jobtraklite
New Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- West central Illinois on the Mississippi bluffs.
I had been very happy with my existing ebike for riding around town. Its only short coming was range, not enough for touring, which I wanted to get back into. So after a lot of research and study, I selected Ride1up's Turris step thru model. I have been very happy with it, but waited to write a review until I actually tried it out on a tour. After a 150 mile ride on the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP) from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD, and another 150 mile ride on the Erie Canal from Rochester to Utica, I'm ready to review.
The bike arrived very quickly without any shipping damage. Despite the fact that the Turris requires a little more assembly than the typical ebike, it presented no problem. The extra pieces requiring assembly seemed to be standard bike parts (e.g., crank) that I've dealt with for many years.
The bike arrived with only one slight defect: neither tires would hold air. I could find no punctures in either tube. I emailed Ride1up customer service, but wasn't real impressed with the response. They said it sounded like loose valve cores, and would send me a link showing how to tighten a valve core. They confused me by sending a link describing how to remove the core, not how to tighten it. But it did lead me to realize that both valve stem cores were loose and leaking air, something I had never experienced in 54 years of riding and maintaining bikes. Ebay had
a Slime brand valve stem tool (something I had never heard of) with 3 valve stem cores included for $2.70, no shipping cost. The tool arrived withing two days, and no leaky valves since.
The Turris turned out to be very good for touring, rock solid and very comfortable. It was easy to maintain a 12-15 mph speed all day in PAS levels 1 and 2. With the exception of the Pittsburgh area, the GAP has a very smooth surface, what we here in the Midwest call pea gravel on crushed limestone, or stone dust in NY state jargon. Some
parts of the paved trail in the Pittsburgh area had nasty cracks (expansion, tree roots, frost heaves, etc.?). A rear shock absorber would have helped. But I just as soon put up with a little roughness rather than the extra weight and complexity of a rear shock. The Erie Canal route varied from excellent pavement to excellent stone dust to acceptable stone dust. The Turris took it all in stride.
The Turris touts a 50 mile range. I never got below 4 bars riding 35 miles per day. The GAP is an old almost flat railroad bed with a very slight grade up to the eastern continental divide from Pittsburgh. Then the last 25 miles down to Potomac river valley at Cumberland didn't require any electricity at all. The Erie Canal is almost flat
the whole way.
The seat was very comfortable for about the first 30 miles. Then the lack of natural padding on my bony bottom began to make it feel like I was riding on two iron bars. I tried several seats; but the stock seat was the best.
A comment about the hydraulic disk brakes: I was a bit worried about them since I had never had a bike with anything but rim brakes. But I had no problem assembling them, they didn't required any adjustment, and have performed flawlessly ever since.
`
The best feature of the Turris was that I had no trouble taking it on Amtrak from Chicago to Pittsburgh and return from Cumberland to Chicago for the GAP ride, and from Mt. Pleasant, IA to Rochester, NY and return from Utica, NY
for the Erie Canal. Amtrak has a 50 pound limit for any type of bike. Ride1up touts a weight of 54 pounds. With the battery removed, it fell well within 50 pound limit. I simply carried the battery in a sack as a piece of (heavy) luggage.
Also, Amtrak requires tires to be 2.0" wide or less in order to fit in their bike racks, I presume. I replaced the 2.4" stock tires with Schwalbe balloon big ben 2.0's. They worked great on the pea gravel; and I think I'll keep then and put the fat tire (lol) 2.4's in storage.
Amtrak has come a long way from the days when it suffered from bicycle derangement syndrome. The procedure varies; but on the long distance trains, you go to the ticket or baggage counter, show the agent your ticket that has the number of bicycles you are checking, and he gives you a ticket that goes on your bike and a claim check for each bike you are checking. Then you roll your bike to the baggage car and hand it to Amtrak personnel, usually an assistant conductor, who takes it from there. When you arrive, you go to the baggage car, show the personnel the claim check and he hands you your bike. The only down side is that both the departure and arrival station has to have baggage service.
The turris was a great value at $1095 on sale.
The bike arrived very quickly without any shipping damage. Despite the fact that the Turris requires a little more assembly than the typical ebike, it presented no problem. The extra pieces requiring assembly seemed to be standard bike parts (e.g., crank) that I've dealt with for many years.
The bike arrived with only one slight defect: neither tires would hold air. I could find no punctures in either tube. I emailed Ride1up customer service, but wasn't real impressed with the response. They said it sounded like loose valve cores, and would send me a link showing how to tighten a valve core. They confused me by sending a link describing how to remove the core, not how to tighten it. But it did lead me to realize that both valve stem cores were loose and leaking air, something I had never experienced in 54 years of riding and maintaining bikes. Ebay had
a Slime brand valve stem tool (something I had never heard of) with 3 valve stem cores included for $2.70, no shipping cost. The tool arrived withing two days, and no leaky valves since.
The Turris turned out to be very good for touring, rock solid and very comfortable. It was easy to maintain a 12-15 mph speed all day in PAS levels 1 and 2. With the exception of the Pittsburgh area, the GAP has a very smooth surface, what we here in the Midwest call pea gravel on crushed limestone, or stone dust in NY state jargon. Some
parts of the paved trail in the Pittsburgh area had nasty cracks (expansion, tree roots, frost heaves, etc.?). A rear shock absorber would have helped. But I just as soon put up with a little roughness rather than the extra weight and complexity of a rear shock. The Erie Canal route varied from excellent pavement to excellent stone dust to acceptable stone dust. The Turris took it all in stride.
The Turris touts a 50 mile range. I never got below 4 bars riding 35 miles per day. The GAP is an old almost flat railroad bed with a very slight grade up to the eastern continental divide from Pittsburgh. Then the last 25 miles down to Potomac river valley at Cumberland didn't require any electricity at all. The Erie Canal is almost flat
the whole way.
The seat was very comfortable for about the first 30 miles. Then the lack of natural padding on my bony bottom began to make it feel like I was riding on two iron bars. I tried several seats; but the stock seat was the best.
A comment about the hydraulic disk brakes: I was a bit worried about them since I had never had a bike with anything but rim brakes. But I had no problem assembling them, they didn't required any adjustment, and have performed flawlessly ever since.
`
The best feature of the Turris was that I had no trouble taking it on Amtrak from Chicago to Pittsburgh and return from Cumberland to Chicago for the GAP ride, and from Mt. Pleasant, IA to Rochester, NY and return from Utica, NY
for the Erie Canal. Amtrak has a 50 pound limit for any type of bike. Ride1up touts a weight of 54 pounds. With the battery removed, it fell well within 50 pound limit. I simply carried the battery in a sack as a piece of (heavy) luggage.
Also, Amtrak requires tires to be 2.0" wide or less in order to fit in their bike racks, I presume. I replaced the 2.4" stock tires with Schwalbe balloon big ben 2.0's. They worked great on the pea gravel; and I think I'll keep then and put the fat tire (lol) 2.4's in storage.
Amtrak has come a long way from the days when it suffered from bicycle derangement syndrome. The procedure varies; but on the long distance trains, you go to the ticket or baggage counter, show the agent your ticket that has the number of bicycles you are checking, and he gives you a ticket that goes on your bike and a claim check for each bike you are checking. Then you roll your bike to the baggage car and hand it to Amtrak personnel, usually an assistant conductor, who takes it from there. When you arrive, you go to the baggage car, show the personnel the claim check and he hands you your bike. The only down side is that both the departure and arrival station has to have baggage service.
The turris was a great value at $1095 on sale.
