My Stoopidest Acquisition Yet: THE RIDE Radiant Carbon / Enviolo Automatiq

[Nesdon]

Thanks for all the info. I think the underlying issue with shift lags on the Envolio is fundamentally mechanical. There is a lot of friction (tho much less than I would have imagined) resisting the movement of the balls along the drum, meaning it takes a few (fractions??) seconds for it to get to where its going. The pawl and planetary systems of Nexus/Alfine/Rohloff etc basically shift instantly, or at least with the tiny pause required for the clutch to shift a few millimeters. It's why I have always preferred the click shifters over the twist grips, as I can multi click up or down numerous gears with a sub 1 second pause. But even with the very few miles i have put on the Radiant, I'm getting used to the lag.

I saw the other Radiants, and considered getting the properly branded and cheaper one from LA, as well as jsut waiting to see the prices fall. I judged this to be a rare bike that might not be replaced in their inventory so decided to leap. But I had not, (maybe still have not) decided to keep it. We are 3 days from the 14 day return limit and still under 20 miles. In our financial situation this is a real burden (we financed it) that doesn't get that much more function over a bike less than half the price (maybe even less as I still find my Tong Sheng Townie conversion a better performer in some ways, if a fussy hack). I was banking on my 48 year old son (who was recently diagnosed with epilepsy, losing his drivers license) being jazzed about having the sexiest ebike I have ever seen, but he seems meh on the whole thing (tho maybe just the grief of the diagnosis and father son dysfunction). I want it, but for myself its' a very extravagant luxury, if he doesn't use it's a bit of a beautiful albatross. I love the jump on and go aspect of it, and without its niggling little flaws I might be more convinced to keep it.

I've been in touch with Tony who has made some good suggestions about the fender and rack issue, and has said he may be able to provide his signature decals to raplace the Tomberlin ones which i consider a bit of stolen valor on Tomberlin's part. On one shoulder stands a homunculus saying "F* it, the world needs more beauty" with the one on the other saying "Be responsible you spendthrift old fart!" If we keep it, I think we will get the Cliq Plus controller, just assuming five buttons have to have more functions than 3.

 

[Nesdon]

A large Priority Current just came in at Upway for $1400. I love Priority, I've been a long time belt booster and i love the way they're all in on them with reasonably priced bikes and a modern direct to consumer retail model. I rode the small one Upway had and loved it, very powerful, class 3, ability to fit a throttle, Nexus 5e. Lower grade components, but still solid quality, as is Priority's priority. No sure about the durability of a carbon frame in a crash, and just rode the Radiant in the rain and got mud all over my glasses and back. With the $200 restock it's a well over half the cost of the Radiant, still, more ticks in the return column.

 

[speedub.nate]

the underlying issue with shift lags on the Envolio is fundamentally mechanical. There is a lot of friction resisting the movement of the balls along the drum, meaning it takes a few (fractions??) seconds for it to get to where its going

Yeah I hear you and agree with your observations re: the instantaneousness of the other gear hubs, but with a couple of other bikes with Nuvinci / Enviolo hubs in the garage using traditional twist shifters, I'm more talking about the lag time in which the system begins to make the change. I mean, between the mushy button presses and the lack of clicks and the reliance on the motor computer's cadence display, there's all kinds of lag an uncertainty built in to the system, so this could be just a wildly inaccurate critique. And the actual gear adjustments are happening on-the-fly quickly enough. It's the reactions to the cadence adjustments where I feel it's lacking.

In our financial situation this is a real burden (we financed it) that doesn't get that much more function over a bike less than half the price. I was banking on my 48 year old son being jazzed

I hate to agree with you on this point but if it's really a pinch AND the intended recipient doesn't seem warm to it, the more practical bike is the better option. Like I wrote, even for me this bike is on the impractical side other than the fact that it's not serving any sort of primary role.

On the other hand, if you can swing it AND make it work for your needs, it's such a cool and interesting design.

I've been in touch with Tony who has made some good suggestions about the fender and rack issue, and has said he may be able to provide his signature decals to raplace the Tomberlin ones which i consider a bit of stolen valor on Tomberlin's part.

Interesting that the Tomberlin you purchased has the "The Ride" badge installed. In their press photos they show an Evoke badge in that place. I am curious how the transition from Tony's company to Tomberlin played out, and if Tomberlin ended up with a container full of bikes originally destined for The Ride? However the grey finish on the Tomberlin looks lighter than the Radiant Carbon.

 

[Nesdon]

I did return the Radiant and get the Current. Both bikes were misrepresented on the Upway website. The Priority turned out to be a medium not large, and at 6'2" is officially too small for my son, but ride posture can be matched using handlebar and stem swaps so no biggie.

I loved the Radiant by my son was meh, which given that that bike was all about the wow, made it an extravagance for him. Plus he had enough money saved for a car, that he now wouldn't be allowed to drive, so that he could proudly pay full price for the Priority on his own. I'm tricking it out, adding an MIK rack, Dutch styled bars (why is everyone putting straight mountain bars on commuters these days?) the discontinued upside down trigger shifter, Ergon GT1 grips, a rear view mirror, phone mount and suspension seat post and stem. Also moving the headlight down to the fork as it fits poorly on the handle bars.

I bought a thumb throttle to see how it fits, but have yet to locate the proper cable. I see folks specing an 8pin to 3+5pin cable, but the ones I find on ebay are all too short at under 300mm. Not clear on the genders of the connectors either, but if I could find the right combination, I don't see why I couldn't just add the short splitter to the end of the existing cable. Otherwise just cutting the cable and soldering on the splitter would be a relatively easy fix. Its a bigger job than all these bolt-on gew gaws, and Im not sure how much a youngish man (he's 48) really needs a throttle anyway. I kind of appreciated the way the Radiant just demanded that I actually ride a bicycle rather than a motorcycle, even if I'm a weak old fart who can barely manage a short 10% climb on my unassisted bikes anymore.

My son is resisting my typical anti theft strategy of trashing up my cool stuff. Thieves all have plenty of trashed stuff, they all want cool new shiny stuff. If I need to leave some expensive toy like my macbook in my car, I put it on the floor and dump my trash bag on top of it and scatter whatever stuff I carry in my car like my towels and swim trunks, mask and snorkle, warm coats and back up shoes all over the floors and seats. No self respecting theif is going to dig through trash to see what goodies might be underneath. I have a lot of tolerance for chaos so it bothers me much less than them. Same with my bikes which i cover with nerdy stickers and keep dirty.

 

[sarita]

As it turns out I am an n + 1 guy BUT I rEaLLy thought my bike silo had reached its overfill limit.

So then this funny looking "blue thing" shows up on Upway's site and piques my curiosity (photo at the bottom). Turns out, after some back-and-forth emails with Enviolo, it's their early version of the Nuvinci auto shifting drivetrain -- the giveaway is there's an extra-fat cable plugged in to the shifter box, and an additional wire running up to some buttons on the handlebar, neither of which show up on their production bikes I've seen. As I'm contemplating this bike somebody buys it so oh well, but immediately afterward a beautiful red one is listed. Ooh! I fire off one more question to Enviolo about THAT bike, but I'm too slow and it sells before I can get back to it.

The Radiant Carbon is, at this point, a six year old design germinated from the mind of mountain bike legend Tony Ellsworth, aka Ellsworth Bikes and his successor ebike company The Ride. The Radiant Carbon has since picked up a 2nd life through another brand, Tomberlin, where they're selling it as the "Signature Carbon." Single legged aluminum fork, single sided chainstay & single sided seat stay. The rear fender is a structural member of the carbon fiber frame in place of a traditional seat tube. Frame-integrated front and rear lights. Tires are 27.5", so a good bit more proportional than the 26" balloon tires on my Electra Moto Go cafe cruiser, which with its skinny tubing is left looking like there is space to fill.

As of my posting this, there is one of each example (Radiant Carbon & Tomberlin) available on Upway's site, both in gray.

Anyhow, the shiny red version really struck me. I went on a search and found one with all of 5 miles on the clock, listed on eBay by a somewhat risky-looking 1-Review seller in Louisiana. I made some phone calls and I got ahold of a local bike shop owner out there and convinced her to act as my middleman and shipper, and made a deal with the seller after nobody bid on his auction.

Without further ado, here it stands with a couple of mods to make it mine, namely the skibidi plywood pedals, cork PDW grips, and the "aged" saddle (with silver rivets to match the "The Ride" badge )

I do have very modest plans: The stock motor is a Shimano E6100 and I have an E8000 on the shelf that might fit this mount. Enviolo's Automatiq transmission works OK but not great, so while in concept I should be able to set my preferred cadence via the app once and be done, I'm thinking I'll add their wireless buttons so I can make adjustments on the fly (or, for instance, if a friend is riding it they're not stuck with my cadence setting). But actually, the auto shifting works better than I expected and I could probably live with it and adapt to it. After all, this is just a cruising around town fun bike, not a commuter or pack mule. Oh, and Enviolo's Android app sucks: I can't adjust the cadence. Enviolo tells me it's a known bug. I had to steal somebody's iPhone to make adjustments. If I buy their handlebar button, that problem goes away. I may unlock it to break the 20 MPH restriction (my Moto Go is a 28 MPH bike), but I'll leave it as is for now and see if that gets in the way.

What about the ride (erm... "The Ride")? It's fine. The CF frame is PHAT so there's a little big of leg rub. The bike came with a kickstand (which I want because I don't want lean the frame or for that matter the saddle against things), but the rear tire rubs it because the wheel has the slightest wobble, not enough to notice otherwise but I need to mount it up in the truing stand! The front wheel & tire must be lighter than my Moto Go because I don't feel as much torque steer when I lean it into a corner. Cruising and descending is fine, no quibbles, but because I don't have direct control of the shifting I am at Enviolo's mercy during climbs. Once I select a cadence via the app, that's the comfort zone for the duration of the climb. If I spin faster than what's set, the bike reads that as it needs to gear up. If I leave it at the leisurely default 65 RPM, the motor tries to do all of the work but it's not the torquiest unit out there, so my steeper hills cause it to strain. I didn't buy this to climb hills though, so I'm not complaining too loudly. Enviolo also sells a 4-button controller that can alternately simulate a 9-speed drivetrain, but I'm thinking that's bastardizing the concept and would run afoul of the intention of this bike.

There are a couple of blemishes in the red finish, and I noticed there is a bit of wrinkling on one side of the top tube, visible in the photo.

Ultimately I don't know if I'm going to get rid of the Moto Go? There's a ton of overlap between these two, despite them being distinctly different styles. It's cool having something for a friend to ride or just an even day / odd day bike selection for my mood.

View attachment 214989

View attachment 214990


View attachment 215007

Ohh so cool, i really like this style of bike, specially the shape of the frame