I've got a 6 month old Brompton. Traveled over seas with it and just recently got it back up and running. However it has developed a noise in 1st and 3rd gear that seems concerning. It 'sounds' a bit like the tire is rubbing somewhere but I think it's actually gear related, based o where the noise is coming from. Any thoughts?
6 Speed: Noise on 1st and 3rd Gear
byu/Ok_Zucchini7964 inBrompton
by Ok_Zucchini7964
4 Comments
You dont mean the clicking do you? That‘d be normal at a sturmey archer hub
But the buzzing when giving power? I think it‘s normal when freely spinning a wheel
Sounds just like mine, the noise itself can change as the hub beds in from new, I can’t hear anything to be concerned about.
A recommended maintenance by many experienced Brompton owners, is to seasonally, remove the gear indicator chain from the hub axle and apply several drops of a synthetic oil, while the Brompton is left on its side, preferably overnight, to allow the oil to migrate into the hub. Typically, the added drops off oil will reduce the whirl sound, which can be caused by small loses of the hub’s lubrication fill over time.
The whirl sound and small additional resistance in the hub’s 1st and 3rd gear positions is normal, due to the planetary gears within the hub being active, as compared to the 2nd gear, which is comparatively quiet because 2nd gear is a direct transfer without planetary gear motion. Here is a YouTube video showing an example of how planetary gears rotate, which causes the whirl sound.
https://youtu.be/ARd-Om2VyiE