Just ordered eBike #2...Ride1Up Roadster V2

[Astrotraveler]

Hi there. Bike #2 is on the way. Bike #1 is an Aventon Aventure. It's a fine bike for recreational riding here in the California Wine Country, but it is a huge and heavy beast to transport long distances, even with a pickup truck. Part of the time I care for an elderly parent who lives in the Coachella Valley about 8 hours south of my home by car. My last tour of duty in the desert I took one of my analog rides, a vintage Mountain Goat Whiskeytown Racer for which I even built the wheels about 30 years ago. Most of the riding in the desert is flat and fast, so the analog bike was okay, but having an eBike made me lazy and the decades have scaled back my cycling capabilities. The Roadster V2 (single speed, belt drive, less than half the weight of the Aventon) is a lot easier to transport and given the fact that I pedal eBikes just as I would analog bikes, I should get about 50 miles a charge which is a good daily or every other day ride. I get about 80 miles per charge on the Aventon but it has a much bigger battery. I set my bikes as Level 2 bikes, have zero inclination to use or need a throttle and use middle and low PAS levels depending on terrain (1-3 out of 5).

 

[Astrotraveler]

The Roadster V2 is awesome. Though I bought mine around Thanksgiving for the current SRP of $1095, I saw that Ride 1Up had a Black Friday sale on the model for $845. The bike is a good deal at SRP for the right rider and $845 is unbelievable.

So what makes the bike so good and who is it designed for?

First off, it's not recognizable as an e-bike. The battery is small and tucked into the thick aluminum down tube. It looks like the typical single-speed urban messenger bike.

Second, it's very simple. Belt drive, single-spreed, u-brakes tiny B/W display with the basics, stout unboosted gear ratio and 5 levels of PAS. It uses a cadence sensor rather than torque sensor which is actually brilliant in this context. Given the stout gearing unboosted, this is not a bike especially fun to pedal unboosted. Though the belt for the belt drive has an estimated life of 10k miles, actual life depends on how much stress you put on it, how carefully to maintain optimum tension and what lubrication you use (it MUST be 100% silicone lubricant with NO petroleum distillates in the base). I've read multiple long term user reviews complaining of broken belts around 5000 miles. In each case, the owner used silicone spray lubricants that had a petroleum base rather than the specified CRC 100% silicone lubricant. You'd think a belt breakage on a long ride (more on long rides in a second) would be a disaster requiring the rider to walk the bike home, but no. Because the PAS boost is mated to a cadence sensor in the bottom bracket assembly, boost works when you pedal without a belt. Your range is much less since the rider can't do any actual propulsion work to take some load off the battery, but there's a good change you'll get home riding, not walking.

Third, the bike is light for an e-bike. If you're a boost fiend (3+) and lazy pedaler, you'll see around 20 miles per charge if of average height and weight. If you are easy on boost (PAS 1-2) but still lazy, you'll see closer to 30-35 miles per charge. If you are gentle on boost and do some propulsion work, the range easily exceeds the manufacturer's estimates. Doing steady pedaling with boost 1-2, I see around 50 miles per charge of the tiny battery, and average between 17 and 21 mph achieving that range. I'm 5'10" 175# and reasonably fit (biking isn't my only regular physical exertion). The lightness of the bike makes for long range and decent average velocity on a small battery.

I'm very happy with the bike as it fits easily in any vehicle for transport, offers useful range and average velocity on a charge, and it inexpensive.

 

[tompson7]

The Roadster V2 is awesome. Though I bought mine around Thanksgiving for the current SRP of $1095, I saw that Ride 1Up had a Black Friday sale on the model for $845. The bike is a good deal at SRP for the right rider and $845 is unbelievable.

So what makes the bike so good and who is it designed for?

First off, it's not recognizable as an e-bike. The battery is small and tucked into the thick aluminum down tube. It looks like the typical single-speed urban messenger bike.

Second, it's very simple. Belt drive, single-spreed, u-brakes tiny B/W display with the basics, stout unboosted gear ratio and 5 levels of PAS. It uses a cadence sensor rather than torque sensor which is actually brilliant in this context. Given the stout gearing unboosted, this is not a bike especially fun to pedal unboosted. Though the belt for the belt drive has an estimated life of 10k miles, actual life depends on how much stress you put on it, how carefully to maintain optimum tension and what lubrication you use (it MUST be 100% silicone lubricant with NO petroleum distillates in the base). I've read multiple long term user reviews complaining of broken belts around 5000 miles. In each case, the owner used silicone spray lubricants that had a petroleum base rather than the specified CRC 100% silicone lubricant. You'd think a belt breakage on a long ride (more on long rides in a second) would be a disaster requiring the rider to walk the bike home, but no. Because the PAS boost is mated to a cadence sensor in the bottom bracket assembly, boost works when you pedal without a belt. Your range is much less since the rider can't do any actual propulsion work to take some load off the battery, but there's a good change you'll get home riding, not walking.

Third, the bike is light for an e-bike. If you're a boost fiend (3+) and lazy pedaler, you'll see around 20 miles per charge if of average height and weight. If you are easy on boost (PAS 1-2) but still lazy, you'll see closer to 30-35 miles per charge. If you are gentle on boost and do some propulsion work, the range easily exceeds the manufacturer's estimates. Doing steady pedaling with boost 1-2, I see around 50 miles per charge of the tiny battery, and average between 17 and 21 mph achieving that range. I'm 5'10" 175# and reasonably fit (biking isn't my only regular physical exertion). The lightness of the bike makes for long range and decent average velocity on a small battery.

I'm very happy with the bike as it fits easily in any vehicle for transport, offers useful range and average velocity on a charge, and it inexpensive.

its a fine bike however unlike you i'm very used to using full power level 5 all the time ..my battery maybe gets 20 miles ..so i want the second battery but i think they charge to much for it..