There are cheap electric bikes and good mid-drive electric bikes. Those two circles on the Venn diagram don’t overlap as often as we’d like. But Ride1Up’s newly released Prodigy V2 Eco is doing its best to crush them with a surprisingly low price of $1,295.
And this isn’t a $1,300 bike with a no-name mid-drive motor you’ve never heard of. At the heart of the Prodigy V2 Eco is a German-made Brose TF Sprinter mid-drive motor generating 90Nm of torque, combined with a 504Wh battery using Samsung cells.
In other words, the expensive parts are still there.
The Prodigy line has been around for several years and has historically been used by Ride1Up as the company’s most premium mid-drive offering. The new Eco version seems to take that same basic formula and ask a pretty simple question: How much can we reduce the price without cutting the parts that really make the bike so good?
The answer, apparently, is quite a bit.
Ride1Up has made some component concessions compared to their higher-end Prodigy versions. The fancier Maxxis rubber has been replaced by more affordable tyres, while the higher specification four-piston hydraulic brakes have been replaced by 180mm two-piston hydraulic brakes. The drivetrain is also a fairly simple 9-speed setup with a microSHIFT Advent derailleur and a Shimano Alivio 11-34T cassette.
These are all fine parts, but not premium components like you’d find in a $4,000 Specialized or Trek. However, the battery and motor, basically the heart and soul of the bike, could go toe-to-toe with e-bikes from top-tier bike shops any day of the week.
And those are exactly the types of compromises I like to see in a value-focused e-bike. Save money on components that are relatively easy and inexpensive to replace one day, not the expensive electric drivetrain buried in the middle of the bike. If my tires wear out a little faster, I may decide to put nicer tires on later. But giving me a $3,000 electric bike for less than half the price is a deal.
And that’s what the company seems to be doing, because Ride1Up is not cheap on the market. You still get the mid-drive Brose with its integrated torque sensor, a 36V 14Ah battery, and Class 3 performance up to 28mph (45km/h).
There’s also a 100mm lockout suspension fork (although it’s not clear which fork they went with here either), integrated headlights and taillights, full-coverage fenders, a 40lb capacity rear rack, an adjustable stem, and 27.5-inch wheels. The bike comes in step-through and step-through frame styles, which instead of multiple frame sizes, gives riders a “shorter” and “taller” mounting option.
Perhaps the most surprising part is simply what $1,295 can buy here compared to the rest of the market.
Ride1Up itself targets bikes like Trek’s FX+ 7S and Allant+ 8S, as well as the Specialized Turbo Vado SL 2 5.0, all of which cost more than $4,000. That’s not to say they’re apples-to-apples comparisons; Premium dealer brands bring their own advantages in component selection, dealer support, frame engineering, refinement and service networks.
But when we’re talking about a more than three-fold difference in sticker price, it’s hard not to notice.
A $1,295 hub motor electric bike is no longer particularly surprising. We’ve seen a lot of those. A $1,295 electric bike with Brose 90Nm center drive, torque sensor, 504Wh battery with Samsung cells, hydraulic brakes, suspension, fenders, lights and rear rack? That is a very different proposal.
And frankly, it’s the kind of aggressive pricing that makes you wonder how much room there is left in the premium e-bike market.
The Prodigy V2 Eco is currently available for pre-order for $1,295, and Ride1Up indicates that shipments are expected to begin in the coming weeks.
Hopefully we’ll be able to test one of these soon, but until then, check out my review of the Prodigy V2 below, which is largely the same e-bike but with slightly better brakes, tires, and other components.
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