Raleigh Array Electric bike

[Deadeye]

Anyone had experience with ones of these? I like the look and design as I want an upright position. Are Raleigh still any good generally? https://www.tredz.co.uk/help-advice/guides-reviews/reviews/bikes/electric/raleigh-array-range

Thanks

 

[ChuckingFeet]

Have not had experience of the Array, but I can report no problems with my Raleigh Motus Grand Tour in the 9 months/3000km I have owned it ,in fact it is a delight to ride and still gives me the E-bike grin, so the brand still knows what its doing .
With a 25 nm front hub motor , the Array will not be a good climber , but if you will be using on basically flat cycling, it will be fine, unless you are seriously heavy.
IMHO go for the Nexus hub gears if you can, clean tidy low maintenance set up.

 

[Deadeye]

Have not had experience of the Array, but I can report no problems with my Raleigh Motus Grand Tour in the 9 months/3000km I have owned it ,in fact it is a delight to ride and still gives me the E-bike grin, so the brand still knows what its doing .
With a 25 nm front hub motor , the Array will not be a good climber , but if you will be using on basically flat cycling, it will be fine, unless you are seriously heavy.
IMHO go for the Nexus hub gears if you can, clean tidy low maintenance set up.

Thanks for your thoughts on it. I'll be mostly on the flat.

 

[cyclebuddy]

I think the Array shares the same battery as many of the new Halfords Carreras; some have reported problems with the fiddly charge connector (pins bending/breaking).

 

[Michael Price]

The Motus is quite different to the Array - they are built around the Bosch system

I used to have an Array - for about 4 months
Personally I thought it was pretty good - WAY better than my old ebike I had had for about 11 years
BUT - and this is a big but
Charging was a pain
the battery came off the bike perfectly well
but attaching the charger to the battery was stupidly fiddly. Bear in mind here that I have been an IT technician most of my life so I am used to all sorts of plugs, connectors and other ways of connecting thingies to whatsits - and a lot of the internal stuff is VERY fiddly - but I managed all that with no problems.
But with the Array I had problems.
It started kinda OK - fiddly but OK
Then as time went on it became more and more difficult to get it to attach and make a good connection
After a while it became impossible - it was taking me over 10 minutes to get it connected - and that under and good light.
My previous ebike - and my wife's folder - I could happily connect in the shed leaning over a mower and toolbox and just ram the plug into the connector - and it always worked
The array - HAD to be takne off and connected under a good light on a steady table
The LBS were great and just replaced the charger - which was again fine - for a few weeks - then got worse again
Raleigh were also GREAT - then sent a replacement charger so the LBS were not out of pocket and kept taking to them about a fix


Basically is seemed to me that the main problem was that the charger connection had 3 (?) tiny pins that had to be precisely aligned to 3 tiny sockets and then the body had to be screwed down with a threaded collar. The pins were far to small and there was no way you could feel they were aligned properly - and the thread on the collar was made of metal that was quite soft so it cross threaded very easily and didn't have any viable 'lead in' to make it engage properly

Eventually I had had the original charger - and 3 replacements - so I got fed up and the LBS agreed with me - I abandoned the ebike at the shop and asked for either a permanent fix - or a refund. Raleigh agreed and just took the bike back and replaced it with a Motus - I was WELL pleased!!

however

Raleigh said they were working on a fix to the problem so there is a good chance that new bikes now have a much better connector
I suggest that you get hold of a battery and charger and see how easy it is to connect hem - if it it any more difficult that connecting a laptop then avoid it!

ALSO - at the same time Halfords had a Carrera bike that I didn;t like but used the same batteryt, motor etc.. The connector on that battery was far more robust - so there is a solution available.
I also saw - I think on the Raleigh US site - and adapter that seemed to be designed to fix the problem - looked like you screwed the rubbish charger into the adapter then a more robust version is screwed into the battery

personally I would think of paying the extra and getting a Motus - I have ridden both (OK only paid for one) - and the Bosch system is excellent - but also look on this site for Bosch bashers


Whatever you get - hope you have a great time with it

 

[Samcycles]

Anyone had experience with ones of these? I like the look and design as I want an upright position. Are Raleigh still any good generally? https://www.tredz.co.uk/help-advice/guides-reviews/reviews/bikes/electric/raleigh-array-range

Thanks

The picture is of the old model Array which has 25Nm front hub motor and 300wh rear rack battery. The current model is a 40Nm rear hub and 400wh down tube battery. I test rode the old model and quickly dismissed it, just didn't like the feel of it.
Funnily I bumped into a couple at the weekend who had a Motus and a new Array I only tried it round a carpark but it was so much better than the old model.

 

[Michael Price]

OK - to be clear - the model I had was the rear hub drive version with the battery on the 45 degree down tube

I should also note that in several ways it has better equipment than the Motus - mode like the Motus Grand Tour
e.g.
lights powered from the battery and controlled from the handlebars
suspension that can be switched on or off by turning a 'thingy' on the forks
much more adjustable handlebar height and reach
and that is just what I noticed

the Motus I have is awesome - but I am fairly flexible about what I ride - but the adjustments on my Array were nice to have - when I had the Array - I loved it!

 

[ChuckingFeet]

I am well aware of the differences between the Motus range ( and I think my Motus Grand Tour is magic ) and the Array , my point was that generally Raleigh have some idea what they are doing . I went by the OPs link so a 40Nm rear hub and downtube battery would enormously improve it , assuming the daft battery charging problems are solved.Sounds to me like a very sensible bike , the only reason I went centre drive is that I like getting out into the countryside for rides, and I live on the edge of the Peak District , so can get a little bumpy and then I need all the help I can get LOL
.

 

[Michael Price]

It does seem that manufacturers are sometimes reluctant to say what the Nm power of the motor is.

I was have tried to find this for a few ebikes and only find it occasionally

Does anyone know if there is a source with this data on it??

 

[Deadeye]

The Motus is quite different to the Array - they are built around the Bosch system

I used to have an Array - for about 4 months
Personally I thought it was pretty good - WAY better than my old ebike I had had for about 11 years
BUT - and this is a big but
Charging was a pain
the battery came off the bike perfectly well
but attaching the charger to the battery was stupidly fiddly. Bear in mind here that I have been an IT technician most of my life so I am used to all sorts of plugs, connectors and other ways of connecting thingies to whatsits - and a lot of the internal stuff is VERY fiddly - but I managed all that with no problems.
But with the Array I had problems.
It started kinda OK - fiddly but OK
Then as time went on it became more and more difficult to get it to attach and make a good connection
After a while it became impossible - it was taking me over 10 minutes to get it connected - and that under and good light.
My previous ebike - and my wife's folder - I could happily connect in the shed leaning over a mower and toolbox and just ram the plug into the connector - and it always worked
The array - HAD to be takne off and connected under a good light on a steady table
The LBS were great and just replaced the charger - which was again fine - for a few weeks - then got worse again
Raleigh were also GREAT - then sent a replacement charger so the LBS were not out of pocket and kept taking to them about a fix


Basically is seemed to me that the main problem was that the charger connection had 3 (?) tiny pins that had to be precisely aligned to 3 tiny sockets and then the body had to be screwed down with a threaded collar. The pins were far to small and there was no way you could feel they were aligned properly - and the thread on the collar was made of metal that was quite soft so it cross threaded very easily and didn't have any viable 'lead in' to make it engage properly

Eventually I had had the original charger - and 3 replacements - so I got fed up and the LBS agreed with me - I abandoned the ebike at the shop and asked for either a permanent fix - or a refund. Raleigh agreed and just took the bike back and replaced it with a Motus - I was WELL pleased!!

however

Raleigh said they were working on a fix to the problem so there is a good chance that new bikes now have a much better connector
I suggest that you get hold of a battery and charger and see how easy it is to connect hem - if it it any more difficult that connecting a laptop then avoid it!

ALSO - at the same time Halfords had a Carrera bike that I didn;t like but used the same batteryt, motor etc.. The connector on that battery was far more robust - so there is a solution available.
I also saw - I think on the Raleigh US site - and adapter that seemed to be designed to fix the problem - looked like you screwed the rubbish charger into the adapter then a more robust version is screwed into the battery

personally I would think of paying the extra and getting a Motus - I have ridden both (OK only paid for one) - and the Bosch system is excellent - but also look on this site for Bosch bashers


Whatever you get - hope you have a great time with it

Thanks for your detailed reply, put me off the Array a bit.

 

[Deadeye]

I think the Array shares the same battery as many of the new Halfords Carreras; some have reported problems with the fiddly charge connector (pins bending/breaking).

A bit off putting for me now.

 

[cyclebuddy]

A bit off putting for me now.

It's been a year or so since that battery was introduced, and I'm sure Raleigh will have been plagued with warranty claims and complaints. There has been talk on this forum that Raleigh have since come up with a solution... if you otherwise like what's on offer with the Array, check with your dealer what has been done to rectify the problem and if that solution would be offered with your purchase of a new/current model.

 

[Deadeye]

It's been a year or so since that battery was introduced, and I'm sure Raleigh will have been plagued with warranty claims and complaints. There has been talk on this forum that Raleigh have since come up with a solution... if you otherwise like what's on offer with the Array, check with your dealer what has been done to rectify the problem and if that solution would be offered with your purchase of a new/current model.

In my opinion a reliable brand like Raleigh shouldn't really allow it to go out with such a obvious issue, they aren't exactly cheap and there are plenty of alternatives out there.

 

[Grebacwhite]

Can anyone confirm if Raleigh have updated the connector for the current model?
I really like the Array but this connector issue is a deal breaker for long term ownership.

 

[Edward Elizabeth]

I think the Array shares the same battery as many of the new Halfords Carreras; some have reported problems with the fiddly charge connector (pins bending/breaking).

That's old news now. Although the Carrera batteries still retain the socket on the side, it is now redundant - the new charger they have introduced mimics the battery holder on the bike and the 5 pins on the base of the battery slide very smoothly into the charging dock without any hassles. Whether Raleigh are doing the same with the same batteries I do not know, but Carrera have certainly resolved the problem.

 

[Michael Price]

I would suggest ringing around Raleigh dealers in your area and going to have a look at one. If anyone on this site does so can they post the result on here please??
I have noticed that the LBS that I bought my Array from has stopped stocking them - they have had a couple of Motus's on display since then - but no Arrays!
I am sure they would still get one if someone asked

 

[Grebacwhite]

A bit off putting for me now.

They've updated the charging connector now, i went into Evans Cycles this week(August 2020), and they confirmed it's been updated to a more robust design for 2020..