Shopping for a direct-to-consumer bike might be virtually as large a chance as investing in cryptocurrency. Whereas a buyer just isn’t prone to lose their shirt investing in a new electric bike, shopping for a poorly made one might end in a severe crash or catch the storage on hearth. For these causes and extra, it’s clever to do some research earlier than clicking on the Add to Cart button.
The very best-end legacy-brand e-MTBs retail for upwards of $14,000. So what do you get for $2,095, the value of Ride1Up’s first-ever electrical mountain bike, the TrailRush? At first look, rather a lot. The California-based firm has been round since 2018 and differentiates itself from different direct-to-consumer manufacturers by speccing its bikes with strong parts, offering a quality-to-price ratio that it guarantees “can’t be beat.”
Strong Components
{Photograph}: Stephanie Pearson
The TrailRush is a Class III ebike, which implies that it doesn’t have a throttle, and the motor maxes out at 28 mph. It is an aluminum-framed hardtail with a Shimano Deore 10-speed drivetrain, a 120-mm RockShox Judy Silver TK Air Fork, and Tektro Orion Quad Piston brakes—all merchandise with monitor data that promise strong efficiency.
It additionally comes with good extras, like a 150-mm Exaform dropper seat submit and chunky Maxxis Minion tubeless-ready tires which are 29 inches in the back and front—a fairly priced, high-performance set of tires typically most well-liked by enduro or downhill riders. Curiously, as a substitute of Presta valves, the tires include Schrader valves, which is a pleasant function should you plan on filling up on air at a fuel station.
For e-components, the mid-drive TF Sprinter motor is made by the Brose, the German firm that Specialised makes use of for many of its drive expertise. With 90 nm of torque and 250 watts of sustained energy, it’s on the low finish of power for an electrical mountain bike. The 36-volt, 504-watt-hour detachable battery runs the size of the down tube and guarantees 30 to 50 hours of vary.
The bike’s entrance shock has a really large 120 mm of journey, which is widespread on a cross-country bike, however the body is total extra relaxed. For instance, the dimensions medium body has a extra relaxed using geometry, with a really lengthy 1,216-mm wheelbase, which provides it extra stability. Total, the TrailRush was constructed to deal with a bit of little bit of every little thing a path can throw your manner.
Easy, Quiet Experience
{Photograph}: Stephanie Pearson
At 57 kilos, the TrailRush is 2 to 12 kilos heavier than the other e-mountain bikes I’ve examined and greater than twice the burden of my non-electric cross-country mountain bike. Whether or not you’re solely new to mountain biking or amping up your experience from an analog model, it’s crucial to know that e-MTBs deliver nice pleasure, till they run out of battery and you must push them house. Or, worse, they find yourself on prime of you in a fall, which might be deadly.
