Brompton - pulling along folded = spokes click on gear chain

[JohnRGood]

Hello Everyone I have just collected my first Brompton, and so far I am very pleased with my purchase but I need some advice when the bike is folded and I push it on the three little wheels, the front wheel spokes are clicking against the little chain that goes into the sturmey archer hub. At the moment I am useing a shoe lace to pull the front wheel towards the top of the frame so the spokes do not touch what I would like to know if there is an adjustment or a better solution.
Regards
John

[rfryer]

I have exactly the same problem, and have never resolved it. I don't think that the front wheel is meant to drag when you're wheeling the bike, but if the ground is at all uneven, it's hard to avoid.

[AndyA]

The wheel on the mudguard is easy to break, I'd avoid using the little wheels if doing anything more than moving it around a room or whatever

[Barks]

I have the same problem and I have a rack with easy-wheels. It seems to happen as the bike leans slightly to one side due to variations on the surface and the tyre just touches the surface and moves round catching the gear chain on the spoke. It took me quite a few weeks to identify just what the clicking noise was. Now I am more used to the bike and more aware of the issue it happens only rarely - I think I subconsciously tilt the bike to the side very slightly to minimise the tyre making contact with the surface.

[Brucey]

the toggle sticks out further than anything else just there so that is the first thing that touches. I guess if you made that part shorter something else would touch instead?

FWIW the only reason the thing has to stick out that far is that it allows the indicator rod to be set in second gear. If a shorter indicator rod were used you could have a mark on the chain (rather than the rod) and a shorter version of the RH nut could be used. The standard nut could be machined (eg preserving the radius for the chain) and made shorter.


SA make a shorter/fatter RH nut for the S3X hub, HMN420. This would use a shorter indicator rod and it would also need machining (to fit a Brompton/be the right length) but if the diameter of the tip were reduced then it could be made to accept HSL711 indicator guard. HSL711 is plastic so if it did hit the front wheel spokes when the bike is folded it wouldn't mark or damage the spokes and perhaps wouldn't be as noticeable.

cheers

[Gattonero]

One of the most common problems can be the hook on the front wheel that's not aligned anymore, or is bent or loose; so the wheel does not stay straight anymore.
There is also the possibility that the tyres aren't the same size, this is easy to spot as (all else being fine) the bike doesn't stay straight when folded.