Brox Compact No 16

Found on LFGSS

Needs a service as the hydraulic brakes aren't working. Frame No 16 so quite an early one. Needs a good clean and going over. Can be ridden as is but the brakes are terrible. Selling on behalf of a friend who wants a very optimistic £900

Looks quite good with the replacement mudguards.



However, it is so early it has rear drum brakes.



I think some young person has enjoyed many a ride on this one.



I the price might be rather optimistic if the front brakes need replacement rather than straightforward servicing.

mADbikes advertising Trike

Bit of a mystery this one, can only find a couple of photos on the web.


From Gareth Lewis


From http://www.freewebs.com/adbike/madbikes.htm

The front looks like a copy of the original Brox.

Climate Change March 2006

It is not often I come across pictures of my machine on the web. I think the problem is that people don't consistently tag the Brox as they don't know what to call it.



Joe Rowing labled this one "Quadricycle" which is how I came across it.

Sky Ride 2012

I decided to try out the route this year, complete with sound system and trailer with A-board on the back. Here are a couple of photos off the web...



and from Ella who rode with me much of the way



Sadly the ride was a corporate exercise in advertising rather than a meaningful community event.

Sound System Rebuild

A couple of weeks ago the sound system got a makeover. Here it is in the original tatty green with the remains of all manner of posters and stickers all over it.





The old sticky-backed-plastic came off without too much difficulty, and much of the wiring was stripped out and tidied up.





The new covering of gloss sticky backed plastic went on without too much difficulty, though the finish isn't brilliantly smooth.



However, the general effect, with the new led reflector lights front, side and back is pretty good. I also managed to improve the bass end of the sound system by adjusting the crossover, resulting in a nice firm bottom end.



The system got it's first outing at last month's critical mass in Manchester.

Brox Compact vs Mini

Cars used to be a lot smaller. It's quite striking when you do find proper old cars just how small they are.



This old Mini really is not much longer than a Brox, and the green colour almost matches.



Photos from MOSI Mini Maker Fair.

P.S. the following day the Brox was actually longer with trailer...



Trundling home fully loaded...

Brox Sound System with ride on DJ

London Critical Mass May 2002.

"Medwinds Bikes go to Manchester"

Here's a variation on the advertising Brox Compact done for clothing company Medwinds.



And some shots of them in Manchester back in March 2011.

from https://www.facebook.com/medwinds.uk







It's just a shame they had to stand in front of the machines in every photo...

Four Wheels on the TV

Bit faster than the Brox...

Not a Brox but...

I know nothing about this home made 4 wheeler.

I found it here whilst doing an image search for Critical Mass

March Manchester Critical Mass

Photo by Ness

Music was Spiro Kaleidophonica and Easy All Stars Dubber Side of the Moon

A Brox on Lindisfarne

From arbm on Flickr

Manchester Brox with sound system

I haven't posted too many pictures of my machine here, so here's one from the start of the Moving Planet Day, back in September.



And a couple of videos of it out on Critical Mass in back in May

The New Firebrox Web Site

Firebrox has undergone a major overhaul, and you can follow its progress over at the new web site http://www.firebrox.com/.



More photos here, including details of those new brakes.

Sim Bamford's Brox Based Sound System

A Brox Compact was fitted with a sound system by Sim Bamford in 2002.

These photos from Sim's web site show the first version.








It was photographed at the big stop the war march in 2003 after it had been modified to lower the centre of gravity.



This machine is not the same as Firebrox as far as I know.

Firebrox (take 2)

Probably the most well known Brox Compact in the UK, Firebrox is the main sound system for the London Friday Night Skate.



I caught up with it at the original 2007 London Freewheel. Note the striking blue wheel hubs.

The machine is heavilly modified to help carry the 2kW PA system, with 52 gears and from odd forum posts it seems the hard work it goes through results in it needing a significant amount of maintenance, there is a detailed post covering the problems here.

Thanks to dan_b's comments and his photos on Flickr (below) I can now tell the correct series of events. The version of Firebox in my photo above, piloted by dan_b, was bought as chassis plus the aluminium flatbed load tray in 2006 from an employee of Brixton Cycles.

There were two versions of Firebox, the first was based on the standard tray (plus a repaint) and a steel support for the speaker:



And the second has the reworked back,



dan-b also sais that "Sadly it's currently off the road *again* as the drive axle snapped earlier this year and we've been unable to source a replacement. We're planning to take it down to Kingsmead to get the rear frame rewelded: I'm told that their newer design uses a plain axle instead of the complicated piece of machinery in ours, and they can fit mountings for Magura brakes at the same time."

Back in Production

The Brox Compact is back in production at Kingsmead Associates.

The new machines will have Mangura Big brakes on all four wheels.

For more details contact broxsales@aol.com

Back in Production?

from http://www.pedicabforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3255 3/10/2011

If anybody out there needs BROX COMPACT spares or service please email me at broxsales@aol.com.

We are located in Kent England, near the Channel port of Dover.

We are currently making a batch of BROX Delivery quads, and some advertising quads.

If you are interested email for prices and completion date

Happy cycling Clive

It would be nice to think we could get replacement parts, but sadly I think the front brakes are going to be a big chalenge. I assume this post came from Kingsmead Associates who manufactured the compact.

Veloblitz Brox - (2005)

Another Brox Compact found on Flickr, this photo from 2005 is a Brox belinging to a Swiss company Veloblitz based in Zürich.



Photo by Bregan K Moving Target.

A Motorised Brox - for sale

Seen on Gumtree - Dublin

Brox Bike - motorised - 4 wheel articulated bike

Motorised Brox Bike - 4 wheeled articulated bike with recumbent type seat and flat bed for load carrying. One of only 3 such bikes in existence. Heinzman Motor, Sclumpf mountain drive, 7 speed. Fairing for aerodynamics and weather protection. A truly unusual vehicle which is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face as you use it.

I'm not a fan of fitting electric motors to bicycles and the like, the result is a variation on an electric motorbike - albeit sometimes speed limited. In the case of a Brox you end up with somthing akin to a large mobility scooter.

Notice how the drive wheel has been fitted with a bar reaching round the outside so the motor can be mounted, making the machine slightly wider. The motor has been fitted to the non-pedal driven wheel, so perhaps the motor could be repurposed to generate electricity to power a sound system.

This Brox is also notable for the fitting of an HP Velotechnik Streamer fairing and the Sclumpf mountain drive.



It also has a bar-end mirror on the right, but I suspect it mostly gives a view of the load platform.



It is not clear wher the battery is mounted, possibly in the cage fixed to the front of the load platform.

All photos from the Gumtree advert.

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A bit more info on VeloVision.