I’ve ridden nearly 650 miles on my 2020 Rize RX over the past 5 months. I primarily commute 6 miles (one way, couple days a week) on paved back-country roads, but have also taken several week long trips centered around riding 20-40 miles a day split between trails, bike paths, and downtown.
While I can’t speak to Rize support, other than to say I haven’t needed it, I’ve been very happy with my RX thus far.
If you’d like some more specifics on my 2020 RX, here goes - for what it’s worth.
Thing I love the most is how it feels like riding a normal bike, but with a bit more speed. Still feel like I’m getting a modicum of exercise - granted, not as much as with my old MTB, but I’m actually riding regularly, when I haven’t in decades!
Power delivery is fairly smooth (and plentiful). Throttle power tops out at ~28mph, and I can pedal a little over 30 in sport mode with max pedaling effort, but I almost never throttle. I have a e-dirt bike for throttle (and off road).
I prefer to ride between 15-20mph, and rarely move above PAS 1 on anything but longer or steep climbs, where I typically pedal around 8-10mph. 9 speed gearing feels sufficient and can be modulated for level of effort I’m looking for. Love the rapid fire for downshifting 3 clicks, as well as the thumb and finger action for up/down shifts.
One complaint with my bike is a bit of play in pedal engagement. Starting to pedal often feels like some amount of crank travel, say ~1/4”, before hub engages. This could be specific to my bike or I could be misattributing what this actually is. Google search and my non-expert guess is this is due to fewer points of engagement than a higher end bike/hub (or non ebike)?
Brakes are excellent. Plenty of stopping power and excellent feel, with very little throw and minimal effort required. This was my first experience with hydraulic brakes and now other bikes with rim and even mechanical disc brakes feel clunky and squeaky.
Battery life / range seems fine (19ah 48v). Most I’ve managed is 38 miles, down to nearly 0%. I typically ride between 85-30%, around 25 miles - 180lbs rider, PAS1, averaging 15mph, mostly flat. Don't trust the wildly optimistic estimates advertised!
About the only thing I might do differently is consider a fat tire model. My RX is running stock ~2.3” tires and while reasonably compliant on smoother surfaces, it’s a bit jarring on bad roads, and the bike feels too heavy to be pleasant offroad. Bike and battery tip the scales at 72lbs. I’ve only taken it on a couple rutty, downhill runs on stock tire pressure and didn’t feel like the right bike for that type of terrain. I am curious if a Rize RX Pro (or similar fat tire, hardtail) running lower pressure would make the bike feel like it suited every type of riding in a manner I enjoy.
I could go on, but I'm not sure how much that would help since I can't compare to the 2021 model, as you've asked on. I can share that I've ridden a dozen or so ebikes since having picked up my Rize and found they all ride quite differently. That being said, I've yet to ride something I wish I had gotten instead of my RX.
Hope this helps and best of luck on the search!
