Spoke to Steve Parry on Brompton mods
 

As I have been agonising over the modified Brompton I want to buy using the UK Cycle to Work Scheme, I got hold of Steve Parry's phone no. from the foldsoc webpages and rang the guru himself. He proved to be an absolutely top guy and has convinced me of what to do. Was so helpful.

I told Steve I was considering a SA 8 speed hub mod. His response to that was that he didnt have great faith in the longevity of the SA hubs made in China and he has found some even fail within 6 months. When I asked about the buying the Merc to be modified he said the frame is quite good but needed other parts to make a really good quality upgraded bike. He is very critical that Brompton won't up their range on the high-end options.

I think myself that the Ti upgrade is outrageous at £440 considering the rather basic brakes and other parts you get with it. No knocking the rest and the fold, just the OTT 'al la carte' prices.

Steve's cost for fitting a 14 speed Rolhoff and other basic mods comes to £1600 (This does include other mods too such as upgraded brakes etc.). However, he said it is possible to buy the parts and a base Brompton for around £1200 from an LBS close to him and he can collect them. He then he charges £400 labour for the mods and it takes about a week. This can prove very cost effective if you process the £1000 limit through the Cycle to work Scheme where you can spread the payments and significantly discount the price with the tax relief. If anyone wants the specific details please PM me. I'm very tempted to do this and sell some stuff on eBay to finance this dream machine :D The rest can be alleviated by the CTW scheme.

A raw lacquer Brompton with Steve Parry mods, rolhoff hub and Son hub front dynamo, the temptation is too much.........Wish me luck lol!

Mulleady, was it his advice to completely stay away from Brompton's Ti upgrades, or did he want you to upgrade to his Ti components?

Hey also if you can manage it, go for it, you only live once and the raw look is sooo nice, and a rohloff to boot :) you will have 10+ years with this bike and more fun then you can imagine, worth the xtra dough...also with the uk tax scheme great incentive...

wish we had something like it over here

good luck on your build

Thanks doco!

No not at all, Steve just felt it's better to get the steel frame as the Ti options from Brompton only provide some weight loss and that they could innovate better on these options. Some of the mods like littlepixels fab 8.7kg fixed gear bike are proof of this. Steve was actually brilliant in recommending options to minimise expenditure on the upgrades.

What made you decide to go for the Rohloff? My first impression is that it is a bit overkill considering the extra weight.

problem is that Steve is over there, and to ship a frame over there for mods would be cost prohibitive

you mentioned he would buy the frameset from a local lbs, could he ship to usa...never mind just found his link

Hi IH. Not for me no I like features over weight anyway, not a weight buff only care about the compact fold. The Rohloff hub offers extra power, longevity and is just a beautiful piece of engineering. I still need to cost mods and will post here. Not finalised yet!

Excellent. Its durability is legendary. Well good luck to you ... and we will look forward to the pictures.

I'm sure he would ship and components could be sourced by Steve in the UK. He has a reputation for good turnaround and the best class mods on a Brompton over here. I mean as somebody who runs a business doing it.

Of course he does have some fine challengers on this forum but they do it as personal projects. I have to say Littlepixel's 8.7kg fixed gear folder is one such example. Fab bike. Not for me gear wise but thats personal preferences, but the looks and weight achievment are top notch.

Rohloff would be nice but heavy. What about a SRAM 9-speed or Dual Drive - sure - you'd need wider rear dropouts still but lighter and a bit cheaper...

Re your kind words...My bike gets lighter daily like a fisherman's tale! ;)
It weighs a bit more now with the stem mods I did. If only I knew where to get those amazingly tiny-profiled Moulton 369 tubs... :)

I must 'fess up though that my mercton is a more than a teeny bit of a rip off of his own SP ultralight Merc/B hybrid... I actually consulted with him about it before I embarked on the project - he offered to build one though for me the build is more than half the fun.

Ours differ in that his is a single-speed freewheel, rear brake and is not geared that highly, nor does it have minimal spoking onto aero rims [he typed semi-smugly :)]

http://www.littlepixel.info/twenty/parry.jpg

The day I get the superpower of unlimited budget, my Brompton will travel back to England with me, visit this mage aka as SP and become a Rohloff chariot of gods...

I am going to give him a call and see what happens, if he could get a bromie back here at a reasonable price, I might do it...but I think I if I do it..I might follow LilPixel mods

if I do get one though, it's the Raw baby:)

14R's is awesome....

I spoke to Steve last week and found him to be really helpful.

He told me that the Rohloff hub was by far the best conversion of the ones he has done and is the one he would recommend.

Hi boys!

Have mercy! I think weight is to consider on the brommi especially since with the Rohloff it sits all at the rear. That, is said to give a quite unbalanced ride.
The two are fantastic, but will it be a happy marriage? Or will the German hulk crush that little English princess to death? Even more important I believe is seize. I would not like to have that little rear triangle be broadened so much. (ups, sorry for the just rising pic in my mind :eek: )

... and absolutely nothing against SP. I hope I have the chance to see his artworks personally! Just a passing thought, maybe he doesn't recommend ti because a lot of his mods are welded on forks and triangles (cantilever...). Ti requires extra conditions

BTW: But you DO know that a minus 20% weight and minus 20% seize RohloffSpeedhub is on the way, yes?

Somnatash

There is —of course— the RohloffWeightCompensationSystem™ that can be fitted to the front luggage mounting clip [if all else fails...]

http://www.littlepixel.info/twenty/anvil.jpg

Maybe the clickbox interferes with the fold?

Alex W. thinks highly of the SRAM internal hubs relative to the Shimano hubs ... which would be the natural "high-end" alternatives.

What do you mean by minus 20% seize?

seize = size I think

So the hub is smaller as well as lighter? Is this in reference to width?

Yep, me learning english...

I regret that I don't know that but hope so! It would be a great advantage for folders. Even if only less diameter relaxes a little (spokes way...).

hahaha: RohloffWeightCompensationSystem™

Somnatash

Ahhhh, so smaller would be shorter diameter flanges. Yes, that would be an advantage for small wheels.

Littlepixel you smartass lol!

I'll steal your fixed gear Brompton creation and modify it with tractor tyres lol. Nothing wrong with a Rolhoff haha! Having said that I got costings today, parts and labour £1986. That includes some other minor mods and parts too but might just be a bit budget busting for me. Back to Kinetics......

How much would you save with an alternative hub ... ala SRAM? For practical purposes, I don't think you lose much. But it should be a lot less expensive.

I say so too. The alternative XRF8 hub (SA) with kinetics is reasonable in price. Most of all, if you bear in mind that by having a (cheaper) brompton one-gear back wheel option to start with.

But I have to ad a warning: Kinetics has very loong delivery times. I waited for my modification more than 5 month and there was no or very little responding to mail. So if one is not really! patient and willing to deal with problems or able to popp around Ben Coopers shop I would not recommend to buy there. Actually although there are some modifications included, I think it is no big deal to have the hub fitted by any gifted bicycle shop.

I've decided to go the Kinetics route in the end as the SP mods will total £1986. A Brompton with 8 speed hub, grip shifter, Son front hub dynamo and raw lacquer for under £1200 is still a pretty impressive folder. Add to that the benfits of tax relief on the Cycle to Work scheme the net cost will be no more than £800.