Ride1Up Roadster V3 Review | Clearly Evolved

For those who appreciate a to-the-point explanation: the Roadster V3 has a good, practical range, and the motor makes good use of its battery. The battery is a bit small, but it keeps the weight low, and in the greater balance of all things on an e-bike, it just felt like the appropriate choice.

If you want to dive into a short explanation and some math, I invite you to keep reading.

If one area of the spec sheet had me a little skeptical, it was in the battery efficiency department. On paper, we often prefer an e-bike’s capacity (a battery’s watt hours) to match or exceed the bike’s nominal motor wattage. So a 500W motor and a 360Wh battery appeared lacking. But again, that’s on paper.

Surprisingly, the Range Test for the Roadster V3 was pretty solid. After a bit of digging through the data, it looked even better. Ride1Up quotes a range of 20-40 miles. With 17-49 in our testing, it’s a little high and a little low of the claim.

Compared to the other e-bikes we’ve tested, the V3’s range efficiency score (miles divided by watt hours, similar to how you get MPG ratings for a car) was 0.14 on the Min Test. Right now, the average of all e-bikes is at .09, so the V3 is roughly 36% more battery efficient than your average e-bike while still giving appreciable amounts of power.

Even when you get a little more apples-to-apples and look just at city bikes, it’s still about 15% better than its peers when riding on Eco.

There’s not as much to explore on the max power range side. It scored a .06, which is spot on with our current average for all bikes and all city bikes.

The deep dive may seem like overkill, but it is one area where my inner geek couldn’t be contained. The bike makes great use of its design to provide a lot of mileage for a lightweight ride.

Of the two hill tests, the Roadster V3 both met and exceeded our expectations.

In the throttle test, the bike was unable to make it up the hill. Far from shocking, the next city e-bike with a hub motor in the 250-500W range that makes it up our hill test will be the first.

On the pedal test, though, this bike set new records in the city class with a time of barely over a minute and a half. That is our new fastest city bike, which is a comfortable seven seconds up the hill!

So, what’s the secret sauce in this recipe? The motor had the most torque of any other city bike Justin had tested up this hill, which was definitely an advantage. It also had more gearing options than most, so it’s easier to find the ideal, efficient gear while climbing, too, which helps.

We haven’t seen a lot of MIVICE motors in the past, but our first impression is definitely good.

The bottom line here is that the Roadster V3, both by the number and by feel, is one of the best climbing city e-bikes we’ve tested.

You can read about how we do our brake tests up above. In this test, the Roadster V3 scored an average of 24’4″ compared to a class average of 23’9″. It was a touch on the long side but still plenty safe.

The braking choice was good in my book. About half of the city bikes we get in for testing opt for mechanical brakes. Either system has it’s pros and cons, but in general, I advocate for hydraulics on e-bikes (faster traveling bikes need greater stopping power in my opinion).

The brakes are decently modular, and since it’s Tektro, you can easily and cheaply part replacements once they’ve worn down.

Ride1Up nailed the feel of the Roadster V3. First, let’s talk about the frame. 44 lbs is light by e-bike standards, and the geometry puts you into a forward-leaning position on the flat handlebar. It’s semi-aggressive but something you can ride relatively relaxed on for longer rides without feeling your back start to tire.

The bike is extremely responsive. It’s a stiff bike with a rigid fork and a 680mm handlebar. It feels lively and light on the road, yet it corners really well and inspires confidence when riding at speed.

The handling has a downside – it’s a rougher ride overall, and you’ll feel more bumps in the road. In truth, this was the type of bike I hated when I first got into cycling. Still, over the years, I’ve appreciated the handling characteristics, and, well, my backside has toughened up over thousands of miles, so the sharper handling is a worthy tradeoff for me.

The bike rocks a clean aesthetic. Ride1Up has always had nice paint jobs, but they’ve nearly eliminated any visible cables, so the Roadster V3 is about as sleek and visually appealing as anything they’ve produced.

Riders of different heights can pick from three frame sizes. The brand has often opted for just two – a high step and a low step – so this is further growing and evolving. As a 6’1″ rider, I felt great on the size large high step model.

The previous Roadster was only available in a single-speed option. This time around, you can choose either the single-speed belt drive or the Shimano Deore 10-speed. Our tester was the 10-speed, and it had a great and practical range to work with.

I realize I’ve largely praised the bike so far, and rightfully so. I’ll be updating my recommendations of the top city e-bikes here soon to include this bike, but it isn’t without a blemish or two.

Unless you’re riding a beach cruiser in flip flops, I’m not a big fan of flat pedals and grip tape. Chalk that take up to personal preference if you like, but I think fully rigid rides should have a little something to hook your shoes into for some better grip at the pedals. I’m complaining about pedals, though, which indicates that there’s not much worth getting up in arms about over the bike.

While I like the bright head and taillights, I thought it was curious that the taillight wasn’t also a brake light. Both are easily fixable for Ride1Up or for you if you purchase the bike.

Ride1Up has a handful of accessories that’ll pair with the bike. There are mounts for a rear rack, and you could then slap some panniers on this to make it more convenient to go about the city.

Can You Make The Ride1Up Roadster V3 A Gravel Bike?

The Roadster V2 came in a gravel variant. Here with the V3, there isn’t any “gravel edition” at launch, but out of the box this would make for a highly serviceable gravel e-bike. It has the Deore cassette for efficiency, a bit of a wider clearance and sturdy front fork. Of course, it already has the Schwalbe gravel tires and wide handlebars. You may choose to pop the fenders off to fit a more purist gravel vibe, but all the essentials for getting started are there.

Ride1Up does have a dedicated gravel bike, the Ride1Up CF Racer 1, which is an already absurdly low-priced carbon frame with excellent components. But if you want to go even more affordable and are good with an aluminum frame, the Roadster V3’s performance will undoubtedly do for gravel rides.

If you’ve come this far in our Ride1Up Roadster V3 review (thanks!!!), let me just recap all the big need-to-know points.

The motor was fantastic; the MIVICE hub motor had great speed, control, and power for making hill climbing duties light and breezy vs labored and sweaty.

The handling of this bike is sharp. Cornering feels great even at speed, the tires provide nice grip and efficient rolling speeds. As a bonus, those tires have a tubeless ready kevlar bead. Just add a tubeless schrader valve and you’re in business.

The $1295 price point is very, very competitive. It’ll likely be a few hundred bucks less than what you’ll find with bikes bearing similar parts. This is a win for DTC brands and a win for saving customers cash.

The things that detracted from the ride were so petty and easily remedied that they weren’t worth listing twice. They’re all low-hanging fruit for the brand to fix down the line or an easy DIY job you can make and amend yourself in minutes.

The Roadster V3 is a well-crafted ride and arguably one of the best e-bikes I’ve ridden all year.

Happy Riding! Make sure to let us know if you have any questions or if you think we left anything out in this review of theRide1Up Roadster V3 down in our comments section.