A low-cost touring e-bike that feels pricier

San Diego-based electric bicycle company Ride1Up has just unveiled yet another new e-bike this season. Unlike the heavyweight electric moped we saw last month, the new Ride1Up Turris is a much lighter touring e-bike that also happens to be lighter on the wallet.

The Ride1Up Turris, which just launched at a comparatively reasonable $1,295, is ostensibly a touring bike. That means it falls somewhere between a light duty mountain bike and a city commuter. But what it really is depends on how you use, as the bike offers some serious versatility for such an inexpensive model.

The Turris has front suspension and knobby mountain bike style tires, yet sports a nimble city ride and more upright bars for a slightly hybrid-like ride posture.

It’s the best of both worlds, if you ask me. And having ridden one myself to prepare for this review, I’m pretty darn smitten with the new e-bike.

You can see what I think of the Ride1Up Turris and watch me testing it out in my video review below. Keep on scrolling if you want to read even more details about the bike and my experience testing it out.

Ride1Up Turris video review

Ride1Up Turris quick tech specs

• Motor: 750W rear hub motor
• Top speed: 26 mph (42 km/h) – perhaps a bit faster if you pedal harder than me
• Battery: 48V 12.8Ah (614Wh)
• Frame: Aluminum alloy 6061
• Weight: 55 lb (25 kg)
• Brakes: Hydraulic disc brakes
• Extras: LCD display, three colors, two frame styles (step-over and step-through), included fenders, mounting point for rear rack
• Price: $1,295 

A little bit of everything

The Ride1Up Turris combines the essence of multiple styles of bikes. When you first hop on, the touch points of the bike make it feel a bit more urban. The riser handlebars don’t scream off-road, they whisper cruising and comfort.

The comfortable saddle, splash-reducing fenders, LED lighting, and even the spiral-wrapped cable management all belong in the urban category.

But then that 100mm travel suspension fork and the knobby mountain bike tires lend the bike enough off-road cred to tackle some decent nature trails, gravel roads, or other off-the-beaten-path paths.

So essentially, you’re getting two e-bikes in one. The Ride1Up Turris feels like an urban bike but rides more like a light-duty trail bike. And that’s exactly what you want in a touring bike.

Is it built to last?

So here’s the thing: At $1,295, there’s no way the Turris can hold a candle to the many thousand-dollar bike shop touring e-bikes. It’s just not built the same way.

I have no doubt that it will last for many years if you take care of it, but the components just aren’t top-shelf. The basic Shimano shifter is fine for leisure riding but isn’t a high-end piece of kit. Same goes for the derailleur. Good enough, but not great.

The hydraulic disc brakes are actually quite decent, and help to bring the bike to a quick stop. That’s important for a class 3 e-bike that hit speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h), though my own testing saw me getting closer to a peak of 26 mph (42 km/h).

If I had to choose, I’d go with the strategy that Ride1Up decided on: save a bit of money on the transmission and give us good brakes. Many people end up ignoring their shifters or only using the top few gears. But everyone stops – sometimes with more gusto than others. Good brakes are a necessity, and I’m glad to see that the Turris has some quality stoppers.

The suspension is somewhere in the middle, good not great. I rode on plenty of rutted-out trails and it worked just fine, especially with the tires at lower pressure of around 25 PSI instead of the 35-40 PSI I usually run on the street.

But this just isn’t a super rugged touring bike that I’d take on a trip across the US. Maybe across the state, but then I might want to bring a spare battery.

That’s the other area where the company saved a few bucks to offer that amazing $1,295 price. The battery is a tad smaller than average e-bikes these days at 48V 12.8Ah. With just 614 Wh of capacity, it seems like a solid 20 miles (32 km/h) of range is achievable on throttle only, with pedal assist riding netting closer to 35-40 miles.

You can stretch that pedal assist range to well over 50 miles if you keep it in the lowest power mode. But good luck resisting the temptation to pull more out of that 750W motor.

A great starter e-bike

Ride1Up has long been the king of affordable commuter e-bikes, and many of the company’s models have become the first e-bike for many riders. But now Ride1Up is branching out a bit into more off-road-ready riding with the Turris. And just like with the company’s commuter e-bikes, I think the Turris could become a great first e-bike for someone who wants a single bike that can live in both worlds. It’s a commuter during the week and a trail bike during the weekend!

Compared to something like the Ride1Up Roadster V2 Gravel Edition, the Turris has some real advantages. The battery is larger and removable, the motor is more powerful and you even get a throttle. For first-time e-bike riders, those are all going to be big advantages.

At $1,295, the bike offers features and performance far above its price class. Included equipment like fenders, LED lighting (at least a headlight) and even a kickstand are great to see as standard features. A rack might have been nice, but we can always add one if we really want it for commuter or urban use.

All told, I’m very happy with what the Ride1Up Turris delivers for the price. The bike offers excellent bang for your buck. It won’t compete with fancier touring e-bikes, but it does the job for a much more affordable price, and comes from a company known for its good products and support. That’s what I like to see!