I was biking home from work on Friday, and my handlebars felt wobbly. I had never noticed anything like it before, so I started slowing down and testing it. I thought maybe the hinge screw was loose or something. And then suddenly the entire handlebar broke off! See attached photo.
I bought my Brompton from REI maybe 2 years ago and don't think I ever registered it online. Do you think Brompton would help fix this? I mean… I get that it's not under warranty but this seems like a catastrophic failure for such a young bike. Has anyone heard of this happening before? My trust in Brompton is shaken, to be honest.
by natwwal
6 Comments
Clearly, yes, this seems worth contacting Brompton about.
(Maybe REI too, but if it’s after their 1-year return period, they might not do much, other than help provide proof-of-purchase info for you to share with Brompton themselves.)
Which model/line is this exactly?
The frame has a 7 year warranty and I would consider the stem part of that. Brompton will be very concerned about the incident and, I assume, would like to evaluate the pieces carefully. This situation could have been deadly.
>I bought my Brompton from REI maybe 2 years ago and don’t think I ever registered it online.
IIRC the frame has a 5-year warranty. Registering it extends the warranty to 7 years, but it doesn’t need to be activated. You should definitely contact customer service.
Did you ever have the bike serviced? Brompton recommends a 30-day/100 mile check-up and annual service.
It happened to others too…
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/1ejzcll/brompton_stem_handle_bar_snapped_off_broken/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/1ejzcll/brompton_stem_handle_bar_snapped_off_broken/)
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/1ekshgc/brompton_stem_handle_bar_snapped_off_broken/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/1ekshgc/brompton_stem_handle_bar_snapped_off_broken/)
Doesn’t seem as uncommon as people think it is.
Are you ok?