After 1 month and 700 miles, my verdict is ... Roadster v2 = Fantastic Ride & Design (at a bargain price)!
I can't say enough about how simple, elegantly designed and enjoyable my new maroon Roadster v2 is:
- only 33 lbs, so almost usable as an acoustic bike, in the right conditions (for an enthusiast, relatively fit rider), so much lighter than most ebikes except the very costly full carbon bikes
- it does have two gears! sitting down and standing up ;-)
- having the belt drive, rim brakes and no derailleur, keeps things simple and easy to maintain (after getting belt tension dialed in with a gates tool, and periodically using silicone spray)
- looks great, especially in maroon color
- I've able to tackle hills of any size, since I'm willing to stand up when needed, and put in the effort
- rim brakes have plenty of power, and fine with such a light bike
- getting a range of anywhere from 15 miles with high PAS level, up to almost 60 miles with lots of motor off riding and high exertion
- Ride1UP has been very responsive to email questions, as long as you give them a little time to respond
- bike was easy to put together (15 min?), and have had no issues except for needing to get the gates belt tool to properly adjust the tension
- cost no object, if I had the extra $3k-$10k for a Specialized Turbo Vado SL, that would get the weight down to 27 lbs or so... but for under $1100 the Roadster is a great value and fantastic ride!
- only real CON I've found, is the display that is not very readable in bright sun and essentially dark with polarized sunglasses. Real bummer, but otherwise, bike is freaking awesome!
- to be honest, I wouldn't recommend this bike for someone lazy and/or really out-of-shape. Rewards a bike enthusiast, that actually wants to get some exercise!
Has proven to be a great follow-up, to my Juiced CrossCurrent Air, after getting 6k miles in over the past 1.5 years, and maybe 12k miles over its lifetime.
I can't say enough about how simple, elegantly designed and enjoyable my new maroon Roadster v2 is:
- only 33 lbs, so almost usable as an acoustic bike, in the right conditions (for an enthusiast, relatively fit rider), so much lighter than most ebikes except the very costly full carbon bikes
- it does have two gears! sitting down and standing up ;-)
- having the belt drive, rim brakes and no derailleur, keeps things simple and easy to maintain (after getting belt tension dialed in with a gates tool, and periodically using silicone spray)
- looks great, especially in maroon color
- I've able to tackle hills of any size, since I'm willing to stand up when needed, and put in the effort
- rim brakes have plenty of power, and fine with such a light bike
- getting a range of anywhere from 15 miles with high PAS level, up to almost 60 miles with lots of motor off riding and high exertion
- Ride1UP has been very responsive to email questions, as long as you give them a little time to respond
- bike was easy to put together (15 min?), and have had no issues except for needing to get the gates belt tool to properly adjust the tension
- cost no object, if I had the extra $3k-$10k for a Specialized Turbo Vado SL, that would get the weight down to 27 lbs or so... but for under $1100 the Roadster is a great value and fantastic ride!
- only real CON I've found, is the display that is not very readable in bright sun and essentially dark with polarized sunglasses. Real bummer, but otherwise, bike is freaking awesome!
- to be honest, I wouldn't recommend this bike for someone lazy and/or really out-of-shape. Rewards a bike enthusiast, that actually wants to get some exercise!
Has proven to be a great follow-up, to my Juiced CrossCurrent Air, after getting 6k miles in over the past 1.5 years, and maybe 12k miles over its lifetime.
