Hello and welcome back to cycle everyday with me Chris.
It’s January and the time of year when many of us are trying to save money
and especially here in the UK it is winter,
which means the weather and conditions on the roads and cycle paths
is taking its toll on the Brompton more than ever.
Todays video is going to focus on the both of these points.
The aim of this video is to give you some ways of protecting your Brompton
from general wear and tear, while saving some money at the same time.
Anyone that owns a Brompton will know that
the more you ride it the more damage you cause.
It’s the same with anything, but why have a Brompton or any bike for that matter
if you are too scared to use it?
So we have been looking at some ways to reduce the wear and tear from daily use, with some DIY
ideas that are quite simple for
anyone to make, without any required experience.
Brompton Frame: This is one of those things that is never going away unfortunately
and will happen on all bikes.
Anywhere that cables meet the frame, will inevitably lead to rubbing,
in some cases right down to the metal.
Now, for some this is not a huge issue, but
if this is something that you want to prevent, then this idea might be a nice way to protect the frame,
while also personalising your Brompton even more.
We are talking about this type of damage to the frame.
This occurs quite quickly after just a few rides,
and there are lots of ways to prevent it.
You can add stickers, buy frame protectors, or even use an old inner tube to wrap around it.
However, personally I don’t like sticking stickers to the Brompton, as they are often difficult to remove.
The other alternative is to use an inner tube, or buy a frame protector like we have on our Blue Brompton,
but these cost money, and it’s January so we are trying to save.
So we decided to make a frame protector for our Orange Brompton,
to see how easy it was to do.
All we needed was a small piece of material, a piece of velcro, which we reused from an old pair of shoes,
and a sowing machine, but you could sow this by hand or borrow someone else’s.
Our sowing skills are not brilliant, but even for us it only took about 10 minutes to make,
with a few things lying around the house.
Personally, I think it looks pretty good and works well
with no rubbing on the frame for the past few months we have been using it.
Plus it is an opportunity to make something unique and add your own personal touch to your Brompton
depending on the type of material you use.
And if it gets dirty, you can put it in the wash and it’s good as new.
Other points where the frame is damaged by rubbing
is the front fork, which can easily be covered by using a piece of old inner tube from your Brompton,
as this fits perfectly and doesn’t move at all when riding.
For the stem we are using a stem protector that we had from before,
which is very good.
P-Line: With the introduction of the P-Line Brompton,
one of the most interesting features I think would
be useful for everyday use is the updated seat positioning.
Being able to have the seat half down and using this to roll it without the
Brompton unfolding is a really good introduction.
However, this is not possible on other Bromptons,
unless you use a strap to hold the wheel to the frame to prevent it from unfolding
Again, you can buy straps for this purpose, but if you are trying to save money,
you can make one yourself. We actually had this strap left
over from a bed we recently brought from Ikea
for our Van conversion into a camper van.
So we have simply repurposed it, cutting it to size so it fits better around the spokes on the wheel,
but works really well. So now we can roll the Brompton around like the P-Line version
and didn’t spend any money. The strap actually comes in useful for other things as well so is multifunctional.
Other than that, the only upgrade we have brought for the Orange Brompton
is the easy wheels, which is one upgrade we wouldn’t be without for moving the Brompton around when folded.
So what are your favourite DIY Upgrades
for your Brompton from things lying around the house?
Anything that you do and think we should try? Let us know in the comments. As always, thanks for watching and we will catch you in the next one!
Music