Raleigh and Rambo e-bikes at Costco (Raleigh No Longer Available)

[PineNut]

Costco has the Raleigh Talus e-bike for $1100. MSRP is $1700. This model has a Suntour rear hub motor, Suntour XCM suspension fork, Tektro hydraulic brakes, 410Wh battery, and 9-speed Shimano Altus shifter. However, some user reviews mention broken/cracked battery cases during shipment due to packaging. At least Costco has a great return policy and Raleigh has good support too.

Raleigh Talus at Costco

They also offer a Rambo with a Bafang 750W BBSH02 mid-drive motor for $2000. Costco calls the model an "R750 G3" but it appears to be very similar to the Rambo Savage which is currently listed at $2400. The Costco version also throws in front and rear luggage racks, "saddlebags", and fenders.

Rambo R750 G3 at Costco

 

[BrianK]

They also offer a Rambo with a Bafang 750W BBSH02 mid-drive motor for $2000. Costco calls the model an "R750 G3" but it appears to be very similar to the Rambo Savage which is currently listed at $2400. The Costco version also throws in front and rear luggage racks, "saddlebags", and fenders.

Rambo R750 G3 at Costco

I just picked up a Rambo R750 G3 a couple weeks ago. A local archery shop had been selling them as hunting e bikes but had gotten out of carrying them and wanted it gone so I got it for $1200. I changed the front sprocket to 46t, put 30 (max) psi in the Kenda Juggernauts, an adjustable riser and suspension seat post on it, mud flaps and rear luggage rack, and it’s functioning well for me as a back roads bike.

 

[Browneye]

$1099? Good. Cheap. Bike.
I'm not a fat-tire fan, so the Raleigh works. Ask your LBS if they'll service it for you if you need a tuneup or something fixed. If you're a bike-tech, then you're good to go.

The good news is you have some time to beat it, and still return it to Coscto. Reviews say if you can get it all in one piece you should be good to go.

REI has some decent bikes as well. None of these are up to Big-3 level IMO, but gee, for the money it's hard to go wrong.

 

[LimboJim]

I read the Costco reviews... there aren't that many, yet several different people reported damage to both bikes when they unpacked them. Apparently Costco's shipping folks are none too careful with bike boxes

 

[pocomo]

Thanks for the tip @PineNut. I just ordered one of the Raleigh bikes. I will report back to this thread with impressions.

If it arrives trashed it's not a big deal for me to return it to the local warehouse; otherwise I wouldn't be taking a flyer on this.

 

[onlineaddy]

Wish I were tall enough for the Raleigh. The standover height on it is 32 inches.

 

[pocomo]

I'm no geometry expert, but the Costco bike appears to use the same frame as the current Raleigh Miscoe. That bike (https://www.raleighusa.com/electric/leisure/misceo-ie-step-over) shows a standover for the medium frame at 744mm (29.3 inches).

 

[onlineaddy]

According to Raleigh, it's 813 mm for the medium. But, they state the same height for the large. So, may be a typo.

Wish Costco had the step thru. But Raleigh's site has the standover for that SM (674 mm) to be higher than the MD (669 mm)! So, yeah, they need to hire a better editor.

@pocomo if you could measure the actual standover once you've received your bike, I would really appreciate it.

 

[pocomo]

I am happy to do so. Given that the top tube is sloped, at what point do you measure?

Also, it will be some time before I receive, assemble and measure this bike. I doubt Costco will be carrying these for very long; you might want to take a flyer yourself if you have a warehouse nearby for an easy return.

 

[PineNut]

The Raleigh and Rambo e-bikes are no longer available at Costco so I changed the title of this thread. I don't see much available at this time.

 

[pocomo]

I got a shipping notification but delivery is more than a week out. I will still report back here for the sake of any general curiousity.

 

[PineNut]

Great!

I'd be very interested to hear how the purchase goes for you and if the bike arrives in one piece. At that price, the Raleigh Talus looks to be a very good deal. Not many e-bikes come with a major brand name and hydraulic brakes for $1100.

 

[Browneye]

I'm fairly certain you can still get a Trek Electra, or a Electric Bike Company ebike. They were both well stock during the first couple of months of the pandemic.

I had waited in line at at my local trek dealer, 5 stores, the local one was only letting one person with a sales agent at a time. Finally gave up. But while I was waiting a semi trailer unloaded pallet after pallet of electra bikes and wheeled them into the store. At least a hundred or more of them.

REI still had some bikes, last time I looked as well. And I think RadPower is still shipping bikes. Ride1Up may have some bikes too.

 

[pocomo]

The Costco Raleigh bike arrived yesterday; I built and test-rode it today after work. The unpack/build process was easy and took less than an hour.

Mine showed up in 95% condition. The packing job was great but the battery did break free from the mount during transit and was bouncing around inside the box. The case didn't crack, but a small plastic tab that is part of the mounting mechanism is broken off. This does not affect the electrical connection; I secured it with a velcro strap for a test ride.

The bicycle is of decent quality, about what you would expect from a $500 mountain bike. Bike store quality, not WalMart quality. In particular I was impressed that the wheels are perfectly straight right out of the box. The frame was well-wrapped in foam sheets and doesn't show any scratches or imperfections.

Riding impressions: The rear hub is geared and does whine noticeably but it is not really intrusive. The knobby tire noise is actually louder than the motor at street speeds. The index shifting is 9/10 right out of the box but could use a little tweaking. The SunTour drivetrain is impressive at this price level in that it is torque sensitive rather than cadence driven; the power has a very natural feel. The power cuts out at about 18.5 mph at medium boost; it might go higher in full boost but I didn't test that exhaustively. The Tektro hydraulic brakes are excellent with high quality levers. The Suntour suspension fork is not excellent; I would prefer a hard fork actually, but it's fine for the price.

@onlineaddy I measure 31 inches stand over at the midpoint of the sloped top tube. Honestly I was surprised by this number as the bike feels really small in an 'M' frame size. So small in fact that my 5'11" wife has declared it too small to ride comfortably and it will be going back to the warehouse. If there is anybody in Greater Boston that wants to come check it out and possibly take it off my hands I will hang onto it until the weekend.

Overall it would be hard to beat this bike at anything near $1500. My first ebike was a 2015 BBS02 conversion with a cadence sensor that cost double what I paid Costco and I much prefer the feel of this Raleigh. I would swap out the tires for non-knobbies but everything else I would keep the way it is. Great value.

I'd be happy to answer any further questions if I can.

 

[Browneye]

Uhm...where's the pics?

 

[PineNut]

Nice to hear the SunTour motor/drive system has torque sensing! I'm a fan of torque sensing so I think that makes the Raleigh bike a really good deal.

Too bad Costco is out of the Raleigh bike and that the medium frame is too small for your use. Thanks for your report!

By the way, I see that Costco now has the Rambo e-bike back in stock (hopefully the Raleigh will follow)...

Rambo e-bike back in stock at Costco

 

[onlineaddy]

@onlineaddy I measure 31 inches stand over at the midpoint of the sloped top tube. Honestly I was surprised by this number as the bike feels really small in an 'M' frame size. So small in fact that my 5'11" wife has declared it too small to ride comfortably and it will be going back to the warehouse.

Yeah, that's odd the standover being so high for a bike whose other geometry measurements are apparently unusually small.

 

[pocomo]

Uhm...where's the pics?

Ya know, are pictures really necessary? Not trying to be a jerk but it looks like a basic hardtail mountain bike with a frame-mounted battery and a black rear hub. Exactly like how it looks on the Raleigh site. Is there something in particular you wanted to see?

 

[tomjasz]

there is no such motor. BBSH02. It’s a BBS02B. IMNSHO not a good fatbike motor.

 

[pocomo]

there is no such motor. BBSH02. It’s a BBS02B. IMNSHO not a good fatbike motor.

Yup, BBS02B, the non-HD version, 750w. I used it for commuting on the street for 3 years on a dutch-style city bike. It was a great intro to electric mobility; eventually the battery system (not the motor) failed and I decided to move on.