Anyone know how long this website has been out there ?

[Deleted member 4210]

Just ran across it tonight.

Badpowerbikes.com

It does look like they have taken info from real reviews from places like Yelp, and even info from here at EBR.

It's a bit over the top, either way.

 

[Browneye]

It's badpowerbikes.com
Hate site. I guess what happens if you burn too many customers.

I don't find there's anything inherently wrong with all these cheap Chinese imports, you get what you paid for. They get the job done till they break or quit, then you fix or scrap them.

It rains a lot in Seattle - any bike will rust.

 

[harryS]

Per whois.com, badpowerbikes.com dates from may, 2019, hoping maybe to catch people who mistype radpowerbikes?

By the way, please correct the first spelling as badpower.xxx may be a sketchy site, maybe not now but in the future.

 

[trainman]

I spent more time on YouTube and looking at all the ebikes out there, both manufactures and ride reviews on ebikes. It took a wile to find this website and now I look at it everyday, I will say it's probably a little techie for me, I just mainly want to know about quality of each manufacture, warranty repairs, and upgrades, so many of the post I'm not interested in. I went with Rad and glad I did, I found them the best bang for the buck.

 

[FlatSix911]

Wow I had not seen the website...

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[tomjasz]

Well, isn't that special. Looks like they earned a spotlight. Angered the wrong customer...

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Well, isn't that special. Looks like they earned a spotlight. Angered the wrong customer...

Yeah, these days, who needs a review site, when for less than $50, you can go on Godaddy, and create your own 'review' and call it 'free speech'.

I was amazed it popped up so readily on first page, when I was simply searching for the recent weight of the new Rad models, to see if that had improved any. At first glance I thought maybe it was gonna be another 'knock off' like BamPower. Interestingly the site domain is 'for sale.'. Is that like a new form of ransomware, to get Rad to buyit out to take off line ?

 

[Alex M]

It's badpowerbikes.com
Hate site. I guess what happens if you burn too many customers.

I don't find there's anything inherently wrong with all these cheap Chinese imports, you get what you paid for. They get the job done till they break or quit, then you fix or scrap them.

It rains a lot in Seattle - any bike will rust.

Better than average Chinese QC + good support + feature rich + reasonable price = many customers. Eventually you burn too many. Somebody should start making a simpler $700-800 bike (3-LED indicator, 350-500W motor, V-brakes etc), with the same quality and support - there will be less complaints then.

Yes, you fix or scrap them. The problem is, today $1500 is not a cheap import because $600-700 imports are available - with less features and/or inferior motors and batteries, but most users don't realize the importance of a good brand battery and motor and don't know how to take care of it so when it dies within a year they say - hey, it's only 600 bucks bike.

Do tell about rust. Carbon steel bolts and nuts should be replaced with stainless when climate is rainy or marine.

 

[BikeHelmet]

Just ran across it tonight.

Badpowerbikes.com

It does look like they have taken info from real reviews from places like Yelp, and even info from here at EBR.

It's a bit over the top, either way.

Yeah, at least it's so over the top that it reeks of being a one sided rant. Reminds me of that old FirefoxMyths.com site that espoused the wonders of IE5 and IE6, and how horrible Firefox was. Fanboys like that mean you're doing something right.

 

[MadManMark]

Actually, even though I am generally satisfied with my Radcities, I also think this site is spot on. We've only had ours 16 months and I've probably personally had more than half the # of items on that list. they really are not that great of bikes IMO -- in terms of raw quality of mechanical components, probably one of the worst bikes I've owned in my decades of riding (only "Walmart" brands like Giant, Huffy etc are worse). I don't know if it's still the case, but 100% of the reviews on the RadPower site were 5 star reviews; that always seemed fishy to me.

But I'm still content, because I recognize I got what I paid for, I still got a lot of value for $1400 (after coupon, and shipped!). Very high power battery and motor (that alone is probably 1/3 the price) built in rack and fenders, very functional front light for visbiilty/night riding, throttle, easy means to increase top speed to 25mph, and again, the price .... ticked all the boxes for me. The fact it's not a "nice" bike actually suits my needs: I use it as a daily commuter, in all weather (including ice and snow), and I would worry about leaving a truly nice/expensive bike outside in the same place every day, 9 hours at a time. Just like I intentionally chose old crappy looking "beater" bikes for my commuters when I was doing a fully human-powered commute, so the Radcity fits my needs as an ebike. But still I know that if/when I retire and get another ebike for more recreational riding, I plan to get a *much* better ebike than a Rad!

 

[KenS]

Yeah, these days, who needs a review site, when for less than $50, you can go on Godaddy, and create your own 'review' and call it 'free speech'.

I was amazed it popped up so readily on first page, when I was simply searching for the recent weight of the new Rad models, to see if that had improved any. At first glance I thought maybe it was gonna be another 'knock off' like BamPower. Interestingly the site domain is 'for sale.'. Is that like a new form of ransomware, to get Rad to buyit out to take off line ?

The ransomware idea is interesting and plausible. There are a lot of people looking for crevices to find money.

 

[Alaskan]

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey.

It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can't be done.

If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better." John Ruskin

 

[KenS]

Quoting John Ruskin says something about the level of discussion on this list.

 

[Alaskan]

Quoting John Ruskin says something about the level of discussion on this list.

Surely but the question is, is that something deplorable, debatable or creditable?

 

[BlueGenes]

The website now appears to be gone. I wonder if RAD got their lawyers involved?

 

[GypsyTreker]

It's true, you get what you pay for. If I was a commuter it stands to reason that a quality bike might be better than a web site off shore cheapy. I mean a high end new eBike is still cheaper , by far, than an economy car. On the other hand, if you could get decent vacation uses and some local bike path rides over a say 6 month to one year period, the $1500 you had invested in a couple of web bikes could easily be rationalised if they both broke, beyond repair, at the same time. The RAD rentals on the Outer Bikes last year would pay for about 1/2 the bike over a two week vacation. Personally I think that some of the biggest purchase mistakes are spending on features and quality that are not required for the actual riding required. I drool looking at the Haibike FS Fattie. In fact bicycles in general have always impressed me as functional "art". But truth is my days of needing something that could square a berm or absorb big bumps at Snow Valley ( I assume they still do mtb's in the summer) are over. What works so far are hub driven fatties that go (so far) 32 miles on PAS 1or 2 (have never actually had a battery cut out) handle ok on Jeep trails, gravel and bike paths and let my wife and I see the world again @15mph. I mentioned before, I am so glad I purchased these low end eBikes to determine if I would get back into riding. If I did decide to upgrade to the Haibike Fattie no doubt I would be incredibly impressed by the quality and marvel at how well it handled....@ 15mph