Rambletta or Raleigh Motus

[Born to be mild]

Sorry everyone, I'm dithering so much over this.

I'd pretty much decided on a Rambletta - not too expensive, step through, sounds as if it's a good bike with good service support.

Then today I went for an ebike 2hr experience, through a local ebike shop (Bicycles by Design, Coalport Shropshire), just to be sure before buying a bike that I could actually do it and enjoy myself. He strongly recommended getting one with a Bosch motor, which is all he sells. The cheapest (which he didn't have in stock so I couldn't try) is a Raleigh Motus (several versions, this one's around £1,900) step through. It comes with two years free servicing.

Is it likely to be twice as good? I'm so new to this and don't know anyone with an ebike.

 

[Woosh]

One more good thing about cadence sensors is their intuitivity and simplicity. You can probably build one yourself if you have to.

 

[Grebacwhite]

I’ve had my Woosh Rambletta bike for well over a year. Here is mine.
Out the box they are perfectly fine to get you into the e-bike world.
Looking at mine you can see where I’ve upgraded parts.
I’ve now got a Brompton 50t chainset, a chainring guide, Avid BB7 front brake setup, 8spd thumb shifters, Ergon grips, suspension seat post, Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires, bar end mirror, rear rack bag, SRAM chain, Shimano bottom bracket, new rear cassette, new rear v-brake and pads/cables, new gear cable.
A lot of the upgraded parts replaced cheapish Chinese components(common to most sub-£2k e-bikes) which although they work fine, upgrading them makes for a nicer ride as they’re better quality, the only more advanced upgrade I did was to the handlebar pivot that I found wobbled from day 1 due to poor manufacturing tolerances/quality. I squared up and flattened the contact points, then reamed and fitted a new hardened pivot pin so it’s perfect now. I’m a precision engineer btw, this is what I do!
Reliably has been 100%, I get around 35 miles before the 11.6AH battery is down to 1 bar.

The best way to ride the Rambletta is to keep it in level 1 assist and use the throttle to add exactly the right amount of assist you need for the speed you’re doing.
Otherwise you will end up riding at set speeds due to how the 5 levels of assist are limited to set mph.
I’d happily recommend the Rambletta, out the box it’s great and Woosh are very good with their customer service/after sales.
Hope that helps.

 

[Chris M]

I would agree with much that has been said here. I have a Rambletta bought in the summer and a Cube with Bosch mid drive (active line plus) that has done a few thousand miles. They are similar in maximum power (the Bosch being having just a little more torque) but are very different in the way they assist. For a £1,000 ebike I have found the Rambletta to be surprisingly good. The Bosch hub drive with its torque sensor gives a much more natural feel to cycling and provides much better initial acceleration. The level of assistance with the hub drive can be set to four levels and with the 9 speed gearing it is sufficient to climb some very steep hills. As has been said the amount of effort the motor puts in is based on the amount of effort you are putting in. In my view this is the best system. The Rambletta assistance is more obvious as it takes you up to a set speed depending upon the level of assist you have pressed. Because of this I tend to travel faster on the Rambletta than on the Bosch powered Cube hub drive and with less effort. This does of course mean significantly more battery drain. Using a lower speed setting would reduce battery drain and increase range but would require more work from me. The biggest surprise to me on the Rambletta was it's hill climbing ability. With my leg power and the Rambletta's motor I can climb some very steep short hills; it seems to be every bit as good as the Bosch hub drive on hills.
I love the step through design of the Rambletta (I'm 67), I love that it folds and I love that it gives a nice smooth ride - much smoother than I expected from a 20". The only downside for me is that it really wasn't designed for rougher trails. The Cube with its big wheels and rigid frame is the only one for rough trails or even the rougher canal towpaths. I don't know how the Rambletta would cope with rough tracks but I do know it wasn't designed for that sort of work. If it wasn't for this thirst to ride along (relative easy) trails I would sell my Cube as the Rambletta is ideal for most of my needs.

 

[guerney]

the only more advanced upgrade I did was to the handlebar pivot that I found wobbled from day 1 due to poor manufacturing tolerances/quality. I squared up and flattened the contact points, then reamed and fitted a new hardened pivot pin so it’s perfect now. I’m a precision engineer btw, this is what I do!

Is that interchageable with any of Dahon's? There's no play in mine at all (2006 Dahon Helios), which is something else Dahon get right.

 

[Grebacwhite]

Is that interchageable with any of Dahon's? There's no play in mine at all (2006 Dahon Helios), which is something else Dahon get right.

I don’t know, all I know is the original pivot pin on my one was typical Chinese quality, it was guillotined when should be cut/sawn to length and it was also barely long enough(see photo).
I made a guide tube to drill through the blind hole and keep the alignment perfect, then reamed and fitted a longer and larger 8mm diameter hardened pivot pin which used the full width of the joint for maximum strength.
I’m not knocking the Rambletta in any way, as it’s great vfm, but if I see something I can improve then I’ll do it. I really do enjoy riding mine, and I agree with a previous post on its ability to climb step hills, it can get up some decent inclines!

 

[Grebacwhite]

Can I just add an update to my Woosh Rambletta.
1500+ miles to date, 3 1/2 years ownership and it's still rides perfect, credit to Woosh. Great bike. No issues at all.
Range is 35-38miles with the 12ah battery, I'm actually looking to buy a 2nd battery to carry for longer rides to compare to my girlfriends Wisper Wayfarer with its 700wh battery.
Prices have gone up for the Rambletta but that's true for everything nowadays and I'd still happily recommend this bike to people.