Daddy’s got a brand new bag

Ever since I had to replace BBB’s rims after wearing out my original 3 speed rear wheel a few yrs ago I said next time I would replace with some black rims if available & affordable.

Well I had to get a whole new rear wheel as I trashed it but I’m a man of my word and looked into getting some black rims.

AeroHeat 16″ from VelocityUSA where the rims of choice. A few people I have known have got these rims and reported them being pretty good so it was time.

BBB meets his Aeroheat rims

Lucky for me Harry Fullick @ Phoenix Cycles comes VERY highly recommended. A number of Bromptoneers have their Bromptons serviced and upgrades done here.

Also had BBB’s seat post sleeve replaced as Harry mentioned it was looking pretty worn out & I'd personally noticed the seat post slipping of late. My main frame hinge was also stiff and Harry loosen that up for me so now BBB is much easier to fold & unfold.

I got a message 48hrs later saying BBB was ready and in Harry’s words “Looked great!”

BBB’s new Velocity Aeroheat rims

Look closer and you may spot the yellow wrist bands really make BBB stand out from the crowd even more I think :)

Sexy Aeroheat rim with SON XS dynamo hub

Matching rear hub

Loving the logos

Feel the burn

We will have to return to Phoenix Cycles after a couple of hundred miles to check to make sure the wheels & spokes have settled in properly but can’t foresee any problems and looking forward to the next few thousand miles with them.

Big thanks to Harry @ Phoenix Cycles for looking after BBB & for his top quality workmanship. Harry even came up with the idea of yellow wrist bands for the hubs, gotta say we is liking the silliness of it :D

Another great Brompton workshop for all your servicing & upgrading needs, can't go wrong with Phoenix Cycles

till the next ride, bee safe…..

The final lighting solution....?

Some more changes to my dynamo rear light. As I was having so much problems with the Toplight Lineview design of rear light I opted to get another version which did the same functions.

As you can see with the first dynamo light I had there is a button and a switch on there so you can turn the "standlight" mode off and a polarity switch I'm assuming so if you put the wires in the wrong way round you just flip the switch without having to take the wires out again.

B&M Toplight LineTec Brake Plus Rear Dynamo Light

Only reason why I tried to stick with the original design was that others in the London Brompton Club have had LineTec design for a long time and not have any problems at all.

Now I have the below dynamo light and from what we can tell its ALOT simpler design so I assume alot less things to go wrong.

Busch & Muller Toplight View Brake Plus Rear Dynamo Light

I've had this light on for awhile now and been on some cobble roads for testing and its holding up no problems.

The new light seems to be of a much simpler design and component wise. It has no buttons or switches to play about with.

LineTec (above) & View (below &on)

View looks thinner than LineTec

After a few weeks now we're enjoying the new B&M Toplight View Brake Plus & feel much more confident with it.

Clipless of our own

Having been testing Alan K's Shimano PD-M520 pedals for a week I've been completely sold on getting my very own pair of SPDs.

Shimano PD-M520 Pedals

I finally decided on getting the Shimano PD-M540s which are the next grade up from M520s.

Nice & New

Shimano OE M540 SPD MTB Pedals from Evanscycles for £29.99 which I thought was a pretty good price.

Shimano PD M540 Pedals

M540 on BumbleB

We shall see how these compare to the others but I'm confident we'll love them.  

Keep it safe, wear a rubber :D

Ok it's not rubber but silicon based protection.

Nothing major or anything that's going to improve my cycling but when David P from London Brompton Club group told me about this I just had to get it. I guess you can see why in the photos below....

Garmin Edge 800 Rubber Protector

Yellow & Black

On my Garmin Edge 800

You can get this silicon cover in many different colours: Black, Yellow, Pink, Blue, Green, Red, White. Can also get it for the Garmin Edge 500/510 series too.

Not much I can say other than the cover feels the same as the original silicon cover from Garmin so its good quality & will do its job as the black one has done for many yrs now in rain/snow/hail & sun.

Garmin Edge Silicon Case on wiggle.co.uk

Going beyond the limit

After the #iBikeLDN East(er) Ride yesterday I was riding back to "The HiVE" when I could feel something odd under braking. I pulled over to check if something was caught in the wheels and discovered something so gruesome it brought a tear to my eye

My dear readers, the photos below are of a graphic nature you have been warned.

Worn out Rim

Serious wear

The gruesome sight

But do not fear, Bumble B may be a little poorly but he will be back on the road in no time and better than ever. This has just bought forward a series of upgrades I have been planning for the last few months.

I had been warned by my local bike shop when I had his rear cog and chain replaced just before the IG London Nocturne back in January that my rims will need replacing soon and to keep an eye on it especially the rear one.

Bumble B is 4 yrs old in June and that is a long time for rims to last on a small wheeled bike. I probably do more mileage than some riders I guess and I really push myself and Bumble B to the limit especial recently with my extra training for the rides I have coming up in the next few months.

We managed to limp home but he is totally out of action till I get his upgrades, hopefully sometime this week.

I have a big ride coming next Saturday 6th April (LBC Ride: London to Cambridge) and may not have all the parts needed for the full upgrade I have planned but he will be functional. I'll work something out one way or the other cause I have a major score to settle with this particular ride.

Don't worry dear readers he will still look just as awesome but he will be a different beast mechanically as I'm turning him into a M6L (3 speed to 6 speed)

Brompton Bumble B 2.0