Skateboard eazy-wheels for a Brompton
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Tired of the little plastic wheels that come with your Brompton? here is an easy way to upgrade them and reuse some old skateboard parts as well.
NOTE, the original Brompton rollers are designed to fail before damaging the rear frame. Skateboard wheels are much stronger and could potentially transmit more load into the frame when the bike is folded. I would not recommend having them on the bike when shipping the bike or parking/rolling it with a lot of weight on it.
FAQ
Q: Are these wider than the stock wheels?
A: They are wider, if you run the stock Brompton pedals and/or are duck-footed it might not work for you.
Q: Will this work with any skateboard wheels?
A: I have done it with a few different wheels and they have all worked with no issues. There are a lot of different wheels out there though so if one does not work, let me know.
Brilliant!!! Thank you for this hack! I’d add that you should probably use 78a wheels. They’re very soft and easy to roll over rough pavement. I have them in my cruiser board. Huge difference. The higher the number (durameter), the harder the wheels. I use 101a for the smooth skatepark, and 78a for popping down to the shop or cruising the rough pavement in London.
Awesome idea, thanks for posting.
Hands down best Brompton upgrade by far. Thanks homie!
Specifically better for Bromptons with no racks
I have installed two skateboard wheels, but they kept popping from the bearing on rought surfaces or when I was turning the bicycle: there's not enought tension between the wheel and bearing to keep the wheel fixed. Today I put some isolation tape in between to make a tighter fit - we'll see how it goes.
The best solution would be to make a small spacer/washer to lock the wheel from movement, but I do not have the tools for it.
Ah interesting, that has never been a problem on mine but it makes sense. I think on mine there is not much room between were the inner bearing would have been and the Brompton frame so even if it was to move it would just hit the frame. Does the wheel pop off the bike completely or just rattle around off the bearing?
@@eliotandal They move towards the frame, pop off and rattle around. A duct tape "bushing" helps for smooth surfaces, but moving on tarmac is still a problem.
My wheels are d58x32 mm, I think putting wider d60x45 mm wheels can solve the problem completely, because there will be no space for the wheels to slide off.
Thanks men
Great idea
Good idea
Good idea bud :-)
Just to warn you: there is advice out there to not do this - precisely because the skateboard wheels are much thicker and stronger than the original Brompton easy wheels.
The original wheels are weaker for a reason. If you do give them too hard a whack… then the wheel simply cracks or breaks… and you pay €20-30 for a new set.
If you use indestructible dense wheels like the skateboard ones, however… all the energy gets transfers to the attachment point on the frame. And you could end up permanently damaging the actual frame… at a much higher cost. 👍
Very good point, the original wheels are designed to fail before the frame. Pretty much every other replacement roller for the Brompton is going to be stronger than what the bike was designed for (including the original Brompton Eazy wheels) so these are probably going to be about the same as any of the other rollers with a cartridge bearing.
Thanks for the comment, I`ll add a note about that in the description.
don't understand what energy transfer are you talking about. You don't ride on the skateboard wheels, neither do you use it for fighting. the small wheels are only used when push around folded.
@@ivanteo1973 It's not rocket science. If the skateboard wheels closest to the seatpost get slammed down too hard during folding (or even while the bike is folded and being carried around) they can bend the protruding frame arms. You don't have to be riding them, trampolining on them, jousting with them, or trying to assassinate your mortal enemy with them. This is a situation that has happened to other brompton users... and will happen again in the future. It doesn't happen as much, if the fragile eazy wheels are on your brompton and break before the frame bends. 👍
Only the conical wheels were designed to break, which Brompton updated in 2016 to the ones supplied with the bikes now, which don't break on impact but are soft. Brompton themselves sell an easy wheel upgrade, which will also not break on impact. If the skateboard/inline skate wheel used is soft enough, there should be no issues really, but replacing noisy plastic wheels, with bigger plastic wheels doesn't make sense, get the softest ones available.
What a load of crap. If you use weaker wheels from Brompton, this means when you fold / trolley it the energy gets transferred to the frame even more easily. Stronger wheels actually absorb some of the energy whereas weaker wheels would have transferred it to the rear triangle
Dope!
hello there! very nice settings. what pedals are u using? the handlebar is not the original, right?
The pedals are MKS Lambda with the ezy quick release so I can remove them to fold the bike. The bars are some old Easton EA70? bars I had laying around. The bars were a huge upgrade to the bike and it feels way more like a full sized bike with them but it was a pain to get all the cables the right length.
@@eliotandal exactly I’m looking for the same “normal” feeling. How width is the bar side to side? 600mm? 720mm?
The ones I have are about 650mm, I think the stock S bar is 550? any longer than 660mm or so and it would hit the ground when folded, at least with the S bar stem.
@@eliotandal thank you so much, I’ll look around to find a nice one. 650 sounds good!
I’m going crazy to find a 650/660mm with 25.4 diameter…. Help is appreciated! 😅
I have Rollerblade Wheels on mine, but i will remove them. I Hit my ankle twice already in the f... Screw. To wide for me. Going back to slim chinese wheels.
Fair, I have aftermarket pedals and cranks so I think it gives me a bit extra clearance. If I was at all duck footed it would probably not work for me though.
the thickness of that wheels will cause plenty of heel striking and if you fail to wear proper footwear, get few plasters on standby. the clearance will not be enough for trifold bicycles, not just brompton.
Wheels this thick, you might hit the back of your shoe when you paddle?
They are a bit wider than the original wheels but I have had no issues with hitting my feet. I do have aftermarket pedals and cranks so it may be somewhat wider than stock but not much. If you are duck footed or have bigger feet it could be a problem. Luckily its pretty east to swap back to the originals!!
I have tried this but the bearing keeps popping out from the wheel. I will try it again tomorrow with a longer bolt so I can fit both bearings on the wheel, that should solve the problem. Have this happened to you? Great video btw!
@@abelramos1097 so what happened Abel?
Rip heels, worse big pants and you got yourself a crash trap.