Originally Posted by
berlinonaut
The issue shown in the picture looks like the root cause would have been an overtightened stem nut. The question would be who overtightened it. Brompton is not free from failures but if they occur they usually handle them very generously (like the bottom bracket one lately). And if I remember correctly something was changed regarding the ti-forks not too long ago.
Root cause is a bad design (thin titanium steerer tube + archaic conical expander nut that puts too much stress on a line, not a wide surface), not overtightened stem. It is almost meaningless to tighten the expander nut using the torque wrench as the friction between the nut and tube is huge. Brompton SILENTLY changed the expander with a wedge for this year to handle this issue (without recalling last year's fork and stem)
Originally Posted by
berlinonaut
was the stem nut overtightened by the factory or did someone fiddle around with it later?
I did say they are factory assembled.
Originally Posted by
berlinonaut
did you place a warranty claim with Brompton and what was their reaction and handling of the issue?
They are not my bikes. Owners did place warranty claims and the local dealer said those Bromptons are modified (disassembled) by third party so they lost warranty. Fun part is that one cannot know their steerer tube is intact before taking the fork apart. They got a ton of flak for this policy and I think owners got them replaced eventually.
Originally Posted by
berlinonaut
One of the reasons why Bromptons are more expensive is that they actually have warranty, spare parts and customer support...
All others do as well.