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AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
BROMPTON ACCESSORIES #8 - SECURING THE BROMPTON #2
This blog is on securing the Brompton while travelling in trains, buses, boats etc.
What if you are allowed to take your Brompton without bagging it? That will be most convenient. Yes, in Malaysia they do sometimes allow the Bromptons in without bagging if the train is quiet empty (i.e. off-peak times). In Singapore, one foldable bike is allowed into a bus at one time.
Wouldn't it be great if your B is secured somewhere and you are free to sit/stand without holding on to it? This would make for a more comfortable ride.
While on a trip down to Pulau Ketam island by the light rail transit, my buddy and me secured our bikes to the steel horizontal bar of the disabled corner (of course making sure that it was not required otherwise).
The good thing about these trains are that they do not brake suddenly, so a one point securing would be adequate.
We secured our bike in different ways - both single point securing.
She used her retractable cable lock to lock her bike in, making sure to minimise the free cable length as much as possible.
I used some Velcro strips (which are conveniently strap round the main horizontal tube as an all purpose tie for what nots)
Both ways are okay, but done this way may not be the best as sometimes the sway of the train may topple the bikes, So it's best to secure the bike at a second point,
Boarding the ferry to get over to the island, we secured our bikes to legs of a wooden bench at the front.
This time round we just used our retractable cable locks, making sure that the cables are as tight as possible. Surprisingly, tying to the vertical legs prevented the bikes from toppling over and at the same time prevented them from sliding forward/backwards.
Lesson learnt, it is better to tie to a vertical post/mast than a horizontal one - a single point securing will do.
THE ELASTIC CABLE STRAP
All this securing got some of us thinking. Is there a better way than using Velcro or cable locks? Why not expand on Uncle Bil's idea, why not lengthen the elastic cable used for holding the rear wheel (... see Securing the Brompton #1) and use it for securing the bike while travelling?
So that's how the elastic cable strap came about. It's a six inch long, 3/16" diameter elastic rubber cable with a 3/4" plastic ball tied on one end. These plastic balls can be bought from hardware stores like ACE hardware.
When pushing the Brompton around with the seat post raised, the handle bar is not locked in - this causes a problem when one meets some stairs/steps and need to do a bit of carrying.
Wrap this cheap and simple gizmo around the handlebar head tube, the main horizontal tube and the rear wheel, then loop the u-end to the plastic ball. Everything is locked in!
This one was given to me by Siew Yung, one of our lady bikers, who made it herself. See, ladies can be nifty with their hands too.
NOW FOR THE BEST PART -
That's our three Bromptons with the seat posts secured to the vertical post of the train, while we were nonchalantly having a snooze!
(We were on our way back from a nice ride to the Sungai Chiling Fish Sanctuary ...see more.)
More to come...
Ciao!
You may also like :
You are at - Jotaro's Blog / AhPek Biker / Buying My Bikes & Accessories / Brompton Accessories #8 - Securing The Brompton #2
If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)
AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
BROMPTON ACCESSORIES #8 - SECURING THE BROMPTON #2
What if you are allowed to take your Brompton without bagging it? That will be most convenient. Yes, in Malaysia they do sometimes allow the Bromptons in without bagging if the train is quiet empty (i.e. off-peak times). In Singapore, one foldable bike is allowed into a bus at one time.
Wouldn't it be great if your B is secured somewhere and you are free to sit/stand without holding on to it? This would make for a more comfortable ride.
The good thing about these trains are that they do not brake suddenly, so a one point securing would be adequate.
She used her retractable cable lock to lock her bike in, making sure to minimise the free cable length as much as possible.
I used some Velcro strips (which are conveniently strap round the main horizontal tube as an all purpose tie for what nots)
Both ways are okay, but done this way may not be the best as sometimes the sway of the train may topple the bikes, So it's best to secure the bike at a second point,
Lesson learnt, it is better to tie to a vertical post/mast than a horizontal one - a single point securing will do.
THE ELASTIC CABLE STRAP
So that's how the elastic cable strap came about. It's a six inch long, 3/16" diameter elastic rubber cable with a 3/4" plastic ball tied on one end. These plastic balls can be bought from hardware stores like ACE hardware.
Wrap this cheap and simple gizmo around the handlebar head tube, the main horizontal tube and the rear wheel, then loop the u-end to the plastic ball. Everything is locked in!
This one was given to me by Siew Yung, one of our lady bikers, who made it herself. See, ladies can be nifty with their hands too.
When not in used, just wrap it round the main horizontal tube. And it's on standby.
That's our three Bromptons with the seat posts secured to the vertical post of the train, while we were nonchalantly having a snooze!
(We were on our way back from a nice ride to the Sungai Chiling Fish Sanctuary ...see more.)
More to come...
Ciao!
You may also like :
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| Brompton Accessories #7 : "Akslen" Two-bulb 10-Lux Headlights A headlight that mounts onto the Brompton handlebar post snugly. |
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| Brompton Accessories #6 : Brass Bells A cute looking polished brass bell, and it sounds great too. |
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| Brompton Accessories #5 : Leather Pouch A nice, rich-looking leather pouch that fits well onto my Brompton handle bar. |
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If you like this, view my other blogs at Jotaro's Blog
(comments most welcomed below. if you like this pls share via facebook or twitter)
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