Adventures With the Brompton

After much patience, my new best friend arrived in a cardboard box. So, like with a friend who is visiting from out of town, I had a host of activities planned for us.

First we had some fun on the swings. I had to push, silly Brit.

A little cruise around the yard in Barbie's 'Vette. Good thing I have narrow hips.

Sweet nothings.

No one likes a dirty saddle.

The ITChair is a perfect match for Brompton's black finish--it looks like a natural extension of the bicycle. Took Kate on it to the grocery store this afternoon, in fact.

Mad Dog on SportsNation

Mad Dog is cool enough to make it on ESPN.

It's only a demo, it's only a demo . . . . .

I've been anxiously awaiting my Brompton since early March, so on occasion I have borrowed the shop's demo model, which is similarly spec'd to mine. This is a M6L-X in British Racing Green with the Shimano generator hub and Brooks B-17 saddle. Mine will come in black with the Schmidt Son generator hub. Every time I take it out, I have to tell myself: "It's only a demo, it's only a demo."

Seen here with the IT Chair installed. I have since installed a Bontrager Eco saddle in brown. I rigged a 6mm seatpost QR lever on standard straight post saddle hardware so I can flip the IT Chair saddle out of the way, so as to keep my Carradice City Folder installed on the carrier block. Did I mention I have a Carradice City Folder? Mine was made by a certain Priscilla. Thanks, Priscilla.

Here's the Brompton folded with the IT Chair and Carradice.

Top view of the fold including the IT Chair.

Front view of the fold with the IT Chair.

So far, I've taken this setup on a handful of commutes and family rides with my almost-five-year-old daughter. She's quite tall for her age, and still fits comfortably. I've wheeled it right in to the grocery store and used it as my shopping cart. I absolutely love it. Can't wait for mine to arrive! (Although I'll have to).

Tuggnut, by Surly + 7900 Index

I've been having this issue lately with the Casseroll. It has horizontal, forward-facing dropouts, and whenever I stand to pedal or really activate my chain stretchers, the wheel slips in the dropout. Another issue I've had is shifting related. I've been using friction downtube shifters, which isn't a terribly great idea for 10-speed drivetrains because the spacing is just too narrow. During a power burst, if the shifting isn't dead on (rarely happens), then the chain hops around. Beyond frustrating.

2 solutions. First, the Tuggnut by Surly Bikes. It's a beautiful device intended to keep wheels in place on rear-facing fork frames. Since Salsa & Surly are good friends, the Tuggnut works fantastic on the Casseroll dropouts as seen here:

I had to relocate my fender mount (SKS Chromoplastic) to circumnavigate the ubiquitous bottle opener that is designed into the Tuggnut. Also, I removed the axle stop from this dropout. As a result, the wheel absolutely does not slide in the dropouts

On to solution #2. I replaced my Rivendell downtube friction shifters with the only currently available indexed 10-speed downtube shifters: Dura-Ace 7900. Who'da thought? Here's a pic:

Installation was quick and easy, and I have a solid drivetrain setup. No slipping has made me very happy. When riding is fun, riding happens more often.

May is National Bike Month

The widget above is provided by 1world2wheels.org, a Trek initiative to promote substituting the bicycle on most short trips for the habitual use of the personal vehicle.

Pledge your miles and make a difference!