| Page last changed October 21, 2001 |
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| Juliane Neuß
Haferberg 2 21509 Glinde Tel: Germany 040 - 71095104 |
Ian_Miller FAI-D10204 <http://www.bifroest.demon.co.uk/>;
PGP Fingerprint: 2A20 4610 E596 2740 91B1 95BA CAD3 BC14
Antworten auf Deutsch waeren mir angenehm.
How much of the UFB is original Brompton? From the pictures I would guess main tube, front forks and perhaps wheels?
Actually the pictures are a bit confusing - one shows Brompton style handlebars, others show the modified design.
Any indication of likely pricing?
Here is the history of the project:
Leonard Rubin, Oct 97:
The Super Brompton project, as it has been dubbed, resulted in the
fullfillment of a lifelong dream: a 20lb., 24-geared (20"-100"),
hydraulically-braked, super-performance urban assault vehicle that folds
instantly to disappear before your very eyes, enabling one to always have a
magical "pocket taxi" at hand without the back-breaking inconvenience
normally associated with carrying a folding bike around all day long in an
out of buildings, buses and trains!!!
For the British market, which seems to have expressed a definite preference for the heavier and less efficient, but aesthetically and practically appealing internally geared hubs, I am building a new prototype using a Sturmey Archer 7 speed hub. Unlike the quite expensive titanium rear triangle I will be producing for the US market, my thought is to make the rear triangle for that out of steel (4130), to reduce cost. It will still result in a modest weight savings, and when combined with some of our other superlight components and custom replacement items, could still result in a very light bike.
I braze on a front derailleur hanger to the frame, which produces the lightest, most beautiful and trouble-free setup. However, this involves tremendous precision, and is a delicate and time-consuming operation, involving a lot of pre- and post-operation work, so it is not less expensive than Channell Wasson's ingenious bolt-on system (it is a helluva lot lighter though!!!).
To the many, many people that have expressed interest in my replacement wheelsets, titanium telescopic seatposts, titanium bolt-kits, full Super Bromton coversion kits, etc. I can say here that they are all finally available, and that I am so busy designing, fabricating and working to pay for all this R&D and merchandise that I have no time for advertising brochures, pricelists and that sort of thing.
If you are seriously interested in lightening up your bike and or improving the performance, drop me a line (training@ionix.net or Len Rubin 3123 Shelter Creek Lane, San Bruno, CA 94066), or call (650) 737-0303, and we'll discuss a specific custom solution. A last word: it is neither easy nor cheap to achieve the contradictory goals embodied in a truly lightweight and simultaneously strong and comfortable collapsible bicycle -- it's all but impossible! So please don't expect or bemoan that these custom solutions are more expensive than off-the-shelf stuff! That said, I welcome your inquiries (or enquiries for the rest of you).
{Leonard Rubin, Jan 98} I hope to have the first run of the new PRODUCTION Titanium rear triangles ready to show by Folder Forum III. They will initially be spec'd for our own ultralight high-performance wheels (and conventional high-performance derailleur drivetrain, using Titanium Shimano freehub bodies and Titanium cogs), though I know that many in the UK have a "rationalized fetish" for the lead-weight/molasses-filled internally-geared hubs (which you can't PAY cyclists around here to ride!) but the unparalled performance, amazing weight (and recent cost reductions through clever CAD re-engineering) may make believers out of some of you Brits yet. My latest 24-speed, hydraulically braked SuperBrompton tipped the scales at 20lbs. and I'm just warming up!
If the need to hold the cost of a folding bicycle down to a generally accepted market-set "reasonable" maximum price were set aside temporarily, what would/could an ideal implementation of the Brompton concept look like?
Freed from the constraints of "reason", then, I set out to re-engineer the areas of the bike that I thought could benefit from improvement (no small task, as Andrew Ritchie's years of brilliant work resolving the chinese puzzle of the mutually-contradicting design requirements of a compact folding bicycle produced the best design/production compromise ever to see the light of day, in the form of the amazing Brompton design!)
My goals (which were formed from my experiences riding, carrying, folding. storing, selling, servicing and designing folding bicycles in large American cities over the last 25 years) included:
This project has convinced me that there is a real need to re-define the notion of what constitutes a "reasonable investment" in personal, non-motorized transportation. For myself, and I suspect/hope, many others the unimaginable (honestly) technological improvements made possible by raising the bar on initial cost are appealing.
This research and development has also proved beyond a reasonable doubt, that in terms of weight, efficiency and range, there is simply no comparison between internally-geared hubs and high-end derailleur systems. Where weight, efficiency and range are not the most important considerations, the other obvious benefits of internally-geared hubs may outweigh (ouch!) their disadvantages, of course.
The results of my long and costly ongoing research and development project are finally bearing real fruit:
I have developed and produced (and am now tooling up to manufacture) a kit to modify any existing Brompton, transforming it into a miraculous hybrid blend of clever, practical design (Andrew Ritchie's) and selectively applied advanced aerospace technology with a few precisely engineered design improvements enabling the average owner to realize the full promise and potential of the design, making it unnecessary to additionally own a mountain bike or racing bike, unless you actually do ride through boulder-strewn streams and muddy single-track or compete in sanctioned category racing! For most of us, the mountain bike is valued for its very wide gear range and comfort, and the racing bike for its speed, agile handling and efficiency.
By dramatically improving the gearing, comfort, handling, efficiency and speed, the Brompton actually delivers the holy grail of transportation: a reliable, well-built, comfortable and responsive bicycle with great gearing and brakes that speedily and easily wisks you and serious cargo about when needed, and disappears into a superlight, unobtrusive package as quickly and easily as a folding umbrella, yet is also suitable for longer distance cycling, travel and sport riding!
The kit includes:
Weight: 20 lbs. (The planned optional replacements for remaining steel
frame components will bring the weight down to approximately 16.5 lbs.)
Gearing: 27 gears (5 to 1 ratio, 17" to 96")
Performance: Acceleration, braking, handling and all other aspects of
performance are so greatly enhanced as to be literally unimaginable -- you
simply have to ride it to believe it!
Comfort: Greatly enhanced due to improvements in shock absorption and
adjustability, better gearing and reductions in resistance and wasted energy
For those of you who think this is excessive, more modest options are possible (double instead of triple cranks, or omitting the Ti seatpost, saddle, or bolt kit for instance), but the synergistic effect of all the improvements makes it hard to choose where to draw the line.
Also some minimum threshold is necessary to achieve the major improvements, as achieving correct spacing and chainline for derailleur gearing is impossible without the re-designed rear triangle, and the triangle alone makes no sense without the rear hub; similarly once the gearing is in place the bike begs to be ridden longer distances and at greater speeds and needs much better brakes and a better headset to handle and stop like a pro bike.
We have built and tested several generations of protoypes, under prolonged, demanding real-world conditions (all types of riders, months of hard riding in all types of weather, loaded travel, deliberate abuse, etc.)
It's all real!
For the time being we have been hand-making these, on a custom, individual basis.
They are therefore, understandably "REALLY EXPENSIVE"! There are two common paths used by small custom builders to finance the production of enough volume to bring the costs down to merely "expensive". I can take advance orders and deposits and hold them until I have a reasonable number of orders, and let people know there may be a long wait, or I can solicit outside capital investment (often tricky finding the right match).
Anyone who is interested in either ordering a kit or possibly helping to finance the first round of production, (which is the most capital-intensive, as it involves ordering the many custom-machined items in runs of a thousand each, to bring the per-item costs in line) should contact me.
| Leonard B. Rubin
3123 Shelter Creek Lane San Bruno, CA 94066 Voice: (650) 737-0303 FAX: (650) 589-2636 E-Mail: training@ionix.net |
| The Brompton Folding Bicycle FAQ |
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