Tannus Aither Tires

Back at Interbike, Todd was frantically searching for the Tannus stand. I had no idea who they were or what they did. When were found them, I discovered that they make solid tires.  Todd had read up on some Brompton riders who have had them installed and had varying levels of satisfaction with them. Some had loved them and others not so much. But the allure of having tires that were always ready to go and not worrying about flats had us dying to find out for ourselves (here's another review).

The Tannus tires for Brompton (the model is called the “Nymph” and is 16” x 1.25”) comes in two different hardnesses.  The softer one is supposed to be equal to about 110 psi and the harder one was about 140 psi.  I don't think this is accurate as they feel a little softer. Todd got a set of white soft tires and I opted for the yellow hard tires for the ODB (they come in a array of colors).

A word of caution here: these tires are a pain in the ass to install yourself without the specialized tools.   By specialized, I don’t mean bike tools, I mean Tannus tools. If you have the option, I recommend having a pro do the install.   Todd’s going to get a couple of how to videos up soon.

After taking off the old tires, one needs to insert these little tabs all the way around that lock the Tannus tires onto the rim.

Now comes the hard part…putting the tire on the rim.  The Brompton sized tires, a lot of practice is needed before you can install them by yourself.  The first few installs Todd and I had to stretch the tires on together.

After the tires are on the rim, the tabs need to be pushed in underneath the edge of the rim to lock it in place.  The tabs are pushed in with this tool:

There is also another tool that makes this job much easier... it looks like a modified set of channel-locks.

First ride impressions:  the feel very damped and muted, especially before they are broken in (Tannus states that the tires break-in at about 100 miles).  It does feel like it takes more effort to go the same distance or speed as a conventional tire.  I’m going to try to put together some testing to get some quantitative results.

2014 Brompton World Championship registration is live!

I'm sure most of you have heard by now that registration for the 2014 Brompton World Championship is now live.  It will be held at Goodwood Motor Circuit for the second year in a row on July 26 & 27th.  There will be three events this year... the World Championship, the Marathon, and the Sprint.

I do not plan to go this year but I hope many of my readers will.  Perhaps next year for me.  Good luck to all of you who enter.

Here is the link to the registration.

New York, New York

Over the holiday, I was able to spend a day in New York City.  

I was finally going to be able to check out famed folding bike shops NYCeWheels and BFold... or so I thought.

I first went to NYCeWheels on the upper east side and was greeted with this sign:

Oh well.  I headed back to SoHo to BFold and had a bit of deja vu:

I didn't come away completely empty handed though.  I met with Jeff, the inventor of Bromfoot.  He has developed something really cool and wanted me to check it out and give him some feedback.  I can't really reveal anything until Jeff's ready to go public, but I'll do a post when that time comes.

Ortlieb mini-o bag: initial impressions

Merry Christmas to me!  I just got a white Ortlieb Mini-O bag (to be honest, I got it just before Christmas to use, sans Brompton, on my USA east coast trip.)

I've been eyeing one of these bags ever since I've got Mondrian.  The smaller area and more rigid surface should make me a little more aerodynamic.  This should be great for when I am zipping around town and don't need to carry a change of clothes or anything else substantial.

The smaller volume makes it easier to find your contents, and is actually ideal for a carry-on bag on a flight.  It'll hold my in-flight entertainment (small Kindle Fire, iPhone, in-ear headphones, etc.)

Ortlieb mini-o bag with my in-flight essentials

This bag gives me tons of room for my feet.

I'll report back once I actually am able to ride with it.

Portapedal visit (December 2013)

I went up to Portapedal earlier this month to pick up the revised Brompton toolkit tire levers, say hi to my friends Donna and Al, and check out any new stuff that they've got.

Donna and Al from Portapedal

There were a couple of cool things in the store.  They have received the new Brooks Cambium saddles.  These saddles are made of rubber and cotton, and actually look and feel awesome.

Portapedal also has one of the last limited edition Moulton 60 bicycles (only 191 of them were made).  These beautiful bikes have as stainless steel frame that is silver brazed and incorporate Moulton's legendary suspension.  The bike is already sold and will be shipped soon.

Limited edition Moulton 60

That's it for now!

Bromfoot 2 Folding Pedal Extender / Protector: First Impressions

In my early days with the ODB, I would inadvertently "overfold" the folding pedal and would scratch the raw lacquer finish.  This was upsetting, particularly on such a beautiful, expensive bike.

When I got Mondrian, I was determined to not let that happen again.  I recalled in an earlier post that Jeff from Bromfoot suggested using his product in order to prevent this from happening.  

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), Brompton had changed the shape of the folding pedal to more closely resemble the size of the non-folding pedal and the original Bromfoot would not fit on the 2012 and later folding pedals.  The new folding pedals are about the same size as the non-folding one in the fore - aft direction, but the effective left-right width was narrower (I think it had something to do with a European law regarding lean angles, or something to that effect).

Fast forward to November 2013.  I had bought Mondrian and Jeff had recently released the Bromfoot 2 that is shaped for the newer style folding pedals.  It was go-time!  I bought mine at Portapedal.

Bromfoot 2 in package

The package consists of the Bromfoot 2, four replacement fasteners, and a 2.5mm hex key.

Each of the fasteners had threadlocker compound applied to them.

Here is a video on how to install the original Bromfoot.  The Bromfoot 2 is even easier since popping off the reflector is not required.

Folding pedal before Bromfoot 2 installation.

The reflectors are integrated... no need to pry them off.

Make sure the Bromfoot 2 is in the correct orientation.

Bromfoot 2 installed

Another view of the installed Bromfoot 2

The Bromfoot 2 plastic will be the only thing to touch the frame when the pedal is overfolded, which eliminates scratching.

I found the Bromfoot 2 to be a clever solution to a few of the shortcomings of the Brompton folding pedal.  Firstly, it'll prevent me from scratching the frame if I make a bonehead fold.  It'll also prevent scratching during transport (like flying in a case or gate checked).  Secondly, I did notice that I was far less conscious of the placement of my left foot when riding.  Before the Bromfoot 2, my left foot would feel out of place and I would have to re-adjust it.  Now I'm doing that less.  Thirdly, I've heard that other riders have had trouble with their heels getting caught on the small rolling wheel or Eazy Wheels (it hasn't really been a problem for me, but I could see how this could happen).  The Bromfoot can give your foot a little more clearance room.

So... initial impressions are very positive for the Bromfoot 2.  I'll keep you updated if anything changes.

New Brompton tire levers for their toolkit

Brompton finally released their redesigned tire levers earlier this month.  I picked mine up from Portapedal this past weekend (I'll have more about that visit in a future post).  Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

Here are some comparison shots with the older tire levers:

It may be difficult to see in the photo, but the profile of the new tire lever is a little thinner than the old one.

The "spoke lock" entry is on the opposite side on the new lever.

The redesigned set of tire levers have a mass of 58 grams.

The old set of tire levers have a mass of 34 grams.

The new levers are obviously much heftier, and should be pretty much indestructible.  Otherwise, they pretty much function the same as the old ones.  Nice polishing job too... not super shiny, but you can't see any tooling marks either.