Press Reviews

Overall, there's very little not to like about the Cytronex ebike conversion kit.

It's a well-thought-out design with quality engineering. It's easy to use, comes at a fair price, and is backed by best-in-class customer support. What's more, all evidence from my time with the bike points to a system that is strong and durable enough to put up with the daily commute with ease.

The cost of electric bike conversion kits might be cheaper than buying a brand new electric bike, but they still cost a significant sum of money, so finding one that will stand the test of time is key, and I have no doubts that the Cytronex kit will do just that.

The Cytronex for Brompton T Line has to be right up there on the list of the most exciting e-bikes we've tried here at ebiketips. It's the combination of two superbly thought-through products, both designed and largely manufactured in the UK.

The five levels of motor assist are set up in 20% intervals and even the lowest level will keep providing assistance right up to the 15.5mph cut out limit. This makes for a very efficient system that we coaxed 30-plus miles out of on a route that included 3,000ft of climbing. Many riders will switch the motor off on flatter sections, as it’s a doddle to do so with the big control button and, for an e-bike, it’s a nice and easy machine to pedal without power. 

The only e-folder that beats the Brompton Cytronex T Line on weight that we have tested and verified is the 10.9kg Hummingbird Electric, but this has only a single gear and lacks the hill climbing ability and range of the T Line - not to mention its folding compactness.

So, the Brompton Cytronex T Line is clearly in an electric folding class all of its own, in terms of performance, lightness and portability. 

We really would love to say there was nothing in it, and the Cytronex excels in some areas, the Swytch in others. But quite frankly it’s a complete walk-over, except on price and the Swytch pricing regime is so tangled you could easily end up paying a Cytronex price anyway. There’s precious little back-up on offer, and technical knowledge seems a bit thin on the ground anyway.

The Cytronex looks a lot more expensive, but try to match outputs like range, weight and delivery time and you’ll end up paying about the same. Cytronex is a cleverer and much more honest product. Taking everything into account: local content, reliability, controllability, practicability, range, efficiency, back-up... it inhabits a different universe.

The Cytronex kit is a very clever thing, and the latest generation setup looks better than ever, with founder Mark Searles taking on board some of our suggestions from when we tested the kit a few years ago, such as anodising the bottle cage mount and some of the fittings to clean up the looks of the kit.

At first glance, it looks like a simple system. You replace the front wheel with the one equipped with the hub-motor, run cables to the bottle cage and rear sensor, plug in the smart bottle battery and your pretty much set – Searles claims the kit can be fitted in 30 minutes.

Cleverly, even when you’ve completely run down the battery, the system holds enough charge to keep your lights powered so you’ll never get left in the dark should you run out or forget to charge the system.

The smartest element of the Cytronex kit is the sensor. Usually ebikes have up to three sensors: a crank sensor for cadence, speed sensor to limit speed and a brake sensor to cut the motor when stopping.

The C1 system’s power delivery is good, its more subtle than most crank-based ebikes with the front hub motor gently ramping up the power assistance as you need it and tapering out towards the legal restriction of 15.5mph.

This Brompton/Cytronex amalgam is probably the lightest, most efficient, most compact power-assisted folding bike you can buy. There may be something lighter out there, or more efficient, or more compact, but nothing is going to beat this machine on all three counts.

The system uses a clever sensor that looks for movement at the rear sprocket rather than the cranks, and the whole system - including lights - is controlled by a single button on the bars. Everything except for the motor is made by Cytronex in Winchester. The motor feel is excellent, with plenty of power for assistance on the hills and close control of the system by the sprocket sensor. The single button is pretty intuitive, and the whole system is unobtrusive both in looks and in use.

Even with the Cytronex and battery fitted, it’s just 14.12kg – that’s actually lighter than the e-Brompton without a battery (14.5kg). Without the lightweight 1.51kg battery, it’s an impressive 12.6kg thanks to the lightweight Cytronex kit. It’s a great option for a bike you’ll end up carrying quite often on your commute.

See how a Cytronex kit can transform the performance of a road bike, allowing a middle aged man to compete with the British Hill Climb Champion. With Cytronex you can set a power level to match any cyclist!