Brompton Titanium or Hummingbird
#1
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Brompton Titanium or Hummingbird
I need some help deciding whether to spend £1,800 for a Titanium Brompton single speed or £2,900 for a Hummingbird single speed. Is the weight saving worth it? The Hummingbird does not fold as compact as the Brompton, but it folds much flatter.
Any advice?
Any advice?
#2
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And with 2900GBP you can buy a full titanium Brompton clone that weighs less than 15lbs.
#4
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For £1,100 difference, the Hummingbird wouldn’t even be in the running for me. The Brompton is more compact, better looking, and not much heavier.
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#5
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Or, for that kind of money a superlight Pakit would be nice. It could have gears! It could be repaired if needed although I would think a steel bike would deal better with being tossed around in a suitcase better than carbon. Both Bromptons and Pakits can be modified to meet changing needs. If weight is a big deal I would lose a couple of pounds.
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#6
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There's almost no difference between the weight of the Brompton 2 speed and 1 speed. I own a Ti 2 speed and that second gear makes it large difference. I really don't know why anyone would buy a 1 speed just to save a few grams. Yesterday my wife climbed over a 1000 ft on a 2 speed Ti Brompton. I rode my steel 6 speed but she finished ahead of me.
#7
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Yeah, I'd get a 2 speed Brompton too. Hbird just doesn't seem compact enough if you need to carry it in crowds or put in a shopping cart.
If you're handy with a wrench Aliexpress has full ti frames and improves the flexy old quill stem design of the Brompton.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...archweb201603_
If you're handy with a wrench Aliexpress has full ti frames and improves the flexy old quill stem design of the Brompton.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000...archweb201603_
Last edited by ttakata73; 04-22-20 at 10:03 AM.
#8
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https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/fo...ikes/brompton/
these are custom built if you wish
these are custom built if you wish
#9
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https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/fo...ikes/brompton/
these are custom built if you wish
these are custom built if you wish
To have a full titanium Brompton you need to buy a Chinese titanium frame and stem for instance from Easy TI on eBay.
3Sixty has full titanium clones, no idea if they are really available outside Korea ?
#10
Senior Member
Kinetics doesn't change the main frame and stem that remain the original Brompton steel parts.
To have a full titanium Brompton you need to buy a Chinese titanium frame and stem for instance from Easy TI on eBay.
3Sixty has full titanium clones, no idea if they are really available outside Korea ?
To have a full titanium Brompton you need to buy a Chinese titanium frame and stem for instance from Easy TI on eBay.
3Sixty has full titanium clones, no idea if they are really available outside Korea ?
I read that they are now selling complete bike at around 3.5 million KRW (2300GBP)
#11
LET'S ROLL
If it was me; I'd get the cheaper Brompton(in 2 speed). Then with the money saved;
buy lighter parts for the Brompton for further weight reduction. Titanium seat post,
carbon saddle, titanium nuts/bolts, etc.
I may be biased since of the 4 Bromptons I owned over the years - 2 were titanium/superlight
models.![Big Grin](https://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
BROMPTON HELMET AND BIKE by 1nterceptor, on Flickr
buy lighter parts for the Brompton for further weight reduction. Titanium seat post,
carbon saddle, titanium nuts/bolts, etc.
I may be biased since of the 4 Bromptons I owned over the years - 2 were titanium/superlight
models.
![Big Grin](https://www.bikeforums.net/images/smilies/biggrin.gif)
![](https://live.staticflickr.com/911/41780985351_0ed20b09bb.jpg)
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#12
Senior Member
I have a Brompton and I like it a lot, it was a superlight too.
But honestly, all factory installed components are low quality and heavy !
To have a lightweight Brompton, all components must be replaced and this is also what happened on my Brompton, only the frame is factory and even a part of it, the rear titanium triangle, was modified to 135mm OLD.
So building up a full bike from a titanium frame is also a good option and cheaper than starting with a 2s superlight.
But honestly, all factory installed components are low quality and heavy !
To have a lightweight Brompton, all components must be replaced and this is also what happened on my Brompton, only the frame is factory and even a part of it, the rear titanium triangle, was modified to 135mm OLD.
So building up a full bike from a titanium frame is also a good option and cheaper than starting with a 2s superlight.
#13
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Hello there,
I'm considering getting a Brompton that could be carried with few efforts in my stairs (6 floors with my wife's H2L... noway!).
The Chinese full titanium look promising, but "it's like a jungle sometimes".
I've found some posts from Raxel about such (awesome) builds. So, Raxel do you think it's safe to order an EasyTi frame set from Ebay ?
I'm considering getting a Brompton that could be carried with few efforts in my stairs (6 floors with my wife's H2L... noway!).
- The Raw Lacquer is beautiful, but the matte titanium fork does not match the frame
- The Black Lacquer is OK, titanium parts are painted in black
The Chinese full titanium look promising, but "it's like a jungle sometimes".
I've found some posts from Raxel about such (awesome) builds. So, Raxel do you think it's safe to order an EasyTi frame set from Ebay ?
#14
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The way I like to judge folding bikes is on "backpackability" where I do ( 100,000 / ( weight + depth ) ) which gives the highest score to the bike that has the lowest weight and the shortest distance off of your back when folded. The Hummingbird single-speed has the one of the highest scores in my spreadsheet of all the folding bikes on the market.