Monthly Archives: January 2026

Peregrine overdue upgrade?

Mrs Aussie continues to soldier on with her 2 Bromptons, comfortably going anywhere with Ruby, a pretty stock 6speed lightweight (2019 S6L-XD) & Peregrine, a 3speed lightweight (originally obtained in 2013 as an S6E).

Peregrine has been housed on the North Coast for some years & really suits the flattish territory about (or, I should say, that unlike myself, Mrs Aussie has coped with the 3speed external gearing & hasn’t expressed any desire for improved, lower gears?).

My extreme lightweight Bromptons with the lowest gearing I can wrangle, have seen some parts swapping & I figured it was time to put a few of those excess parts to use for Peregrine. (Peregrine may relocate at some time & so having a more useful gearing range could be convenient.) Peregrine now has a similar setup to some of my Bromptons, with a 5speed rear wheel, H&H derailleur & Sram GX shifter.

The standard 2speed wheel has been modded with a BrommiePlus 5speed freehub, dished & re-spoked. The cogs include an 11/14/17T X3UniBody cassette & separate 21T & 25T cogs. With the 44T chainring providing calculated Gear Inches of 66,52,43,35,29, the low range is coincidentally similar to that of Ruby with its stock 44T BWR wheel GIs of 88,72,56,46,36,29. So, Mrs Aussie should be able to go anywhere with either Brompton – & still comfortably leave me in her dust on whatever super-lightweight B I choose to ride?

Bushfire

Nearly a month ago, a bushfire at Redhead got a lot of attention & RFS efforts.

The Fernleigh Track area survived but with plenty of bush burnt out.

Fortunately (especially for me), the track-side seating also survived.

2025 Surprises

Seasons Greetings to all & here’s to a productive 2026.

Just some of the 2025 Surprises –

  • I managed to get back to my Blog postings (8 to finish the year)
  • My setup of minimalist Dan for local potterings has worked better than expected
  • Dan’s use of H&H Easy Stands is a big surprise: nicely springy feel when parking, not the horrid clonk of the (crushed/delaminated) Carbon rollers
  • BrommiePlus’s 4speed Compatible Chain Pusher didn’t work out for Rudolph’s attempted 12speed conversion but is just so perfect for Dan’s 12-18T cog changing
  • I had thought the aluminium chain tensioner was going to work with bigger cogs than the standard tensioner but it’s identical – although lighter, so Dan inherited it
  • I never expected to resurrect my narrow-rimmed lightweight wheelset but Goodyear Eagle tyres suit them well (once I got over my shock at the tiny size of the packaged tyres)
Screenshot