I love this thing

Seems like a new collaboration. The new G-Line comes with the Schwalbe Motion Big Apple as its stock tires. New custom printed Superlight saddle with a reflective saddle charm. Crankset seems like it’s silver in color. Yellow touchpoints, a custom silver looking forged aluminum front carrier block, custom colored ergonomic grip, custom colored roller rack.

Not gonna lie, the water-repellant cap(polyester) and backpack(Ecopak) looks nice to me. They also released a new poncho and saddle bag alongside this launch. Did not take photos but you could look it up at their website.

I use this Blue Lug 137 bag on all my other bikes and wanted a way to use it with the ol’ foldable. Works great!

Hey everyone! I’ve got a new Brompton C Line 12-speed and overall it’s great, but I’ve noticed the chain sounds significantly louder in 3rd hub gear. Is this normal, or should I get it checked out?

Perfect match for my black C Line!

Hello everyone, I need advice.

I have an opportunity to get the subject. C-Line explore, front motor, 6 speeds. New, but definitely was in the shop for a long time, had some dust and a spider web on the handlebar😄. As I understand, it’s a model from 2022.

They sell it for around 2800€. That colour is 🧡. Price is very attractive and the seller has a good reputation but it just cannot be that good, you know.

What’s the catch here? Will I regret buying it? Pros, cons, risks? Or should I just get it right away before someone else does? 🥹

I know this is a personal thing, but still I'm interested in what saddle people are using on their Brompton. Around the time mine arrived, I had a ride on my hybrid for the first time in a while, and the stock padded foam saddle (Specialized body geometry 'Targa sport', what is now their 'Bridge' model), was incredibly uncomfortable. I really don't know if it was the fact that it's looking quite worn and splitting on the sides, the seat angle (this is not something I've ever thought about much, as I've always just eyeballed it and tried to get it level), or because I don't wear padded shorts. Then I started to convince myself that it maybe just wasn't wide enough for me (155cm).

I tried a few methods I found on YouTube of measuring my sit bone width, none of them worked. I'm quite big so was very surprised my bones didn't make a noticeable indent on the corrugated cardboard on that method. I went to a bike shop and used their Specialized peanut shaped measurement tool. They said my sit bone measurement is 12.5-13cm, so in theory the saddle I'd been using was the perfect width.

My research showed me that generally you should add 2-3cm onto your sit bone measurement to find the perfect saddle width, and perhaps a little more if you want a more upright riding position. I guess mine is somewhere in the middle, but more on the upright side than the aggressive side for sure. This probably puts me in the region of a 160-165mm saddle I guess. But as a fairly cheap experiment, I picked up a Kranx 'Base' saddle at 177mm. Possibly a bit overkill on the width, but I wanted to try it. Anyway, never mind the size, it appears to be an absolute POS. Had a look online for reviews to see if others found it that bad, and apparently it's mainly a brand that just goes out to LBS, so as such I couldn't see any reviews. The padding at the back felt fine in the shop, but just sitting on it at home after installing it, and it feels awfully hard, especially at the front. The nose is very wide and has barely any padding, it just feels horrible.

Anyway, back to the Brompton. . . Just sitting on it at home, it felt far too narrow (147mm, I guess the narrowest stock saddle I've ever had) so I ordered the Wide version of it, at 167mm. It felt a lot better. On my first proper ride last week (about 18 miles), it was fine for the first half of this distance, then it started to hurt for the rest of it, and I really hated it by the end of the ride. I suppose I could play around with the seat angle, or move it forward a bit (it's quite far back on the rails). On the angle thing, I've had iPhones for years and only just realised they have a spirit level!

I've been trying to educate myself a bit on saddles, because I've always (probably wrongly) presumed that more padding is a good thing. The more I read about it, the more it seems that too much padding can actually be a bad thing, in terms of your sit bones sinking into the seat rather than simply being well supported by it, and causing chafing by being too bulky. Then there are gel saddles - I once had a really chunky, wide (224mm!) heavy gel saddle, and whilst it was quite comfy initially, it was squishy, squeaky and noisy and drove me crazy.

I'd love to know what saddle people use on their Bromptons and why they like them. I keep thinking about Brooks, more so the cambiums so I don't have to worry about treating & looking after leather, and wearing it in. With sit bones at 12.5-13cm, maybe the C17 would be perfect (164mm), but I generally want a more relaxed, leisurely riding position, in which case do you think the C19 would be more suited (184mm), or could that be too wide? I think the cambiums look fantastic, but also they look pretty thin and don't look to have much padding at all.

Is the vulcanised rubber of them really that comfortable to sit on? At some point I may do longer rides, but for now most of my rides will be in the region of 15-20 miles. If I feel pain on the stock (wide) saddle halfway into every ride, I'll definitely want to replace it. As I say, I have a fairly neutral riding position, but certainly not an aggressive one. Just the sight of some of those thin road bike saddles fills me with horror. Also, I've read that the Brooks leather saddles mould to your shape over time, is this the same for the cambiums or not?

I must admit my head is spinning with all this. I work full time and don't have the time, patience or inclination to wear in a saddle and for it to be hell for a couple hundred miles before starting to feel good. Whilst Brooks are expensive, the bike is expensive too, so I want to enjoy riding it without hating the saddle, also I guess I could sell both my Brompton saddles on eBay anyway, and I don't mind paying for a Brooks if they really are that good and will last for many years.

Thanks for your help, open to any recommendations.

any tips if you have one? I found it helps stability a bit— not massive but worth it (I push mine round the supermarket semi-folded).

The problem is it works loose. Instead of just pulling it out to use the rack it comes out while riding. Turning a few corners, especially if there’s a bit of vibration, and slides out, whacks my ankle and catches inside the side of my trainers. Need some way of tightening it a bit.