Upgrade those transit wheels!

Shortly after I got my Brompton one of my transit wheels (read: wobbly little black cone) decided to split. I'm not entirely sure how this happened, but it did, so I decided to get some new ones! I did some research from others who updgraded theirs with various things from rollerblade wheels to the official Brompton "Eazy Wheels". I was tempted by the "Eazy Wheels" initially as they seemed to offer me a more robust solution, but then I also liked the idea of rollerblade wheels; as I guessed rollerblade wheels would be able to take a lot more stick. I read further into the idea of adding rollerblade wheels and what modifications would be needed and all it seemed to be was a shim for the wheel and a long enough bolt to attach. The only downside as far as I can see is the severe ankle damage which can occur when your bone meets the metal at speed! The Brompton is a carefully designed piece of engineering, so boshing some big wheels on is going to cause some issues. Plus they have a tendancy to look ridiculous. So that idea was ditched. Then I found these on ebay:

Now these seemed to tick all of the boxes. So I bought them. I can honestly say that these are brilliant in comparison to the cones that were fitted previously. They fit in about 5 minutes, with no problems at all, as long as your capable of turning a screwdriver. There are a number of washers in the pack so that you can space the wheels exactly how you like. I have mine spaced as wide as they can go as I travel frequently on trains with my Brompton so I require the extra stability. When I'm in a supermarket I like to push my Brompton around with my foot (a gentle push on the rubber stopper) and it does this very smoothly. The inevitable dirt is simply removed with a damp cloth and they suffer minimal wear if cared for; mine still have the fine grooves from production.

I thoroughly recommend these wheels if you, like I, are looking for something robust, smooth and reliable. They are only available from a chap called hans630_2 on ebay usually under the item heading of "Brompton solid light weight solid polyurethane transit wheels". I have no affiliation with this user and I am purely recommending the wheels from my experience.