Ride1UP CF Racer1 Review | The Best Budget Gravel E-Bike of 2024 ($2,295 Carbon Fiber)
I am here with the gravel version of the ride oneup CF racer one which has a carbon fiber frame and a price tag between ,25 200 the entry point for a carbon fiber bike is often significantly higher so did ride one up deliver a practical and affordable gravel ebike Let’s Take a
Ride and find [Applause] Out Hey fellow e bikers I’m John with electric bike report before we jump in please make sure to hit that subscribe Button as well as the bell icon we release new ebike reviews a couple times a week so if you’re in the market for one we’re here to help make that search
A little bit easier but back to the CF racer 1 there’s also a road version of the bike available with some differences in components and geometry but we’re only going to discuss the gravel version that we have here let’s start off by talking price a little bit more in our
Communication with ride oneup they made a direct comparison between this bike and the topstone Neo SL2 from canondale which is priced above $3,500 at the time we’re filming and it has an alloy frame you can find non-electric carbon fiber gravel bikes in this price range but in
Many cases a carbon fiber ebike is likely going to run about double what the CF racer costs and sometimes way more than that now carbon fiber seems to be a rising Trend so we expect costs to be coming down as manufacturing gets more efficient but even so that puts
Ride one up a little bit ahead of the curve carbon fiber is not just a buzz phrase though it really does have some great benefits first in terms of weight the CF racer is a grand total of 29 lb in my testing that translated to fast acceleration and great handling because
I didn’t have to fight against the weight of the bike and second there’s no suspension here but the frame has a little bit of flex to help absorb vibrations and bumps so there’s a bit more Comfort here than there would be with a rigid alloy frame on top of that
29 lb is pretty manageable for anyone needing to carry their bike up a flight of stairs and it’s also light enough to fit on a standard bike rack the last major feature I want to discuss is the 250 W rear hub motor made by buun it has
A really great range of assist levels that go from subtle to powerful and this is a class 3 ebike so the motor can help up to 28 mph the motor is also incredibly small and quiet so aside from the display there’s not really anything that makes this stand out as an ebike continuing
With the rest of the specs and components though the bike is powered by an internal 36v 252w battery with Samsung cells there’s a SRAM rival one group set that includes a hydraulic disc brake system with two piston calipers and 160 mm rotors on both Wheels as well as an 11-speed drivetrain
The 42 to chain ring is made by Pro wheel and has 170 mm crank arms but the derer is made by stram along with the 11 to 42 to cassette the bike includes flat platform flange pedals and a cell Royal asphalt GF saddle and then this version
Of the bike includes 700cx 40 mm Continental Terra trail tires made specifically for dirt and gravel up in the cockpit there’s a custom monoco or single piece stem and handlebar unit with a 90 mm extension the handlebars themselves vary with the two different frame sizes and then again with either
The road or gravel configuration RS has 420 mm bars with a 15° flare out to 487 mm on the drops and the smaller frame size starts at 400 MM and flares out to 467 mm there’s a small velop color display that’s mounted in front of the stem and then the rear brake lever
Includes a SRAM rival double tap shifter this single lever shifts both up and down depending on how you press it so it can take some getting used to but I really liked it once I got it figured out you might notice that there are really no visible cables or wires
Anywhere they’re all internally routed that does wonders for the visual element and the overall stealth factor of this bike but it does have some potential trade-offs in terms of Maintenance costs routine maintenance is super important and normal things like replacing the headset bearings are going to require
Additional steps so if you’re not doing the work yourself just be aware that you’re likely going to be paying higher labor costs to cover the mechanics additional time but that aside the last thing to talk about are the CF Racers two color options our version of the
Bike is called clouded gray but it also comes in a glossy rainbow black so with all that out of the way now let’s go see how the bike performed in our real world Tests in our first test we measured the stopping power of the CF Racers hydraulic disc brakes and it did a solid job overall we brought the bike up to 20 mph before hitting the brakes and then we measured the distance it took to come to a complete stop one test isn’t all
That useful so we did it three times and then calculated an average stopping distance of 23 7 in based on those results I compared that average to other ebikes we’ve tested with similar weight and hydraulic disc brake systems which in most cases were city bikes the
Average for that pool of other bikes was 22t 10 in so the CF racer came in a little slower but only by a few inches and I think its aerodynamic riding position is probably the biggest contributing factor to that some of those other bikes had larger rotors but
They were also heavier so I think the difference was pretty moot the CF Racers performance is well within the range we expect to see and I thought the brakes did a great job when I tested the bike on some dirt and gravel roads the area I was in wasn’t very well maintained so
There were big rocks and washed out sections that I did my best to avoid and these brakes kept my speed in check even when I was riding fast down a few steep hills overall I think this is a great brake set that’s really effective for practical use but it was a little a
Little slower in our test so I’ve got to give the bike an A minus here Overall I took the CF racer out for two speed tests one on our local bike paths and the other on a dirt and gravel road there was a pretty big difference in those results so let’s see what happened and then we can go over the numbers back
Here all right we are here to do a speed test on the CF racer one going here just with my own hour going around 14 1/ 12 15 mph yeah all right 14 and 1/2 let’s go up to PS1 trying to keep the same level of steady effort
Here uh feeling pretty subtle and actually I don’t really even hear the motor it’s very quiet so shft it up couple years though there is something happening here looks like uh right around 17 mph for this one let’s go to vs2 feeling a little bit more power
Which is different it’s you know it’s not really doesn’t feel like a push it’s just smoother and faster all right so we’re going 194 milph it looks like was the max let’s go to PS3 we will shift again so all right 19.9 we made 20 let’s go to f
Four okay there’s definitely there’s more power the other three were very subtle whereas this one this is more of what I expect from an ebike feel a bit of a push picking up a lot of speed 24 and 1/2 milph or so we’ll get around this Bend and then I’ll shift
Up all right ks5 and looks like right around 26 mph yep a little over all right we’ll call I speed test there all right we are here for another speed test on the CF racer 1 this time in the dirt and gravel so I’m going here uh with the
Pedal assist system turned off uh kind of around 9 mph maybe a little over at times but let’s go ahead and go up to P1 and again uh not really hearing or feeling much from the motor in this setting very subtle I’m going to shift up a gear
Though so I guess there’s that uh going about 9 and a half maybe a little over okay let’s go to P2 okay definitely an easier experience here feel like I can confidently shift up a gear going about 10 and a half here okay let’s go ahead and go up to
Pas3 and shift up again definitely getting Breezy here uh you know still feels like a normal bike but just easier yeah getting I think that was around 13 1 12 Max there yeah so let’s go up to P4 and this is the point at which I
Think it starts feeling a lot more like an ebike with that power kind of pushing you so let’s get through this area but and I’ve got a bit of a headwind going on all right yeah going about 14 and 1 12 15 here in this setting that’s pretty
Comfortable all the way up 15 and 1 12 and then we’ll finish things off in ks5 don’t really want to go a whole lot faster honestly just with all the unpredictability out here but this is a good section yeah so that’s I think a good
Spot for it right around 17 or a little above we’ll call that our uh second part of the speed test and we’ll bounce back to studio so on the pave bike path I was going at a pretty good clip with no pedal assistance my Max there was 14.9
Mph the motor was super subtle in pas1 but I was able to hit 17 mph and then the ride got progressively easier in Pas 2 and 3 where I hit 19.4 and 20 mph but it still felt really natural in the higher settings I could really feel that
Extra power from the motor so I hit 24.6 in pas4 and 26.1 in pas5 my speeds on the dirt road were vastly different both for the sake of safety and because of the added resistance from the rougher ground I started off going 9.1 mph to start and
Then hit a Max of 9.6 in pas1 the increases in speed were really steady going up from there I hit 11.2 in pas2 13.4 in pas3 15.5 in pas4 and 17.3 mph in pas5 I have a couple of big takeaways from this test first the motor’s output
Is limited in each pedals is setting but the bike speeds are not so even though there’s a Cadence Sensor here it felt a lot more natural and less like an onoff switch second small changes in my pedaling seem to have a fairly big effect on my speed because of the
Lightweight frame there was a little bit of a hiccup in my pas3 result from the bike path where I think these two things came into play and I think the data from the gravel portion was a little bit more accurate that data showed a completely steady increase in speed speed and power
Through the settings which matched up more with how the bike felt if you really like the feeling of riding an analog bike I think the lower assist levels are going to meet your needs and if you prefer a super easy Ride the High assist settings are definitely not
Lacking in power so I think the CF racer earned a solid a in this Test ride oneup advertises a range of 16 to 40 Mi with the CF Racer’s 252w battery and we tested that by riding in pas1 and pas5 until we ran out of charge to get a low and high-end bracket our results were 15.3 to 47.6 mil which were on the mid to high end
When compared to bikes we’ve tested with similar motor and battery specs that shows that the CF racer did a really great job in this test and also that its advertisements were right on the money there is one caveat we do all of our testing on paved surfaces so if you are
A dedicated gravel Rider you’ll likely find the battery running out a bit sooner and of course the higher the assist level that you use the faster the battery will be depleted regardless we think you’re likely to get better range with the CF racer than you would with similarly priced alloy gravel ebikes
Just because of the super light carbon frame lower weight equals better efficiency but the trade-off with this style of frame is limited battery size there’s nothing unusual here but just be aware that as a super light you’re not going to get 50 to 80 M of range on a
Gravel ride if you’re the type of person who’s training for a century ride and you want something for longer recovery day rides we recommend looking at adding the optional range extender battery right now ride one up offers one that was designed for their Roadster City and
Gravel bike but they are also working on one that matches this bike’s aesthetic a little more I don’t think everyone will need the extra battery but for about an extra 300 bucks you can double this spikes range and in terms of value you’re still looking at a cost that’s
Well below what you’re likely to find elsewhere by the Numbers you’d likely get around 32 to 95 mil from one charge on paved surfaces which I don’t think anyone is going to complain about as it is there’s one thing to keep in mind about this bike which is that it
Functions really well as an analog bike if your battery dies while you’re still out on a ride its weight below 30 lb and its wide gearing range means that you don’t need the battery in order to Pedal overall I think the CF racer deserves High marks in this test so I’m going to
Give it a solid A as usual our tester Justin pedal the CF racer up The Path at hellhole Trail to see how it could do on a steep hill and I think it did a great job for the style of bike that it is let’s see how Justin test went and we’ll talk about
The results back here in the studio okay so we’re in hell hole with the ride one up CF racer and very excited to take this up up the hill and see how it does um r on UPS like first carbon fiber gravel bike um and it’s a rear hub
Motor that has a torque sensor and feels very natural so very quiet and we’ll see how this does so far I’m down to about 7 mes hour yes you know I’m having to put it put Power into the pedals torque sensor you’re going to have to um going to be breathing more than
Some but it’s a gravel bike so that’s kind of what you want um I’ll let you listen to the motor as I climb up this next section of the Hill so as you can probably not tell cuz you can’t hear it motor is very quiet power output you know it’s not the most
Powerful motor again it’s not necessar supposed to be but I can feel it if the engagement feels very smooth and you I’ve shifted once time in this hill going about 10 mph now got down to about 7 through the Steep sections yeah you can hear me breathing
But you definitely I mean you kind of feel like you’re super human climbing on this thing so that was tons of fun let’s go to the tape and see how it did so one correction there Justin said a couple of times that there was a torque sensor on
This bike but it is just a Cadence Sensor the combination of the motor’s subtle power and its current based programming gave it a pretty similar feel to a torque sensor plus we had the bike before most of its specs were widely available obviously Justin was breathing a little heavy there toward
The end of the test but he made it in good time for a bike with a 250 W Motor the test took a minute and 48 seconds and Justin’s average speed was an even 10 mph compared to other bikes we’ve tested the CF Racers results were more
In line with what we usually see from a 350 W Motor and its maximum output matches up pretty well too judging by its controller this motor had a peak of 540 WTS and it produces a Max of 42 Newton M of torque which is definitely on the high end for
Its nominal rating the aerodynamic riding position likely gave the bike a little bit of an edge as well since most of those other bikes were a little bit more upright with all that in mind this is intended to be more of a cyclist Spike the motor can’t do all all of the
Work for you and you will have to put in some effort but it definitely makes the job easier I’ve pedal up hell hole on this bike and on another without a motor and I can say that where the other one was like torture I actually had a fun
Workout with the CF racer so big picture I’ll give it a solid a Here some of the main contributing factors to the CF Racers ride quality are its sizing and geometry its carbon fiber frame its tires and its motor so let’s go back out in the desert to chat about those things and then I’ll expand on a few details back here in the studio
All right we are here to talk about ride quality on the CF racer 1 and uh this is the gravel version of the bike there’s also a road version but we’re kind of out here in the intended natural environment for this version of the bike uh regardless of which one you’re
Looking at the uh seef rer comes in two frame sizes and it fits Riders from 5’3 up to 6’3 um it’s really important to find kind of that broad range that does fit you because there’s not a ton of adjustability here you’re pretty much limited to the rails on the saddle and
Then the seat post itself for your saddle height um with the sort of single piece stem and handlebar unit you’re not going to be able to really make any adjustments to handlebar height or reach uh Without Really replacing the whole stem and handlebar setup there is a you know pretty
Aggressive forward lean on both versions of the bike uh but you do have the drop bars so you’re not limited to kind of one placement you can switch uh you know where your grip is and how your body position is there is no suspension here this is a
Rigid carbon frame and fork uh I say that but you know there is some give to the carbon fiber and I think that does you know add to the overall quality of the ride in general uh just a little bit more maneuverable a little lighter but then the tires here made by
Continental they are 700 C by 40 mm so kind of middle of the road in terms of gravel tires uh so kind of a balance between maneuverability and stability but uh honestly good traction out here and I have them aired down a little bit so again adding a little bit more cushion
Since there’s no suspension uh and then we’ll talk about the motor that is a 250 W buun rear hub uh with a Cadence Sensor and honestly uh you know very subtle smooth engagement it feels pretty responsive and it definitely has uh power levels that vary to give you you
Know a natural feeling ride where it just feels like a bike but then up in the higher settings a little bit more like an ebike so uh we’ll call it there and we’ll bounce back to the studio and talk a little bit more so I want to reiterate that the
Carbon fiber frame and fork are huge contributing factors to the bike’s handling and the overall feel of the ride everyone has their preferences of course but I think there’s something pretty cool that happens when you can barely even feel the weight of the bike beneath you and compared to an alloy
Frame the ride here is also noticeably smoother personally the only change I’d make to this bike if it were mine would be to add a suspension seat post from someone like red shift sports I’d probably do that on any gravel bike though so that’s not a knock on the CF
Racer in particular more just a comment for anyone like me who prefers as much comfort as you can get circling back to the sizing and fit though there are definitely a few things to consider there with just two frame sizes the fit is pretty Broad and with the monox stem
And handlebar there’s no real way to dial in the fit more precisely without significantly increasing cost the fit here is decent for an entry-level bike but we wouldn’t mind seeing at least three frame sizes in the future for a little bit more of a dialed in feel one
Last thing to dive more into is the motor I’ve talked about that quite a bit already but I did really like the fact that there were low levels where this felt more like an analog bike and also a couple of higher power settings for a super relaxed and easy ride I thought it
Was great that it could reach 28 mph comfortably on paved surfaces but that it also had a more controlled feel for riding off-road as well as the power to back that Up I can’t help but to keep coming back to the CF racer One’s price it’s pretty impressive that ride one up was able to put together a bike with carbon fiber Construction ction and a ton of quality name brand parts for such an affordable price and overall its performance was
Really solid even if there are a few downsides that come with its design if you’re expecting a really dialed in fit you’re probably going to need to add some cost to replace the stem and handlebars and the maintenance over time will likely add up more with the internally routed cables but if you’re
Looking to get into road or gravel cycling or trade in your analog bike without spending a premium UPF front there is definitely a lot of potential here to recap our test results there’s a great distribution of speed and power throughout the five assist settings there’s decent range for the specs and
The option to double your range with a secondary external battery there’s really solid climbing power for the specs as well and also good braking performance overall we think there’s a lot of appeal here for budget conscious Shoppers which is honestly just par for course with ride one up we’ve been
Consistently impressed with their ebikes and the CF racer one stays true to form even if there is some room for improvement which is always going to be the case with every bike if you want to check out more of the differences between the road and gravel versions of
The CF racer check out the link down in the video description and you can also find a link to our written review that goes into more detail if you decide to make a purchase we ask that you use our affiliate link to let us know you found this review helpful it won’t increase
Your cost but it will enable us to keep making high quality content please also be sure to like And subscribe as that helps us reach new viewers and feel free to drop us a line down in the comments but thanks for watching again I’m John with electric bike report and this is
The ride oneup CF racer one A
For current pricing of the Aventon Ramblas, click the link below:
https://ebrdeals.com/ebrRide1upCFRacer1
For the detailed written review of the Aventon Ramblas, click the link below:
The CF Racer 1 is Ride1UP’s first carbon fiber e-bike, which is available in both a road and a gravel configuration. We tested its real world performance to give you the scoop in this Ride1UP CF Racer 1 review.
With a carbon fiber frame and fork, the CF Racer is extremely light at just 29 lbs. This made it feel agile, easily maneuverable, and ultimately more efficient when riding off-road.
Carbon fiber e-bikes are often priced significantly higher than the CF Racer 1’s price point between $2000 and $2500. Ride1UP’s trademark is quality and performance with an affordable price, and there weren’t any obvious areas where sacrifices were made with this bike!
The CF Racer is a cyclist’s e-bike, meaning that its 250W motor is relatively subtle in its output, and it feels like an analog bike. At high-assist levels, it can do much of the heavy lifting, but you’ll never be completely overpowered.
See our Ride1UP CF Racer 1 review for more!
#ride1up #gravelbike #electricbikereview
0:00 Intro
00:48 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Overview
05:34 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Brake Test
07:03 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Speed Test
14:17 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Range Test
16:33 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Hill Test
20:16 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Ride Quality
24:44 Ride1UP CF Racer1 – Conclusion
