Hi all
I’ve been browsing around quite a bit and haven’t found specific advice that would cover my situation.
I’ve got a 9 year old M3R (serial starts 1506). I’m in an area now that’s quite hilly and as I see it I have 2 choices – upgrade to electric via a 3rd party, or sell it and buy a new Brompton electric. Either way I can use a cycle scheme.
Given the age of the bike and the fact it has 3 gears, is buying a new electric the best bet? And given the hills is 12 speed the way to go?
Also, a sensible ballpark UK sale figure for my M3R (clear lacquer) would be handy!
by t4rgh
5 Comments
12 speed P line?
I am defo not a Brompton expert. But I do have the electric Brompton and quite a hilly commute of 10km. Mine is 6 speed but with the pedal assist (on the middle level) I generally only use 3 gears and it’s been fine. That makes me wonder if a conversion kit might work just fine for you?
Try looking at the ARCC electric upgrade… you could even discuss it with them to see if it might work for you. Plus I believe they warranty their work.
It‘s definitely more costly, but I would sell it and buy the electric (or keep it and buy the electric ;)).
Those upgrade kits put extra stress on the frame for which it was not made and given that yours is older I wouldn’t feel comfortable.
It all depends if you like tinkering about and are mechanically minded or not. You can cheaply and easily convert your bike to six speed. You could also convert it to 12 speed but that would be a bit more expensive. I have a 2012 Brompton. Originally it was six speed but have upgraded it to be 12 speed. I did this easily and cheaply by bolting onto the large chainring a second, smaller chainring for use when I take my bike touring in hilly areas. I just use the ‘greasy finger’ manual gear change technique! Just carry some disposable plastic gloves with you. If you have a bit more cash to spare you could always fit on a derailleur. I decided however that even this was not enough for really hilly areas so fitted an e-bike conversion kit specifically made for a Brompton by Swytch. This was a great improvement, and they also supply an optional smaller 90Wh battery instead of the more usual 250 Wh battery which you can take on a plane, which is an option that the Brompton company itself does not provide for their e-bikes. However most airlines allow an upper limit of 160 Wh for lithium batteries, not just 90 Wh. Bearing this in mind, I therefore modified my Swytch unit to use 144 Wh Bosch power tool batteries, and you can take two of these with you as cabin luggage. One battery lasts for about 12 miles. So if you are a bit of a mechanic and also are electrically minded, you can build yourself a better Brompton than anything that is commercially available, and it’s great fun to learn how to do these things. In real life I’m just an office worker.