Instructional

I received a note and a few pics from Mark, one of our Brompton US Championship 2012 Racers. Mark and his partner Deb were riding on Vancouver Island and had a flat on the rear of Deb's Brompton. Mark decided to try and patch the flat without removing the wheel. This seemed like great info to pass on as it's a nice trick that could work on any bike.

Thanks Mark!

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Hey Perennial Cycle-ites,

Just thought I’d share this with you. Deb and I were on a little tour of Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia via Bromptons when Deb encountered a flat on her rear tire. All of the gearing and whatnot on the rear wheel can be a bit intimidating so thought I’d try a quick patch job without removing the rear wheel. I was able to pop the tire bead off and expose the tube and locate the metal staple in the tire pretty easily and made a pretty quick repair of the flat in about 10 minutes. One thing I’d do differently is pop the bead off the non drive side. Wouldn’t recommend this for all flat repairs, but this one proved to be easy to find the leak and the Park glueless patch held on the first try.

This may be old news, but I had not done this before. I actually saw them doing this on the Amazing Race in Africa, as one of the challenges, where the street mechanics often don’t have the proper wrench to remove the wheel or the axle is actually welded to the frame.

I have since watched the YouTube video from Brompton on the repair and now know that removing the tire wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but this sure seemed quicker and cleaner, without having to remove and readjust everything.

Have got about 25,000 flight miles on the Brompton's B&W case and have been amazed at how well it’s held up. I use the Brompton in our tradeshow display and to get around while traveling. Did have a wheel housing crack due to some rough luggage handling and a drop onto the wheel, but it was easily replaceable with pop rivets and a lightning fast wheel assembly replacement from Perennial and Brompton.

Thanks Perennial staff and Brompton for all your help.

Cheers!

Mark and Deb

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Here are a few pictures. Two are from their ride and the others are Mark at BUSC • 2012
You can see from the great duct tape Union Jack helmet to the custom spray painted sport jacket that he's an awesomely creative guy.

I'd guess that Mark had all the tools he needed to make the repair, but for what he specifically did I'm thinking he used a tire lever (we like this one from PDW for the Brompton as well, the included wrench will remove the wheel) and a glueless patch. It's also possible Mark didn't have a tire lever; the Brompton tires can be wrestled off without one if absolutely necessary.

If you haven't seen the technical videos that Brompton has available (Mark mentions one in the note), you should check them out here.

Brompton Folding Bikes are truly fascinating bikes. The first time someone sees one being folded they are sure to gasp in amazement. Brommies are the fastest folding bicycles on the market and in a defiance of science the same bikes are the smallest folded bike. These hand-made wonders are catching on and forward thinking cycle shops like Perennial Cycle are working hard to grow more awareness to the practicality of such a unique product.

Whether you are using it as a superb grocery chaser, a daily commuter that you don't have to leave out on the street or traveling by bus and train, there are a whole host of reasons to consider a Brompton Folding Bicycle.

Bromptons are built in London and virtually every one is a custom bike in that the company does not have "stock" models. There a wide variety of options available and the possible combinations are in the tens of thousands. Color, gearing, tyres, handlebar and saddle are some of the choices! The one thing they all have in common are the compact folded dimensions.

We stock a wide variety of Bromptons in the shop, so you can always come in and test ride bikes and buy a model from us on the spot. A growing number of people are ordering custom bikes - Contact Us.

Helpful Links:
Brompton Bikes (In-stock)
Brompton Bags
Brompton Parts and Accessories

Bromptons come in a wide array of colors and the color schemes are endless in that you can choose 2 colors. One for the Main (center of the frame) and one for the Extremities (rear triangle on the back and fork and riser on the front). Think candy colored iMacs on steroids.

The Gallery below is a mix of Bromptons that are in the shop today. The captions for the pics tell you specifically what the model is and what options the bike has.

Minnehaha Bag Co. make a variety of well made canvas bags with a classic look. We have enjoyed selling their bags since they were first introduced two years ago.

One minor issue we've found is that their Small Saddlebag mounts to saddles with one strap, though when mounted to a saddle with saddle loops (think Brooks), it looks as though 2 straps were used. We created an instructional video to answer the inquiries about the bag mounting set up.