Raleigh has an e-bike for every type of riding - which one is right for you?

Who didn’t spend their childhood pulling wheelies on a Raleigh Chopper or a Grifter, or getting air on a Raleigh Burner after watching ET?

OK, you might be getting a bit long in the tooth for those particular moves, but as a grown up you can still experience the classic Raleigh fun: there’s a whole range of Raleigh e-bikes, equipped with the latest tech and designed to power you to whatever type of riding you want to do.

Whether it’s effortlessly speeding about the city or a bit of extra oomph for your off-road adventures and bike packing trips, Raleigh’s ever-growing e-bike range has it covered.

Let's take a look at four models, each designed to excel in a specific area.

Raleigh Trace

If you want to make the morning commute at least 10 times more enjoyable without breaking a sweat, a lightweight, speedy machine like the Raleigh Trace is the e-bike for the job. The Trace has a classic-looking Raleigh frame with sleek, straight tubes and at a glance, you might not even know it’s an e-bike. 

The 250Wh battery is tucked neatly away in the down tube and the Ebikemotion motor is in the rear hub. You’ve got a discreet display and control panel on the top tube. 

The Trace weighs 16.5kg, which is impressively light for an e-bike. On the flat you could easily find yourself pedalling at over 15.5kph without the electric assistance - but when you come to a hill or need to accelerate away from the lights, that’s when you’ll really notice the boost. The range of 50 miles could actually be a conservative estimate with this bike.

Of course, low weight also means low stress for apartment dwellers who carry bikes up and down steps.

As you’d expect of an urban machine like the Trace, it comes with all the necessary fixtures and fittings - front and rear lights, mudguards, pannier rack and mounts for more racks front and rear.

There’s a Shimano nine-speed drivetrain with a 40t 1x chainring and Tektro hydraulic disc brakes - and it’s priced at a very competitive £2,199.

Raleigh Motus

If you’re looking to take commuting to the next level and need more range and extra comfort than the lightweight Trace with its smaller battery supplies, then check out the Raleigh Motus. 

With a bigger 400Wh battery, or 500Wh on the iTour and Grand Tour models, you can get up to twice the range of the Trace - 100 miles compared to 50. 

The Motus has an RST suspension fork with 50mm of travel and it comes in different frame configurations giving you the choice of step-through or crossbar as well as different specs with different gear systems - derailleur or hub. The top-spec Motus Grand Tour is powered by a Bosch motor that supplies the assistance to the cranks rather than the rear wheel. 

Some people prefer the weight of the motor in a more central position - and the assistance comes in a smoother, more natural feeling way. It’s also worth noting that the Bosch Active Line motor is virtually noise free.

With the bigger battery and motor drive unit plus the suspension, you’re looking at an overall sturdier bike with a weight of 28.5kg.

However, with a range that could take you from Raleigh’s founding city of Nottingham all the way to London without breaking a sweat, a lot of easy riding is guaranteed. The bike is Priced from £2,199 for the standard Motus to £2,799 for the Motus Grand Tour. 

Raleigh Centros

The Raleigh Centros is for people who want to go further afield or off the beaten track. It’s basically designed for adventures with no limits for everyone. It has a 130-mile range thanks to a 625Wh battery that beats both the Motus and the Trace, and it has a superior motor too. 

You get a mid-mounted Bosch Performance Line motor, which supplies more power to the cranks than the Active Line of the Motus, so that you can get up steep, gnarly climbs by just finessing the pedals.

The Suntour Nex suspension fork has 63mm of travel - 13mm more than the Motus’s fork - so that going off-road is not only enabled but positively encouraged. The wheels are 650b - a slightly smaller diameter than the standard road 700c of the Motus and the Trace, which gives extra manoeuvrability, strength and tyre clearance. As such they come with chunky 55mm Schwalbe Marathons.

For portage, it comes with a pannier rack but there’s also a built-in modular rail system making it easy to carry extra water bottles and batteries if you’re nowhere near a water or electricity supply.

There are two models: one uses a Shimano Nexus eight-speed hub gear and the other has a Shimano Alivio nine-speed derailleur system. Prices are £2,999 for the derailleur version and £3.099 for the hub gear-equipped Centros.

Raleigh Modum

If you’re after an e-bike that can handle heavy-duty commuting and heavy cargo haulage too, the Raleigh Modum is an all-new urban utility bike that ticks all the boxes, combining features of the Motus and Centros with a cargo-friendly frame.

It has a 500Wh battery and 100-mile range like the Motus. But it has the superior Bosch Performance Line motor of the Centros, so that when it’s in beast-of-burden mode, it can power any payload.

Small 20in wheels leave plenty of space to load the Modum up while keeping the centre of gravity as low as possible. The other benefit of small wheels is that they’re super strong - especially when they’re shod with super wide 60mm Schwalbe Pick-Up cargo tyres.

It can go but it can also stop: the Modum is specced with Shimano MT200 mountain bike hydraulic disc brakes with a big 180mm rotor up front and 160mm at the rear.

As for the gearing, to keep things simple there’s a bombproof Shimano Nexus five-speed hub and a 38t chainring - nicely judged gears that will work well with the Bosch motor for a good range of speeds, keeping the cadence even. 

The Modum is all about keeping things simple and practical, and for that reason the aluminium frame comes in just one size, with all the adjustability taken up by the dropper post and the stem.

It comes with SKS mudguards, lights front and rear, and a modular carrier that makes it simple to add extra haulage capacity if you need it. And finally, in keeping with the simplicity and practicality that is its USP, it comes in a single build option for £3,399.

So, that’s four extremely compelling reasons to swap four wheels for two. Raleigh’s e-bike range doesn’t even stop there, either. Looking for a long-tail e-cargo bike or something else not covered here? Check out Raleigh's website for details of all the others. 

If you’re after an e-bike that can handle heavy-duty commuting and heavy cargo haulage too, the Raleigh Modum is an all-new urban utility bike that ticks all the boxes, combining features of the Motus and Centros with a cargo-friendly frame.

It has a 500Wh battery and 100-mile range like the Motus. But it has the superior Bosch Performance Line motor of the Centros, so that when it’s in beast-of-burden mode, it can power any payload.

Small 20in wheels leave plenty of space to load the Modum up while keeping the centre of gravity as low as possible. The other benefit of small wheels is that they’re super strong - especially when they’re shod with super wide 60mm Schwalbe Pick-Up cargo tyres.

It can go but it can also stop: the Modum is specced with Shimano MT200 mountain bike hydraulic disc brakes with a big 180mm rotor up front and 160mm at the rear.

As for the gearing, to keep things simple there’s a bombproof Shimano Nexus five-speed hub and a 38t chainring - nicely judged gears that will work well with the Bosch motor for a good range of speeds, keeping the cadence even. 

The Modum is all about keeping things simple and practical, and for that reason the aluminium frame comes in just one size, with all the adjustability taken up by the dropper post and the stem.

It comes with SKS mudguards, lights front and rear, and a modular carrier that makes it simple to add extra haulage capacity if you need it. And finally, in keeping with the simplicity and practicality that is its USP, it comes in a single build option for £3,399.

So, that’s four extremely compelling reasons to swap four wheels for two. Raleigh’s e-bike range doesn’t even stop there, either. Looking for a long-tail e-cargo bike or something else not covered here? Check out Raleigh's website for details of all the others.