3 Best IKEA Accessories for Brompton - Dimpa and Frakta Bag, and Kallax Storage

[@staskucherenko]

Did anyone try Sladda bike by any chance?

[@stennan]

Ex IKEA employee here Sladda was an experiment that the company quickly reversed. IKEA's strengths are economy of scale and "good value enough" furniture to allow customers to shop frequently. The bike business doesn't fit well with IKEA's skills and purchasing network. The Bikes are not made by IKEA/Suppliers but were purchased from an OEM in a small batch (compared to Decathlon). So, there is not much economy of scale, and for the asking price, it couldn't even match the specs of entry-level bikes. The belt is cool, but for 600$ or whatever it cost back then, you'd be better off paying half and oiling/swapping chains. IKEA would also have needed to stock replacement bike parts for several years to cover the warranty. For fasteners like screws and bolts, there is a commonality between the rest of the IKEA range between tables and chairs etc. But no other IKEA product would need to have a drive-belt or disc rotor. Also, the automatic shifting was erratic if you are a "dynamic" bike rider. I used it for a while as a company bike in HQ Älmhult. Once when I sped up to overtake another rider the hub shifter lurched into the heavy gearb (since my speed increased it automatically shifts once the cadence reaches a certain limit), causing my foot to slip off the pedal. It was a nice shoe, until it got all scratched up, and I was happy that the top tube is very low 😆 Also, the paint was a very weather resistant white to my surprise during the first year. Until a few months later when there were clear rust stains coming from all threaded/mounted parts of the frame. As the Aluminium in the frame itself doesn't rust, my guess is that the paint itself contained some metal, and the parts that weren't matte-coated get exposed to screws and water, making the bike look nasty after one winter.

[@staskucherenko]

@@stennan thank you so very much for sharing, this is super insightful and exciting to know! All the points regarding the economy of scale make absolutely perfect sense. To add to your point, I’ve read online that Ikea sold somewhere in the range of 10s of thousands of Sladdas, which is nothing in comparison to best selling items like Malms, Kallaxes and so on. I see some logic behind Sladdas from branding / ecosystem kind of perspective - given how popular cycling is in Sweden, having the most iconic Swedish brand making a move into urban mobility kind of makes sense. Plus IKEA is also having some side businesses like food and additional amenities like free childcare in store. However, on the 2nd thought - these match with the whole economy of scale idea quite nicely - in-shop restaurants should dramatically boost amount of time ppl spend in the store, and consequently the purchase likelihood, as well as childcare functionality. Thinking about your point, I am even thinking that the whole story about the belt snapping was not a sole reason for Sladdas being discontinued, I guess if it would have more sense economically- Ikea could have replaced the belts or rectified the issue somehow, but given not-that-bulletproof business case and emergence of the problem with the belt, it was more rational just to discontinue the idea after all. I had a wild idea at some point to try some of the suction-mounted baskets as panniers, but quickly realised the futility of it :) And sorry for your shoe, it’s great though that there was no other consequences out of that situation! And again, thanks so much for sharing your experience, appreciate it a lot!

[@stennan]

@@staskucherenko just to clarify, the belt didn't snap. The bike doesn't have an external shifter (less parts/service). There are 2 gears in the rear hub and shirts depending on cadence/effort. So I acceleratedin easy gear and then was surprised when the gearing shifted to hard. The economy of scale issue is also down to margins, shipping (not flat packed), and not having fast turnover of bikes In terms of Ikea sustainability it matched the values ikea represents, but Ikea is not efficient in providing bikes. Kind of like the TVs, but IOT/smart-home is working. I did lobby the guys doing cardboard packaging to develop a flat-packed, build it yourself kids walking bike made from cardboard (as an indoor toy) . The team loved it, but company politics meant they didn't enough "cloat" to make it happen. Add some waterproof coating to the cardboard wheels and you could probably use it outdoors.

[@staskucherenko]

@@stennan got it. Love the idea of the cardboard bike for kids, would totally buy it for my daughters :) I am very impressed with how Ikea entered the whole kids toys market, lots of good items with very attractive pricing and nice designs. And the idea to have free 45m childcare on-site where kids would play with their toys is absolutely brilliant!

[@hmoxh]

@@stennan I'm pretty sure IKEA also tried an E-bike called Folkvänlig somewhere around 2014-2016.

[@gfabie4901]

Wasn’t the Sladda belt supplier the problem? They could’ve just gone with a higher quality spec belt.

[@staskucherenko]

@@gfabie4901 true, I think the belt was the main issue that doomed Sladda. On the quality of the belt - that’s a fair point. I don’t know enough from the mechanical engineering to say whether sturdier belt could have solved it, or there was some structural issue with the bike tbh, but sounds reasonable. More testing would have been also helpful to identify this issue early enough.

[@cluelessgamingdad4655]

Dimpa purchased! (I have some frakta bags already 👀)Thank you. Im quite new to the brompton world, but I am smitten with mine! Loving your channel, you lovely human!

[@staskucherenko]

Thanks for your kind words and enjoy your new bag :)

[@chrisw3327]

Awesome! Thanks a lot! I especially liked the tip about the Frakta bag - very handy in case a hotel or cafe has a problem bringing the bike in.

[@staskucherenko]

Hi Chris, thanks for your comment, glad you liked the video! Frakta is great indeed, perfect for situations when you need to bring the bike in-house and it happened to be wet or dirty.

[@allanb2906]

I've just ordered my 1st Brompton, which is the electrc version (due to age) and I'm finding your hints & tips videos very informative. I like the idea of putting it into a fully zipped bag, for those occasions where taking a bike inside might otherwise be a problem.

[@staskucherenko]

Great news, thanks for sharing, Allan :) All the best with your new bike! And thanks for your feedback :) Indeed, my main use case for this bag was less to protect my bike from the world, but to protect things around the bike, especially after a rainy day or if some bike clean-up is long overdue :)

[@hoser7706]

Subbed after first video. Love your content. On a Tern now but love the comfort of the Bromptons. Just not the price. 😬

[@staskucherenko]

@@hoser7706 thanks a lot for your kind words and for subscribing :) Fully with you on both comfort and price on Brompton’s tbh :)

[@BrookValentine]

Watching this got me to the shed to measure my bike, then the Kallax I have in the study. Going to IKEA soon for that great idea. Don't know why I haven't done before now. Thank you. (I'm sure this is what a lot of bike shops do too)

[@staskucherenko]

Sure, happy to help :)

[@eugeneuu3582]

Very useful video MANY THANKS 🙏

[@staskucherenko]

@@eugeneuu3582 sure, thanks a lot for your comment, glad it was helpful!

[@olgalykholobova988]

Great video, Stas! Keep up the good work!

[@staskucherenko]

Thanks you very much, glad you liked it :)

[@esgee3829]

i use baggmuck instead of kallax. might consider kallax if baggmuck fit inside. but there is too much road detrtitude in fall and winter for me to avoid cleaning more inside otherwise.

[@staskucherenko]

Love the idea, thanks for sharing! Sounds great indeed for muddy or rainy rides. In terms of fitting one into another - you can slot in the short side (35cm), but the long side (77cm) will be longer than kallax’s single cell unfortunately. Regardless, the idea to have a tray inside Kallax to avoid wiping it clean every now and then is pretty good!