speedub.nate
Active Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Oakland
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.
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.
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