Prodigy V2 Help!

[ericsan13]

Hello fellow ebikers, I'm new to the forum but not new to ebikes. I have an Aventon Pace 350 (2020), Lectric XP Lite (2022), and I just bought a Priority Current (2024). Bike creep is real and I am considering replacing the Current with Prodigy V2 for several reasons:

1. Mid-drive motor with Shimano IGH is underwhelming. It's noisy and my legs still burn going up hills. Even the cheap Lectric pulls up the same hill faster, smoother, and easier. The Shimano IGH requires you to slow your pedaling to downshift, which makes you lose momentum. It makes loud clicking noises. The torque sensor doesn't activate fast enough too.
2. Seat is horribly uncomfortable. I even added a suspension post but it barely helps. I plan to change the seat but see the Prodigy V2 has front suspension. Either geometry or size of the medium Prodigy Current is not good and I feel like I'm falling over the handlebars at 5'10".

So the bike creep is that I want a better mid-drive motor (Brose is brand name) and CVT. I'd like to stick with a belt driven system too.

Questions:

1. How good is the Brose motor on hills? It's 250 watts less than the non-brand name Priority Current motor.
2. Has anyone successfully mounted a topeak rack or topeak accessories? I already sunk a couple hundred into rack/child seat/bag. I still want to take my toddler around.
3. If not topeak, were you able to mount a child seat?
4. Anyone in the Kirkland, WA area willing to let me try your Prodigy V2 or go on a bike ride together? I called Ride1Up but they're not too helpful. 30-day return requires less than 20 miles on the bike and you pay return shipping.

Advice, suggestions, answers welcome! Thanks!!

 

[rcdanner]

I like Ride1Up bikes having owned about 6 over the years. All rear hub cadence. In April 2024 I bought Prodigy V2. I removed both lights. Don't like having lights discharge my battery. I can say after 400 miles it is a beast on the hills. I used the second highest PAS SPORT on some really steep long hills over the California Coastal range. 4000 ft elevation climb. Works great. Of course, you have to pedal. Pretty hard too. But these are 15% or more grades. I like the battery range. Though to do 50 plus miles in the mountains, you will need a second battery. As far as replacing the OEM rack, there are no rack mounts on the frame. I just bought another Prodigy V2 in a different color. On sale. I like this bike. I wish it did not have a proprietary battery connector. I wish it had a throttle. I wish Ride1Up would offer different sized frames. But this V2 has pretty short standover of 702mm or 27in.

 

[ericsan13]

Thanks! I do not mind pedaling at all but I prefer not to arrive at work/home sweating too much or have legs burning.

For the OEM rack, I found that you can add p-clamps on the frame to mount a different rack. Do you know how wide the rear rack is and whether it can be detached from the fender?

 

[rcdanner]

The OEM rack is 5in wide. Fender can be detached from rack. However, the rack is not stable without fender. The fender adds two attach points to frame giving the rack stability. When I say these are very steep mountains. I rode at 4-6mph up with some heavy pedaling. Normal hills at 3-5% grade should be much easier pedaling.

 

[ericsan13]

The OEM rack is 5in wide. Fender can be detached from rack. However, the rack is not stable without fender. The fender adds two attach points to frame giving the rack stability. When I say these are very steep mountains. I rode at 4-6mph up with some heavy pedaling. Normal hills at 3-5% grade should be much easier pedaling.

I don't need the rack. Is the fender stable without the rack?

Unless I can find someone in the area who is willing to let me try their bike, I think I will have to wait until I'm in San Diego in mid-July to really gauge how it handles hills.

 

[rcdanner]

I believe they have a storefront in SD where you can try out bikes. Rear Fender requires rack. Rack requires fenders for stability. I think rack/fenders were designed to be one unit together. I don't mind the rack with fenders. It is very low profile and nice looking. I just rode 30 miles around some hills in Tucson for about 1500 ft elevation gain. Battery was down to about 50%. I believe I could easily ride 50 level miles on one battery. I was given the opportunity to ride a Specialized Vado 4.0. It is a very nice riding bike especially now on sale for $2750 instead of its usual $4000. Similar but not equal to Prodigy V2 imo.