Brompton Electric P Line review

The Brompton’s signature three-step folding process and incredibly compact size make it a design classic, and an enduring favourite of the many commuters you’ll see riding them away from busy stations having unfolded with little more than a flick of the wrist. The fact a Brompton is small enough to stash under your desk or a table at the pub – or carry on the bus or tube – means usual city cycling worries like weather and security are also a thing of the past. This electric one is a straightforward adaptation of the regular Brompton, the only changes being a motor in the front wheel, a clip-on battery up front and sensors to trigger the assistance when you start pedalling. There are two main options, these being the all-steel C Line with a choice of six or two-speed gearing or the P Line tested here. It has fancier four-speed gears and uses titanium for the back half of the frame, saving around a kilo in weight.

With its tiny wheels, elongated seatpost and elevated handlebars the Brompton looks a bit unusual but the nifty ‘one-size fits all’ approach genuinely works. The standard seatpost is good for anyone with an inside leg of up to 33in, while a choice of mid or high handlebars accommodates those who prefer a more upright riding position if required. True, it’s not a bike for racking up big miles, but it’s just fine for those short journeys it’s built for.

The speed of the Brompton’s folding process is its USP and, with ‘the Brompton flick’, experienced owners can get it down to just 10 seconds or even less. The muscle memory to do this won’t come straight away but, once you learn the moves, you’ll be laughing. There’s a huge range of accessories as well, our test bike including a rear rack and an optional front-mounted bag that doubles up as a battery carrier. This is big enough for your laptop and other office essentials and, because it’s mounted low down on the bike, helps stability and is less sweaty than riding with a backpack. You can also unclip it and sling it over your shoulder, meaning the bike itself is that bit easier to lug up and down the stairs when switching platforms at the station. Or, with the optional roller rack, you can push it around on smooth surfaces like a wheelie suitcase. True, the extra five kilos or so over a non-electric Brompton make it more of a burden to lug around and you may prefer to use the lift rather than the stairs. But that’s a small price for the extra capability.

The four-speed gears on our P Line model are lighter and easier to get your head around than the 2x3 set-up on the C Line, but with a narrower range. That’s OK for more experienced riders, narrowing the gap between ratios for smoother progress. And, of course, if the terrain takes a turn for the hillier you have the benefit of the 250W motor. Because it isn’t integrated into the frame like some e-bikes there’s a small delay before the assistance kicks in, though, meaning you’re on your own for the first pedal stroke or two. That can make it a little sluggish off the line, but once the motor does kick in you’re quickly whisked up to the 25km/h (15.5mph) limit mandated for road-legal e-bikes . Fitter riders may feel like they’ve hit a brick wall at that point when the assistance suddenly dies, but if you accept this as your cruising speed the leg-saving benefits are a revelation and you find yourself arriving at your destination a lot less sweaty than you would on a regular Brompton, to the likely delight of anyone you share an office space with! On a full charge you’ll get between 20 and 45 miles, depending which of the three assistance levels you choose. For a bike of this type that’s more than enough.

The tiny wheels and narrow handlebars feel a bit twitchy to begin with, the inherent top-heaviness of the regular Brompton offset by the low-slung additional weight of the battery and motor for improved stability. You get used to the way it feels, but small wheels demand you respect potholes, grates, cobbles and other urban obstacles and things can get a bit wobbly at speed. But once you get your head round it you appreciate the nippiness, and fact a Brompton rider can squeeze through gaps no other bike could manage. Any harshness from the small wheels is meanwhile cleverly dealt with by a rubber suspension bumper where the hinged rear frame joins the seat tube, while the natural flex in the long handlebar stem takes the sting out of whatever the front wheel is riding over.

No Brompton is cheap to buy, electric or otherwise. But the design is well proven and, while most of the parts are specific to the bike, the spares back-up is excellent and reasonably priced. Charging the battery should only cost a few pence plugged in at home, especially if you have a cheaper overnight domestic energy tariff. Beyond that it’ll just be a case of the usual bicycle running costs of oil for the chain and ongoing upkeep like cables for the gears and brakes, tyres and other consumables according to how often you ride and how diligent you are with maintenance.

Again, we come back to the point the Brompton is a proven design refined over many years and benefits from being built here in the UK. So, if anything does break you won’t be trying to contact some anonymous factory or supplier on the other side of the world. Because the Electric is generally from the higher of the various Brompton trim levels and specifications the quality of the parts is also higher, so these should last longer.

General servicing should be within the abilities of any competent bike shop, given the usual stuff like brake cables and other components are standard kit. For anything beyond that a Brompton dealer can help, while flagship stores like Brompton Junction in central London offer genuinely specialist care. Experience of running a regular, non-electric Brompton over many years suggests most replacement parts like new mudguards and the rest are rarely more than overnight delivery away, and the support site does a good job of detailing which bits you need for your specific bike. Brompton offers a general seven-year frame warranty, while the electrical system is covered for three years. One advantage of the design over other e-bikes is that if, a few years down the line, the electric system for whatever reason stops working you can just buy a regular front wheel and you’ve got a standard Brompton. Which isn’t an option for e-bikes where the motor is fully integrated into the frame and drive system.

The P Line we tested is available in regular or Roller Frame trim, the latter (as the name suggests) having a rear rack with wheels that let you roll it along the ground when folded. Other than that upgrades over the regular C Line include the titanium rear frame for a welcome weight saving, while the battery comes complete with a shoulder bag in which you can also store the charger in the front pocket. A larger ‘City Bag’ into which the battery also mounts is a cost option but the super-bright LED lights that power off the main battery are thankfully standard. Beyond that Brompton offers a huge range of accessories, clothing and more.

The regular Brompton knows few limits, though anyone who’s tried to ride one up a steep hill back from the station will realise gradients can be a struggle. Which is where the Electric comes in. Your leg muscles will still get a workout but, with the battery boost, it’s like you’re riding everywhere with a tailwind at your back. Thanks to the neat integration of the motor the Brompton Electric is just as practical and useful as the regular one, too, and a game changer for any commuter given you can mix and match between bike, train and bus as the journey (or weather!) requires. And when you’re not using it you can just tuck it in the hall or under your desk and not worry about it.