Brompton T Line First Ride: Setup, Torque & Han River Break-In

Gear · Published 3/11/2024 ·

Tighten to 3nm of torque or less… With any screw or bolt, cranking it down tight is easy — it’s going gentle that’s hard. And 3nm, no less…

The grips are supposed to be tightened to 1.5nm or less. That’s pretty much finger-tight. Even with just your fingers you have to go easy, or the carbon handlebar will crack.

Tools scattered everywhere… With the Brompton toolkit you can handle just about any Brompton maintenance. Except… the toolkit doesn’t fit the Brompton T Line anymore. The tube diameter is so much bigger that, far from fitting snugly, it just rattles around with room to spare.

I moved over the grips I’d been using on my old P Line. Now I just need to sell the P Line… though I don’t think it’ll move easily.

Now that I’ve got a new bike, I should start putting some miles on it. There’s nothing to lose by breaking in any machine with moving parts. I took it slow, easing into the ride and being careful on the descents. I worked the internal gear hub evenly through its range, and did the same with the external gears, mixing it all up as I rode. I did 11km out and turned back. My backside was killing me. My reset fitness level is definitely the problem, ha. And the spring wind is always bitter.

Here’s the 12-speed Brompton P Line, parked for a moment along the Han River. I rode with the Garmin Varia 715 as both headlight and taillight. Even during the day I keep the headlight on its dimmest setting, and run the taillight in flashing mode.

You can see Yanghwa Bridge, which I’d just passed.

That’s Yeouido across the water. I took the shot somewhere around Yongsan.

The season when everything turns green will be here before long. This year I really want to focus on riding. And shed some weight while I’m at it, ha.