Video review of the Add-E 250W Kit
 

Finally a hands-on review of the Add-E 250W Kit


I purchased the 600W Kit with the Brompton mounting hardware.

That's very cool. But over $1000 for the 250 watt and small battery is pretty pricey.

An actual review =)! I'm interested because of the weight and minimalism, but that noise would drive me nuts, so I appreciate you posting the video so I could hear it. Eventually someone will invent a kit that works and is not whiny.

There's one of the rubs (ha) with friction drive.. some others are wet weather performance and tire wear issues..

Although I'm running a quiet mid drive in both an Airnimal Chameleon and a Pacific Reach Road, if I were to run electric assist on a Brompton, it would be with a small front hub motor.. Jerry Simon on this board has done it very successfully on his a few years back .. even wrote a wiki to help others out.

http://bromptontalk.wikispaces.com/Electric+Assist

The deterrent to a hub kit is the weight; pricing is a plus (about half the friction drive). I would only use the motor on long rides which then means I am folding or carrying the bike up stairs to Bart. So extra weight is a no-no, which is why the lighter friction drive was interesting. Plus friction drives mean I don't have to plan ahead and swap out the front wheel, not am I pushing extra weight pedaling when I don't use the motor. I want it all - light weight, no noise - and a good price, lol. I'll wait til the tech catches up to my dreams.

I wonder if it isn't the motor itself causing the noise rather than the rubbing. I can see that there would be a noise from rubbing, but I wouldn't expect that to be a high-pitched whine, but rather a white noise ssshhhh kind of noise. The high pitch whine seems it might be from a low frequency motor drive circuit.

I'm glad, after the 250 watt kit review, that I didn't buy this kit when I had planned too. I'm hoping your 600 watt kit performs better. Still, for me, that obnoxious noise would kill it. I'm moving to a much quieter area of NY (Mastic Beach, L.I.) and this thing would be heard at least a block ahead of me. Definitely not inconspicuous. A shame,... Looks like I'll probably end up with a Flykly & a Dahon Speed Uno instead.

weird-looking brake levers - something special? Sorry for the OT post.

It's the Biomega NYC 2 Speed Automatic

https://www.google.com/search?q=biom...iJBcfgKdOlM%3A


Sorry I couldn't link a picture for you, as I'm on a tablet.

What are you carrying up the BART stairs now?

A 25 lb bike friday. add more than about 5 pounds, and I'm not gonna make it. I'm an itty bitty little old lady ;-)

Got it ... you need my sub-17lb Dahon Helios XX .. you'll feel downright bionic ..

Hahaha...but I love my BF, so I'll just wait to motorize it when the perfect solution comes along. I can probably push my tired old body until then :p

Although the loud whining is a deterrent my main concern would be with the unit's effectiveness and reliability while riding in rain or snow and sleet. I'd imagine that the road sludge getting kicked up onto and into the motor would kill it in no time. Seems like an expensive fair-weather add on.

Thanks for sharing that, xraytech. I wonder how that unit is doing now.

Brushless motors do run when wet. As a mater of fact they also run underwater...

My concern isn't whether or not it functions when wet, it's how long it will last in a dirty environment where water is a medium in which grit and grime is suspended. Wet conditions aren't too bad nor are dusty conditions but the combination is something to be reckoned with. The Add-E is mounted in the dirtiest possible place on a bike, where road sludge is kicked up at it by the front tire and a steady stream of it is fed by contact with the rear tire. I've seen what that can do to BB bearings so I'm very skeptical about how well the Add-E can handle those conditions long term.

**UPDATE***
I'd be more than happy to do a long term test on this unit to see if it can handle daily rides in all weather conditions but not on my dime... or >$1K.

Good point on the wet long term performance. Somnething I didn't think of. Those bearings will inevitably pick up muck, and are they serviceable?

Good thing SWMBO told me to cancel my order.