Brompton Cover - worth the $?
 

Has anyone used it and loved/hated it? I'm thinking of getting it for times when I want to avoid calling attention to myself with a bright orange/white/lime green Brommie at my side.

The saddle bag seems somewhat useful to throwing small stuff in as well, but that's negligible.

Sure it's worth it, and you get a saddle bag also. Sometimes when you don't need the cover, you can leave it out and just use the bag to carry a few small items with you on your ride.

I didn't see me using the Velcro strap that goes around the seat post, so I used a stitch remover to remove it. I also think it's best with the two straps that hold it to the seat cinched up as short as possible.

I rarely use mine but when I do it is very nice to have. I just keep it in a corner of my t-bag.

Thanks guys. I might go ahead and get it then. I love the idea.

Also, just wondering..does anyone else find the EZ-wheels quite difficult to maneuver, or will I get used to it in the long run? It's not quite as smooth as I thought it would be. Or maybe I'm just doing something wrong.

Are you referring to the black, vinyl-like bag that fits fairly snugly on the Brompton?

EZ wheels are a bit of misnomer: they're not exactly "easy" as you've discovered. You can replace them with inline skate wheels, as many of us of done. Inline skate wheels are not particularly easy to maneuver (turn) either, but the clearance and better rolling makes it much easier to wheel around.

I see... I would have gladly used inline skates as I skate as well and got dozens of spare wheels from 72mm to 80mm lying around. Too bad the M6R here comes with EZ-wheels as standard.

And yes, it is the black, vinyl-like bag. What do you think of it?

I got one, but I've only used it a handful of times. Most places don't have a problem with me bringing in the folded bike, and at the places that do, the cover probably wouldn't help. I don't regret getting it, but it's a "could be useful," not a "must have." It's not the first thing I would get if my budget was tight.

ETA:
Has anyone figured out a cleaver way to use it as a saddle bag with taillight? If I hand it from the back of the saddle, it covers where my seatpost taillight goes. I need a taillight a lot more than I need the cover.

Actually, I remember seeing someone showing a taillight + saddle bag combo on youtube or something. The saddle bag was hanging quite low while the taillight was on top. Not having either (only a reflector - taillight has been ordered), I assumed it was quite standard.

Let me know if you do figure it out.

Opposite here. The cover makes the bike look like a piece of luggage. It allowed me e.g. to get the bike on-board as a carry-on on an airline which would knowingly not allow for that and which would normally take bikes only with a bike fee. At times, for one reason or another, I do not test the policy of my lodging towards bikes and if I put a cover it is nobody's business.

Now no taillight is in many countries just plain illegal.

I agree 100%. The Brompton cover is relatively inexpensive (all things considered), takes up very little room, and really helps "hide" the bike so that it doesn't draw attention to itself. It helped me out considerably on the train once because of their nonsensical baggage/bike policy (Amtrak). On the return trip, I threw the bag over it, opened the top just a bit to grab the saddle horn, walked on, and tossed it into the overhead rack. Nobody cared.

The brompton rolls better with the rack apparently but I have accepted the rolling quality as "good enough". I know many swap out wheels but I have stayed with the easy wheels - smaller , designed to be sacrificed if dropped vs damage.

No taillight is illegal in New York, not that you'd ever know it.

I'd be more inclined to carry the cover if I could hang it off the back, but the light prevents it, and having to plan on carrying the cover generally means I don't.

Over here, it's VERY common to see bikes with absolutely no lights whatsoever in the dead of night. Ridden by people in dark clothing. Pisses me off no end. AFAIK it's not illegal, but at the very least they should have reflectors. But no.

A somewhat annoying flaw I discovered is I can't turn the handlebar stem hinge's twist-handle (the one that allows the stem to drop to the side) properly when the C-bag (or any bag I guess) is clipped on the front carrier block.

It's just a matter of 0.1 inch or less, but as it stands I need to remove the C-bag so I can use the twist-handle to drop or lock the stem, which I find pointlessly frustrating.

Am I the only one?

That sounds bad. I hope I don't run into that problem.

I’ve used the cover a lot. It’s a hassle to use, but sometimes it’s necessary. I have no regrets getting one.


I have dynamo lights, but the lights are much lower than I’m used to on other bikes. I attached a Radbot 100 rack mount using zip ties, to tabs on the the underside of the Brompton saddle.

The saddle gets in the way of mounting a Radbot 100 (it’ll fit, after a bit of pushing). But it is just possible to mount and unmount a Planet Bike Superflash because of the indent on the Brompton saddle (it shares the same sized mount with the Radbot).


http://i.imgur.com/Ei9uPUDl.jpg


http://i.imgur.com/Xmwm8CJl.jpg
The screws in the picture don’t actually hold anything in place.