Folding Bike on a Boat
Best tires for touring on a Brompton
In this video I discuss what in my opinion are the best tires for touring on a Brompton and show you in details how to replace them and learn to adjust your hub gears.
Interrail trip with a Brompton
Less punctures on a Brompton
We all agree that punctures are bad for cyclists. They stop your ride, delay you and get your hands dirty. For the latter, I always recommend an easy fix. Simply, never leave home without some DIY or even vinyl gloves. They are small and light enough to fit with your spare tubes in a tiny saddle bag and you will thank me later.
But what about the rest? All the huffing and puffing, the 'why all this happens to me?' Or the fact that punctures tend to happen at the worst of times and as you lean down for a repair, it will likely begin to rain?
I find that on a Brompton this is further complicated by the way the rear wheel is fixed to the bike and due to the hub gear. And, yes, in case you are wondering, a tyre puncture usually happens to rear wheel.
Recently there are on the market airless tyres like Tannus, which are filled tyres without inner tubes and promise to fix this for good. The reality is that I personally find them not as comfortable to ride. I find they have more drag while riding and they are not as stable when cornering which I couldn't get adjusted to.
Over the years I have found that three main habits greatly help in preventing punctures. When I started touring with my Brompton fully loaded with luggage I would average a puncture every 500 kilometres or so. Since using these 3 principles I am happy to say that such a poor result is a thing of the past and I have ridden my bike over a 1000 kilometres of gravel and 3000 kilometres of tarmac on a fully loaded bike without a single puncture! Some of them will be of course things that you already do and know but following all of them made a huge difference to me.
1) Tyre Wear:
I use what are considered some of the best quality tyres for touring: Marathon Schwalbe Standard as well as Plus. No matter the brand what is key is to keep an eye on how worn is the tread. When this is thin with lots of cuts in the rubber it is a good idea to replace it with a new one. If you are touring and would like to save yourself a little money when touring, use that worn rear tyre as a spare tyre that can be used as a replacement in an emergency.
2) Air Pressure:
Investing money into a good portable pump was worth every penny for me. While touring, I used to rely on the Brompton standard pump that comes fixed to the bike. Before starting the tour I would go to a bike shop to get the wheel pumped up to a good pressure but after a few days riding this would inevitably decrease. Topping up air pressure with the Brompton pump is not really possible. It is a pump that is designed for nothing more than getting you home if you need to fix a puncture but it won't be able to bring the pressure up to an ideal 80 to 85 PSI. Now I use a portable Lezyne pump with a gauge which allows me without too much an effort to bring the pressure up to a level that would normally require a floor pump. Using it to top up some air every couple of days or so, ensures that I keep my pressure up to an ideal level especially on that rear wheel which supports most of the weight and pressure.
3) Tyre Check
Before you start your ride each day or at the end of it, get into the habit of slowly spinning one wheel at a time, inspecting whether anything got stuck to their tread. Sharp objects don't always give you a flat tyre there and then; what can also happen is that they slowly pierce into the rubber the more you ride. If they are not sharp enough to puncture your inner tube they might still cause small cuts on the tyre surface which then is more likely to pick up further debris. Making it a regular habit will also make you more aware of how much the tyre is worn in the first place which brings us back to the first point.
Discovering Japan on a Brompton
Visit the blog to read information that could be helpful also for other bicycle travellers through Japan, such as list of bicycle roads, helpful web pages etc.
Sweden to England on a Brompton
In mid September, I was still in Sweden. The nights were getting chilly, and a new Covid wave was breaking out across Europe. I needed to go back to the UK, and I wanted to cycle it. I wanted to try the route along the North Sea coast, which looked as if it would be very different from the inland route I'd taken on the way out. But what with one thing and another, I was hesitating, delaying setting off. Suddenly, however, I realised that a lot of campsites would close at the end of the month. So, if I was going to ride it, I had to go pretty much immediately. The weather forecast was bad - tons of rain - but I packed up the bike, and late one Friday night, I set off. It did feel a bit mad to leave our cosy sitting room and ride alone to the docks in the dark and the wet. But I was pretty sure that, come what may, I’d enjoy myself. Anyway, here's what happened! Hope you enjoy the film!
Brompton Factory Tour
I managed to get on the last Brompton Factory Tour in Greenford for this year. It was a great experience. I definitely learned a lot about the Brompton Bicycle that isn't as obvious through their marketing. I definitely recommend doing this tour. Huge thank you to Nigel for extending our tour and answering all our questions.
England to Sweden on a Brompton
When the United Kingdom lockdown began in March, my husband was in Sweden and I was in London. Finally the restrictions eased and we could travel, but planes and long-distance trains still felt risky. So in August I took my tent and my Brompton, and I cycled through the Netherlands and Germany, and then sailed over the Baltic to Sweden. Before leaving London, I dehydrated enough meals for the whole journey, so that I could largely avoid going into shops along the way, apart from a couple of lovely bakeries, a brilliant sausage stall, and (quite a few) outdoor cafes serving apple cake. Before I set out, I knew little about the region. I found it super interesting. There's lots of history, good and bad - glorious old trade-route towns, as well as poignant reminders of the Nazi era. I found out that n the Dutch woodlands where I pitched my tent there'd been a labour camp from which people were sent to Auschwitz, and only a few miles south of my route in Lower Saxony was the site of Bergen-Belsen. The ride was beautiful, and really thought-provoking. Hope you enjoy the film.
Sicily Bikepacking on a Brompton
B&W Foldon Box
Check out another option for a suitcase that can protect your Brompton folder when you travel. This is a folding bike box from B&W - for folding bikes and perfectly suitable for Brompton bikes. The video shows how it works, as well as weight and dimensions.
Fix a Rear Puncture
