Anyone got a Raleigh Motus ?

[gray198]

Mike don't know if you managed to see a motus, but I tried one last week and was quite impressed. It was at juicy Bikes New Mills Derbyshire. Don't know if that is within your range but Juicy Bikes are well known on this forum and provide excellent service. Also it may be possible to get a discount for display model

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[Biscitt]

I am also looking at a Raleigh Motus. Never had an e-Bike before and finding the choice bewildering. I have had a test ride on the Motus and other bikes, the Motus is the only crank drive I have tried so far and I much preferred it and its power delivery to the various hub drives.

I followed the links for the Kalkhoff Tasman and it looks very much like the Motus in fact is it a 'Derby Cycle'? The nearest dealer to me is in Hebden Bridge and seems to source their bikes from 50Cycles.

Advantage for the Raleigh is proximity of the dealer worth quite a lot I would think.

 

[oriteroom]

I am also looking at a Raleigh Motus. Never had an e-Bike before and finding the choice bewildering. I have had a test ride on the Motus and other bikes, the Motus is the only crank drive I have tried so far and I much preferred it and its power delivery to the various hub drives.

I followed the links for the Kalkhof Tasman and it looks very much like the Motus in fact is it a 'Derby Cycle'? The nearest dealer to me is in Hebden Bridge and seems to source their bikes from 50Cycles.

Advantage for the Raleigh is proximity of the dealer worth quite a lot I would think.

Make sure you try BOTH out on a test ride and that you are happy with the gearing. Gearing on the Tasman, which comes with a 21 tooth rear sprocket, is quite low. Too low in fact for my wife! and she's no 'girl racer.' Even fitting an 18 tooth sprocket, which notches it up about one gear, it is still low compared with earlier ProConnects that we have. A contributory factor being the 38T front chainring on the Tasman compared to 41T on earlier ProConnects using the same Shimano hub gears. It all depends if you want to add a bit of your effort once you get to assist cut off (e.g. On the flat, following wind, downhill). I now Osho on this forum also believes the Tasman is too low geared. Cannot comment on Motus, and not sure of chainring and gear sprocket that are fitted, but armed with that knowledge it's easy to calculate likely 'feel' from gearing tables.

 

[oriteroom]

Just looked up the Raleigh Motus. It's got a 10 speed dérailleur on the back, so I would think the gear range would be significantly batter than the Low geared Tasman. Haven't seen what the rear cogs range is on the Motus, but on my ProConnect S I have a 11-32 set, which gives me all the gearing I want.

 

[Black Dog]

Gearing on the Motus is about normal range. With the crank drive it's hard to be exact, but it's said to be around 34" to 110". From using it for my commute, that sounds about right. It's certainly possible to get it well over the cutoff and blast along unassisted. It feels just like a normal bike, if a heavy one. The one drawback from my point of view is that the low step frame is a bit whippy, compared to the diamond frame on my Wisper. I imagine a standard gents Motus would be fine. Not a big problem, but you can definitely feel the frame flexing under load.

 

[phil m]

Me and the Mrs have had a Motus each for 6 months or so.
We really love them. As does everyone that has a go. Even our friends that have real light weight road racing bikes (+ all the lycra to go with them) were impressed.
They have reinvigorated our love of cycling. Great fun.
.
And I've just fitted a dongle. Even more fun.

 

[strowger]

I'm still using my Motus but have to say at this point that the factory fit tyres (which are Schwalbe Energizer) really ruin the experience. They seem very delicate; I haven't managed to go 100 miles between punctures yet, and they compound the misery with stupid presta valves.

If anyone's upgraded them and had a good experience, I'd very much like to hear from them at this point.

 

[SteveRuss]

I'm still using my Motus but have to say at this point that the factory fit tyres (which are Schwalbe Energizer) really ruin the experience. They seem very delicate; I haven't managed to go 100 miles between punctures yet, and they compound the misery with stupid presta valves.

If anyone's upgraded them and had a good experience, I'd very much like to hear from them at this point.

Schwalbe Marathom Plus. Never personally had a puncture with them.

 

[phil m]

Wife and myself have both had a puncture since getting our Motus's.
We've both done about 400 miles.
I'm a bit disappointed as I did expect the tyres to be (as near as could be) punctureproof on a big heavy bike like a Motus, especially being as everything else about them is so good.
I've replaced the tubes with Raleigh punctureproof ones and have ordered some Slime to put in them.
Agree with you about the Presta valves.

 

[Black Dog]

I have Energisers on the Wisper, and I have done around 1300 miles of rough country lanes on them with zero punctures and very limited wear. I'm very happy with them. I keep them around 70 psi.

 

[oldtom]

I'm still using my Motus but have to say at this point that the factory fit tyres (which are Schwalbe Energizer) really ruin the experience. They seem very delicate; I haven't managed to go 100 miles between punctures yet, and they compound the misery with stupid presta valves.

If anyone's upgraded them and had a good experience, I'd very much like to hear from them at this point.

For peace of mind, I second SteveRuss's suggestion to fit Schwalbe MPs. They're about as good as it gets for puncture resistance.

As for Presta valves, they are pretty reliable so I'd say just get used to them.

Energiser tyres are very good in my opinion, offering good roll characteristics with decent wear resistance. As it happens, one of my bikes is still running a pair of those which date back to 2007 although mileage hasn't been high - lost track after computer packed up.

Maybe you have just been unlucky with punctures or possibly unwise in the terrain you cycle over but either way, MPs should sort your problem.

Tom

 

[oldtom]

I have Energisers on the Wisper, and I have done around 1300 miles of rough country lanes on them with zero punctures and very limited wear. I'm very happy with them. I keep them around 70 psi.

On my 28" tyres, I have always kept the pressures at 65psi and I have never had a puncture and drag is pretty well non-existent. They do roll well and grip is strong under heavy braking.

Tom

 

[Yamdude]

I kept getting punctures on the front hub motor wheel after i fitted it to my hybrid. When one day i heard a faint ticking sound from the front rim when turning the wheel to fit yet another tube. It turned out to be a bit of swarf, probably from when they drilled out the spoke holes, and it was caught in the double rim and working its way out to the edge of the tube. So always worth checking for that.
I also dont like Presta valves.... even more annoying that i have Presta on the original rear wheel and Schrader on the front hub motor wheel. So i would need to carry two different tubes for an easy puncture fix.
I have been tempted to drill out the rear wheel rim valve hole so a Schrader tube can be used, thus getting matching tubes.

 

[RobF]

No punctures in a few thousand miles with the Marathon Supreme tyres fitted to the Rose.

Keeping plenty of Barney Bear in is a good tip, I run mine at about 60psi.

The hard compound also means the Supremes wear well.

Grip is not fantastic, but you can't have everything.

 

[tribalecho]

I bought a Motus H (hub geared) low step in July. I'm very pleased with it and it feels more powerful than my old Raleigh Dover (with panasonic motor). The gear range seems perfect for me with the 7 hub gears, although I would have preferred the thumb-shifters rather than grip-shift which seem to come with the hub gears.
My one gripe is the battery charging, which I cannot charge to 100% - sticks at 80% (discussed on another thread) - or 5th bar flashes when charging but never lights, and immediately goes down to 4 bars on disconnecting, no matter how long or short I charge for. Shop says they couldn't find a problem.
I don't ride the Motus all the time - tending to only use it for getting to work (5 miles up hill all the way) and use my old 10 speed steel Peugeot for flatter rides and a tandem with my little girl.
If electric bikes got a little smaller and much much lighter, then I'd give up all my other bikes (I have a few!)

 

[strowger]

I haven't had another puncture since switching to Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres (as suggested above), although circumstances mean it's too early to be really sure the problem is fixed.

I'm still really p'd off about the time and effort wasted on punctures - it has spoiled the experience.

It's now 5 months since the Motus was delivered and I've used it to get to work most days over that time. Other stuff I've noticed:

The kickstand isn't very useful. The bike is very heavy and unless I arrange it carefully when putting the kickstand down, it tends to fall over.

The kickstand pivot is corroding, as are the pedals where they screw on to the crank arms.

The power adjustment buttons won't stay put on the handlebars - they spin round fairly freely despite the screw being done up as tightly as I can manage.

The cable routing for the rear light isn't great. It passes through the rear mudguard at the front and along under the mudguard. The clip which passes through the mudguard at the front, containing the cable, came loose and fouled the wheel, necessitating (yet another) tedious and messy removal of the rear wheel to remove it. I've binned the clip and stuck the cable back down with bathroom silicone rather than mess with it any further; it will presumably fail (eventually) when it wears through at the point it passes through the mudguard.

To be really picky, there's also:

The front light tends to adjust itself upwards over time, ending up shining too high. The rear light *can't be switched off* immediately - it goes off a couple of minutes after the front is switched off - which draws unnecessary and unwanted attention the parked bike, and "you left your lights on mate" etc. It's frustrating that the lights have niggles as they are separate from the Bosch system (which has the option to provide lights) and add the complication of the Shimano dynamo hub etc.

It's not that the Motus is a bad machine, but I'm very conscious that it's 2x the price of the equivalent spec Woosh and for that it ought to be really good.

For the avoidance of doubt, for anyone else reading this - I've got a 2015 Motus - I see there's now a 2016 model, although the spec seems very similar to the 2015.

 

[RobF]

The rear light *can't be switched off* immediately - it goes off a couple of minutes after the front is switched off - which draws unnecessary and unwanted attention the parked bike, and "you left your lights on mate" etc.

You are probably aware the capacitor in the rear light is there so you still show a rear light when you stop for a short time at traffic lights and junctions.

In that respect, it's a good feature.

The Busch and Muller rear light on my Rose has a tiny switch which enables it to be switched off instantly.

I've never felt the need to use it, and it looks flimsy to me so probably not best used lots of times.

Worth checking if the light unit on your bike has a switch.

Incidentally, one of the reasons a switch is fitted is to enable you to kill the rear light on a railway station platform.

Showing a red light in that location is a big safety no-no from the train operator's point of view.

 

[Jason Scott]

This is the year my wife and I are hoping to sell one car and buy two ebikes. Our workplace have some pool ebikes that you can borrow and try including the Motus low step and crossbar. We loved them and they made our commute effortless and enjoyable, but they remain the only ebike we've actually tried. A big requirement for us is a local supplier and here in Plymouth we have BikeSpace (a community of interest company) which we are keen to support. They've just started stocking Haibikes whose styling I absolutely love but the Motus would be way more practical, although there's a big difference in torque (40nm vs 70nm). Is that noticeable in normal commuting conditions or more appropriate for off road scenarios?

Something else BikeSpace told us is a commitment from Bosch that future batteries would be backwards compatible and we'd want to place the battery in about 3 years.

 

[anotherkiwi]

Something else BikeSpace told us is a commitment from Bosch that future batteries would be backwards compatible and we'd want to place the battery in about 3 years.

1. there will always be someone to put new cells in the existing battery case it will cost less and by that time even provide more energy

2. about three years if you have to charge every day, how far is your commute?

 

[Jason Scott]

Not far to be honest, probably only totalling 3 miles each day, so I'm not expecting to charge every day.