Gone electric!

[wiggydiggy]

After an extended period of not cycling as much as I used to (less than 50 miles in last 12 months) I had had the offer of a nearly new Raleigh Motus 2021 whose owner could no longer ride and decided to take them up on it.

It's an interesting ride, there are 4 levels of assist and on my first trip out I mostly stayed in the off or lowest setting, but the higher ones certainly make a big difference on hills! I've modified it a little already, clipless, better saddle, flat handlebar and am now looking forward to not being intimidated by riding my bike.

It's certainly a heavy beast to manhandle around, but it doesn't seem to affect the ride and if anything the extra weight makes it roll really well on the flats and downhills. Rangewise the computer gave me a range of 42 miles on Eco, the advertised one is double that. But as well as knowing advertised range can be exaggerated the bike hadn't been ridden in over a year so the battery probably needs some TLC.

Overall I'm pleased so far, looking forward to further fine tuning it and of course riding!

 

[Slick]

Looks a lovely machine, enjoy.

 

[I like Skol]

You aught to be ashamed! ....

 

[Espresso vecchio]

I have the same model, an immaculate 2nd-hand 2 year old one with a Nexus 7 hub gear. I bought it as I was so impressed with my wife's Motus, but still ride my road bike. All I've done is change the rear sprocket to a smaller one as top gear had the same gear-inches as 5th gear on the derailleur version.

I agree about the weight helping the ride, and being no problem at all on the road. It is a solidly smooth ride, and much of the time I cycle easily at over 16mph under pedal power on flat roads round here. Oddly, pedalling feels suddenly much easier over 16mph than pedalling without motor power under the cut-off speed. It feels as if the motor causes some drag under pedal power alone.....until the speed goes above 16, almost as if a magic clutch has disconnected the motor!

The other happy discovery is that both our Motus bikes are fitted at the factory with Gaadi tubes as original, so punctures on a trip can be fixed easily by without removing the rear wheel (which is much more of a hassle on the hub gear versions).

 

[I like Skol]

But yeah, get out there and ride brother

You aught to be ashamed! ....

But yeah, get out there and ride brother

 

[wiggydiggy]

I have the same model, an immaculate 2nd-hand 2 year old one with a Nexus 7 hub gear. I bought it as I was so impressed with my wife's Motus, but still ride my road bike. All I've done is change the rear sprocket to a smaller one as top gear had the same gear-inches as 5th gear on the derailleur version.

I agree about the weight helping the ride, and being no problem at all on the road. It is a solidly smooth ride, and much of the time I cycle easily at over 16mph under pedal power on flat roads round here. Oddly, pedalling feels suddenly much easier over 16mph than pedalling without motor power under the cut-off speed. It feels as if the motor causes some drag under pedal power alone.....until the speed goes above 16, almost as if a magic clutch has disconnected the motor!

The other happy discovery is that both our Motus bikes are fitted at the factory with Gaadi tubes as original, so punctures on a trip can be fixed easily by without removing the rear wheel (which is much more of a hassle on the hub gear versions).

I did the same on a Hub geared bike I sold a while back, except I went larger as I was struggling lol I did see the hub geared version online when researching mine and it looks very nice.

I never noticed the motor cutting out though, probably as it carries the speed very well. The drag though I did notice when not using power though that was only on flats/downhill so not a big issue.

Tyres and tubes I'll need to look at the bike again, I couldn't find a listing for the 2021 model anymore. I will be changing them both though as my preferred tyre is either Schwalbe Marathons or Continental Contact Plus.

But yeah, get out there and ride brother


But yeah, get out there and ride brother

Hehe I will. Only did 10 miles today and legs are achey (Im very unfit), looking forward to getting out 😀

 

[steveindenmark]

All ebikes are heavy. But the plan is never to carry them and once you are moving you do not notice it. I bought a Moustache Friday 28.7 at the end of last year. I have a 40km round trip commute that I do most days of the year. But some days in winter you just cannot be bothered. The Moustache has almost eradicated those days. I have ridden 1500km on my road bike this year. Out in the fresh air,

and about 500km on my E bike.

I think the next big cycling thing is going to be ebike touring, especially with pensioners. Hopefully we will get ebike campsites with all the charging facilities.

 

[Drago]

I have to say my Venerable old Subway E isn't stupid heavy, part of the reason I eschewed nonsense like suspension.

 

[youngoldbloke]

My SLe is under 12kg, bare, but might not suit everyone

 

[wiggydiggy]

All ebikes are heavy. But the plan is never to carry them and once you are moving you do not notice it. I bought a Moustache Friday 28.7 at the end of last year. I have a 40km round trip commute that I do most days of the year. But some days in winter you just cannot be bothered. The Moustache has almost eradicated those days. I have ridden 1500km on my road bike this year. Out in the fresh air,

View attachment 682009 and about 500km on my E bike.

I think the next big cycling thing is going to be ebike touring, especially with pensioners. Hopefully we will get ebike campsites with all the charging facilities.

Thanks for the advice. I've read your previous posts about that bike and think it's very nice, it's definitely the type of EBike I'd want to upgrade to. The cycle touring is one I'm thinking about, I think in this country I'd be best ringing ahead to a site and asking if they can charge it for me. One alternative for now is to get a pitch with an electric hook up and they can cost a lot.

I have to say my Venerable old Subway E isn't stupid heavy, part of the reason I eschewed nonsense like suspension.

A while back when I was looking to buy one, that was the price range I was looking at. I do like the suspension on mine as I'm not used to the bumping on my arms so much right now so this will help.

My SLe is under 12kg, bare, but might not suit everyone


View attachment 682037

👍

‐-------------

Done my second ride on it today, 15 miles and I ran the motor most of the time plus the lights. Strange thing was the range when I left was 42mls, when I've got back it's 48mls 🙃 I've got a self charging EBike lol.

 

[a.twiddler]

Perhaps exercising the battery is helping to recondition it to give it a longer lease of life. They probably need regular use to keep them healthy. A bit like humans, I suppose.

 

[wiggydiggy]

Perhaps exercising the battery is helping to recondition it to give it a longer lease of life. They probably need regular use to keep them healthy. A bit like humans, I suppose.

Definitely. Both this and another battery I've picked out of storage (after about a year of none use) were holding around 40-50% charge. According to the manual we should have charged them after 6 months but life events made us forget.

I'm planning on running this battery flat and recharging full a few times to refresh it, nothing in manual says that will harm it on,y not to let it get to 0% if it is stored for a long time.

 

[steveindenmark]

The battery on mine sidste inside the frame. When I wanted to charge it I took it out of the bike and into the house to charge. After about 2000km the bike would not start up.

I left it at the LBS and when I called back they told me I had to leave the battery on the bike occasionally to charge it up as the bike battery does not charge the bike computer. There is a separate system that does that from the mains. They also gave me a diagnostic printout which showed exactly how much percentage and how many kms I had done in each mode.

This is just for information.

 

[CXRAndy]

I think the next big cycling thing is going to be ebike touring

Funny you should say that, Mrs and I are hoping to do the Rhine tour on our ebikes

 

[wiggydiggy]

The battery on mine sidste inside the frame. When I wanted to charge it I took it out of the bike and into the house to charge. After about 2000km the bike would not start up.

I left it at the LBS and when I called back they told me I had to leave the battery on the bike occasionally to charge it up as the bike battery does not charge the bike computer. There is a separate system that does that from the mains. They also gave me a diagnostic printout which showed exactly how much percentage and how many kms I had done in each mode.

This is just for information.

Both the bikes can charge the batteries when attached (externally) to the bikes, and both bike computers do have their own battery powered computers.

I found the manual for the batteries but I need to find them for the computers now I think to check that.

Cheers.

Edit

Found them (Bosch Intuvia). It doesn't mention needing to charge the battery on the bike to keep the cycle computer charged, it does mention (which I hadnt found yet) USB sockets on them both. They work both ways so I can charge the computers if flat, and charge devices whilst on a ride.