# Flit 16 or electric Brompton



## WhichOne (8 Aug 2020)

I’m looking for a folding e-bike and have tried the Brompton and Flit 16. Was wondering if anyone has experience of both bikes and can share their views.

I like bits of both bikes and am torn which one to go for. Any advice would be great. Thanks


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## Cycleops (8 Aug 2020)

Hello and  to the forum.

Have no experience of either but I’d go for the Flit, it’s been designed as an e bike from the ground up whereas the Brompton electrics have just been tacked on. The whole thing is a much neater package. Despite Brompton‘s assertions that it’s had tens of thousands pounds worth of input from McLaren F1 it really doesn’t show.


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## WhichOne (8 Aug 2020)

Thank you for your advice


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## steveindenmark (9 Aug 2020)

I ride a Brompton and would not have a Brompton electric bike. I have read so many bad comments by people who have had problems with them and have struggled to get them fixed or just taken them back. It sounds like Brompton was in a rush to release it without really making sure all the niggles were sorted out first.


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## Drago (9 Aug 2020)

Perhaps they should have gone to an F1 team who weren't languishing near the bottom of the tables at the time?


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## Pale Rider (9 Aug 2020)

Brompton was banging on about an ebike for years, and when they finally released one it used old Chinese hub technology.

Nothing wrong with that, if it worked, which it didn't.

What have you been told about Flit delivery times?

It is still showing as 'pre-order' on the website.

This despite the fact in the blog they claim production of the finished design started in October of last year.

We've had the virus, but the bikes should have reached the UK by now.

Most Kickstarter projects are woefully under capitalised.

This one has been going for more than three years, although they may have received additional funding from elsewhere. 

It may be they are having to wait for enough pre-orders/deposits to pay for the first container load.

If so, you could be waiting for months, not to mention the risk of losing whatever you've paid them if the company simply runs out of money and goes pop.

https://flit.bike/home-v3/


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## WhichOne (9 Aug 2020)

Yeah I was worried about Flit being a new company, but it was nice to ride, very smooth. I think delivery if bikes is supposed to be September

I’d not heard anything negative about the e Brompton so now that’s a worry too!


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## Justinitus (9 Aug 2020)

The Flit looks like a well designed bike and a good price, but personally I’d be concerned about parts availability from a start-up company further down the line. Can’t seem to find any reviews from someone who’s actually ridden one either.

I love Bromptons but as has been said above, the electric version seems to be a bit of a hash together and isn’t cheap - or particularly reliable it seems. I wonder if a standard Brompton Bike and decent quality aftermarket electric kit would be a better option?

Have you considered the GoCycle range? Similarly priced to the Brompton but designed as an electric bike from the get go.


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## WhichOne (9 Aug 2020)

I had a look at the GoCycle but discounted it due to the cost, as it is more than the Brompton.


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## Justinitus (9 Aug 2020)

WhichOne said:


> I had a look at the GoCycle but discounted it due to the cost, as it is more than the Brompton.



GoCycle do a GS model which is about £2500. Their GX model is about £2800 - about the same as the Brompton I thought.


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## WhichOne (9 Aug 2020)

I’ll have another look - thanks


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## Pale Rider (9 Aug 2020)

WhichOne said:


> Yeah I was worried about Flit being a new company, but it was nice to ride, very smooth. I think delivery if bikes is supposed to be September
> 
> I’d not heard anything negative about the e Brompton so now that’s a worry too!



If you want an eBrompton a third party conversion from Nano is a better bet.

They will convert any Brompton, which means you can buy a new one, speccing any gears/model/colour, etc you want.

The conversion is very neat - almost to factory quality - and you have choices of battery and bag size.

Most importantly, the Chinese electrics Nano use work reliably.

https://www.nanoelectricbikes.co.uk/


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## WhichOne (9 Aug 2020)

Justinitus said:


> GoCycle do a GS model which is about £2500. Their GX model is about £2800 - about the same as the Brompton I thought.


I’ve had another look, GX is £2899 But then add on another £80 for mudguards, £100 for kickstand then there’s lights etc, takes it out of my budget I’m afraid but thanks for the suggestion


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## gzoom (14 Aug 2020)

Why are you after a folding bike instead of a normal one?


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## slowridr (28 Aug 2020)

Justinitus said:


> The Flit looks like a well designed bike and a good price, but personally I’d be concerned about parts availability from a start-up company further down the line. Can’t seem to find any reviews from someone who’s actually ridden one either.


Not sure how hard you looked: I posted one here myself a while back.

I've test-ridden both a Flit and a Brompton and frankly I thought the Brompton was pretty poor, for the premium price they're charging. They clearly wanted to maintain the signature 'arched' frame, which is fine but having the battery in a separate bag seems a bodge job (are you going to carry that over one shoulder and the folded bike on the other side, how many spare hands do you have?) Whereas I felt that the Flit rode really well (including over some cobbles in central Bristol), was light, the battery integration was excellent, the fold design is absolutely inspired, so I put my money down. (No connection other than that, by the way).

It's a little disappointing that it's taken so long to deliver, though after testing they have been refining the design of the head tube and making some other tweaks, and concerns about parts availability from a startup are fair - though it's also fair to say that many non-big-brand ebikes may also run into similar problems. However, the designer guy is in Taiwan at the moment, they're in final assembly, so all the signs are good that a container of bikes will be appearing on these shores soon.


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