Zen & the art of Brompton Maintenance, Part 1

[ppeters77]

Nice Vid, but instead of taking the brake pad out or loosening the cable I just deflate the tire. It then fits neatly between the brake pads.

Saves you the hassle of adjusting the brake pads/cable tension again....

[jh385]

Thanks! - You made it look so easy compared to the manual. I ended up doing it your way and got the wheel off in a few seconds. Although I did spend the following hour adjusting the rear caliper brakes!.. lol...

[kameraguy]

This video taught me to never have a rear puncture on a Brompton! :)

[Yumscrubble]

Thanks for this. I'd been avoiding this repair, doom-laden after reading the manual, and have been using my full frame bike instead for the past months, getting hassled by train conductors for my troubles...

[coevolving]

Thanks for this video, it made removing the rear wheel of the Brompton easier. I had to figure out the adjuster sleeve on the SRAM/Sachs that is different from that shown in the video, it's a simple button press to release, found a SRAM techdocs.

[garra48]

Es fantastico. Muchas gracias desde España

It´s Fantastic. Thank very much from Spain

[antoniuslupus]

Thanks for the video clip. it was extremely helpful. I could not understand from the manual how to remove and put back the rear wheel till I found your video on it. Once I saw it was Eureka for me! Many thanks.

[gratedcarrot]

Great guide, thanks.

Saved a few quid doing it myself. Much easier than the manual too!

[joelbossen]

thanks a lot!

I have just changed tyre and I managed to do it due to your video.

I've also printed the definitive brompton tire change manual. According to me your video is the definitive help, not those 4 printed pages.

[KarlOnSea]

Why do you take the brake pad out? Surely it's easier to just release undo the brake cable?

[valdridge]

You are awesome for making this video! I just paid $27.00 to have my back tire fixed. Next time I am doing it myself :-)

[psbas1]

Very useful video. Thanks!

[noganasun]

thank you so much!!!!!!! i live in moscow and there's no service so i have to do everything myself, i spent a day trying to figure out how to get the rare wheel off )))))) now i know!!!!!!!!

[Artealee]

Thanks for this. I need to changes my tyres, on my B, due to lots of use, so this is very timely and helpful. Should I use the standard B tyres again or do you think Marathon Plus are a good investment to minimise punctures?

[rshett]

Thanks mate for this video. It was a great help in getting my Brompton running again. As others have pointed out if the tire is emptied of air, it slides past the breakpads without requiring their removal. I ended up using a 15 mm Crescent wrench w/out problems. If you were to post further videos, I'd be interested in gear adjustments! Thanks again! This was much more useful than the manual.

[irover]

get some proper spanners to do the job, not that silly tool you use!

[MrVeggie2006]

thanks, i have a brompton by myself and i rielly love that bike!!! this is good information :)

[ortonauta]

Nice tutorial since I just bought a Brompton a week ago, but couldn't you just patch the airchamber without removing the tyre??

[pjdowner]

Thanks for this video, it was a great help when I needed to fix a puncture and I don't think I would have succeeded without it.

[lexxynubbers]

Seeing this video has convinced me to get rid of my Brompton.

[geoffersmaher]

those bolts on that axle were nowhere near tight enough. hope you didnt ride it round like that

[REBELinBLUE]

Thank you very much for this video. I needed to do it today but I could not figure out how to do it, I got stuck on the tensioner. This video helped me remove the wheel, change the inner tube and have my bike back up and running in 30 minutes

[griftereck]

how difficult have they made it to remove that wheel.

Ive got several bikes that have hub gears. Thought they were difficult.

Think they should design the tensioner so that it stays attached to the bike. Also should have a qr on the brake

[seanmarceldekelver]

I've found that it's simpler not to take the brake pad off at all. With little or no air in the tyre you can slip the wheel out no problem. Just remember to check your patch job with a few PSI but not to inflate it all the way before re-installation.

[geoffersmaher]

the best way to do it for sure. and no pad realinment. far less daunting

[Muddy283]

Re my previous post:

I should add that I agree with a previous poster that it isnt necessary to remove the brake pads. You just need to deflate the tyre.

I also found it a good idea to purchase a torque wrench in order to be sure I was tightening the rear wheel retainer nuts hard enough (22NM) and not tightening the chain tensioner nut too far (max. 8NM). I found the TengTools 1492AG-E very reasonably priced, good professional quality and with a suitable range of torque.

[Muddy283]

I also have found your video my effortless entrance into the black art of removing and refitting the Brompton back wheel. It's now easy-peasy for me! Thank you very, very much!

However, why not add a supplement on how to remove the Sram hub gear cable as this is DIFFERENT from the Sturmey Archer system? You have to release the cable on its outside end with a spring release clip rather than unscrew it. If I hadn't already known about that, I would have been STUCK. Otherwise, the perfect video!

[hawkeyegibb]

A lot of people have asked about the tool - it is just a classic ten buck 'dog bone' all purpose bike spanner. In this case it is empircal as its an old Brompton. This and a multipurpose allen key tool covers most of the bases.

[bowed70]

Great video! My rear tire replacement was much easier when following the video rather than reading a Brompton repair manual. I must ask you about that tool. It almost appears to be a perfect tool for that type of repair. Is it a specific bike tool or just a normal metric wrench?

[hawkeyegibb]

A lot of people have asked about the tool - it is just a classic ten buck 'dog bone' all purpose bike spanner. In this case it is empircal as its an old Brompton. This and a multipurpose allen key tool covers most of the bases.

[bhook68]

Thanks so much for this. I had to replace my first inner tube in 9 years and this was so much easier than any manual I found on how to remove the back tire.

[lubelenge]

you're very skilfull, i'm impressed! It's 5yrs now that i own a brompton bike M5 but still can't change a flat tyre myself, always take it to my local Evans cycle shop for repair. I'm just too scared to do anything myself . Good video, an inspiration to us all.

[hawkeyegibb]

Would you like to tell us??

[gadgetmind]

I almost never remove wheels on my Brompton to fix a puncture. I just pop out the right bit of tube and slap on a patch.

Also, there are MASSIVELY better way to stand a Brompton to work on it.

Ian

[videotheclips]

The best why to fix a rrear punture is to fold the rear wheel and take it off that why. It a lot better why and more stable.

[rogerzilla]

Oh, it's also unnecessary to remove the brake pads. A flat tyre will pass between them easily enough. Just don't reinflate it until it's back in place.

[rogerzilla]

Or buy Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres.  Sorted.

[longtang1234]

just patch the inner tube. There is no need to take off the entire wheel

[twifosp]

Definitely...as long as the puncture isn't too big to repair or near the valve stem. 7 minutes and he didn't even repair the tire. I'd be on the roadside forever. Good thing they're small enough to just fold up and take home or to the shop.

[twifosp]

This is great! Every time I get the urge to buy a BRoMPToN, I watch this video and it kills the desire. Hmm, tikit or Dahon?

[seanmarceldekelver]

Don't know about tikit but dahons are crap. They handle like a wet noodle and don't fold up nearly as easily or as small. With the tyres properly inflated a flat is almost a non issue. Even considering the minor hassle involved on the rare occasion of a rear flat the Brompton is a far better bike.

[cgbaltar]

a pain in the butt

[jrwilliams]

top marks! :)

[foxalito]

Now THAT's a handy video!

[susielong3]

Thank you very much, I have just managed to get the rear wheel off and back on without too much bother.

[hawkeyegibb]

Er, yes... also soap!! :)

[Doggchop]

Do they sell latex gloves in the UK? Geez.

[Rumpleproofskin]

no need to dismantle brakes. just pull flat tyre through. when fixed, pump up tyre off the bike to see thre are no leaks then deflate and put back on the bike. then re-inflate. voila.

[karlitoss1976]

EYYY!!! Is there a "Part 2"?? I'm really interested!

It was a really useful video! Thanks.

[hawkeyegibb]

Tell us what you would like to know as the idae is to solve the problems that people are stuck with... and this was the big one.

[manolozam]

where can i find part two? i have a brompton and is there is not shop or maitenance here. thanks, Manuel, Mexico

[megafebs]

Thank you, please post more

[hawkeyegibb]

Good point - probably because the tyre was not flat!

[toddfahrner]

don't know why he removed the brake shoe; generally the flat tire will pull out of the shoes without having to remove a shoe. don't want to have to mess with shoe position after you've got it right.

[hawkeyegibb]

I don't think it has 'a brand' but you can get them at most cycling shops - a 'dog bone' spanner.

[eric94305]

Hi, great video. Just got two m3L's for wife and I. Could you pls tell me what brand of spanner you are using. Looksk very handy. I'd like to order one. Thanks!

[hawkeyegibb]

Item Description

Traditional Dog Bone Bicycle Multi Spanner RRP £4.95

A double ended steel spanner with a useful selection of sizes ranging from 6mm to 15mm.

Details

95mm length

Spanners in 15/14/13/12/11/10/9/8/7/6 mm

Steel construction

Type 'Dog Bone Spanner' into google....