I just bought a new C line 12 speed with roller rack from brompton direct from their website. I just unboxed it and have only ridden it a few hundred feet along the sidewalk outside my apt. I've noticed and done a few things to lead me to thinking I might have gotten a lemon.
- The bike unfolds itself while carrying. Yes the seatpost is down and yes I tried to move the stop block to its farthest position before hindering the seat post going in and out. The plastic catch is still just barely hanging on when it's folded so a small shake will make it flop open while I'm carrying it. I contacted brompton and they said I should try bending the wire the catch is on or bring it to a repair shop. I'd normally go for bending it myself but since it's brand new I'm going to take it in to the repair shop near me.
- The gears slip. I tried riding it those few hundred feet on the sidewalk and the gears are slipping like crazy in every gear combo I could try. I stopped because it felt like I was going to break the chain or the teeth off the sprockets. It feels like the chain tensioner spring maybe needs to be stronger or but I can't tell while I was riding it and I can't get the gears to slip while I'm off the bike. Nothing is rubbing weird that I can tell when I'm off the bike either.
- The roller rack, rear fender, and reflector looks super crooked when viewed from the back. Is this normal? The 4 wheels of the roller rack don't sit flush on the floor either (maybe this is normal).
I'm taking it to a repair shop to get looked at in a few days but the experience of taking it out of a box and straight to the repair shop is making me pretty uneasy. As a brompton noob, I wanted to ask everyone here if these are normal problems, if I got a certified lemon, or if I'm just making a mountain out of an ant hill and these are all easily fixed/not problems at all.
by Not_Not_Arnold
7 Comments
While my out of the box experience was better, I know that companies like Clever Cycles exist specifically to make sure that when you get your Brompton it’s in tip-top shape, and they’ll even send it back to Brompton for you if it’s egregiously bad (from my understanding). Doesn’t really help with your situation though, sadly.
Unfortunately a growing issue with Brompton is bad assembly from new. My advice call Brompton tomorrow demand they deal with it personally if your near a Brompton junction takeaway it there if not I’d personally have them take it back and fix it or swap it out. As it’s frankly not acceptable you buy a bike of this expense direct from Brompton and you’re already having issues with it.
That rack is definitely bent from a big hit and maybe that messed with the hook or rear triangle as well? In that last picture the left stay looks crooked and maybe chipped paint from where it deformed? Contact Brompton to see what they’ll do about it
Hey OP,
Gonna echo DD, in that you are paying for a premium product; therefore, it should arrive with you doing a few small actions, putting on the seat, blowing up the tyres and going out for an adventure, not to a repair shop. Please speak to Brompton directly, you are with in your rights, as it should be sold fit for purpose, and yours isn’t.
Gears were likely not indexed properly. Mechanical shifting means if it’s done wrong, there’s a good chance every gear slips because they’ll all out of tune.
That rack is bent. Look at the left hand support in your photo.
The wheel hook is weirdly high on the frame. Not even my Kinetics frame that’s wider so a bit misaligned makes the hook look like that.
Basically take that bike back to the shop. They done fucked it up.
It appears to be badly damaged in transit. However, because they don’t make ’em like that, I don’t think it is a quality control issue. Claim a new one from Brompton.
Thanks for all the feedback! I’m going to talk more with Brompton and update in a few days. Maybe this just happened in shipping like some of you mentioned. I have no prior experience with Brompton to draw from but I wouldnt be surprised if FedEx chucked this off a loading dock