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Tony Ellsworth’s TheRide releases first visionary e-Bike; The Radiant Carbon

tony ellsworth ebike therideradiant carbon radical electric bicycle commuting cruising enviolo automatic shifting stepless hub shimano motor gates belt drive
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Tony Ellsworth is something of a legend in the mountain bike industry; his brand, Ellsworth Bicycles, was the first to drop a sub 22lb full suspension mountain bike as an early adopter of EPS carbon molding. In 2018, ASG Group bought the brand and Tony moved on. But, that wasn’t to be the last we heard of the legendary mountain bike designer. He’s back in business with new brand TheRide, debuting a radical e-bike; The Radiant Carbon.

Tony Ellsworth’s e-Bike: TheRide Radiant Carbon

TheRide describe the Radiant Carbon as “The World’s most advanced e-bike for commuting and cruising”. Their design goal was to pack new technology such as auto-shift, electric-assist and asymmetrical universal fit geometry into an attractive, modern-integrated design, that is as easy to ride as it is to maintain.

class 1 assist ebike radical geometry tony ellsworth theride radiant carbon blue
TheRide Radiant Carbon is a Class 1 e-bike with electric-assist up to 20 mph

TheRide Radiant radical drivetrain

Aesthetics aside, they do look to have achieved their goal. TheRide Radiant Carbon is powered by a Shimano Class 1 Centre Drive motor, with hub internal automatic shifting delivered by a Nuvinci Enviolo hub.

shimano drive unit tony ellsworths ebike theride radiant
The Shimano motor delivers a maximum of 60 Nm

The Enviolo is a rear hub that uses continuously variable transmission technology to create stepless automatic shifting.

nuvinvi optimized enviolo stepless automatic transmission hub bicycle

A 50,000 mile lifespan Gates Carbon Belt Drive propels the Radiant Carbon. A 630Wh battery sits inside the tube just behind the bottom bracket area, delivering a claimed range of over 100 miles.

Asymmetrical Universal Fit Geometry

tony ellsworth ebike therideradiant carbon radical electric bicycle commuting cruising enviolo automatic shifting stepless hub shimano motor gates belt drive

One bike to fit them all. Basically. TheRide claim that this one-piece carbon frame will cater to riders from 5ft to 6ft 4″. And what a frame it is. Starting from the front end we have a single-sided (left) fork. OK, it’s not exactly common but there’s nothing too out of the ordinary there. From the headtube back, things start to require a second and third glance.

bicycle rider on tony ellsworth ebike theride radiant carbon commuter cruiser

The headtube flows back into a very chunky top tube and a very, very chunky downtube. That flows into a single-sided chainstay on the driveside, whereas the toptube flows into a single-sided seatstay on the non-driveside. 

male bike rider riding theride radiant carbon ebike designed by tony ellsworth

Sadly, we don’t have geometry figures to share with you. But, can we all just take a moment to appreciate that unfathomably slack seat tube angle. Coupled with the severe backsweep on the handlebar, it should create a very laid back seated pedaling position for cruising around town, or down the beach front.

Radiant Carbon Details

radiant carbon integrated rear front lightsTony Ellsworth’s Radiant Carbon e-Bike features an integrated front and rear light. A rear mud guard is mounted to the seat post. The grease-less belt drive will also ensure commuters arrive at work clean and fresh.

magura mt-30 4-pot hydraulic disc brakes on commuter ebike made by tony ellsworth

Though they will certainly provide ample power, we can’t help but feel the Magura MT-30 4-piston brakes with 180mm rotors are a little out of place on a commuter bike.

theride radiant carbon runs 2.8" plus sized tubeless ready schwalbe tires

50mm internal width alloy rims are fitted with 2.8″ plus sized Schwalbe tires. 

Pricing & Availability

tony ellsworth crowdunding theride radiant carbon ebike indigogo

Only 360 units of Tony Ellsworth’s e-bike will be produced. Get it in Radiant Red, Obsidian Metallic or Cobalt Blue. TheRide are running an Indiegogo campaign to fund the first batch of TheRide Radiant Carbon bikes, with the first due to ship in January 2021.

Back the project for $4,995 to join the First Riders Club, or pay $6,495 to get one in June 2021. Either way, you get a video call with Tony Ellsworth. Check out our podcast with the man himself from 2009.

TheRide.com

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MTB4ME
MTB4ME
3 years ago

Ugh…Friends don’t let friends ride ______ Bikes (Ugly, not Ellsworth)..Period! Here comes his rant;-)

JP
JP
3 years ago

As if 2020 could get any worse.

Steven Schiff
Steven Schiff
3 years ago
Reply to  JP

Funny!

SPK
SPK
3 years ago

Not sure if this thing (not bicycle) was conceived on a truth or a dare

Brad
Brad
3 years ago

I wish you could give ‘likes’ to peoples posts on this site.

keville
keville
3 years ago

Considering what a heart-achingly beautiful cruiser the original Ellsworth “The Ride” was, this thing is such a departure. Looks like the mold a Cannondale should pop out of.

Matthias
Matthias
3 years ago

Everybody complaining about the aesthetics, get over it. It’s an effing commuter. It gets you from A to B. If it does that alright, it’s done its job.
The question is more: does it do that? 50,000 *miles* of belt lifetime? Yeah right. Especially beach-cruising like in the cheesy photo. For everything else there’s little substance in the article by which to judge.
But “limited edition” stuff that uses a cheap psychological trick to inflate the price can GTFO.

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