Bike Forums - Brompton is just a great bike

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I guess it all depends on how one rides. I ride for fun, exercise, pleasure, etc. So I haven't noticed any of the issues that some of you folks that don't like Bromptons notice. I find it a great bike and easy to ride 20-30 miles. Everything just works the way it's supposed to. What do the Brits say? Horses for courses. If you're a young guy and ride hard maybe they aren't good bikes for that but Bromptons have toured the world and probably far more than any other folder.

I didn't find a folder that came close that fit me so well or rode as smoothly as my Brompton.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chagzuki (Post 14619648)

According to the official website Terns are heavy.

I've found flex to be a major problem with the Brompton and, indeed, it's frustrated me greatly. In a way it's ludicrous as most of the stem is thick steel tubing with zero flex (way stiffer than aluminium varieties) but it attaches to the steerer via a puny 1" wedge insert which totally defeats the purpose of the upper section being so beefy. This is just crap design, but it almost works, i.e. for certain riding styles and particularly for the S model the flex is within tolerable limits. I've managed to improve matters slightly by installing a better headset and inserting the stem all the way down contrary to the advice of the manual. Having it buttressed against the headset nut improves rigidity a little, hopefully it won't cause any problems.

How thick is thick steel tubing? did you measure the walls? I did not but I cut the stem to modify the bike and was suprised how thin the walls are. Before that I expected it to be thick walls it the steerer tube by the way it looked.

If the M flex too much for you but the S is better maybe the main problem is the M bars??

I'm using the s stem with aberhallo extension. There's not much flex in the m handlebar, it originates from other areas of the bike and the extra height of the m bar exacerbates the problem.

Good point, actually I don't know the thickness of that tubing, I've assumed it's similar to other sections of the bike but your experience says otherwise?
I've considered modding a stem to add height adjustability; do you have any pics online?