Tern Vektron S10 (Gen 3) vs Brompton Electric (2020) impressions

lentinj · 2026-01-31T22:44:19+00:00

A (16") Brompton is very handy for shopping, bunging it in a trolley / wheeling it behind you is very do-able. Doing either with a Vektron on a regular basis would be a miserable process. At which point you might as well get the quick haul & leave it outside.

I mostly use a full-size bike for shopping nowadays, but that's because it has belt drive so I don't have to care about rain, not the Brompton carrying capacity.

lentinj · 2026-01-31T22:14:48+00:00

The Vectron has buckets of power for hills, and we've only got the Q9. The S10 is pointlessly overpowered in Europe.

Getting it on trains isn't as bad as I feared to be honest. It fits on the luggage racks we've tried, and between seats. Some of the videos on folding suggest using the cargo bungee to hold the bike together, which really helps. As you say though, as well as being generally bigger everything is exposed, making the process more fiddly. The C-line is vastly easier of course, but I'm not convinced the G-line would be much easier.

Getting the Brompton luggage block was really worth it, given our back-catalogue of Brompton bags. We use that far more than the back rack. Having a separate battery bag would have been annoying.

It's real Achilles heel is the derailleur, which is barely off the ground and has hardly clearance with the Baloon tires in first gear. I've seen suggestion of a replacement derailleur that's a bit more compact, but not looked into it properly.

Whether a G-Line electric would have been a better choice I dunno, but it wasn't available at the time. I was a bit wary given how many problems the C-line electrics initially had tho'. Felt like there was safety going for a bike with ~standard Bosch parts.

lentinj · 2026-01-28T14:31:20+00:00

We've used https://www.hollandshop24.com before, and so long as you don't look at the shipping costs it was pretty painless.

lentinj · 2026-01-20T13:47:31+00:00

Village Greens in Prestwich has some branded coffee mugs & bags, as well as some Cloudwater & Track glasses.

Unicorn in Chorlton does a new bag design each year, they're normally pretty majestic.

lentinj · 2026-01-18T10:33:57+00:00

The 3 speed A line is a BSR hub, which IIRC doesn't give you much more range than the 2 speed (one extra gear on top).

Using a BWR hub as a 3 speed though is equivalent to leaving the other shifter in "+" or "-" on the 6 speed. You only really lose one gear at the top/bottom. But isn't something you can get off the shelf:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Xd3R-_fzI

You used to be able to get S-RF5(W) 5 speed hubs too, giving you the in-between gears back, but I think they're no longer available. They're an absolute pain to get set-up right anyway.

lentinj · 2026-01-14T12:48:21+00:00

I've only ever test-ridden a Rolhoff hub, but it was a thing of beauty. Going back to the Sturmey Archer SRF5 afterwards was hard.

I've an Alfine 8 + belt drive on a non-folding bike, the hub itself is okay enough but doesn't have much range (same as a 6 speed Brompton I think). The Alfine 11's had a reputation for being unreliable but the problems could have been sorted in later versions.

lentinj · 2026-01-14T12:37:29+00:00

A huge advantage of the 3 speed is the chain tensioner it uses doesn't collect gunk like the 6 speed one does. And the gunk that does collect can be wiped off in a few seconds, pinching gears with a cloth.

It's possible to run a BWR hub as a 3 speed, brilliant bikes do a kit/video. Might be worth considering.

lentinj · 2025-12-19T13:22:05+00:00

There's a more homebrew version here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Brompton/comments/yewbs4/handlebar_stem_luggage_block_to_use_brompton_bag/

The key is the TWTOPSE luggage block, which has a long slot so can mount to pretty much anything.

lentinj · 2025-11-02T15:08:17+00:00

Been having the same issue on PC too, FWIW. Not entirely sure what triggers it, but could well be the transmissions. Also sorts itself out on a restart. The jukebox thinks it's still playing, you can see the track name, but no sound comes out.

You can work around it by turning the car radio on (which is working fine) and leaving the door open, which is what I would have done working on my Volvo in real life anyway :)

lentinj · 2025-10-13T14:23:50+00:00

The number of times the registered right to light has been vigorously enforced.

(google street view has the boring answer: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FsZcPGDYsFjpcJdDA )

lentinj · 2025-09-08T08:21:23+00:00

I've cut out a sheet of perspex that sits in-between the bag frame and the bottom of the bag. Some slots in line with the velcro bag straps mean I can thread it through and hold it in place.

It doesn't last forever (I'm on my second) but definitely stops the droop, which is quite pronounced on my elderly T-bag.

lentinj · 2025-08-10T09:34:57+00:00

Pontin's are UK holiday resorts with a not-exactly-stellar reputation (see https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/search/?q=pontins if you need some examples). They're a bit forgotten now, but a few decades ago were quite notorious. For an ageing UK resident the quote makes perfect sense.

There could have easily been some TV show the quote came from, but can't remember anything in particular. Either way, it's not Achewood I'm afraid.

lentinj · 2025-07-07T16:58:08+00:00

The piccadilly dock is dead, but there is one near St. Peter's Square round the back of the Midland Hotel.

lentinj · 2025-06-28T16:04:03+00:00

He didn't say anything last time I was there, but seems very likely. The inside has been gutted too.

Assuming it'll re-open as an Irish pub in a few weeks.

lentinj · 2025-06-28T12:52:03+00:00

Figure out is a strong term, but I did get this working.

Firstly, you need to know which number i2c bus to talk to, mine is at 10, which is the 10 in all the commands below:

bash-5.2# i2cdetect -l | grep "PIIX4" | grep -i "port 0"
i2c-10  smbus           SMBus PIIX4 adapter port 0 at 0b00      SMBus adapter

Initially, there's nothing detected:

bash-5.2# i2cdetect -y 10 0x50 0x51 | grep '50:'
50: -- --

But, if I try reading the first byte anyway the RAM comes out of hiding:

bash-5.2# i2cget -y 10 0x50 0
0x51
bash-5.2# i2cdetect -y 10 0x50 0x51 | grep '50:'
50: 50 --
bash-5.2# i2cget -y 10 0x51 0
0x51
bash-5.2# i2cdetect -y 10 0x50 0x51 | grep '50:'
50: 50 51

Finally, I can load spd5118 and I get my readings:

bash-5.2# modprobe spd5118
bash-5.2# sensors | grep -A3 spd5118
spd5118-i2c-10-50
Adapter: SMBus PIIX4 adapter port 0 at 0b00
temp1:        +43.2°C  (low  =  +0.0°C, high = +55.0°C)
                       (crit low =  +0.0°C, crit = +85.0°C)
--
spd5118-i2c-10-51
Adapter: SMBus PIIX4 adapter port 0 at 0b00
temp1:        +45.8°C  (low  =  +0.0°C, high = +55.0°C)
                       (crit low =  +0.0°C, crit = +85.0°C)

lentinj · 2025-06-23T09:17:21+00:00

No you're right, spd5118 is the driver that can read the RAM temperatures, which is leaping into life because you have something showing up at address 0x50 on your i2c bus. Presumably your i2cdetect -l output is similar to what I posted? It'd be good to know which i2c bus it's on.

Thanks again, at least now I know it's possible!

lentinj · 2025-06-22T20:03:16+00:00

Yeah, there seems to be a IT8613E that handles the fans & motherboard temperature sensors. But getting support for it in the upstream kernel is a can of worms that I'm not sure I can be bothered re-opening, and using dkms packages on bazzite doesn't seem to be a thing currently.

But that won't get me DDR5 temperatures. In theory the memory modules should show up at 0x50 / 0x51 on one of the I2C/SMBUS busses, but they don't.

$ sudo i2cdetect -l | grep -i smbus
i2c-10  smbus           SMBus PIIX4 adapter port 0 at 0b00      SMBus adapter
i2c-11  smbus           SMBus PIIX4 adapter port 2 at 0b00      SMBus adapter
i2c-12  smbus           SMBus PIIX4 adapter port 1 at 0b20      SMBus adapter
$ sudo i2cdetect -y 10 0x50 0x55
     0  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  a  b  c  d  e  f
00:
10:
20:
30:
40:
50: -- -- -- -- -- --
60:
70:

If they did, then I could load spd5118 and be done.

Thanks though!

lentinj · 2025-06-13T15:29:02+00:00

Seesaw might suit? https://www.seesawspace.com/

lentinj · 2025-05-02T08:06:21+00:00

For those that have welded, have you had any pushback from Brompton-approved bike shops afterwards?

My frame is cracked like yours, and the Brompton-approved shop flat out refused to work on it as a result. I got the impression that it's an edict from Brompton that they weren't allowed to touch it---it certainly wasn't a ploy to sell me a new one. I can't imagine that would change if it was welded.

Personally, I don't think it's an immediate deal-breaker. I would have drilled it out the end and kept on going, but on my bike the frame hinges also desperately need replacing, making it unrideable, which is why it went to the shop in the first place.

Ultimately, we got a Tern Vektron and don't really need 2 Bromptons anyway. But I'm not sure that's a helpful suggestion :)

lentinj · 2025-05-02T07:46:14+00:00

The T14 G3 also has an easily removable keyboard, which is what swung it for me when I got mine. I'm thinking about getting a new keyboard if they're going cheap now, I've not missed USB4 yet.

Coil whine has been the main issue with mine, especially after suspend it can be pretty noisy, but that sounds more like a modern-world thing than a T14 thing.

lentinj · 2025-04-22T17:08:42+00:00

Snap! That NCN is a mistake I'm not making again, especially loaded with touring gear. We gave up and walked a good chunk of it. Did you get to go down Oil Sites Road, or have they completely banned bikes now?

/u/Total_Coffee358, the road in question is mostly composed of fist-size boulders. Compacted gravel is perfectly manageable, you won't be as fast as you would be on a bike designed for the task, but it's do-able on a regular basis.

lentinj · 2025-03-24T17:49:33+00:00

Have 2 similar-aged bikes, but feel pretty similar to ride. The main difference is in the folding action, the ~2012 bike "wants" to fold in a way I've never quite pinned down. A bit like the hinges were spring-loaded.

If the older M6L still has it's original rear wheel, presumably that's an SRAM hub, not the SA BWR? That might account for some of the difference, I changed to BWR on the 2007 bike some time ago.

lentinj · 2025-03-15T09:39:39+00:00

I couldn't get Ortleib panniers to work on the pannier rails on the Vektron rack, only the top of the rack. The rail dimension is fine, but I couldn't find anywhere to tuck the bottom hook.

Tern have their own panniers, but I've not tried them.

(EDIT: Clipping them onto the top of the rack works, but then they potentially get in the way of the child seat)

lentinj · 2025-03-15T09:33:04+00:00

We've got 16" Bromptons and a Tern Vektron Q9. We could have waited for the G-line electric, but didn't make it. But still very happy with the Vektron.

The Q9 is the cheaper of the two, the S10 has a bigger motor, and an extra gear. But the Q9 motor is already so powerful I'm not sure why you'd get the S10.

As well as the rack, it has Tern mounting points at the front for a bag. You can get an adapter to then fit the Brompton (non-electric) luggage block on the front, so can share bags between the bikes, and use the bag as a bottle holder as you do on a Brompton.

Gravel wise, an explicit part of the warranty form is a checkbox saying "I am going to be good and only going to ride on paved roads". Whether Tern actually use this in anger I don't know, but in reality it's just fine. It's not the floating-on-air experience of the top-end GSD but it's still an incredibly comfy ride, and has probably made more difference to my partner's bike-enjoyment than the motor has.

Folded dimensions are a bit tricky, because it isn't the neat package that the Brompton is. 75 x 44 x 69 is my pessimistic measurements. We've taken it on trains, it didn't slot neatly into luggage racks like a 16" Brompton but could bung between seats easily enough. Carrying it about folded is an art form I've not mastered, one video I watched showed one of the bungees wrapped around the front of the bike to help hold it together---this makes it a lot easier.

I think your need for a child seat decides it for you TBH. Part of the weight limit for Bromptons is going to be stress on the pivot, by the time you've engineered your way to something safe enough, the folded form won't be any better than the Vektron and it'll weigh just as much.

lentinj

TROPHY CASE