Best, easiest,cheapest way to get rid of regen on a Radcity 4

[Samjl]

I just assumed the bikes were designed to stop you from going over its speed limit.

Going downhill on my 2019 radwagon not pedaling or braking I hit 20mph then it feels like regen kicks in except it shows no watts on the display, the bike then slows 1mph and the hub stops slowing me so I start to pick up speed again until I hit 20mph where the hub starts to slow me down again.
This can feel strange because it feels like I'm hitting the rear brake every 10ft down the whole hill. The only way I can go down hill smoothly is to keep pedaling to make sure I don't drop below 20mph. It's nearly as much effort as going along the flat because pedaling downhill means I'm fighting the motor. I'm sure it's just the software making sure I don't speed.
Is it possible that the newer bikes are all like this

 

[RangerDave]

Samjl -

Have you ever set your PAS to 0 when this has occurred? Or even gone so far as to turn off the electronics (press and hold the center MODE button)? I would think that doing either one of these things would make the bike operate like a regular non-ebike. Gravity should then let it coast as fast it would allow. Going to PAS 0 would at least keep the lcd screen and speed readout available. You would lose that if you power down, but at least maybe able to coast normally until you powered back up again.

Just a thought - RangerDave

 

[Samjl]

Thanks I hadn't thought of that, I've not tried it below 1. I'll give it a try in the morning.

 

[BKing]

Wow, lots of responses to an easy question. Don’t bother disabling the regen, it only affects the bike during braking which is good.

 

[caissiel]

I just received my RadCity 4 Bike on Monday and did lots of riding and learning how to drive this bike.
My first ride was up a 10+% hill 1/8 Km long and return down the hill using regen to 15KPH and speed up to 32 and regen to 15.
It felt as if the regen was slowing down my bike to fast and could not stay going unless I let go and regen after 32KPH`.
I did that same hill 3 times that day with same results.
Later i went on an 8 KM run in hilly terrain while starting in the previous hill. I did notice I felt comfortable a driving an average speed of 28KPH.
The next trip I decided to leave it on PAS 5 and did 12 KM return on the same path and did notice a similar average speed while still not forcing myself
PS I am 73 years old and never biked the last 3 years due to hilly terrain in my new place. I need to do a 10+% grade to get away from the river area where i live
Move on to the next drive of 16KM return on the same path. I set the top speed to be at my average speed of 28KM and proceeded at the path on level 5 and gear 6 on the bike. I did notice that the bike wattage did drop down from 27.2 KPH to 29 KPH down to zero while no change on my effort. but faster i felt it so i kept at comfort level.

Now here is the observation for the next drive on the same hill but Furter up a steeper part of the hill and returning I just use the max speed to slow the bike down. the 3rd line on my battery showed up and stayed on the way up as I returned to approach the downhill about halfway the 4th battery light came back on. So, my assumption was to just not to use regen at all from now on. The meter does not mark the watts and stays at zero. but the lines 4 and 3 kept showing up during my trip through the hilly terrain that I use to drive before at 28KPH.
Here I am at today's drive and trying to bring my battery to low level I did notice a very important thing. First, I left with 2 lines on the battery and took off for another hill, this time at least 12% grade and it took everything I had to keep 15KPH on the way up on gear 3 and only 434 Watts on the motor. as I traveled up until I saw one line on the battery and turned around and came back. it was rainy and I was scared of freezing rain I came back down the hill at 28KPH held back by the bike and regen. At the bottom about 500 Meter from home I noticed the 3 bars again and as the watts went to 434 again it disappeared to 2 bars again. So, I assumed I did that hard trip without using much of battery power.
Then again today I left for a second drive up the last hill and observed max power was 293 watts going up the hill and I had to use gear no 2 to make it up at barely 8 KPH. so, the battery was weaker than the previous time. This time i went down the road again over the hill at 28KPH and turned around when the battery last line flashed. proceeded to return and kept 28KPH and just let the bike coast down the hill at set max speed and by the time I got down, I had 2 full battery lines on the battery and proceeded on to my house. I throttled only and noticed 334 watts on my gauge which was more than when I went up the hill. I still need to experiment but if this is true, I feel the max speed has lots to do with saving battery on the RADCITY4 bike

 

[AHicks]

I just received my RadCity 4 Bike on Monday and did lots of riding and learning how to drive this bike.
My first ride was up a 10+% hill 1/8 Km long and return down the hill using regen to 15KPH and speed up to 32 and regen to 15.
It felt as if the regen was slowing down my bike to fast and could not stay going unless I let go and regen after 32KPH`.
I did that same hill 3 times that day with same results.
Later i went on an 8 KM run in hilly terrain while starting in the previous hill. I did notice I felt comfortable a driving an average speed of 28KPH.
The next trip I decided to leave it on PAS 5 and did 12 KM return on the same path and did notice a similar average speed while still not forcing myself
PS I am 73 years old and never biked the last 3 years due to hilly terrain in my new place. I need to do a 10+% grade to get away from the river area where i live
Move on to the next drive of 16KM return on the same path. I set the top speed to be at my average speed of 28KM and proceeded at the path on level 5 and gear 6 on the bike. I did notice that the bike wattage did drop down from 27.2 KPH to 29 KPH down to zero while no change on my effort. but faster i felt it so i kept at comfort level.

Now here is the observation for the next drive on the same hill but Furter up a steeper part of the hill and returning I just use the max speed to slow the bike down. the 3rd line on my battery showed up and stayed on the way up as I returned to approach the downhill about halfway the 4th battery light came back on. So, my assumption was to just not to use regen at all from now on. The meter does not mark the watts and stays at zero. but the lines 4 and 3 kept showing up during my trip through the hilly terrain that I use to drive before at 28KPH.
Here I am at today's drive and trying to bring my battery to low level I did notice a very important thing. First, I left with 2 lines on the battery and took off for another hill, this time at least 20% grade and it took everything I had to keep 15KPH on the way up on gear 5 and only 434Watts on the motor. as I traveled up until I saw one line on the battery and turned around and came back. it was rainy and I was scared of freezing rain I came back down the hill at 28KPH held back by the bike and regen. .At the bottom about 500Meter from home I noticed the 3 bars again and as the watts went to 434 again it disappeared to 2 bars again. So I assumed I did that hard trip without using much of battery power.
Then again today I left for a second drive up the last hill and observed max power was 293 watts going up the hill and I had to use gear no2 to make it up at barely 8 KPH. so the battery was weaker then the pervious time. This time i went down the road again over the hill at 28KPH and turned around when the battery last line flashed. proceeded to return and kept 28KPH and just let the bike coast down the hill at set max speed and by the time I got down, I had 2 full battery lines on the battery and proceeded on to my house. I throttled only and noticed 334 watts on my gauge which was more then when I went up the hill. I still need to experiment but if this is true I feel the max speed has lots to do with saving battery on the RADCITY4 bike

Quite simply, despite the fact it's called "regen" it's never going to put anything useful back into your battery. Forgettabout it! RAD City 4 regen is about down hill braking, an attempt to prevent runaway speeds on big down hills, and to my knowledge there's no way of adjusting the factory settings to other than what they are.

The direct drive motor supplied with the Rad City 4 is not well thought of for supplying excess power in bigger hills. There's a VERY good reason they switched to geared hub motor on the RAD City 5's....

 

[tomjasz]

Rad regen setup stinks. I use regen with my Grin setup which allows me to set it up for braking only.

Rad City Regeneration Query

Rad City Regeneration Query

www.radowners.com

[email protected]


"regenerative braking will kick on when you reach a certain threshold speed. You are able to adjust this setting by increasing that speed in your settings menu.

With the bike on, hold the up and down selector arrows on your control pad to enter the settings menu. The display should change and begin flashing with your preset wheel diameter. Press "MODE" to cycle through menus until your display reads "32kph". From here, press the up arrow to increase your motors' limit up to 40kph. When done, Hold "MODE" to save and exit the settings menu."
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[BKing]

Is it not true that you can do that tweak on the 2020 plus models but it doesn’t actually work internally.

 

[caissiel]

With my Radcity 4, I drive at top speed setting of 28KPH all the time. It's the speed that I can make all the hills on speed 6 and 7 and stay at that speed uphill. When I approach the top of the hill the speed is always at 30KPH. then the regen keeps the speed to above 28KPH and I paddle to keep the speed and the motor does not apply any wattage on my gauge, 000 and as I go down the hill it stays at zero while holding back till 27.4 KPH while I paddle at comfortable pressure.
At 23 KM the 5th line disappeared and as I was driving along at top speed of 27.5 to 28 the overspeed as normal was on and off as I paddled along for 6 KM with the 4th and 5th line coming on and off till the 4th line stayed on at 29 KM. So I proceeded for about 8 KM. I decide I would turn to home direction when the third bar came on and it did at 38KM along my trip. I was in very hilly part of my trip and I did regen often during the last stage of 10KM. When I arrived at home a 48KM trip and battery voltage showing 46.3 measured volts and 3 Bars still showing on my gauge. I read that in hilly terrain you are lucky to get 25KM on a charge and I did 48 KM and still close to 50% left in charge. My trip includes 149 Meter elevation differential and 20KM wind on all direction. I figure I am good for over 70KM on my battery charge after all my trips for the past 318 KM. I love driving at my regulated speed and on PAS level 5 I never slowdown much in the hills. depending on the terrain I usually see the meter showing 120 to 430 Watts. as it becomes a cruise control and power saver along with strain on my legs. I an 73 and it goes well every time i take those trips. I do hope driving on the set top speed does not cause any problems to the controller as the motor does not heat at all.
I did try the brake regen, but it does not work as it slows down too much to keep 270 watts and then the motor load jumps to 300 or more watts to stay at 28KM.
I never read anyone doing what I am doing but I feel it works as I never biked around here with my standard bike due to the terrain.