Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “My New Favorite E-Bike: Roadster V2 Gravel Edition”.
If you’re electric bike curious and are wondering what might be a good entry point to bicycles with motors, then let me introduce you to the Roadster V2 gravel Edition from ride one up upon first glance. This bike looks just like a normal bike. You can’t even tell it has a battery inside and because of that, it’s lightweight sleek and won’t stick out amongst the crowd. The bike also comes in at a fantastic price point and just between you and me, it’s my new favorite e-bike foreign.
Typically, I ride a single speed road bike with almost no accessories on it. What I like about that is, it leaves the bike nice and light, so I can easily pick it up to carry it upstairs or around an obstacle, since it doesn’t have a lot of flare to it. There’S a much smaller chance, it’ll get stolen, which is a major problem here in San Francisco.
Yes, it is a bit limiting in regards to what terrain I can ride on, but considering most of my commutes are just on the street around town. It does the job for a small price, the Roadster capitalizes on everything I like about my standard bike, but now, with the benefit of being electric, it’s very lightweight sitting at around 33 pounds so carrying it around is easy. I love how the cables nicely integrate inside.
Instead of being fastened along the frame, this is a class 3 e-bike and can reach up to around 24 miles per hour with the assist it has 700 by 42 off-road tires and 160 millimeter disc brakes, but does not come with any extra accessories like a kickstand Lights or fenders, the Roadster features a 36 volt battery, which will get you around 20 to 30 miles on average. Of course, that varies depending on the terrain, how much pedal assist you’re, using Etc? The bike doesn’t have a huge battery and that’s obvious from the size of the bike’s frame. I will say that this battery has been fine during my testing, but if you want even more juice ride, one up does offer an additional external 7 amp hour battery. It adds another 250 Watts, doubling the total Supply it attaches to the water bottle, screws and retails for 375 dollars on their website. Unlike the last few e-bikes, I’ve reviewed the roadster’s battery cannot be removed for charging by flipping up this cap near the pedals. You can plug the bike in this will make managing the bike more difficult, since you’ll need to be able to set it down near an outlet.
So keep this in mind if you store your bike outside or in something like a bike Locker the upside, however, is it means nobody can steal your battery when locking up in public a component bike. Thieves often go for when they can’t take the entire thing. With the battery being integrated, you don’t have to remove it for safekeeping.
In fact, this aluminum alloy frame is a lot skinnier than most electric bikes. A lot of e-bikes are significantly thicker than your standard road bikes, so they can draw a lot of attention when in public at first glance, you probably can’t tell this bike is electric, and I really appreciate that the one thing that will blow the roadster’s cover is The LCD display located on the left hand side of the handlebars it turns on very quickly by holding down the M button and that button allows you to cycle between information such as your trip length trip time and an odometer. Of course, the large Central number is your current speed and the remaining battery sits at the top left. Pressing, the plus and minus buttons will adjust the bike’s five levels of pedal assist holding down the plus button will illuminate the display, while holding down the minus button. Activates the walk mode. This makes the bike Propel itself forward at a slow speed and helps in scenarios such as walking your bike up a steep hill.
There’S a couple more really exciting things on that handlebar. First I’ll point out that there is a bell integrated right into the brakes. You almost can’t tell that it’s there, and I love that. More importantly, the Roadster has a throttle that is located right under the display unit. Pressing this down with your thumb, makes the bike quickly accelerate up to around 19 miles per hour, with no pedaling required. As someone who exercises a lot and bikes to and from my place of exercise, I absolutely love when an e-bike has a throttle, there’s nothing better than being able to just Propel yourself home with no effort after a big day of weightlifting and that throttle might come In handy considering that this bike is a single speed, this means it only has one gear, so you can’t shift the chain down or up to make Hills easier or pick up more speed.
Now, if you’re someone who prefers more gears, don’t stop the video just yet. I found that when riding a bike with multiple gears, I personally only shift between a handful of them and rarely use the entire range available. Since this bike has five levels of pedal assist, it rides very similarly to a bike with six gears.
If I’m approaching a hill I raise the assist just like, I would shift down to a lower gear. So even if you’re, unfamiliar with single speed, bicycles, the electric motor helps make it a little more familiar. What helps with all the pedaling is another feature I love on the Roadster, it’s gate belt drive.
A belt drive is a different kind of chain that only has teeth along the inside of it. I love belt drives, since they have so many advantages over the standard option, they’re far easier to maintain, since you never need to lubricate them and as a result, don’t need to worry about getting oil on yourself, since they only grip inwards, no more having to roll. Your pant leg, up to avoid it getting caught in the chain belt drives, are also much lighter and usually provide a quieter ride.
This bike retails for twelve hundred and fifty dollars, which is definitely one of the cheapest e-bikes I’ve tested. This means a lot considering. It ended up being one of my favorites now keep in mind that this is ride, one Up’s gravel edition of the V2. If you’re looking for even more savings, they do sell just the standard Roadster B2 for a bit cheaper at eleven hundred dollars. That version of the bike comes in black silver or a very nice.
Looking burgundy color, the gravel only comes in Gray. However, that price decrease does mean you get a few less features. Some of those changes include pivot instead of disc brakes or road. Instead of off-road tires and more, I definitely prefer the gravel’s disc brakes, but Tire Choice is going to come down to the rider so make sure you check out both models and compare for yourself. Not only do I think this is a great entry level e-bike. I think it’s a great bike for anyone. It’S lightweight makes it easy to carry and store inside, while the gate belt makes upkeep clean and effortless the roadster’s Sleek design helps it blend in with a standard bike, and the integrated battery cannot be removed or stolen. Despite its one gear, the five levels of pedal assist should be enough for most people and, if not, the addition of a throttle is extremely welcomed.
You get all this at one of the cheapest prices. I’Ve seen on the market, with options to go even cheaper. If need be, the Roadster V2 is a fantastic e-bike and I’m probably going to buy one for my mom after doing this review, if you want to learn about some other e-bikes check out our playlist thanks for watching .