Hello! Thanks for having me. I live in Columbus, Oh, and started with e-bikes in 2016. I had purchased a Trek Domane in 2015 as a retirement present, but very quickly found that my neck could not take the forward position. Back to Trek, where I purchased a Conduit+ e-bike, and spent several years riding it around central Ohio. When I got the idea to try something REALLY DIFFERENT, I purchased a Rad Rover from Seattle. I loved that bike, and also rode it everywhere, until a careless motorcyclist ran over both me and the bike, totalling the bike and putting me in the hospital for a week (fracture ankle). Once recovered, I decided to get the Radmini4 as a replacement, foldable, and more to my size (5'5") that the Rover. I have put about 800 miles on it now, including 2 trips to Frankfort, MI. I absolutely love riding the Radmini, but the 20" tires create a few problems, the worst of which is taking care of spoke tension. So I am thinking of other bikes, but they sure don't come cheap. Anyway, I'm glad to be here.
6 years on e-bikes
- Thread starter Jim126
- Start date
Explorer-1
Have bike, will travel
- Region
- USA
- City
- Boston North Shore
Great to hear you have been enjoying you e-bikes for so long. Good news is they make a number of sturdy step-through bikes now, that are not prone to cracking and look decent. You should be able to find something with larger wheels that fits you fine especially since you like a more upright position.
indianajo
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the site. You've long been in the hobby. Sorry about the overrun.
As you've found with Rad, there are at least 2 levels of components in the ebike category. Grey metal that requires constant adjustment, and real steel & aluminum. I didn't know how maintenance free a bike could be until I replaced my Diamondback & Pacific MTBs with a Yuba. I'm small, so the kiddie bikes fit. They did not last. There were stretchy spokes reported from Rad in all sizes, not just the 20".
Suspect other vendors selling the real materials, from the "known problems & solutions" posts on the brand forums: Trek, Giant, Yamaha, Cannondale, Gazelle, Reiss & Mueller, Kona. Lots of happy Specialized riders out there but there were some cracked frames that took a year to adjust under warrenty.
As you've found with Rad, there are at least 2 levels of components in the ebike category. Grey metal that requires constant adjustment, and real steel & aluminum. I didn't know how maintenance free a bike could be until I replaced my Diamondback & Pacific MTBs with a Yuba. I'm small, so the kiddie bikes fit. They did not last. There were stretchy spokes reported from Rad in all sizes, not just the 20".
Suspect other vendors selling the real materials, from the "known problems & solutions" posts on the brand forums: Trek, Giant, Yamaha, Cannondale, Gazelle, Reiss & Mueller, Kona. Lots of happy Specialized riders out there but there were some cracked frames that took a year to adjust under warrenty.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Jim, RAD's wheel builder, whoever was doing them for RAD, was doing a terrible job on the earlier bikes. I think they have a handle on it now, but I wanted to mention/suggest you have the wheels looked at by somebody that knows what they are doing. Once properly set up/tensioned correctly, that should not be a chronic problem. The materials they used were good, it was the actual wheel building that sucked....
Welcome to EBR! -Al
Welcome to EBR! -Al
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