Brompton owners have a new e-bike conversion kit option, courtesy of Brit specialist Boost, who just last month were data gathering with a view to giving beleaguered Vanmoof owners a path forwards.
Boost Founder Nick Bailey stopped by Cycling Electric headquarters last night ahead of a debut London event where he intended to host 60 Brompton owners interested in a demo of the bespoke Brompton conversion kit his firm has tailored.
That kit is a reduced down iteration of the main Boost kit, which has been successfully linking up with bike shops up and down the country, retailing at a shade under £700, unless you’re happy to DIY fit, in which case you can buy online at £546.
Despite the reduced down size of the battery, all in the Brompton conversion kit will tip the scales at around 3kg all in. The battery will carry ten standard cells, adding up to 3.5Ah and an assisted range of 25 to 30 kilometres. Meanwhile, the motor will kick out 45Nm of torque, which feels ample enough for all but the steepest gradients on a bike with small wheels. It is, in essence, designed for cities like Brompton’s birthplace; London.
Of course the key reason you’ll buy a Brompton is the convenience of the fold and the reliability of the ride. Therefore, it’s good to see Nick Bailey’s engineering team has designed the conversion kit to tuck into the Brompton’s rear triangle, remaining unaffected by the fold. As you’ll see above, the battery sits tacked via a trio of bolts and a faceplate to the rear triangle, right above the pivot point. Therefore the battery is again tucked off the ground when you tuck and roll at the train station or office.
Hit me with some Brompton conversion costs…
Brompton now sell heading on for 100,000 new units each year and while many of those clients will be purists who take the celebrated British folding bike for what it is, Brompton themselves acknowledge the demand for an electric option with its own in the C line. Prices here start at a shade under £3,000 for the tacked on conversion, a ticket cost at which it can fairly be said you could buy a very good quality electric folding bike and still have plenty of change. Indeed Cycling Electric has reviewed purpose built electric folding bikes at a third of the price and been more than happy with the ride.
That’s the baseline against which the Boost Brompton conversion will battle and though they’re ballpark estimate costs at the moment and likely subject to a Kickstarter fundraise before firm retail prices are defined, we’re told that the full conversion kit will come in at somewhere between £750 and an estimated retail price of £1,199 when it’s production ready. The cheaper price will be reflective of early bird orders.
An optional £70 handlebar display will also be offered for those who want on the bar adjustability of the assist modes, though the same can be achieved via the connected mobile application if you prefer the larger and smarter display of your mobile. In other add on news, Nick tells us that he may seek to manufacture a battery case to match the Brompton aesthetic, though that will come later.
Nick prefers that customers go via bike shops, who will fit and safety check systems, though if you feel confident in completing what is a in reality a reasonably easy install then he says you’ll be able to buy direct too. To install, all you need do is fit the battery using the three bolt plate, which clamps to the rear triangle as shown above, then pop in the rear wheel and connect the cable, which is secured to the chainstay.
What does the Boost Brompton conversion kit need to get to production? In short, customers; at least 200 of them to begin with. That should be a simple enough task given the depth of Brompton’s global clientele and we can confirm, having tried the kit yesterday in the pouring rain, that it does indeed work well in its 3D printed prototype form.
Boost suggest that it’ll take around £50,000 to take the system to production, which will primarily fund the custom injection mold tooling to create the new configuration. As you’ll see below, the battery is a bit different to the standard system currently offered.
‘We’re viewing ourselves lately as more of a technology company, rather than just a conversion kits company,’ said Nick yesterday, alluding to a future where Boost becomes a white label kit supplier to brands, as well as a manufacturer of conversion systems.
‘We had a £200,000 investment last year and have since picked up retail partners rapidly, who have been doing some good business getting our kits out there. We will soon seek £1 million in funding to expand further into Europe where we will look to upgrade millions of bikes with our kits,’ he added.
In the instance of this conversion kit, Boost will again offer over the air updates for customers with the system. In the last software update the firm upgraded the system to offer a little extra battery life for its customers.
Interested in the Brompton e-bike conversion kit? Boost just pushed live a pre-registration link.
What other options have you for a Brompton conversion kit? Well there’s Boost’s main competitor, Swytch, whose latest system we reviewed just recently.
Worried conversion kits will affect your Brompton warranty? Unfortunately that may well be true. Brompton gave us this explainer to its stance.