Suggestions for Brompton for 3F walkup?
01-23-21, 09:57 AM
#26
Senior Member
No one has said it yet but dang Eric, you are one lucky bugger to have a wife who is into all that! Fantastic!
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01-24-21, 07:17 PM
#27
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Hey my pleasure, hope it helps. For me shoulder carry is like cutting the weight in half from suitcase carry.
I need to use 2 hands to lift up - I stand behind the folded bike, seat pointing forward, grab the seat tube with my right hand, thumb pointing downward. Then use my left hand to grab the rear rack legs near the axle. Both hands lift and rotate the bike upside down, where I then rest the main tube on my right shoulder (I have a grippy pad attached to main tube for my shoulder). Then to walk, my right hand still has a firm grip on the seat tube, lean a bit left to align the bike weight with my CoG, left crank resting on my head - left hand is free to open/close doors. Be aware of ceiling, staircase, and doorway height clearance though. Doubt I can shoulder carry two bikes at the same time, but one bike on shoulder does counter-balance a second carried suitcase style better than one (or two) bike(s) carried suitcase style.
.
I need to use 2 hands to lift up - I stand behind the folded bike, seat pointing forward, grab the seat tube with my right hand, thumb pointing downward. Then use my left hand to grab the rear rack legs near the axle. Both hands lift and rotate the bike upside down, where I then rest the main tube on my right shoulder (I have a grippy pad attached to main tube for my shoulder). Then to walk, my right hand still has a firm grip on the seat tube, lean a bit left to align the bike weight with my CoG, left crank resting on my head - left hand is free to open/close doors. Be aware of ceiling, staircase, and doorway height clearance though. Doubt I can shoulder carry two bikes at the same time, but one bike on shoulder does counter-balance a second carried suitcase style better than one (or two) bike(s) carried suitcase style.
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Cheers!
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01-24-21, 07:27 PM
#28
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Thanks for all the responses.
1) Am wondering whether it's cheaper to sell the M3Ls and buy the superlight brompton. Maybe not.
2) Ebike kit - that onemotor is $1.2k but yes lighter. Am pretty amazed u bike in SFO, I guess you really need the ebike attachment. SFO is one of favorite cities (and my son lives/works there) but has become even more expensive and pretty grungy of late.
3) My wife and I exercise almost daily. TBH i feel i can handle the weight of brompton + ebike (I can now do 4 pullups from zero a year back). And groceries. My wife can but will struggle a bit. Our staircase is pretty narrow, most of the old buildings in El Born are like that but we really like the area and our place there.
4) Looks like am totally underbudgeted if I try to take off 3-4lbs. Talking to two LBS here, I feel their markups are so high vs navigating the ebay parts jungle myself then bringing to them to install.
5) Philosophically I want to be practical about this and not spend $2k+/bike. Maybe when times are better. Also I tend to recycle (resole shoes, etc, reuse plastic bags) so I'd prefer not to buy new bikes. I do like the bromptons because seems you can resell for close to what you paid for it.
6) So far it seems 1) replace brooks seats 2) pedals 3) seat post - are the carbon fiber ones any good? 4) will check out lighter wheels & two speed but would like to keep marathons for puncture resistance 5) better ez wheels 6) strap worth considering
7) Our bromptons have lower gearing but will check out single speed or 2spd if we get the e-assist.
8) For parts is ebay the best source or amazon? Specialty brompton bike stores here seem to charge 50+% over ebay, much more over aliexpress etc. Anyway would appreciate more store suggestions.
Thanks to all, appreciate the time responding to my questions. Cheers!
1) Am wondering whether it's cheaper to sell the M3Ls and buy the superlight brompton. Maybe not.
2) Ebike kit - that onemotor is $1.2k but yes lighter. Am pretty amazed u bike in SFO, I guess you really need the ebike attachment. SFO is one of favorite cities (and my son lives/works there) but has become even more expensive and pretty grungy of late.
3) My wife and I exercise almost daily. TBH i feel i can handle the weight of brompton + ebike (I can now do 4 pullups from zero a year back). And groceries. My wife can but will struggle a bit. Our staircase is pretty narrow, most of the old buildings in El Born are like that but we really like the area and our place there.
4) Looks like am totally underbudgeted if I try to take off 3-4lbs. Talking to two LBS here, I feel their markups are so high vs navigating the ebay parts jungle myself then bringing to them to install.
5) Philosophically I want to be practical about this and not spend $2k+/bike. Maybe when times are better. Also I tend to recycle (resole shoes, etc, reuse plastic bags) so I'd prefer not to buy new bikes. I do like the bromptons because seems you can resell for close to what you paid for it.
6) So far it seems 1) replace brooks seats 2) pedals 3) seat post - are the carbon fiber ones any good? 4) will check out lighter wheels & two speed but would like to keep marathons for puncture resistance 5) better ez wheels 6) strap worth considering
7) Our bromptons have lower gearing but will check out single speed or 2spd if we get the e-assist.
8) For parts is ebay the best source or amazon? Specialty brompton bike stores here seem to charge 50+% over ebay, much more over aliexpress etc. Anyway would appreciate more store suggestions.
Thanks to all, appreciate the time responding to my questions. Cheers!
Re: ebike. I would not suggest a single speed if you get the e-assist. I am fortunate that i can move my OneMotor from my Bike Friday to my Dahon Mu Uno (my beater bike) easily. However, it is a single speed and it doesn't take much to spin out. I think it's pretty hard to hit a single gear that is rideable without a motor (not too hard) but that then won't spin out when you add a motor. A 2 speed might work with one gear for non-assist and a much harder gear for assisted. When I use my motor, I use 2 of my BF gears, the two hardest but I could probably just settle on one. So a Brommie with a cruising gear for non-assist and a much higher gear for assist could be just fine.
As to S.F., the Bay Area has some of the most beautiful biking trails and best weather ever, lol. Don't believe everything you read; the "grunge" is in the downtown areas, like in many other cities.
01-25-21, 07:55 PM
#29
Junior Member
Thread Starter
01-26-21, 08:57 PM
#30
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Join Date: Jul 2006
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Bikes: Downtube IX NS&FS, Dahon Speed8Pro/Matrix/Curve, Brom S2L,Montague Para, ICE-XL w/Rollie/Schlumpf, Trident Spike, ebikes, BFSatRDay
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The first 30 are the hardest. took 20 just to get oriented. looking forward to the next 30.
It wasn't clear, do you want the weight down to get it up 3 floors or to ride?
1) For hauling the $250 side wheel Sidewinder makes sense. I really hate trying to go up stairs and rolling most anywhere with the standard rack rollers.
2) ebikes are HEAVY. you will not enjoy pedaling a dead one with a single speed.
I find them very niche products, not very flexible, outside of a narrow range of applications. Have 3 and seldom use them.
Weight , charging and range are a big deal to solve.
3) Foldies have to be heavy for strength an stiffness. Hard to pare them down and keep much flexibility in use.
That said you can get faster but will have other compromises, which will stack up. For hills, just lower gearing and chill.
Gears are a lot cheaper than titanium. Short of the rohloff 14$peed, IGH are problematic >3spd, and derailliers fragile on foldies.
Enjoy them for what they are.
It wasn't clear, do you want the weight down to get it up 3 floors or to ride?
1) For hauling the $250 side wheel Sidewinder makes sense. I really hate trying to go up stairs and rolling most anywhere with the standard rack rollers.
2) ebikes are HEAVY. you will not enjoy pedaling a dead one with a single speed.
I find them very niche products, not very flexible, outside of a narrow range of applications. Have 3 and seldom use them.
Weight , charging and range are a big deal to solve.
3) Foldies have to be heavy for strength an stiffness. Hard to pare them down and keep much flexibility in use.
That said you can get faster but will have other compromises, which will stack up. For hills, just lower gearing and chill.
Gears are a lot cheaper than titanium. Short of the rohloff 14$peed, IGH are problematic >3spd, and derailliers fragile on foldies.
Enjoy them for what they are.
Last edited by bikebikebike; 01-26-21 at 09:05 PM.
