Since E-bike manufacturer Ride1Up closed a $6.5 million Series A led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund, the San Diego-based company has seen steady sales growth since its launch in 2018, especially as consumers switched to ebikes during the pandemic over public transit. Indeeed, last year ebikes reportedly outsold EV and plug-in hybrid automobiles.
So it was high time we tried out one of their bikes.
While the Ride1Up Prodigy is a mid-drive electric bike at an affordable price, this belies its quality as an electric bike, even at this price point.
Most hub motor electric bikes (these have the motor in the center of a wheel) can be slightly awkward to ride because of this drive positioning. Not so with the Ride1Up, which I found had a very natural feel when riding.
Even though mid-drive bik …
