Roadster 2.0! And other intel from Ride1Up founder

Here's the relevant quote: "We're releasing one more model next week. It's going to be roadster 2.0. $995 (for now). Kind of an intro-level bike. It will be out next week, shipping around the same time as a lot of the pre-orders."
 
Here's the relevant quote: "We're releasing one more model next week. It's going to be roadster 2.0. $995 (for now). Kind of an intro-level bike. It will be out next week, shipping around the same time as a lot of the pre-orders."

For the Roadster announcement - yep - that's the relevant quote. Also, it's belt drive.

If you're a Ride1Up owner or fan, worth listening to. Current vs Cadence. Different philosophies on their bikes. Ongoing improvements. Discussion on new models (Core 5 and LMT'd). Supply chain, pre-orders vs in stock and delivery timing logistics. Manufacturing in the US vs abroad, etc.
 
Tried to watch the video but it was awful quality. He should get on a more professional podcast though!
 
Ride1Up has too many models that are too similar in price and features, while it doesn't offer variable sizing. They've outgrown one size fits all.

It would be better to scrap a model or two and offer more sizing options.

The main distinction among commuter ebikes is the range/power/intended speed vs weight trade-off, and R1U bikes are all on the mid to high side.
 
The video is a bit tough, but made it through to the end. The payoff was this pic of the new roadster. It looks just great to me, really slick and minimalist. No indication of motor wattage or battery size but this thing must be lightweight and that's small tubing to enclose a battery. In the vid, Kevin seems to indicate they're not interested in building motorcycles so I perhaps 350/8ah? Just thought people would like to see the pic:)
Ride1upRoadster2LR.png
 
Here is another super high quality production featuring our fearless leader. It's pretty hilarious as the interviewer tries to melt Kevin into a puddle. Kind of an all over the map interview. The beginning is interesting and shows how Ride1Up's founder is self-funding his business and pumps the vast majority of the money he makes back into the business. While the title is catchy - Kevin talks about how he pays himself about $3K a month.

 
Here is another super high quality production featuring our fearless leader. It's pretty hilarious as the interviewer tries to melt Kevin into a puddle. Kind of an all over the map interview. The beginning is interesting and shows how Ride1Up's founder is self-funding his business and pumps the vast majority of the money he makes back into the business. While the title is catchy - Kevin talks about how he pays himself about $3K a month.

Ha I think plenty of forum members would give him low interest loans if it meant he could ship more bikes!

I'm wondering if capital is the obstacle, or if it's a matter of factory priority, and Ride1Up not getting it. Pretty sure they don't have their own factory.

Interesting they didn't go with disc brakes. Saves 1-2 pounds and $100-200. Belt drive single speed too. 350w is plenty to go 25 mph with pedaling.
 
Strange - When I use my own link this morning, it came right up. When I refresh the page - gone.

What I recall:

Shipping in Sept
Belt drive, single speed
7ah integrated battery
24 mph top speed
32# weight
350 nominal/500 peak motor
Colors - black, red, white (or silver? They only had a pic of the red colored bike)
Only 1 frame size
Standover height looked pretty tall. I recall max seat height was 35", don't remember min
Small integrated LCD display/control near left handgrip, I think blue background with white numbers
Rim brakes
No side stand provided with bike
700c wheels with road tires

Should have done a screen grab of the cached page, but alas did not...
 
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Well sounds like Electrek got most of the info then.

Does anyone know why R never does multiple sizes? Are they open mold frames available in only one size? Or R doesn't want to/can't do multiple production runs? Make inventory management simpler?
 
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So the Roadster 2.0 is an interesting little bike for riding in flat areas.

I still have a bit of a soft spot in my heart for the Luna Fixed, even though I have never ridden one nor even seen one in person. But I love the looks and it was the first of this 'urban single speed' genre I saw, and several times I almost bought one. Almost 2x the price of the R1U, but comes with disk brakes... and zero warranty unless you pay additional.

Then there is the FLX Baby Maker, but personally I'm really not sure what FLX was going for with that bike.

But I continue to be more drawn to the newish R1U Core-5 as an inexpensive knock-around bike. I definitely don't need one, but... it would be nice to have a bike which you could lock up outside the market and not have to worry about too much. Right now market trips (in my mind) always require 2 riders, so one can 'guard' the bikes while the other one shops.
 
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Not interested in this model. Underpowered, short range, limited battery,no throttle, single speed, no disk brakes. Only benefit I see is that it is light. Not sure where the market is for this model.
 
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