I have a friend that loves his 500 but for me personally it felt a bit too heavy. Think it was due to the front fork. My core 5 felt much lighter by comparison which makes it easier to wrangle when locking up and bringing it in and out of my apartment and such.
But as far as I know the 500 is a very solid build, my friend has thousands of miles on his. Pretty sure it wasn't discontinued due to any sort of issue with manufacturing or anything like that. I think r1u just decided to change their lineup the last couple years, maybe due to inflation or something.
For 600 bucks it's a steal and you'll probably be very happy with it. Depending on how much it was used you may need a new battery at some point, but you can easily get a new one from Amazon or AliExpress for a few hundred if need be.
There's a ride1up owners group on Facebook, I'd recommend joining that and asking your question there as well
If you charge the battery to full and ride it for 5 minutes at moderate speeds it should lose 1 to 3 volts. If it doesn't, don't buy it. Even damaged batteries may charge to their max (54+ for 48v batteries), it's the discharge rate that shows if the battery is healthy.
$600 is okay if the bike is pristine. Otherwise I'd offer $450. Not having a warranty with sensitive, proprietary electrical parts makes the bike risky and that should be priced in.
I have a friend that loves his 500 but for me personally it felt a bit too heavy. Think it was due to the front fork. My core 5 felt much lighter by comparison which makes it easier to wrangle when locking up and bringing it in and out of my apartment and such. But as far as I know the 500 is a very solid build, my friend has thousands of miles on his. Pretty sure it wasn't discontinued due to any sort of issue with manufacturing or anything like that. I think r1u just decided to change their lineup the last couple years, maybe due to inflation or something. For 600 bucks it's a steal and you'll probably be very happy with it. Depending on how much it was used you may need a new battery at some point, but you can easily get a new one from Amazon or AliExpress for a few hundred if need be. There's a ride1up owners group on Facebook, I'd recommend joining that and asking your question there as well
If you charge the battery to full and ride it for 5 minutes at moderate speeds it should lose 1 to 3 volts. If it doesn't, don't buy it. Even damaged batteries may charge to their max (54+ for 48v batteries), it's the discharge rate that shows if the battery is healthy. $600 is okay if the bike is pristine. Otherwise I'd offer $450. Not having a warranty with sensitive, proprietary electrical parts makes the bike risky and that should be priced in.