“Dude. Is that an ebike?” The call came from a man with a pierced septum and a bike-chain tattoo. He wasn't the only one fooled. The Ride1Up Roadster V3, a city commuter released last year and frequently out of stock through 2025, belongs to a new generation of smartly integrated ebikes that look and feel like a regular bicycle - until you twist the throttle. WIRED's reviewer spent months and hundreds of miles riding the nine-speed model around Portland, Oregon, up steep ridges and across rivers, and found it rides like a bicycle that's just easier to pedal. Exactly how a bike should feel, if you ask us.
Weighing about 40 pounds, the Roadster V3 is a lightweight ebike with a proportional torque assist that makes it feel like an extra-peppy classic bike - albeit one whose 500-watt motor can hit 28 mph when set as a Class 3 ebike. At $1,395, it's affordable for a high-performance model with premium parts and a throttle for hill launches. The 20- to 40-mile range is fine for daily commutes but not long-distance touring. The biggest downside? A dearth of affiliated repair shops, a common direct-to-consumer ebike headache, since most regular bike shops refuse to fix even a flat for brands they don't sell. But the Roadster punches well above its price class in power and versatility.
San Diego-based Ride1Up, a company less than a decade old, mostly builds specialized and utility bikes at accessible prices. Some models struck this reviewer as chunky or over-engineered, but not the Roadster V3. Its cables run through the hollow frame, and the removable battery is almost imperceptibly integrated into the chassis. With three frame sizes accommodating riders from 5'2" to 6'4", and the largest frame still weighing only 40 pounds, it's a rare ebike that doesn't look like one - even when you're riding it.