Winfried

Too bad Mezzo/Ori are barely sold on the continent. I wish I could test ride a Brommie and a Mezzo to see how they fare.

bhkyte

Looking back at this thread there has been more than myself and cpg with upgraded mezzos.
Posters included "prone" ansd simular with alfine hun bikes, ori with drops,boston blackie nexus 8.

Have you guy done anything further to your bikes?, I would love to hear

prone

Sorry for the radio silence bhkyte.
You might recall I have a mezzo 10 and a brompton titanium. I put the alfine 11 hub on the mezzo and it has worked very well.
Recently I got so fed up with the clunky 6 speed on the brompton so I got Ben Cooper at kinetics in Glasgow to put the Rohloff speedhub on it.
This has worked very well. The brompton now weighs 12.8 kg whereas the mezzo comes in at 14.3 kg with the alfine hub, so the brompton is about 1.5 kg lighter, which is helpful when carrying it up and down stairs at train stations. I also got Ben to replace the sports bars with risers, which don't impede the fold. All in all this represents a much much better brompton (of course at considerable cost)
Even so, I still think the mezzo is a better ride.

antonyfhilliard

I'd like to replace the straight bars on my D9 with bullhorn bars, but it'll take a bit of design.

Ideally I'd have two hand positions, one on the horns for speed, the other on the flats for cardoor-braking. That would mean two brake levers - reverse tri levers on the end of the horns, and cyclocross inline levers on the flats. I'm not sure if the SRAM gearshifter can be slid around the bar bends.

Also not sure how wide / long the bullhorn bars can be so as not to interfere with the front wheel during the fold.

Finally, the cross levers would have to be far enough apart that the brake/shift levers can hug the stem without too-tight bends.

Tricky business, modding folders!

bhkyte

If you are going to do a fast mezzo, are you also going to gear it up ?

bhkyte

If you are going to do a fast mezzo, are you also going to gear it up ?

How does my set up on the black bike look to you for your needs?

antonyfhilliard

Not until I have a pile of cash sitting around for an IGH. I'm more interested in a longer-feeling cockpit than extra speed. At 6'5", I'm riding with the seatpost at max extension and my butt is pretty much hovering over the rear wheel!

I like your set up (and chekmx's), but I'm not quite ready to sacrifice fold compactness. QR stems seem a bit dare-devilish, so I'm trying to imagine if a cleverly sized set of bullhorns could be fit around / through the folded rear wheel?

bhkyte

Sound like you need either very wide bars, or looking at the bars going through the front wheel when folded. I have thought about reducing the front wheel spoke count for this.

At 6'5 you might want to look at an telescopic seat post like I have.

Else consider the dark side!!

You could consider a fudges brompton offering with time trial bars. About £1800+

They do a bike with an 11 afline hub matched to a brifter that needs no qr stem due to wide bars 45 cms+, (seem to remember from my brompton mod),

It fold as compactly as standard.

On the mezzo ....
You may need to either consider a qr stem, cpq solution seems quick and easy.
My black bike does not have a qr stem. Compact Bullbars adds around 3 inches to the fold width. It does make a difference when the space is at a priemum, but a comprimise I am happy with due to the fact it rides so well, and does not add to folding time.

ccunlif1

Hi Fellas, found this site on Goggle as I was looking for some ideas about buying a MEZZO and in time improving it, so many ideas on this forum and with the pics and expertise I have found on this forum there is hope yet. Its a great read and I look forward to reading more of your posts...

cpg

Hi Ccunlif1. Thanks for the comments, its nice to know that other people find the things we talk about on here and the photos we post of some use in their own projects. Good luck getting your own Mezzo.

prone

Got your message bhkyte but was not allowed to respond to it for some reason.
However, my answer is that I don't have a clue I'm afraid.

ccunlif1

Hi there Fellas
Firstly let me apologise for the randomness of this post and the lack of 'FACT' within it but here goes,
I believe that I am purchasing a MEZZO 2008 D9, I say believe as I don't know the exact model yet as it belongs to a friend and hopefully pick it up in the next week.
again random....


I like the mods I have seen on this board but I am a complete amateur! I don't understand half the stuff posted here but I am schooling myself....
The main first step for me is the bars
bhkyte I like the bars, cpg I love the look but I have a set of:

'Easton Delta Force' Ergo bars and
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/easton-easton-deltaforce-bullhorn-bars-318-mm-42-cm-black-prod23862/

Oval Brake Levers
https://www.evanscycles.com/products/oval/a700-series-carbon-brake-levers-ec019234
I would love to use these, but I don't even know if they will fit and then

There is gears, I am looking for a gear system that would be suitable and compatible....



Guys.... I know its allot to ask but any help would be appreciated

bhkyte

Hi. We don't know what we are talking about most of the time either!!!

Re bars. Nice, but oversized 31.mm you need 25.4. You would have to change the stem also to fit these bars. I don't mean the whole folding stem just the section that has the handlebar clamp that is clamped in to the upright stem section you will understand what I mean when you have the bike.

Re levers, good taste again! I prefer brifters ( us term for road race sti levers). Then you don't need a separate lever. I also prefer to be able to use the hoods. If they fit the bars I see no problem.

If you use the bars you will either have a slightly larger fold like my black bike, or need to fit a quick release on your stem to get the bike to fold compactly.

If I was using carbon bars I would want to fit a shimano cespro hub to keep the weight down and up gear the bike using a 9 tooth top gear. I have heard missed messages whether the cespro fits due to chain clearance. I have a cespro hub and cassette I will check sometime.

All the best.
Its much faster with slick kojack tyres also if you go down the fast mezzo route. Is there another route??

CQP I have my eye on a pannier load hauling mezzo. This idea may be simple for a change. Ie buy a pannier. Lol

cpg

Hi ccunlif1. Agree with everything bhkyte said.
As for gears, ride the bike first and see what you think, depending on the riding you do you might find it slightly under geared. Sram dual drive hub is fantastic but you could also consider an 8 or 11 speed internal gear hub, this will be the easyest option if the bike turns out to be an I4. My bike was an I4 and I went down the dual drive route but it meant I had to buy more its and do more work to get the bits to fit the bike. If you are a bit handy with metal working a front derailer and double or triple chain ring might work, I would like to try that my self if I get a second Mezzo.

Hmm panniers that's a good idea. The commuter bag is great but it is heavy. Are you thinking of any particular type of pannier? I think it would be quite easy to fit longer legs to the Mezzo rack so large panniers could be used without heel strike. The folded bike would be taller. I have a QR seat mounted rack that I use with my road bike and is good for 10kg loads but would this cause seat clamp failure?

ccunlif1

Hello ago again fellas


Re bars. Nice, but oversized 31.mm you need 25.4. You would have to change the stem also to fit these bars. I don't mean the whole folding stem just the section that has the handlebar clamp that is clamped in to the upright stem section you will understand what I mean when you have the bike.
Do you know where you get this adapted part of the upper stem or is it something that you would have to customise?

Re levers, good taste again! I prefer brifters ( us term for road race sti levers). Then you don't need a separate lever. I also prefer to be able to use the hoods. If they fit the bars I see no problem.
Agreed I have a set of drop bars and brifters I could use but they are the same thickness as the other bars and I have used the set up before.

If you use the bars you will either have a slightly larger fold like my black bike, or need to fit a quick release on your stem to get the bike to fold compactly.
Saw the quick release stem and I love it, that's a must buy...
Reading the replies, I don't believe I explained myself very well at all in relation to the gears.....
Sorry I don't have the bike yet, I don't know how the gears change? i.e. what type of lever or shifter you guys use, is this the standard?
https://www.foldsoc.co.uk/Mike/MikesM....html#3._Gears

If you guys have specialised your shifter or are they stock?
Cheers for all your help

bhkyte

I use shimano tiagra road race levers. So I change gear using the brake lever, no seperate shifter. Cpq uses standard shifters and intend to upgrade to simular afaik.
This sytle of lever is the logical choice on drops, but a tad novel on homemade bullbars. It works very well on my dropped bars that have been turned on their side and cut down to convert to bull bars. Iprefer the upright feel of my set up over true bullbars. People use to make low profile bars simular to these by turning drops upside down and cutting down. Mine are a little more compact to get a tight fold. They are simular to old sytle time trail bars before areo wing stle took over.

Cqp in am just thinking of buying some of the panniers compactable with the tufflock? System that the mezzo rack uses. You posted a link to the lotus panniers. The "can you fit panniers to a brompton" got me thinking they might work. Mezzo rack is about 50% longer than a b#*?@£+m rack.

ccunlif1

Cheers mate I have alot of research to do!!!

ccunlif1

Hi bhkyte

I tried to PM you as I didnt want to tie up the board with posts but it wouldn't let me ?!?

RE:

Re bars. Nice, but oversized 31.mm you need 25.4. You would have to change the stem also to fit these bars. I don't mean the whole folding stem just the section that has the handlebar clamp that is clamped in to the upright stem section you will understand what I mean when you have the bike.

Do you know where I could get a 31mm to 25mm stem suitable for a Mezzo?

Ta, I have looked and found a number of stems but nothing specific!

Cheers

cpg

Turn bullhorns upside down and fit STI brake shifters? I am currently using mountain bike type shifters but now I have the dropbar ends on the bike I going to fit STI brake shifters.

How about front panniers, no clearance issues and still get to use the Mezzo rack bags? Ori have the fittings on their web site, not that they will be available in the UK.

prone

welcome ccunlif1.
I certainly don't know what I am talking about but I can tell you that putting the alfine 11 IGH was a significant improvement on my Mezzo 10 and provides me with all the gears I am prepared to use without getting off the bike and walking when it gets really steep. It does increase the weight a bit but I can live with that.
As for luggage, I have found that the Mezzo commuter bag is absolutely fine for credit card touring in Europe.
I remove the side wall stiffeners (easily done) which allows the bag to expand, obviously at the expense of protection, but that's not an issue.
I can get everything in there, tools, spares, clothes, book etc, plus I use a handlebar bag (AGU Qyoto, 7 litres) ) attached with the KlickFix system. When commuting with computer et al I put the sidewall stiffeners back-once again easily done.
I think the commuter back attachment system is great-very easy, quick and secure.

bhkyte

Re adapting 25.4 to 31 oversized stems and bars.

Two approaches to this.

Perhaps your trying to find a ingenious solution to a problem that should never have existed!? just use a 25.4 bar?!?

Or maybe adapting to oversized gives you a broader and better choice of bars and if you are going to do something to get a quick release stem to get a compact fold you might as well make this upgrade?

You might not like the bike you ride it, have you got it yet!?

I wonder about getting a T shaped stem made up. Ie made from welding a 25.4 upright to a 31 oversized tube. Then getting a stem extender in oversized and fitting quick release catchers. This would be lighter than have two stems this option would also give extra 4 inches extra reach ,be very secure, give a compact fold. Just need a friend who can weld?

Personally in my experience of doing four bullbar folder mods I tend to feel you need to get bars that compliment a compact fold, not try to fit bars that I would like. You might be lucky and these bars fold really well, I don't know. I don't tend to comprimise on my preference for road levers.ie I was able to fit very forward reaching bullbars and a stem extender on my brompton without effecting the folld size at all. My gold bike will fold as compact as a standar mezzo. In combination with the stem extender. It has a simular postion to the brommie desipte my use of bar ends rather than bulllbars.

cpg

It might be possible to replace the Mezzo stem with a piece of tube and fit a standard Ahead stem by clamping to the tube. Quick release levers could replace the clamp screws so the bars can be removed for a compact fold.

ccunlif1

Hey guys, thanks for all your help, I appreciate it. I am trying to put a square peg in a round hole! just wanted to try and use some parts I already had and liked.Will run with a new set of bars and have some ideas for the rest of it. Will keep you posted

bhkyte

Keep them over sized bars!!!!

I think you may have something there. I forgot about this.
Cut the stem clamp off to use as the tube and simply fit an head stem with a shim.
Simples!!!

T

bhkyte

Keep them over sized bars!!!!

I think you may have something there. I forgot about this.
Cut the stem clamp off to use as the tube and simply fit an head stem with a shim.
Simples!!!

Ps if you are going for lor profile bars you probably want to cut the stem down anyway. You might find that you are happy with the folding without a qr stem especally as you are using levers which will give a more compact fold.
Just fit a QR (s) on the stem to get a compact fold. Jobs a good one. Except. QR and moving a carbon bar safe in llong run?