Just received and installed my Brompton kit from Woosh today for my B75. Before I go any further I want to stress that I bought a kit from them without battery. This was because I wanted to use my existing 17AH HL battery I got in a kit from them over two years ago for my Cube MTB conversion. Plus I wanted to keep the use of the luggage block from my Brompton bag. So please bear in mind this isn't a review of their full kit.
However, I can say that installation was a doddle. One or two cables were a bit long but I was able to coil them neatly round the HL cradle mounts to shorten them. The mounts I used on the stem were Tesla pipe clips from Screwfix. Cheap as chips, and nothing to do with Tesla cars
As you can see from the pics the way I've mounted the cradle isn't the most elegant but is there a better way? But looks aren't everything... especially with a Brompton. They can be a bit of an acquired taste for many people.
I did have one moment where I thought I'd done some serious damage to the controller (housed neatly in the base of the HL cradle). As I was screwing on the cradle to the mounts the screwdriver touched the middle two pins where the battery connects. I jumped as there was a loud spark, but no power was connected anywhere. I'm wondering if I just discharged some capacitors in a non-standard way. But those pins are very close to the mount hole and screwdrivers are usually made of metal. So I don't know what really happened. But everything was fine when I immediately tested it, but I was somewhat concerned for a minute there.
There are some other mods I've done on my B75 such as the black Joseph Kuosac bar (600mm) retaining standard height. Really feels more comfy with the ergonomic grips and wider stance. I also tried to go further with my own "black edition" by robbing the crank off a spares bike. It still keeps 44 tooth drive as standard with 48 on the outside acting as a guard. However, the 96 link B75 chain won't fit that outer ring with the 15 tooth sprocket I added a while back.
I've only completed a huge 8 miles so far (well more really as the display only shows assisted mileage completed) but I have to say I love the quietness of this C70 motor. You can hear it on quiet stretched of road of course, but I like that reassuring hum. And it's so much quicker off the mark than my MTB is... obviously the small diameter wheels helping there. I'm very pleased with the power. I'm not a fast rider by any means. I'm losing my bottle a bit when I hit 25 mph downhill
So for me reaching 12-14 mph on the flat is quite enough. And I managed that easily in the short ride I've done and kept the motor on level 3 of the power range (1-5).
I might need to up the gearing a bit now though. As mentioned earlier, I fitted a 15 tooth sprocket some time ago to help reduce the gearing a bit. Given the 44 tooth chainring (which is standard on the B75) I find the gearing a little low. I was in top gear for most of the ride. I suppose I could just put back the 13 tooth sprocket and put it back to bog standard. I do prefer to cruise in 3rd gear as like I said, I'm not fast anyway.
Of course the bike has added weight now and I found I had to keep the battery locked at all times. On my MTB the battery just sits there (unlocked) with no issues at a 45 degree angle. Obviously jumping vertically up on my B75 is easier to dislodge the battery, added to the more bumps you'll feel on a Brompton. But overall the loaded bike with battery is still a lot less than my Cube MTB. I don't need the full fold unless I'm loading into a car for my summer camping trips to classic car shows. The 1/3 fold you see here is what I usually do when parking indoors in my hallway. What does a B75 weigh? Is it 12.5 kgs? So add a C70 and 17AH HL battery and that's the full weight now.
I will update this as I add more miles and trek a bit further afield. Service from Woosh was very good and they were helpful with the questions I had beforehand. I'm not envisaging any problems with this kit though. This battery is over two years old and so far has clocked up just short of 3000 assisted miles already on my MTB.
EDIT: The full fold is no problem at all by the way. I would remove the battery first if I was fully folding, but it can be done in situ. I just had to be careful how I routed and cable tied the cables as I didn't get it right first time! Or second... but with careful checking of the fold after each repositioning I got the perfect set up.
