R1U or Espin Sport/flow?

allenb33

New Member
Region
USA
Hello - finally upgrading to an ebike. sort of narrowed it down to these 2 but open to suggestions. there are many threads on this topic already i know and sorry. will be street and some light trail riding. i was leaning to the Espin but told that they are only class 2 and not upgradable anymore to 3. the R1U is a 3. anyone have feedback on this? otherwise, aware of the difference is tires, fenders and gears(11-12 teeth). thanks in advance!
 
Espin doesn't have as high of a top gear and has narrower tires than the Ride1Up 700. Espin smallest cog is 13T not 12. R1UP is 11T.

I really like the power based assist over speed based assist as well as the programmable PAS power levels on the R1U 700.

Yeah, my 700 is class 3 and provides assist to 28 mph. With a good charge, throttle will get me to 28 mph also if the speed limit is increased in the display settings.
 
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Thanks for the reply! i think the espin now has programmable PAS levels on the 2021 but i do like the higher speed of the 700. Espin says they sacrificed speed for torque for more power uphill and made it a class 2. how is your 700 uphill?
 
We have an Espin Sport, an Espin Nero and a Ride1up 500. I like the Espin Sport I bought in 2020 but it can go faster than 20 mph. The Nero is heavier and is a fat tire bike but it is also step thru, and has a more powerful motor 750/1000 watts. Ours came with rack, lights, fenders, etc. The foldable Espin step thru Nesta also has a suspension fork and the more powerful motor.
 
yea, i was pretty sold on the sport till they told me that it is now capped at 20. they did say they opted for higher torque and lower speed to get up hills easier.
 
Espin doesn't have as high of a top gear and has narrower tires than the Ride1Up 700. Espin smallest cog is 13T not 12. R1UP is 11T.

I really like the power based assist over speed based assist as well as the programmable PAS power levels on the R1U 700.

Yeah, my 700 is class 3 and provides assist to 28 mph. With a good charge, throttle will get me to 28 mph also if the speed limit is increased in the display settings.
anything that you dislike on your 700?
 
Thanks for the reply! i think the espin now has programmable PAS levels on the 2021 but i do like the higher speed of the 700. Espin says they sacrificed speed for torque for more power uphill and made it a class 2. how is your 700 uphill?
From what I understand, they changed the algorithm to make it less of a surge, but you can still not go in to change the percentage of power (or speed), and it's still speed based assist instead of power based assist. I've yet to see any evidence to the contrary. I absolutely did not like the way the old Espin e-bikes worked in that regard. I'm all eyes to see evidence that shows you can change the percentage of power (or speed) for each assist level on the Espin, or that they've even changed from speed based to power based assist. I am assuming they have not made that change at this point.

I think my 700 is great up hill. Funny, people sometimes bought the LMT'D which is advertised as having more torque and more sustained power, and then they were surprised their 700's could smoke the LMT'D going up hill. Anyway, I alway pedal with force with my 700 trying to get exercise, but I went up the biggest hill I could think of with my 700 and shifted down to 3rd gear and went up it using around 400 to 500 watts of assist. I wasn't going that fast - maybe 8 to10 mph, but it didn't wear me out too much, and it's very exhausting to climb it on my standard bike.
 
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anything that you dislike on your 700?
On paper, it weighs 62 pounds, so it's heavier than the advertised weight of the Espin. But it feels light enough to use PAS 0 on level ground and has plenty of assist for me up the biggest hill. So far it's just as advertised with no disappointments. It would have been nice to have a torque sensor based PAS, but I knew that going in knowing I was saving $300 vs. the LMT'D.
 
yes, espin is 55lbs. i looked at the LTD but reviews here saying lots of issues.
There's at last one guy that has had a continuing problem after multiple part replacements, but some people love it.

But that said, I see fewer complaints about their popular 700 series bike, which I purchased.
 
There's at last one guy that has had a continuing problem after multiple part replacements, but some people love it.

But that said, I see fewer complaints about their popular 700 series bike, which I purchased.
do you ride on dirt at all? we will ride some on dirt trail and wondering if i should switch out the tires right away? wish companies would offer options for things like tires but i guess they come packaged from china and not easy to customize.
 
do you ride on dirt at all? we will ride some on dirt trail and wondering if i should switch out the tires right away? wish companies would offer options for things like tires but i guess they come packaged from china and not easy to customize.
I haven't ridden a bicycle on any type of dirt road or trail in many years. I have ridden on graveled roads, or stretches of gravel, mostly because of road construction dumping gravel on roads. I hate that. I would prefer riding on some of the dirt roads I've ridden on in the past over gravel roads. I think it really depends on the type of dirt surface whether you should change tires.
 
RUI 700 now sold out till may or later. kickstand moving further back .
The steel colored XR is in stock. The kickstand was moved to the rear earlier this year, including on mine that I bought over a month ago.

 
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