tudorowen1

Thanks for all the replies..What i have decided to do is put my Brompton away for the winter and just use my old Phillips (Dahon clone) and see how I get on..If I do not miss the Brompton perhaps it will end up on Ebay..

Still Pedaling

Good idea. Leave it for awhile, and bring it out at a later time and see what you think then. If you still feel that it doesn't suite your needs, then, of course, put it up for sale. Why keep something that you will not use.

fietsbob

Then maybe get a Moulton, with race bike components.

sdwphoto

[QUOTE=---- My only peeve with the bike is that it provides a harsh ride on bad road surfaces.------

Cheers
Wayne[/QUOTE]

I can relate to your experince,my first few rides on my Brompton was very bumpy but there are several things that can be done to smooth them out.
I added a Brooks sprung saddle that just gets better as it continues to break in,and the extra weight doesn't concern me.Also getting the correct amount of air pressure in the tires makes a big difference .Putting to much pressure in a tire can slow your speed due to the wheels not makeing contact with the road surface because of constant bouncing and it doesn't help your tail bone any. Finding the right balance of air pressure for both front and rear tires does make a difference.I believe Sheldon Brown's site shows how to calculate for tire size,weight of rider, etc.If you can't find it at Sheldon's it's probably tucked away in some of the forums at this site.

bhkyte

Or just get a used Mezzo or tikit?
Opps OP didnt want anyone to suggest this. Oh well.

bhkyte

From a gearing point of view yes. The D9 is undergeared in standard form. But its simple to a dual drive or IHG and end up with better gearing especially if you get a used mezzo cheap. Which is quite easy in UK. It is possible to convert the mezzo to a full rolling rack. See the mezzo upgrade thread. It will be no lighter a brompton to carry. It unfolds faster but is less fool proof to fold.
I have a 27 speed dual drive mezzo with road race parts,low profile dropped bars and roadrace brifters and its fab for fast commuting.

nz6666

It's not just the gaps between gears, the rear suspension also make it slow. I am like you, I have a 2016 s6l, I have a fnhon (like a Dahon speed 8) before that. I have been using fnhon commuting all the time and then bought a bromie. The difference is quite obvious I must say. Bromie is slower, to cover the same commute distance I have to put a lot more effort. Especially on hills, where bromie just suffers big time, because I either can't spin a higher gear or a lower gear just too low. If you want something fast go for a folder without suspension or any kind, which involves flipping the rear wheel, which rules out birdy, tyrell etc. So a cheap and simple Dahon is faster than many. Tern is also good at speed due to similar structure. You can save the money and get top tier road components and slick tyres and put those on a Dahon speed, mu, etc the result will be much better than get an expensive 'high end' folder.

bhkyte

I would usually be the first to agree with slowness of Brompton. My Mezzo has a narrow spaced cluster and I feel thats the way to go with dual drive.
However, a brompton with bullbars and stem extenstion can be a fast bike. I set one up this way. I was disappointed with upgrade potentional to get more gears, but other than that it was a good bike. I think an afline version to a road race versa brifter would be not a lot slower than my dual drive mezzo set up and better and out of the saddle than my Mezzo.
I have upgraded a few folders to be simular to road race set ups. Much is about running kojack tyres as a first upgrade.
With the birdie and the Brompton things can be done to stiffen the rear sus you feel its robbing . am sure a brompton could be in non standard form a match for a good rigid bike like mu other folders have been if you need a really fast road bike.
I own 3 birdies and they seem to be faster and brake better than a Brompton by some way. But never done a fast road bike upgrade of a Birdie.

pinholecam

I have the Tyrell IVE and it uses a hard elastomer which don't contribute a suspension effect unlike the Birdy.
Its a stiff bike, climbs well and speeds up well for a small wheeled bike.
Within the 9months I've had it, the bike has been on two 200km brevets (ending as 236km each ride) which involves about 1.8km of climbing each, so its certainly not a problem climbing in it (no suspension bobbing).

On some days, I do follow some of the slower road groups going at about 28/30kph (60-80km) and the bike keeps up.


As for the Birdy and Brompton, I know many folks change out to the hardest elastomer if they want to ride fast.

desastar

Well, I've just done it. Sold the Brompton. Nice bike, just didn't suit my type of riding.

Just my Birdys and Tikit now.

tudorowen1

I have been riding my old Phillips (Dahon ) 8 speed recently..Much nicer to ride than a Brompton but it is huge when it is folded..So..going back to my Brompton and putting the Phillips away..
I keep my folding bikes in the kitchen and the Phillips just takes up too much room..

reppans

I restarted short bicycle touring on the Brompton since it eliminated several major disadvantages I didn't like with regular touring rigs, or even my Speed P8. After the first tour, I was convinced I was losing 10-20% speed/efficiency vs my cross/gravel bike. Then I tested both with a GPS on a fixed loop around my home and was surprised to find it was actually in the 5-7% range (although I don't claim to be strong or fast rider). For all the added versatility and portability of the Brompton, that loss is well worth it to me.

bhkyte

I believe Jur found that his perception about his swift being faster than his birdie was simular to this.