Modified Brompton with Shimano Alfine hub
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Modified Brompton with Shimano Alfine hub
I've finally saved up and had my Brompton modified to the kind of spec I always wanted. I went to Fudge Cycles in Kensal Rise London Please pm me if you want details of the bike shop or you can Google it). The owner Andrew has a real can-do attitude and is a major UK Dahon dealer who started stocking Bromptons recently. He even has the Go cycle which ones doesn't often see in both its electric and normal forms! After some discussion Andrew was up for the mods and ended up doing a superb job. I guess Andrew can be added along with Steve Parry (UK) and Julianna Neuss (Germany) as serious Brompton modder now! The Alfine works a dream on the Brompton. Details as follows:
1) An 8 speed Shimano Alfine hub. I love the silent and smooth shifting of this hub and it can achieve a very nice range with the right chainset. The range on my Brompton is now 28"-101" which is pretty respectable. Pound for pound the Alfine hub is as good as it gets.
2) A front Son dynamo hub to power the rear light and a new Lumotec IQ Fly Senso front light which has great luminosity and uses an life-long LED emitter rather than a bulb.. I'm really pleased with the power of the Son hub and the Lumotec light has a great beam for a dynamo driven light at night. Both front and rear lights have built in capacitors and standing lights when stationary.
3) Added new Shimano brake levers and Koolstop brake pads.The brakes on the newer Bromptons are better but there was always room for improvement to make them a little more responsive.
4) I intend to add a Titanium seatpost to complement the raw lacquer more but it also has the small bonus of taking around 1kg off the total weight of the bike. The mods added only a marginal amount of weight. My aim was a highly specced Brompton rather than a featherweight one. I'm happy to carry 11-12kg for shot bursts and the bike rolls very nicely on the Eazy wheels anyway!
1) An 8 speed Shimano Alfine hub. I love the silent and smooth shifting of this hub and it can achieve a very nice range with the right chainset. The range on my Brompton is now 28"-101" which is pretty respectable. Pound for pound the Alfine hub is as good as it gets.
2) A front Son dynamo hub to power the rear light and a new Lumotec IQ Fly Senso front light which has great luminosity and uses an life-long LED emitter rather than a bulb.. I'm really pleased with the power of the Son hub and the Lumotec light has a great beam for a dynamo driven light at night. Both front and rear lights have built in capacitors and standing lights when stationary.
3) Added new Shimano brake levers and Koolstop brake pads.The brakes on the newer Bromptons are better but there was always room for improvement to make them a little more responsive.
4) I intend to add a Titanium seatpost to complement the raw lacquer more but it also has the small bonus of taking around 1kg off the total weight of the bike. The mods added only a marginal amount of weight. My aim was a highly specced Brompton rather than a featherweight one. I'm happy to carry 11-12kg for shot bursts and the bike rolls very nicely on the Eazy wheels anyway!
Last edited by mulleady; 06-30-09 at 01:34 AM.
#2
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Above the Alfine grip shifter adapted to my Ergon grip on the right-hand side.
The adapted alfine hub. As usual the rear triangle was stretched to allow this mod.
The front Son Dynamo hub which is specially made for smaller wheeled folding bikes such as the Brompton and it's incredibly efficient.
The Lumotec IQ Fly which is far superior to the standard front Dynamo light Brompton supply. Highly recommended!
The revised chainset.
And finally below the bike folds perfectly as ever and I'm still allowed in premises such as pubs for a nice refreshment!
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Nice lookin bike! Thanks for posting such nice pictures. It looks really nice with the hub. I would love to do that set up. Please keep us updated on how it performs!
#4
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https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/8-speed.shtml
P.S. Lovely bike, Mulleady!
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wow, nice bike. can i ask - do you experiance any drag or resistance with either of the hubs? also how do your vbrake levers fair with the caliper brakes. i have a pair laying around that i want to use but was told that it would be a bad idea to mix vbrake levers with caliper brakes.
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Very nice! If it's not too rude a question, how much did it cost? I'm happy with my old 6-speed, but of course, I wouldn't mind one lower and one higher gear, which it sounds like you have - and with the added bonus of only having one shifter to worry about.
#7
Raleigh20 PugFixie, Merc
hey mulleady.. How much wider did the rear triangle need to be? It's a really nice mod. ARE YOU LISTENING BROMPTON? LOSE THE BAKELITE SHIFTERS AND BIZZARE 3/2=6 SHIFTING SYSTEM.
Rant over. But really - they should be rolling these directly out of the factory, with v-brakes and aberhallo stem adapters. And doing 'cool' urban ones with black rims and kojak tyres.
Silly conservative engineers!
Rant over. But really - they should be rolling these directly out of the factory, with v-brakes and aberhallo stem adapters. And doing 'cool' urban ones with black rims and kojak tyres.
Silly conservative engineers!
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Great job, Mulleady! You've got a premium folder there.
I totally agree with LP's comment also. Brompton should be offering this type of choice.
I totally agree with LP's comment also. Brompton should be offering this type of choice.
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Answers to a few questions:
1) I've encountered little resistance from using front and rear hubs. There is probably a tiny amount but it's barely perceptible and well compensated for by the smoother transmission and superior gearing range.
2) If I isolate the various mods, I'd say the Alfine hub mod was around £500 in total including labour and materials. It's a lot but worth every penny long-term. I believe the Alfine hub provides more 'bang for buck' than say a Rohloff
3) I'd have to check what the rear spacing was widened to. I do know the Alfine threads were also ground down slightly.
Hi Sesame and Littlepixel I hope you are both keeping well! :-)
1) I've encountered little resistance from using front and rear hubs. There is probably a tiny amount but it's barely perceptible and well compensated for by the smoother transmission and superior gearing range.
2) If I isolate the various mods, I'd say the Alfine hub mod was around £500 in total including labour and materials. It's a lot but worth every penny long-term. I believe the Alfine hub provides more 'bang for buck' than say a Rohloff
3) I'd have to check what the rear spacing was widened to. I do know the Alfine threads were also ground down slightly.
Hi Sesame and Littlepixel I hope you are both keeping well! :-)
#10
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Don't forget about Ben at Kinetics in Glasgow, also does a IGH Brompton:
https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/8-speed.shtml
P.S. Lovely bike, Mulleady!
https://www.kinetics-online.co.uk/html/8-speed.shtml
P.S. Lovely bike, Mulleady!
I think the Alfine hub provides better performance than the SA 8 speed. I used to get a lot of slipping in 6th gear. Perhaps that has improved in recent SA hubs?
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Hi Mulleady,
It is great to see that you are still enjoying the Brompton
Bike looks good in that Raw Lacquer finish...... but I’m biased
Bromptons are just such a great design for train travel, I don’t know why I didn’t just buy one in the first place
It is great to see that you are still enjoying the Brompton
Bike looks good in that Raw Lacquer finish...... but I’m biased
Bromptons are just such a great design for train travel, I don’t know why I didn’t just buy one in the first place
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fantastic bike. please keep us inform about the gears in practice.
Hope they keep working well and that the Brompton guys will read this, maybe they might... but I think they don't!
Hope they keep working well and that the Brompton guys will read this, maybe they might... but I think they don't!
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I dunno. Never used one. Kinetics is right around the corner from where I live, and your post reminded me of the conversions that he does. Just thought I would post it here for the benefit of others. (I've got no affiliation with him, other than living nearby and popping in to say hi from time to time.)
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Mulleady's scoot looks funny without no paint. It's like a cat without fur. Hmmm.
I like the Deore (Dior?) brake levers. I got them on my HH7, and the thing stops like, er, a thing with Deore brake levers.
That Brommy just needs some knobbly tires and a coating of cow-pats, and he can come bicycling with me again.
Sue
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How much clearance between the tyre and the rear frame?
Luca
Last edited by Aguila281; 07-04-09 at 02:31 PM. Reason: spelling
#18
Raleigh20 PugFixie, Merc
how does widening the rear dropouts reduce tyre clearance? Surely the opposite is true?
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I'd sell you my modified DT if I could steal it back off my friend who I sold it to. I met him last year when my male border collie befriended his female collie. Sadly my fellow had been castrated but they still play with each other
Don't you have a nice Dahon Jack anyway or have the cowpats dissolved it by now?
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rear wheel clearance between tyre and frame : pic
That clearance is very tight, just a few milimeters. I hope the pic comes through... (I snapped it from an Ebayer and edited, so if it's yours and you want me to remove it, just PM me!)
Luca
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Your Brommie's looking very nice and I applaud your taste in beer!
And Snafu can't be a proper drinker!!!!! That's a German Weizen (bottle conditioned wheat beer) Franzinkaner according to the glass. LOL!
And Snafu can't be a proper drinker!!!!! That's a German Weizen (bottle conditioned wheat beer) Franzinkaner according to the glass. LOL!
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Last edited by Chop!; 05-13-10 at 01:29 AM.
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And Snafu can't be a proper drinker!!!!!
You Sir, could not be more correct. I stopped equating drink with virtue aged fourteen. As you so pertinently demonstrate, it robs men of their intellect.
You Sir, could not be more correct. I stopped equating drink with virtue aged fourteen. As you so pertinently demonstrate, it robs men of their intellect.
Last edited by snafu21; 05-13-10 at 04:06 AM.
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