I was pootling along on my Brompton this morning when I heard an odd noise, like something rattling as it comes loose. I ignored it. A few seconds later I heard a tinkle of metal hitting tarmac and then another tinkle as my rear wheel went over the bit of metal and flipped it up a bit. Remembering the time my rear stop doodah fell off in a similar way, I immediately pulled up and walked back down the road. I could see a long thin bolt sitting in the road and I retrieved it as soon as the road was clear. This bolt is about three inches long, M8-ish in thread, with a countersunk Allen-keyed head. I immediately thought that one of my hinges had come loose. The bolt was wrong for the front hinges but it was the perfect length and had the correct sized head for the rear triangle hinge....but, mine was still there. I scanned the rest of my bike and decided that the bolt must have been in the road anyway but the last mile of cycling was a bit nervy as I expected the Brommie to self-fold or fall apart at any time. I could see no broken Bromptons nearby!
"Colin Blackburn" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
I was pootling along on my Brompton this morning when I heard an odd noise, like something rattling as it comes loose. I ignored it.
That was your first mistake!!
Quoted message said:
A few seconds later I heard a tinkle of metal hitting tarmac and then another tinkle as my rear wheel went over the bit of metal and flipped it up a bit. Remembering the time my rear stop doodah fell off in a similar way, I immediately pulled up and walked back down the road. I could see a long thin bolt sitting in the road and I retrieved it as soon as the road was clear. This bolt is about three inches long, M8-ish in thread, with a countersunk Allen-keyed head. I immediately thought that one of my hinges had come loose. The bolt was wrong for the front hinges but it was the perfect length and had the correct sized head for the rear triangle hinge....but, mine was still there.
In this universe -- maybe not in a parallel one!! How many times has something fallen off the bike and slipped through a little wormhole in the space time continuum? Last time it happened to me a Cateye rear flashing jobby fell off and the red lens slipped away, leaving everything else neatly lined up in the gutter.
Quoted message said:
I scanned the rest of my bike and decided that the bolt must have been in the road anyway but the last mile of cycling was a bit nervy as I expected the Brommie to self-fold or fall apart at any time. I could see no broken Bromptons nearby!
I was pootling along on my Brompton this morning when I heard an odd noise, like something rattling as it comes loose. I ignored it. A few seconds later I heard a tinkle of metal hitting tarmac and then another tinkle as my rear wheel went over the bit of metal and flipped it up a bit. Remembering the time my rear stop doodah fell off in a similar way, I immediately pulled up and walked back down the road. I could see a long thin bolt sitting in the road and I retrieved it as soon as the road was clear. This bolt is about three inches long, M8-ish in thread, with a countersunk Allen-keyed head. I immediately thought that one of my hinges had come loose. The bolt was wrong for the front hinges but it was the perfect length and had the correct sized head for the rear triangle hinge....but, mine was still there. I scanned the rest of my bike and decided that the bolt must have been in the road anyway but the last mile of cycling was a bit nervy as I expected the Brommie to self-fold or fall apart at any time. I could see no broken Bromptons nearby!
Could have been there all the time and the two sounds were the front then rear wheel running over it or possibly it was the bolt that holds the suspension rubber in place. If that falls out, the rubber block would not fall off until you fold and even then may be stuck in place so need a bit of a knock to release it.
In this universe -- maybe not in a parallel one!! How many times has something fallen off the bike and slipped through a little wormhole in the space time continuum? Last time it happened to me a Cateye rear flashing jobby fell off and the red lens slipped away, leaving everything else neatly lined up in the gutter.
Somewhere down the same wormhole it has met up with the little screw-on round thing from the business end of a Blackburn Air Stick pump and a round plastic bung from the end of a pedal. And I know exactly where I was when I disassembled each - in the case of the pedal I was sitting in this very seat. And that's just in the last fortnight!
In this universe -- maybe not in a parallel one!! How many times has something fallen off the bike and slipped through a little wormhole in the space time continuum? Last time it happened to me a Cateye rear flashing jobby fell off and the red lens slipped away, leaving everything else neatly lined up in the gutter.
Somewhere down the same wormhole it has met up with the little screw-on round thing from the business end of a Blackburn Air Stick pump and a round plastic bung from the end of a pedal. And I know exactly where I was when I disassembled each - in the case of the pedal I was sitting in this very seat. And that's just in the last fortnight!
And that one ball bearing! It can't have bounced or rolled anywhere as the little bugger was covered in grease but it's definitely gone.
As an aside to my original post: I have now looked at the rea hinge kit for a Brompton on the SJS website. What I found definitely wasn't part of it, just coincidentally similar.
