Saudidave

Yes, I live in Poynton, opposite the train station. I'd go Woodsons if I were you, not that I have anything against the NW Mountain Bike Centre, but Woodsons is closer to you and they are big in to electric bikes. Simon is really knowledgeable and helpful and has ebikes himself. When my Motus was submerged in floodwater for several hours last year and the hub gear later got noisy, I took the wheel in to him and he did a full oil bath service for £25.00, which I thought was great value. Put it this way, if I ever wanted to buy another Raleigh ebike, I wouldn't think of going anywhere else. Despite my bad experience with a badly specified and assembled bike, It's great now it is sorted out, the faults have been designed out on post 2020 models and had I bought it from Woodsons I think it would have had a much better pre delivery check.

The only problem with the hub gear, pre 2020 is the lack of a chain tensioner, resulting in the need for chain adjustment every couple of hundred miles which means turning the bike upside down and getting the spanners out. The horizontal drop outs are short on adjustment room too which adds to the issue. Since I've fitted the tensioner at a cost of £20.00 it's been absolutely fine, with no need to adjust the rear wheel. I would also say that the gearing on my 2019 8 speed Nexus is a tad low and I may fit a smaller back sprocket next time I need a chain swap, but it isn't a major issue for me by any means.

My example has disc brakes, a frame mounted battery and the racktime rack is very secure indeed' so I don't have those problems. I'm not sure why you can't tighten the RH axle bolt tight enough to secure it as I've actually stripped a couple of the chrome dome headed bolts by overtightening them! Must get a torque wrench.................. I'm not sure what you mean by the hub gear outer fixing clip? A chain tensioner is an easy fix once you know how. On my frame there is a recess and two holes on the chainstays forward of the drop outs. You get a gear hanger off ebay, (£15.00) fix it with two bolts and washers(£5.00 or less) to the inside of the chainstay, with them. More washers are the added if required to one of the gear hanger fixing bolts to align the tensioner jockey wheel parallel to the chain line. the tensioner bolts to the hanger as per normal. It took me about 2 hours to install when I'd worked all that out. The anti turn washers can be fitted facing in to or out of the dropouts. My bike came with the tabs facing in to the closed end of the dropouts but looking at new Raleigh Motus examples in Holfrauds and other LBS's I observed that they were a mixture of facing in and out. Simon at Woodsons in Stockport confirmed they could go any way and prior to installing the tensioner I reversed mine to face out to the open end of the drop out and thus provide more room for chain adjustment.

My purchase was something of a Protracted impulse purchase - if there is such a thing. I'd toyed with the idea of buying an ebike for a year or so and was reasonably up to speed with specs etc, then went to look at a Halfords sale at my wife's suggestion. A Saturday morning inspection of a £700.00 folder turned in to a day of ebike shop visits, then a night of googling followed by a further, intense day on the Sunday. At 2:00 p.m. on the Sunday I saw the Motus at £2,250.00 and it met my spec requirements. I then beat the shop down to a £2,000.00 deal and went for it. I'd had two Raleigh bikes some 20 years before, a Record and a Granada tourer and they were both quality machines so that swayed my decision. My bike came with quality components, badly put together and I've fettled it to my requirements; Brookes B17 seat, Marathon pluses, chain tensioner, Shimano platform/clip in pedals, cateye lights. eco grips, handlebar mirror, full Rixen and Kaul luggage etc. Everything is adjusted to perfection, so it's going to last me a while and I love it, but when it comes down to replacement I suspect Riese & Muller will be a port of call.......

I doubt if the dodgy assembly was anything other than Raleigh. They aren't delivered to the L.B.S with the gear cables, mudguards, or chain guard not fitted. Those things are are assembled by Raleigh albeit somewhere in eastern Europe. Additionally the mudguard bracket failed because it was a poor design, and the choice of horizontal dropouts coupled with a disc brake and 8 speed Nexus hub that Shimano deemed non- compatible were specs chosen by Raleigh and rectified on the following year model. Raleigh failed miserably specifying the bike, did insufficient product testing then went in to denial about it when I challenged them. If that happened with a car, it would be all over the tabloids and the subject of a product recall!

The guy at Bosch in Germany told me that there is a moisture sensor in the PCB and it will produce an error code on the display if the board is compromised. I refer to it at response 33 earlier in this topic.

I wasn’t replying to you ebike but to Pershing

I was was unlucky I think to have such a badly assembled bike from the off, however I do believe the 2019 motus was badly designed in respect of components. In retrospect a derailleur version would have been a lot less trouble for me. If anyone has the hub gear version and wants to fit a chain tensioner I’d be happy to share my experiences. Fitting one requires only a little engineering skill and costs about £20.00 for the parts.

Thanks but the flood was 6 months ago and if you read the thread you will note that I did contact Bosch and listened to their advice. Others have advised me to strip the motor down which would void the warranty and there is a more hi tech solution - the engines have sensors to detect water!

Thankyou for your concerns however you appear to have no have no real construction knowledge and your response, whilst well meant is a little OTT. Your brothers house must have been in a poor state before the flood if water destroyed the wall. Water would only damage plaster, or timber by inducing dry rot. I am a building surveyor and a corporate member of the chartered institute of building. I survey houses for a living and have done for 49 years. My house is masonry construction and will will be fine when I put in a a new kitchen, repair a bit of plaster and redecorate it!

A bit of a negative regarding the Raleigh Motus Grand Tour: I bought mine new in November 2018. The gear cable retention clip (8 speed nexus hub) fell off after the 5th outing (120mile point I think it was ) and I lost all gears The assembly standard was atrocious. The mudguards rattled and the handlebar stem was loose at a couple of hundred miles. I had to fit rubber anti vibration pads to the mudguard stays to cure the rattle. The mudguard support fixed to the rear rack broke lose at at 1000 miles leaving the bike unable to be ridden. I had to tie it the mudguard bracket up with string to get home. Raleigh redesigned the bracket on the 2020 model. I have now secured the mudguard bracket with two nylon zip ties and it is nice and stable! The chainguard kept falling off and I had to replace it with a new one @500 miles The rear dropouts don't have enough movement room to adjust the wheel and since ebikes stretch chains at an alarming rate the bike needs a Chain Tensioner to avoid a sloppy and clattering chain. Shimano's website clearly stated that horizontal dropouts are not compatible with the Nexus 8 disc brake version by the way. I approached Raleigh about this but their customer services were best described as unhelpful and downright obstructive. They actually changed the drop out type and fitted a chain tensioner to the 2020 model but refused to admit that the 2019 model had a design fault. I fitted a tensioner myself in the end as it was easier and quicker than arguing with them. I've now fixed and modified the bike and I love it, but if I hadn't been tech savvy and able to service bikes myself it would have been a £2,000.00 disaster. It was a badly specified bike with quality components but poorly assembled Caveat Emptor!

I enquired at the time. I rang Bosch in Germany and they assured me that if I had no error messages on the display then it would be OK. Apparently there is a sensor in the motor to detect moisture, just as there is in a mobile phone

Hi all I finally got around to fitting the tensioner to one of the slots on the chainstay and after fixing a washer in between the chainstay and hanger at the front bolt position, to act as a shim and get the jockey wheel exactly parallel to the chain, all is running quietly and smoothly. The tensioner is working well. I haven't put the chain retention loop back on yet until I've undertaken extensive testing. There is always a way you just have to find it!

I did think about removing the non turn washer and posted on the cycling UK forum for views on it. There was a big "don't risk it you will snap the axle due to ebike torque" response so I heeded that advice!

THanks for that. I bought an Alfine one myself and cut the tab off, but mounting it as you have and with it sitting on top of the non turn washer I felt that there wasn't really enough thread on the axle for the nut to grip and also the tensioner arm was sitting too far from the chain with the jockey wheel spindle at full stretch so that the whole assembly appeared a little too "stressed). Also there is a need to keep adjusting it manually too, albeit that isn't much of a task. Overall I think my proposal will be more stable and will of course adjust automatically. Dave

I bought a Raleigh Motus Grand Tour, hub gear version for Xmas last year and one or two niggling assembly issues aside (now sorted) it's been a great bike, with one flaw. The chain on my 2019 model doesn't have a tensioner and tensioning the chain seems to be a relatively frequent maintenance chore. Raleigh have recognised this and the current 2020 stable of Raleigh hub gear bikes have then fitted, Centros Gates drive version aside. After a lot of thought however, I now have a solution: I studied the latest model Motus grand tour in a couple of bike shops, scoured ebay for an old school hanger accessory like they had on 70's 5 gear sports bikes and then after not too much searching ebay again I found what appears to be the same, or a very similar tensioner to that which Raleigh have fitted to the modified 2020 model. I can bolt the tensioner to the inside of the right hand chainstay quite easily with two bolts utilising the existing slots in the chainstay, after filing the hanger a bit so that the curved top edge is flat and it doesn't look "stuck on" I can then bolt the tensioner to that and it should, in theory work in exactly the same way as the 2020 modification that Raleigh have adopted. I've reversed the NT washers as well now to give some further room for wheel adjustment so I'll touch up the damaged paint whilst I'm at it. I can't see any reason at all why this shouldn't work perfectly when adjusted properly so that the chain runs perfectly in line. I don't think it will be necessary, but if it does a washer to shim out one side of the hanger should sort that. This is what Raleigh have done: This is what I have This is the hanger and tensioner I'm planning to install. The tensioner is either the same or very close to the one Raleigh use. The pair were £20.00 on ebay There is always a way, you just have to find it. Dave

Nine weeks on and it would appear my conclusion was a little premature! I’ve now ridden about 150 miles on the bike since the flood and at around 100 miles in to that 150, freewheeling became noisy and there was definitely more vibration through the pedals. By 130 miles in the nexus hub was making a scraping and screeching sound so I took the wheel in to a local Raleigh dealer, Woodsons in Edgeley, Stockport and Simon did a full oil service to it. It’s now as new so hopefully disaster has been averted. The Bosch motor has been and remains faultless in operation. Cosmetically the bike still looks new. Dave

Seven weeks on and it operates normally, so it doesn’t appear damaged. In any way.

You have either been very lucky or they are waterproof in the true sense, not just splashproof

Thanks for the response but the video link is for a different Bosch motor, not mine. I spoke with Bosch technical support this a.m. and was assured that if I didn’t have an error code on my display unit then all was O.K. That will do for me; I have no error codes, the bike rides, changes power levels normally and charges normally so I think it will be just fine. Time to spray it with muc off, then hit with a pressure washer. (Not!) Thanks to all for advice, Dave

Thanks for the response but it doesn't really make much sense and is gobbledegook without punctuation. The warranty is irrelevant to the question. I wouldn't expect Bosch or any other manufacturer to honour a warranty which breached the use beyond the purpose for which it was deigned As regards your personal opinion, again, not a lot of logic in it. They don't give the cycle parts of this bike away for free and the battery on it , which retails at circa £500.00 wasn't water damaged, it sits above the level of the motor and is intact and pristine, therefore how have you developed the opinion that the damage isolated to the motor, if any, will deem it beyond economic repair? I'm sure that if it isn't waterproof as opposed to just splash proof, which it must be sitting low down behind the front wheel of a bicycle, it will be damaged, hence the reason for this post in the first place The question is, is it likely damaged at all? Dave

Thanks for the response, however saving the PCB (controller board) only becomes an issue if the motor isn't sealed against the ingress of water, hence the post to try to gain knoowledge of that happening

Hi Andy A house and contents won't cover it, unless you specifically point it out,have it recorded and pay an additional premium for it. If you don't bikes are usually covered but with a value limit, say 300-500 pounds per bike. Mine has been registered as a £2,250.00 single bike and the loss adjuster has noted it and told me to have a service at my L.B.S. They will only replace it if the cost of a repair exceeds replacement or is close to it. With respect to L.B.S.'s selling ebikes, a large majority are father to son enthusiast bike shops who know a lot about traditional bike mechanics, but 3 parts of diddly squat about ebike technology, hence my post. I reckon myself that it will knacker prematurely due to internal corrosion of pcb's over time but a numbty bike mechanic will have no understanding of that, hence this post in a search for experience and knowledge of the technology. The motor is a sealed unit (in the engineering, but not in the waterproof sense), so aforesaid numbty bike mechanic won't have a clue if it is dry inside or what effect the dirty waters may or may not have had.

Hi My house and garage were flooded last Wednesday and my Raleigh Motus Grand tour had the motor 75% submerged for approx 8 hours. The water was above the level of the cranks so the key is the extent of water sealing the motor has. Has anyone got any knowledge of the potential effects of this please? I have already emailed Bosch about this and await their response. It rides and operates perfectly by the way, but I am aware that this kind of treatment causes potential long term issues with domestic appliances and cars as it causes corrosion internally over time Thanks, Dave