Ride1Up Unboxing and Assembly-First Impressions
The new Ride1Up CF Racer1 is now shipping and mine arrived yesterday. It is a lightweight CF drop bar bike in road and gravel builds meant to compete with much more expensive CF e-assisted bikes like the Orbea Gain, Blanche E-impulso, Scott ADDICT eRIDE 30, etc. according to Ride1Up. https://ride1up.com/blogs/introducing-the-ride1up-cf-racer1/
Most of the competing bikes have the Mahle (or ebikemotion) X35 rear hub system. Like the Bafang in the CF Racer1, while it’s cadence sensing, the main benefit is that it is an extremely lightweight system with CF bikes coming in at well under 30lbs down to as low as 26lbs. The CF Racer1 is 27lbs so in the same weight range. Mahle’s X20 is even lighter and torque sensing, but for the purposes here the Ride1Up is most similar to Mahle X35 equipped bikes. Even though the X35 is a few years old now, CF bikes using it are still in the $4-5k range if not more. I recently sold an Argon 18 Subito e-gravel bike which is a high end brand that mostly makes racing bikes and the Subito was one of their first bikes for plebes like me. Actually, like its competition it’s marketed towards people of a certain age or fitness level who want to keep up with younger and stronger riders. I bought it because I moved to the hills after living in flat Louisiana and needed assistance for climbs. Out and back on my road is 14 miles with 2,000 feet of climbing and grades approaching 15%. I sold my old bike after 3 years because my husband unexpectedly lost his job and I panicked, and it never fit right being a 52 and I need a 50. I still loved that bike and regretted it. I have a cheapie steel bike with a front hub kit and it’s not the same. Aftet our finances recovered the CF Racer1 caught my eye because it would fill the same niche without having to fork over four or five grand for a bike which I can’t do anymore in good conscience.
Am I expecting the CF Racer1 to be an Argon 18? Heck no! But let’s be real. I’m an oldish lady who isn’t a particularly good or strong rider but likes to bomb through the woods on hilly dirt and gravel forest roads. I also want to start group gravel rides this year and while they’re cool with e-bikes I’m not going to bring a fat tire hunting bike on a group ride. I don’t need a super high end bike. The CF Racer1 (assuming it is IRL what it is on the spec sheet) will be just fine and fits a niche that no one else is filling other than the big 3 and other high end makers.
The CF Racer1 is $2295. I got mine for $100 off on pre buy, and got another $40 coupon from them if I promise to commute to work. I already commute to work on my fat tire ebike so I legitimately thought I could make that commitment for the extra 40 bucks.
I bought the 50cm, black, gravel build. Specs are on Ride1Up’s website and the bike that arrived is exactly as spec’ed. https://ride1up.com/product/cf-racer1/
I was concerned about the bike arriving with no damage esp since it’s carbon fiber. Damage that is merely cosmetic with an aluminum or steel frame can lead to failure in CF. The box did arrive damaged and the delivery person had me state so on the delivery paperwork and I took pictures before opening it up in case there was an issue.
Fortunately the damage was to the box only. While packing could have been better, it also could have been far worse and the bike was in perfect condition.
The pluses:
The bike is LIGHT. It feels lighter than my old bike even though I know it isn’t. I haven’t put all my gear on yet. But it’s basically the same. One pound for old lady bombing through the woods and not racing competitively is negligible.
The integrated routing is clean. I like the CF handlebars which have a nice flat surface for riding on the tops. The buttons controlling the ebike power assist level are nicely accessible from the hoods and almost look wireless.
It’s pretty. The rainbow gloss black was worth the wait. You can barely see the Ride1Up logo. A good thing when going on a group ride with the Spesh and Colnago riders I guess. 😄
They include everything you need to properly install and maintain the bike including a proper torque wrench kit (a must for CF!!) and other tools, bike grease and CF paste, etc. And a touque for swag.
I had no problem with installation. I can build bikes but it came almost all built. Just put on the front tire, seatpost, and pedals and you’re good to go. I took my time but it was mainly to make sure I inspected the whole bike for potential shipping damage.
The hub motor is TINY. I’d say it’s about 60% of the size of my old X35 hub motor. It’s the same power and torque on paper.
The groupset including brakes are high quality SRAM Rival which are comparable to GRX or Shimano 105. Solid midrange branded components.
Saddle and bar tape, while not the best in the world, are definitely functional in line with similar bikes and not the cheapest stuff you want to take off right away. The Selle Royal saddle on the gravel edition looks like a Fizik copy so I’ll try riding it and see how it feels. At least it’s a real brand and not an Aliexpress saddle. Get more appropriate pedals though. They’re solid and far better than throwaway plastic Walmart pedals and good for the short term but most riders are either going to want to get clipless or pinned MTB flats depending on preference. These are neither.
Minuses (none are dealbreakers)
There are CF markings barely visible under the paint on the top tube. Not sure if all their bikes will be like this. It’s not super noticeable but it is the main visible giveaway that this isn’t a $5,000 bike.
The ebike isn’t Bluetooth enabled that I can see. I tried connecting to the Bafang Go app and it doesn’t recognize it. My Garmin doesn’t recognize it either. Only reason why I like to connect is so I can get accurate power data from the bike but it’s not a deal breaker. I also have a Garmin ebike remote but since the stock ones are so nicely placed I don’t need a separate remote. Again, not a $5k bike and not a huge compromise.
Wheels are drilled for Schrader and not Presta. No biggie but something to consider if you want to go tubeless.
Fit. This should be the biggest factor for anyone considering this bike since there’s only 2 sizes. Due to the integrated routing and integrated handlebar/stem, there is no adjusting for fit. The only things that can be adjusted are seatpost height and saddle fore/aft. It will either fit, or not. I went through the geometry pretty carefully before I ordered. It does fit me but I will need to get used to the bar and brifter position. Ride1up says the 50 will fit someone 5’3” and that may be pushing the envelope a bit. I’m 5’4” and it’s about as big as it can be and still fit given the non-adjustable reach. You aren’t supposed to adjust saddle position on a road bike to account for reach. Unlike my previous bike the seatpost isn't down all the way to where I can't see any more height markings so that's a good sign it’s not too big.
I’ll post more once I get to ride it. I’m in upstate NY where it’s too cold and snowy to take it out, but by the end of next week we will thaw out enough to where I’ll be able to take it at least for a short ride.