Ride1Up got its start as a dedicated urban-focused electric bike maker, bringing affordable e-bikes with excellent performance to commuters all over the US. The brand has since expanded into a number of diverse categories both on and off-road, but continues to lead in the urban sector. Now Ride1Up has launched its newest model, the Vorsa, which sets a new high watermark for value among urban riders.
The new Ride1Up Vorsa, just launched today, is a textbook example of integrating useful technology into an e-bike without bringing along the unecessary fluff that can too often come with it.
With the extremely reasonable $1,595 MSRP, it’s going to be hard for a lot of today’s competitors to match the value of the new Vorsa.
Performance for price
Sure, there are more affordable electric bikes on the market – but few match this level of performance meets tech.
The Ride1Up Vorsa pairs a 750W rear motor featuring an impressive 95 Nm of torque with a selectable e-bike class system, meaning riders can choose their top speed up to 28 mph (45 km/h). With that much torque though, even keeping the top speed down will still allow riders to climb big hills and push through obstacles.
Riders also get the choice of selecting between the torque sensor or cadence sensor for their pedal assist. The former is a Mivice torque sensor and offers some of the most responsive pedal assist on the market – even against other leading torque sensor bikes. The cadence sensor isn’t as responsive but lets riders achieve higher performance with less effort, effectively providing ‘foot throttle’ style operation that many riders prefer for ease of use, even if it doesn’t as accurately mimic a true pedaling experience.
The 720 Wh battery features Samsung’s latest 21700 format cells and is UL-compliant for safety and security. New low-profile LED lights offer high visibility without the bulk, and the tail light even integrates nicely into the attractive alloy fenders – no plastic junk here.
The new color LCD display provides more insight than ever before to the bike’s inner workings, plus includes Apple’s Airtag tech built-in for native support with Apple FindMy, helping locate a lost or stolen e-bike before it disappears for good.
The 100 mm suspension fork smooths out the ride and is strong enough to help the bike achieve its 440 lb (200 kg) weight capacity rating. It’s paired with an adjustable stem to keep riders comfortable and allow the bike to be molded to better fit the owner, and not the other way around. And with both a step-over and a step-through frame option, both common bike styles are available to suit different tastes.
Electrek’s Take
All of that for $1,595 – especially considering the new world of tariffs we’re currently navigating – is a pretty darn good deal for the Vorsa. I’m not sure of many other urban e-bikes that could compete. Velotric’s new Breeze, which was recently released, also offers some similar tech such as sensor selection and Apple FindMy integration, but has less power and range despite costing $200 more than the Vorsa (though it does weight 22 lbs less than the hefty 70-lb Vorsa). The Lectric XPress 750 undercuts the price and has nearly as much power and range as the Vorsa, but lacks much of the tech including that critical built-in (i.e. non-removable) tracking.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t good competitors like these, but rather that I’m glad to see Ride1Up was careful with the pricing to ensure that giving us all of these nice features, cool tech, and good performance didn’t come at the cost of pricing out most riders. The price tag here keeps the Vorsa as an incredibly solid competitor while bringing some of the bells and whistles normally found on nicer bikes to riders with more modest budgets.
I’ve gotten some good early access time on the Vorsa and so I’ll have my full written review and video review coming soon. Until then, let us know what you think of the new e-bike in the comment section below!
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