Aussie on a Brompton

A goal in my resumption of Blog postings 3months ago, was to provide the current build status of the 5 Bromptons on my side of the family. This posting should achieve that goal, in describing how Iggy has come about (a rather long-winded gestation?).

My recent Genealogy post displays the re-use of Ralph’s mainframe in July 2023, after it lay idle from late 2022 following the setup of BromTi, a full-Ti framed 7speed. Over the next year, the steel mainframe got mated to assorted lightweight bits but then I acquired a used Ti mainframe in September 2024 & moved all the lightweight items to become another full-Ti unit. (This put the steel mainframe back into storage, duly resurrected as Dan in August 2025.)

The used Ti mainframe was established as a 5speed full-Ti unit, which joined Clarence & BromTi as being external geared lightweights. Finally, in July 2025 I decided on some differentiation & to re-use a BWR rear wheel from the parts bin (ex-Clarence in 2020) & setup a 15speed by combining an X5uniBody cassette with the 3speed IGH.

This latest creation name became Iggy – an “IG-thing BrompNot”, full-Ti 9kg 15speed unit. Another Brompton Meccano exercise.

I decided to resurrect a Brompton 2speed lightweight wheelset, acquired used about 5years ago, for Dan, my all-steel minimalist 2speed. The plus point for the wheels is the weight, just 836g for the set. This compares with 960g for the BrommiePlus wheelset removed & 1268g for a stock lightweight wheelset (& 1373g for a standard 2speed wheelset).

The negative point for the wheelset is that it uses Kinlin NBR rims, very narrow & inappropriate for any tyre wider than the Schwalbe Kojak 32-349 size. I recently noted the availability of Goodyear Eagle F1R 30-349 tyres, weighing a claimed 120g. Seems ideal for my wheelset?

The tyre parcel arrived & I was immediately alarmed of what was included. It seemed from the dimensions of the boxes, I’d been sent tubes rather than tyres? No, all well; just small boxes containing tightly wrapped folding tyres.

The tyre weights didn’t stack up to the 120g claimed weight, being 133g for one & 135g for the other. Still, the replaced Kojaks were 185g & 203g so I’d made a saving, now just gotta hope the Goodyears do the job.

The final tweaks for Dan are probably now done. Weighed at 8.2kg & again ready for pottering service about local streets.

Acquired in 2014 as a Claret S6L, Clarence became my main Brompton with little more tweaking for many years than “better comfort items, etc”.

Once my Chpt3 v2 came along, with the realization that lightness & fast tyres were a godsend for me, tweaking turned to Rudolph (but minimal variation away from the Chpt3 look).

In wondering what a 2speed Clarence would feel like (& a solid chunk of Covid lockdown), I started with a 2speed wheel from the parts bin (squirreled away from the Cheeky Transport closing sales) & before long some Ti bits started arriving. The Meccano experience came alive & tinkering spread into other Bromptons.

Clarence finessed (eventually) into a 5speed lightweight, with lots of experience gained into what mods were possible (& problematical?). Clarence now weighs 8.7kg for a S5E-X format. (Other Bromptons have since been created that benefited from the early learning, with lighter & better gearing configurations.)

In my previous Blog posting, I attempted to explain how specifically my 3 Bromptons have become 5. Actually, much of the action revolves around how 2011 Ralph transitioned to 2025 Dan.

Back in 2021 the Alfine 11speed gear was shed & here’s the BB named creation, still wearing the 2011 mainframe (& stem) but with a lightweight 3speed setup of 8.3kg.

Tinkering happens & by 2025 the 2011 mainframe & stem combined with other steel rear frame & fork parts to become Dan, a minimalist 2speed local pottering B – funnily enough weighing 8.3kg.