Skate wheels installed on a Brompton
This is probably an obvious howto, but it took me a couple nights trying to look up what kind of skate wheels to buy and a couple trips to Lowe’s to figure out what length screws to get, but here are some pictures of my skate wheel install.
I have a Brompton M6R (actually an M6L with a rear rack installed) but opted not to get the EZ wheels, since they were about $50 a set, and I needed two since I have two Bromptons.
I ended up purchasing eight 76mm 80A inline skate wheels, 16 wheel bearings thingies (608), 8 spacers, and four M6x1.0 in 30mm length. I reused the rear rack wheel screws since I didn’t purchase screws in size M5 but I’ll do that tomorrow. The standard ones will work, but they aren’t long enough to keep the bungie cords attached. The install was super easy, but here are the pictures to help motivate you to do the same.
Original configuration:
Most of the parts:
Close up of the replacement screws:
The screw length was barely long enough to work, so I may try getting screws with a length of 35mm, but Lowe’s only had lengths 30mm and 40mm, and 40mm was way too long.
Picture of one of the skate wheels I purchased:
Brompton cone wheel and skate wheel side by side:
The wheels don’t seem any wider than the standard Brompton wheels, but they are definitely larger in diameter.
Wheel bearings:
Step 1: Pop the bearings into the wheel along with the spacer. The spacer is just a metal sleeve that separates the wheel bearings. Supposedly they help extend the life of the bearings, but for the Brompton, it’s probably overkill.
Step 2: Screw them in! This part was super easy. Just reuse the washer.
The rear wheels (if a rack is installed) is the same, except, depending on the length of screws, you may or may not be able to keep the bungie attached. I was unable to keep the bungie attached with the original screws. I kept the original screw, three washers, and the nut for each wheel.
That’s all it takes! These are the pictures showing the resulting wheels installed on one of the Bromptons. I still have to get longer screws for the rear wheels and I have to buy the rubber bung for the seatpost or retro fit something standard; without a rubber stop in the seat post, the bike rolls too easily now!
would you do this if you did not have the rack and only had the 2 plastic casters?
would the skate wheels make wheeling around much easier.
Excellent article thanks very much!
35mm screws should be no bother – use 40mm, cut to length then dress the end carefully with a file to remove excess thread. Put a nut on the thread before you cut if you want to be super sure that the thread will be OK but I’ve never found this to be necessary.
Biggles
Outstanding. I did similar one on my M6L (i.e. w/o rear rack, as my C-Bag in front suffices my two-day travels). Instead of 76mm inline skate wheels, I use 80mm. Same 80A durometer. Use 608 bearings but I chose ABEC 3 instead of ABEC 5 and higher so that they are smooth but not too much. I tailer made bronze sleeve for M6 (40mm long) wheel axle. Very smooth when push and pull.
However, the problem is my left handle touching on the group when completely folded and seem the bike fall on one side. Does anyone come across the same situation? Do you think a longer M6 that helps?
Have you had problems with your heel hitting the wheels while you pedal with the standard rollers? I would Imagine the larger skate wheels would make this worse.
I never really had issues with my heels hitting the rollers, but I may have unconsciously changed my pedaling motion so that my heels are slightly outward. It doesn’t take much to keep them from hitting.