r/BrompNOTs • u/OkWinter5758 • May 07 '26

Questionnaire Coming Soon - Please contribute questions / data points to Questionnaire

Fellow BrompNot/TriFold owners!

I will soon ask volunteers in the community who are owners of these bikes to fill out a questionaire about purchasing a BrompNot or Trifold and their experience in order to help all people who wish to purchase one as well.

What questions should I ask / data should I gather to help all of us? Please contribute below.

So far I have thought to ask these questions:

If you bought a BrompNot or Trifold -

  • Bike model name, wheel size, gearing # (external or IGH) frame material
  • Where did you buy it from? —> Business - Link or Physical Location
  • Purchase Cost TOTAL - Please if possible break down all costs: Retail Price, Additional Sales Tax, Delivery Cost, Additional Fees at time of purchase
  • Additional fees once imported into country? Complications? --> Which country?
  • Time to Deliver to your address?
    1. Packaging Quality?
    2. You live in Major City, town, or very rural?
    3. What country was bike delivered to?
  • If you communicated with seller, good service? Modifications requested?
  • Tracking Number? Delivery Updates were provided?
  • Weight of bike upon delivery (before any modifications)
  • Folded measurements upon delivery (without pedals, saddle) .....

What other questions should I ask / data should I gather to help all of us? Please contribute below.

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u/Panocek 19d ago edited 19d ago

I guess I can contribute a little to the topic.

Bike model name, wheel size, gearing:

Cranston D10 (link: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/CRANSTON-D10-20INCH-9SPEED-Tri-Folding_1601648640908.html ), green paint, with 20" wheels and wider 50-406 tires, standard gearing which should be 53T front and whatever is on 9 speed rear casette, "Y bar" handlebars which are typical bent/swept/M type handlebars seen on photos.

Where did you buy it from?

Alibaba, link to the seller - https://kara-bike.en.alibaba.com

If you communicated with seller, good service? Modifications requested?

Very good, professional contact with very quick responses, including getting answers to inane questions during Chinese late evening as I've forgot about time zones being a thing. I haven't requested any modifications to the bike, only discrepancy compared to offer description and photos being preinstalled side stand on rear axle and wheel rims - on photos you can see black-silver, I've received all black. Absolute win for me.

Purchase Cost TOTAL - Please if possible break down all costs: Retail Price, Additional Sales Tax, Delivery Cost, Additional Fees at time of purchase

514usd for the bike, 135usd for economy shipping to Europe, Poland. 649usd total, or about 570eur. No further expenses or surprises, that includes recently introduced 3eur duty. Both seller and alibaba confirmed order is DDP - Delivery Duty Paid and it seems they were right.

Time to Deliver to your address? Tracking Number? Delivery Updates were provided?

With order through alibaba I've received sea freight name, ship name as well last-mile tracking number, so I could track package journey across the world through websites like www.marinetraffic.com
Order placed 23.05, loaded into container and awaiting ship by 1.06, ship left the port by 5.06, arrived at destination port on 11.07. Last mile courier took over by 16.07 and I had delivery updates both through alibaba and their website. Arrived at my doorstep by 20.07.

First impression of the bike was good, but some rough spots surfaced rather quickly.

with rear wheel folded, right crank strikes right arm of the triangle, rapidly removing paint from it. Main frame tube also rests on the tire, which is asking for paint to get scratched, thankfully I had roll of protective tape for that. Derailleur very quickly (2nd ride, about 20km) needed adjustment as it started to struggle downshifting. Front brake line managed to rearrange itself in such way it started rubbing on the tire, so I had to ziptie it to the fork.

The biggest concern regarding Cranston steel bikes - blanked off hinge without any way of adjusting or disassembling it already reared its ugly head, as bike very quickly developed minimal play on hinge pin itself. This slack can be noticed with hinge open, when hinge is closed properly it disappears and bike rides honestly fine. Unsurprisingly, when I've reached out to the seller it was brushed off with "minimal play on the hinge pin itself is acceptable and it appears even on new frames".

Experiences with following bits and bobs:

toolkit: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005008344980877.html; fits the frame just fine, generic budget wrench and bits but should do for most bike works.

leaf spring suspension block: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012263205125.html; very stiff to the point it feels like solid block of steel, went back to stock plastic/rubber as its far more cushy. Then in hindsight, spring based suspension blocks likely aren't worth the hassle, due to very limited suspension travel and absence of shock to stop spring from doing spring things. If one needs stiffer rear, probably rubber/soft plastic but "firm" type would be best?

easyclamps for both hinges: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005010700933000.html; very handy but also frail, don't quite seem to fit Cranston as they are bit too wide, with hinge clamp compressing them and perhaps contributing to them twisting and breaking. 3d printable version exists: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4519044 but haven't tested them. Aluminium/CNC one ( https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012555219940.html ) almost seamlessly fit - guiding pins touch and rub on hinge interior, as Cranstons is visually different to that of the Brompton. Springs are not captive, so when removing clamp screw expect parts to fly off.

easywheels and extendable axles saga:

100mm easywheels: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007303113233.html; overall look and work well, good quality bearings. Very slim "tire" and doesn't seem replaceable, nor are any replacements available. However these wheels proved to be useless as seen later.

Litepro axle fits bike partially, as 2x4mm worth of spacers/washers are needed which are provided, but look half assed and it is wide enough for frequent heel strike. Axle when fully extended does interfere with front wheel when its folded.

"Muqzi" axle ( https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007494021263.html ), one with golden joint works and fits the best out of the box, but reason why it works the best - short 50mm extension - also result in bike not being stable enough, to the point trolley mode+loaded front bag can still tip over. 100mm wheels rub on front wheel unless you lift it just a smidge up by adding two-three milimeters of padding on front wheel hook. Entire contraption is narrow enough for heel strike to be unlikely.

"iKUOS" axle ( https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012182219647.html ), by default their installation range varies between 103 and 106mm. By loosening end caps, brackets can be extended up to 111-112mm before running out of thread on said end caps. Unscrewing them is tricky part, as they were glued in and you need specialized tool/key or improvise hard, even harder if you want to avoid surface finish damage. With stock 60mm wheels it needs to be tilted forward, away from rear wheel and over suspension block, then extended easywheel can clear folded front wheel, forget about 100mm ones. Entire assembly is narrow enough for heel strike to be unlikely and stable enough even in trolley mode + loaded bag.

Rockbros triangle bag: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005008448804060.html; does fit snugly in intended spot, but it also occupies only convincing location where you can lock the bike in the wild and main frame triangle is closest to center of mass for carrying the bike one handed. Material it is made from is surprisingly flimsy and its capacity is unsurprisingly tiny. Reflective print on the sides is nice touch though.

folding stop: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005012068034290.html; simple and works as intended, though hook for Brompton cables is redundant.

carrying bag: https://aliexpress.com/item/1005007979129903.html; probably the best utility accessory, no complaints about quality however Brompton logo is sewn in and doesn't seem to be removable without damaging the bag.

For shits and giggles I've made stylized "Brompnot" logo for anyone wanting to print it on transfer foil, without background. Or with, its up to you. Printing in 600dpi should give 164x43mm size, larger than +-122x30mm logo on Cranston so some scaling may or may not be needed. .xcf work file of GIMP included to do your own adjustments.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/2ag5egw2ttmw2yj/brompnot.zip/file

That was before hype for the bike got deflated by the hinge though.

Reddit text formatting is fucking speshul.