A Christmas Present For The B!

Good News Everyone!

On Tuesday a box arrived in the post. What did it contain? New tyres (or is it tires?) for the Brompton!

new tyres for brompton

I ordered them as a well-earned present for the bike, for all the hard work put in almost daily, getting me to and from work and about on various errands (including dashing around campus from meeting to meeting) …. and because the back wheel was virtually worn away. What’s the big deal about this? Well, they’re reinforced with kevlar, and so the bike should be very happy about this. Kevlar tyres will lower the probability of punctures (although I’ve been blessed with the low number of two puncture incidents over the time I’ve been using the bike, including taking it off-road, and one of those was not really as a result of debris picked up from the road, but sidewall pinch from the far-too-worn rear tyre).

intermediate So last night saw me taking all the wheels off the bike (because of the ingenius folding design, it is a somewhat different process to take off the back wheel than you might be used to from those Big bikes – and you get to appreciate close up just how cleverly the bike is put together) and building new ones. I then reattached them, cleaned things up a bit, and road-tested everything this morning after the rain. Here’s the B all proud of its new shoes and ready for action:

brompton reshoed

I think it’s trying to tell me I should go for a visit to the beach tomorrow, don’t you?

-cvj

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10 Responses to A Christmas Present For The B!

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  2. gigi says:

    Will do! (And apologies for the misspelling – “sighting” – just goes to show how “educated” I really am. 😉 )

  3. Clifford says:

    Ha! Yell “Hi” next time!

    Cheers,

    -cvj

  4. gigi says:

    Had a Clifford siting, i.e., you on your Brompton near the Cinema-TV School. You looked mah-velous. (Not to worry – I’m not a stalker, just a well-educated admirer.) Ride on!

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  7. My bike has kevlar tires.

    It also has these plastic tire liners. These are reasonably thick plastic strips that go between the tire and the tube. Despite these precautions, flat tires were a way of life commuting by bike in Philadelphia. Nails. Little glass chips from broken bottles. You name it. Hell on wheels.

  8. Cynthia says:

    Clifford, if you plan to keep your Brompton in that highly retractable state, perhaps–just to ride the thing–you might ought to consider transforming yourself into a truly amazing contortionist.

    Talk about evoking imagery layered with lots of twist and turns! Come to think of it, only a black hole could generate greater degrees of distortion.;)

    Best,
    Cynthia

  9. spyder says:

    I sure hope you are on your way to the beach, for some boardwalk strand cruising.

  10. LeisureGuy says:

    I also have a Brompton. Great little bike, isn’t it? It is VERY comfortable to ride, and the folding action is so fast and easy. I once tried to fold up a Bike Friday for someone. Forget it.