

The term "easy wheels" does not reflect a Brompton part. Their optional wheels are called EZ Wheels, which shouldn't affect the warranty. Any other product from an outside vendor will.

Schwinnsta

I agree but these forces are minimal. Anyway none of this warranty issue. The Brompton design is a collection of compromises and stability in of the folded package is not perfect. I find it hard to fault the Brompton on its choices of compromises.

jur

If fitting aftermarket wheels would tend to make the Brompton brackets fail, I would place a big question mark on the fit-for-purpose design. I don't for a moment expect it to fail. I expect it would fail if you decided to sit on the saddle with the thing folded, but not resting on the little wheels regardless of the stability base. And even though I am honest, in all fairness I wouldn't hesitate to swap back to standard brompton roller wheels if I knew a dealer would try to weasel out of a warranty claim unconnected with those wheels, but used that as an excuse.

HGR3inOK

The issue I have tried to address/discuss is whether a manufacturer should be responsible for third-party modifications that do not conform to the product's design parameters.

My concerns regarding the suggestion to basically defraud a manufacturer did not have the qualifications that you have espoused to potentially justify such action. I certainly acknowledge that our world includes dishonest bicycle dealers and dishonest bicycle consumers. However, I believed that neither group should be encouraged by postings in this forum.

-HANK RYAN-
Norman, Oklahoma USA

Hisamatsu

Yea their saddle and grips are "designed in conjunction" too. People swap them about all the time which legally you can argue breaks the warranty, but doubt most company will be that nit picky.

They do 5 year warranty on the frame, which is probably the most important part; 2 yr for the rest. If an authorized brompton dealer is selling the aftermarket parts and installing it for their customers it is fair game in my book.

IMO, doing something irreversible to the frame or parts is what I call breaking warranty like drilling holes or something.

badmother

I hope you are just having a bad day becouse if this is your opinion it is just saddening...

Hisamatsu

What is so saddening about that?

Realistically, lets say your seatpost was bent or broke, Brompton would deny warranty because they saw you had put a different saddle on?

prathmann

At least in US you cannot make that argument legally unless the manufacturer can show that the substituted part led directly to the failure. Denying a warranty claim due to the customer using unauthorized parts or service that are unrelated to the failure is a violation of the Magnuson-Moss act: part 700.10(c), as revised, states that “a warrantor cannot, as a matter of law, avoid liability under a written warranty where a defect is unrelated to the use by a consumer of unauthorized articles or service ...

invisiblehand

Not sure whether it voids the warranty, but Brompton has said that it's wheels are designed to break before the supports for the wheels. If you replace the wheels and those supports break, it seems reasonable that it be classified as "misuse".

invisiblehand

Indeed. I completely concur with this opinion.

sdwphoto

That's exactly what I was told when I bought my HR 6spd from a Brompton dealer 5years back when I asked about changing the EZ wheels to skate wheels .The reason is that the support
is for EZ wheels only, skate wheels are very wide/thick and put alot more pressure on the support when loaded like using a longer lever. I did try a pair of roller skate wheels and found them to be terrible even on
supermarket smooth floor ,they were a pain to try and steer.I went back to the EZ wheels and used them ever since.