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Having picked up a barely used Brompton to keep in the boot of the car for home visits, i need a rack for the back (my Dr's bag is an ortleib breifcase thing)...
I'm happy to spend the £125 on the official Brompton rack if it's the best...
what about other options??
Ta!
DrP
I've got a front bag on mine. They're very light on the front anyway, not sure I'd want more weight over the back.
Mine is a brompton bag, can't remember which one, but its abused daily and has been for years, its actually outlasted one Brompton. A friend at work just has the aluminium frame and ties his briefcase to that.
For my sample of 1... get the Brompton one.
To date my experience with my Brompton (had it about 10 years, maybe a bit longer) is that each time i come to get an accessory, because of the price, I dither for ages before eventually buying the real Brompton thing. Then wished I'd done it years earlier after getting it. (Same for the actual bike too).
Hold that thought...just seen this on their website:
" Because Bromptons are so compact, rear panniers will not fit."
Hmm..
I've got this:
Which is basically a pannier bag..
might need to pop to the local shop to try it out !
DrP
Have a few Bromptons, both with and without the tear rack.
Most used is my Brompton ortlieb bag on the front. I’d get the Brompton front carrier block, fit it and get the proper ortlieb Brompton bag.
You don’t notice the bag weight on the front at all.
I rarely use the rear rack, if ever.
It will not fit. The Brompton rear rack is a weird thing - you basically can't fit any conventional 'side' panniers to it because it's too low. Anything that sits too far forward on it and you clip your heels.
- it makes the bike much more stable when folded and better to wheel around
- you can use it with a rack top pack.
- you can bungee weird shaped things to it in an emergency or for short distances and adopt a weird pedalling style.
On a Brompton you want to use the front 'block' mount with a purpose made bag. Most bags (Ortliebs are an exception and have their own block mount built into the bag itself) are wrapped around a Brompton 'frame' that fits onto the block - you might be able to use one of those and bungee your existing bag to it. Or there are a few after market racks that fit onto the block (you might be able to fit to those)
@b33k34
Cheers...
Ok.. it's annoying as my ortleib bag is otherwise perfect... I GUESS abother option is a QR clamp style seatpost rack...
DrP
I don't think I'd recommend a seat post rack on a Brompton. Will stop you folding it apart from anything else.
Maybe something like this -
https://www.instructables.com/Brompton-pannier-adapter/
Get an adaptor to mount the Ortlieb on the front luggage rack. You don't really want that bag on the back. It won't mount on the sides of the rack anyway.
The Downtown was available as a Brompton direct mount. The One you have was not. There is a rack you can mount the QR to and mount everything onto the front block.
Or just DIY with a printed block and a backing plate. This will work fine too
Find a way to mount it on the front of the bike. The front bike mount is one of the best things about the bike, it carries the weight so well.
I use a Brompton Game Bag but seeing as you have a bag already, have a look at some form of adaptor. Something like this - https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/brompton-spares-accessories/fahrer-front-rack-for-brompton/
cheers for the help all - it seems the best solution suggested is either:
-buy/make a front mounted pannier holder (I like the kinetics one, but only need to hold one pannier)
-get a front mount and adaptor, and rig that to my bag.
I think given teh bag is well reinforced on one side (and has panier clips etc) i'll get a front mount adaptor and fix that to the bag.. I still need it to fit on a normal rack for days I'll cycle adn bring my road bike.. so hopefully it'll all play nicely!
DrP
ou basically can’t fit any conventional ‘side’ panniers to it because it’s too low
Maybe use front pannieers then. Thosee are quite small in comparison the the normal rears.
And it just so happens I've a new pair of Thule front waterproof panniers(Shield 13lt) that I bought hoping were large enough but turned out not to be.
I did this exact thing around 20 years ago. Hacked that same Ortlieb office bag onto the Brompton bag-frame, and attached the whole thing to the headtube luggage-block. It worked absolutely perfectly for my needs: A hard-sided, fully waterproof, visually presentable office bag with an Ortlieb padded laptop insert. At that time, Brompton's own bag options didn't tick all those boxes.
And having some weight over the front wheel dramatically improved the handling on a particular long, fast, off-camber curve (with cat's eyes, slippery lane markings, etc.)that was unavoidable on my commute to the train station.
I removed some of the bolts and hooks that connect the bag to a pannier rack. Then added some velcro strips underneath the best-located of those bolt heads, which then looped around the struts of the external luggage frame. Once I screwed it all back together, the various grommets and bungs of the Ortlieb hardware kept all the attachment holes water-tight. Never had a single problem with it. Rock solid; Quick removal; A very successful bodge.
I still have both the bag and the front rack, but they're currently in a different country from me. The Brompton was long ago traded for a Birdy, which was a much nicer ride but lacked the genius front luggage system (probably the best thing about a Brompton).
This guy [see link] did something similar, but made it more complicated by using Ortlieb's more recent QL3 mounting system. Whereas mine was just bodged onto the frame using the existing bolt-holes to attach velcro loops (and maybe some of the Ortlieb hooks, twisted to hook around the bag-frame?).
http://blog.beeby.org/the-office-bag-a-better-better-brompton-bag-from-ortlieb
The carradice Brompton bag is big, your bag would probably fit in it.
The carradice Brompton bag is big, your bag would probably fit in it.
Reckon I could put BOTH those bags into an Ikea blue bag?
DrP
Update..many thanks for the info guys..the fact that the rear rack isn't really a rack, and the optinos for front mounting...
Ordered a few bits of amazon, and converted teh ortleib with teh use of a thin steel plate i had in teh garage..
Very convenient now, and should still work as a rack bak when needed!
The back of the bag..
New front mount block, and alu plate..both from amazon..£35 all in
Taking off the ortleib lower mounting gubbings, and using the original mount holes..
Steel plate on the inside, Brompton mount on the outside..
Boom!!!
Will test it all out later today, but seems good so far!
DrP
Looking good!
bag on the front always makes the B nicer to ride as well.
The voice of doom..... I wonder if it doesn't make the front of the bike a bit heavy. Maybe more prone to flipping over in a pothole scenario.
Just a thought.
Definitely not. I have carried a lot of weight on the front plenty of times and it's absolutely fine
The front bag design is absolutely fantastic, it's easier and better than a front bar roll (I like bikepacking) and a front pannier rack (have one on my cargo bike) because it doesn't affect the steering at all
Yep B's I find are less nice to ride when no bag on the front.
Recently started using the basket - this is super flexible all sorts fits in (just need bungy net etc for bumps). Here some Thames sediment samples for a cross London trip to the take them to my sample freezer before shipping to the lab for analysis.
Nice conversion. They offered the Downtown as a Brompton option but not that bag. Be wary of strain because in the pannier mode it is hanging from the hooks, but your reinforcement looks very good. The Brompton bags tent to have a weight-bearing lip underneath so they are sat "on" rather than hang "from" the block.
As said, small wheels ride better with weight on the front. Dahon and Tern now also offer the Brompton luggage mounting, and I have adapted my Tactic for the same. It really is the best solution when you have enough space up front. It's also why porteur racks are gaining in popularity. Not moving with the steering makes it even better.
BTW, you may as well take the top rack mount off too - you won't be needing it now. See if I'm wrong 😉
I think I’ll leave the rack mounts on..for the days I cycle in (Hove to Worthing) i’ll be on my Tripster so will need it to fit on a rack.,
THe Brompton sits in my car boot, so i don’t need the car for visits!
DrP