Bike brands selling weak or damage prone parts..

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Tangled Metal
Posts: 9505
Joined: 13 Feb 2015, 8:32pm

Bike brands selling weak or damage prone parts..

Post by Tangled Metal »

A need to replace a broken front guard on a Brompton I've only ridden for months got me thinking about fit for purpose and strengthening weak areas.

For example, the Brompton front guard hits the rear wheel when you unfold it without keeping the wheel turned sideways. So easy to do. It's plastic except for the metal part the stays and flap bolt to the guard. It cracks at the edge of the metal and to the edge. Retailers warn you in part writeups and there's even aftermarket makers producing metal reinforcement parts to try to repair, strengthen and stop the issue. So why hasn't Brompton designed something to reduce the potential for this damage?

It's surely possible to replace the small, rectangular plate with a metal piece that spreads around the edge of the guard. Shouldn't Brompton by now have solved the issue?

Anyone got a similar known issue with a certain bike or part that should have been sorted by now?
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