nynohu

Hi guys.
I'm living in Japan and the price of Brompton is more expensive than US. Yesterday I just found the good price of H3L racing green brompton in the US site, just about $1250. I think with Japanese import tax, totally I will have to pay around $1400 and no extra cost. But my most favorite is M3R raw lacquer, and in JP it costs ¥210000 (about $1900). The second favorite color is racing green. But H model is more comfortable IMO ��.
So which model should I buy? Any advices will be appropriate.
Many thank.

Pinigis 

Go with the one that will make you happy. You are going to have the bike for a long time, so get what you want, and what your budget will allow.

Schwinnsta

I would get the comfortable one.

Joe Remi

I agree with Pinigis, get the one you really want. The H model is aimed at tall people, M bars are plenty comfortable enough for most of us.

1nterceptor

The price from the US includes shipping to Japan?
I've owned both a raw lacquer and a racing green.
I think I like the raw color better.

Caliwild

I have the raw lacquer and it looks stunning. Plus, I read somewhere that Brompton saves the bikes with the best brazing for the raw finishes (since they're not painted over). Get the one that will make you ride it more often. My M bars are very comfortable too...

nynohu

Caliwild

You won't regret it! I LOVE my raw lacquer M6R

nynohu

I think it is black lacquer, that the same price as raw .
I don't wanna 6 gears because 2 gear is external that need more maintainance ).

residuenyc

That looks like an M6L

Caliwild

Thanks for the correction... I can never remember what they call 'em!

Caliwild

I guess I read your post all wrong! I thought you meant black lacquer... I would have gone for the 3 speed too but I live in a very hilly area. Good luck and enjoy!

Joe Remi

I have to disagree about the 6-speed being more maintenance. I mean, technically I suppose it's true, but in real world riding there isn't much to it. I just did a higher bar conversion on my S6L so had to swap all the cables, and it was very easy to set up and adjust the 2-speed shifting. In comparison the 3-speed hub was more work. Good on ya if 3 is all you need, but moving up to 6 isn't a big deal, in my opinion.

fietsbob

H will give you an option to make a lower rise bar work , if you choose.. later..

and folded the end of the bar is unlikely to hit the ground...



2 blacks , 1 is a darker lacquer, translucent,
you can see the brazed joints through it,
but not as clearly as the clear lacquer..
and the other a black powder coat, it's opaque you cannot see through it .





...

FolderBeholder

Can you (care to) elaborate, or better yet illustrate this conversion to your former S6L?

Inquiring, and appreciative minds want to know.

Joe Remi

I ordered the Evo S+ Bar conversion from Perennial Cycle, which is a riser bar and set of cables cut to M Bar length. But then it got complicated because my bike has red cables. I bought red Jagwire cables and matched them to the kit's, and here's the result!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/2C4n42V26dCo6VQh7

Joe Remi

blakcloud

I did the same as Joe a few years ago and have posted it many times. S mast where I installed a Tioga 60 mm bar. All the cables were replaced and used my wife's M Brompton as a close approximate. Bulk brake cables and housing were bought with the M length shifter cable. It was easy and for me, made me start liking my Brompton a lot more because of the more upright riding position.Both bikes here are 2013.

Joe Remi

Now that I've done one I realize the pre-cut cable kit is handy, but not really necessary. It might even be a better idea to to buy bulk housing and cut an inch-or-so longer than the stock S housing, and use uncut inner wires that start way long. One of my shifter wires from Perennial was too short.

dahoneezz

FolderBeholder

Thank You Joe... your BWC still looks great, and your modification looks OEM.
Well done!

Joe Remi

Thanks, man!

berlinonaut

The main reason why I advocate the 2-speed over the 3-speed is weight (and you cannot overrate weight on a Brompton). The 3-speed achieves only very little more spread (179% vs. 133%) which does not help a lot but you pay for that with a lot of weight. Also the 2-speed feels far more nippier than the 3-speed - it is much more fun to ride. The 6-speed on the other hand offers a real advantage in spread (306%), more or less the same than a 8-speed hub, but with 1kg less weight (and only ~200g more and neglectably higher cost than the 3peed).
In comparison to a single-speed the 2-speed adds ~200g, the three speed adds ~700g and the 6-speed adds ~900g. You cannot upgrade the 3-speed to 6-speed w/o buying a new rear BWR-equipped-wheel plus the derailleur (which is not cheap). If you'd go for the expensive titanium version this would save you ~750g. So in comparison by choosing the 2-speed instead of the 3-speed you gain 2/3rd of the weight saving of the titanium model, avoid all the cost and even save a bit of money on top at the same time. You can upgrade the 6-speed to a very pleasant 9-speed and in the same way a 2-speed to a derailled 3-speed if you want at minimal cost.

The one area where the 3-speed outperforms the others is maintenance. 3-speed hubs are pretty much bomb-proof (and the BSR seems to be even a bit more bomb-proof than the BWR) - barely necessary to ever dive into the internals of the hub. The 3-speed sprockets are a bit wider than the ones on the 2- and 6-speed, resulting in less wear and thus a longer lifespan. But swapping cogs and chain is cheap and easy and the 2-speed hub does not need maintenance at all. Though 3-speed hubs are simple regarding it's internals it is still too complicated for many people to deal with it, may the necessity ever arise. The one downside of the Brompton derailleur is that it is a bit sensitive to dirt. If you ride i.e. in snowy condition over the winter or in very dirty conditions it may be that it does shift a bit less happily than in the summer. Cleaning the shifting mechanism after the winter brings things back to normal and is quick and easy - I can live with that. Under normal conditions I clean the thing about once a year at max and chain/sprockes on the 2-speed last roughly 2000-3000km with me.

Having ridden all models for at least a couple of years to me the two speed is by far my favorite Brompton. Fast, light, simple and nippy. Second best is my 9-speed conversion, it shines when there are more serious hills involved and/or wide distances of loaded touring. Due to the lower weight I even prefer it over an 8-speed conversion (Shimano or S/A), but that's personal taste (as shifting is more straightforward with them and that's clearly an advantage). I've not yet ridden a Rohloff-Brompton - quite sure that I could like that (but not so much the price). But obviously YMMV.

chagzuki

The SA 8 speed is close to 2kg I think but an Alfine 8 or 11 is around 1.5kg. The BWR is just over 900g but when you add the second shifter and cable it's over 1kg. So an Alfine is something like 500g heavier, but that's a long way from 1kg.

avole

I'd go with the 6 speed. You might as well go for one with the lot, you never know what you may end up using the Brompton for. Anyway, he extra gears are useful in hilly terrain, and you can go quite a bit faster than the 3 speed on the flat.