speedub.nate
Active Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Oakland
So as it turns out I am an n + 1 guy BUT I really thought my garage had reached its bike quota.
Then this dang "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 early version of Enviolo's auto shifting drivetrain -- there's a fat cable running to the shifter box and an extra wire running to buttons on the handlebar that doesn't show up on any of their production bikes I've seen. Somebody buys it so oh well, but immediately a beautiful red one pops up. I fire off one more question to Enviolo about THAT bike but it sells before I can get back to it.
The Radiant Carbon is, at this point, a five 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 a the "Signature Carbon." Single legged aluminum fork, single sided chainstay & single sided chainstay. The rear fender is a structural member of the carbon fiber frame. Tires are 27.5" so a good bit more proportional than the 26" balloon tires on my Electra Moto Go cafe cruiser.
As of my posting this, there is one of each available on Upway's site, both in gray.
Anyhow, the red one really struck me so I went on a search and found one with all of 5 miles on it listed by a somewhat risky-looking 1-Review seller on eBay in Louisiana. I got ahold of a local bike shop out there and convinced them to act as my middleman and shipper, and made a deal after nobody bid on his auction.
Without further ado here she with a couple of mods to make it mine, including the plywood pedals.
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, I'm thinking I'll add their wireless button 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 issue. I had to steal somebody's iPhone to make the changes. If I buy their handlebar button, that problem goes away.
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 kickstand rubs the slightly out-of-true rear wheel. 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. But I didn't buy this to climb hills, so I'm not complaining too loudly.
Then this dang "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 early version of Enviolo's auto shifting drivetrain -- there's a fat cable running to the shifter box and an extra wire running to buttons on the handlebar that doesn't show up on any of their production bikes I've seen. Somebody buys it so oh well, but immediately a beautiful red one pops up. I fire off one more question to Enviolo about THAT bike but it sells before I can get back to it.
The Radiant Carbon is, at this point, a five 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 a the "Signature Carbon." Single legged aluminum fork, single sided chainstay & single sided chainstay. The rear fender is a structural member of the carbon fiber frame. Tires are 27.5" so a good bit more proportional than the 26" balloon tires on my Electra Moto Go cafe cruiser.
As of my posting this, there is one of each available on Upway's site, both in gray.
Anyhow, the red one really struck me so I went on a search and found one with all of 5 miles on it listed by a somewhat risky-looking 1-Review seller on eBay in Louisiana. I got ahold of a local bike shop out there and convinced them to act as my middleman and shipper, and made a deal after nobody bid on his auction.
Without further ado here she with a couple of mods to make it mine, including the plywood pedals.
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, I'm thinking I'll add their wireless button 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 issue. I had to steal somebody's iPhone to make the changes. If I buy their handlebar button, that problem goes away.
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 kickstand rubs the slightly out-of-true rear wheel. 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. But I didn't buy this to climb hills, so I'm not complaining too loudly.
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