The new Raleigh One couldn’t look more different than the British bike brand’s legendary Chopper if it tried. It’s an ultra-minimal e-bike in the VanMoof mould – no coincidence, given the duo rumoured to be involved in shaping it – but with a few features fans of the Dutch mobility firm have long been begging for.
From the off it seems to tick almost every box on the modern e-bike feature wish list: a battery stealthed inside the frame, rather than bolted on the outside; fully integrated front and rear lights (with the front one able to be moved from the frame to the optional front rack); a clean, low maintenance Gates carbon belt drive; and an SP Connect mount up front for using your phone as navigation.
Launching first in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK in Off White and Sage Grey colours, the Raleigh One will arrive as a single frame style (there’s no step-through option here) and in one size only. The integrated design reminds me of the Tenways CGO009 I reviewed recently, while the colours give it more than a whiff of VanMoof.
Unlike the VanMoof S6, however, the One’s battery can be removed for convenient charging even if you can’t bring the bike itself to a mains socket. Raleigh has also gone off-the-shelf, rather than develop its own components, which should mean maintenance and servicing are more straightforward.
That includes the 250W Mivice motor mounted to the rear wheel hub, which promises 80km of assistance in eco mode or 50km in boost mode. There’s no VanMoof-style boost button for quickly getting up to speed at junctions or traffic lights, though. It’ll need just under two and a half hours for a full charge. Stopping comes from Tektro hydraulic disc brakes.
Naturally there’s also a smartphone companion app, with GPS, auto unlocking as you approach, and an integrated alarm system – though some features are being gated behind a £7/ €78 per month subscription paywall. That includes the automatic stolen mode activation and maintenance alerts.
The Raleigh One is going on sale next month for £2399/€2699 – that’s around $3000 though there’s curently no confirmed US launch.
