Monday, February 20, 2012

Riding the Brompton on Rose Monday in the Street Carnival

Cyclists with folding bike Brompton meeting Prince Andreas I.
during carnival parade on Rose Monday 2012 in Unkel
On our bicycle tour from Bonn to Linz (Rheinland-Pfalz) we saw the traditional carnival parades in Unkel and in Linz.  The Prince in the photo is from the carnival club of  Erpel, a picturesque village on the Rhine opposite Remagen.  In his cheerful and outgoing manner he welcomed us to have our picture taken with him.  "Have fun and enjoy the carnival here", he said. 
My Brompton came in very practical as we were steering through crowds, partly walking, partly riding.
However, not so much fun I had with two technical deficiencies:  for the second time the front wheel mudguard is broken at the end.
Also for the second time the plastic guard of the wheelchain came off and broke when my shoe accidentally bumped against it during a starting maneuvre after a railroad crossing.  Both spares had been replaced last year, covered by the warranty.  To my mind, the plastic chainwheel guard is clearly an engineering flaw.  It is only plugged into wholes on the steel chainwheel. Probably due to low winter temperatures, the plastic material is narrowed, becomes loose and falls off. -  Why the metal mudguard broke the second time remains a riddle to me.
More carnival? Carnival in Bonn - Going bike and meeting the Princess



1 comment:

  1. That's frustrating. I do a lot of travel with my folding bike too. It's a bummer when stuff breaks on the road like that - I'm lucky though that my bike has parts that can be replaced pretty much anywhere.

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