Hills and heavy loads

[Jeffrey434]

My spouse carts around our kid in a yep seat on the rack of the Rad City Step Thru 2019. It used to work well, but she must climb 100 feet over .2 mile (4x day, but only 2x a day with kid) and the kid keeps getting heavier (who knew? lol) which makes the climb harder and slower. I need to figure out next steps to keep hauling the kid up the hill. Kid is 35 lbs currently. Other routes are on main roads with no bike lanes, this is the best route from a safety view...so going around is not a good option.

Does the new bafang geared hub motor with 80 nm of torque on the new rad power bikes really make much a difference over the Shimano hub motor we have now?

If we put the kid in a trailer with a single wheel, like the weehoo, would that make it easier/harder/or no difference to haul the kid up the hill? If we stick with a Rad bike I think we will need to switch to a trailer soon to avoid weight limit issues on the back of the bike as the yep seat only goes to 48 lbs. I don't want the wagon as it's so large (a beast to turn and we don't have room to park it).

Are we doomed to spend the money for a mid drive motor on a bike with small tires like the Tern GSD S00? Looking for ideas...before we start saving.

 

[mrgold35]

I thought I saw Rad has a Fat tire step thru available? The geared rear hub for the fat tire bikes have twice the torque compared to the RadCity ebikes at 80 nm. My 2016 Radrover moves pretty good up hills at my weight of +290 lbs (me+rack bags+commuter backpack+tools for flats).

 

[AHicks]

I think you're up for a gear drive of some sort. A mid drive or a geared rear hub will both work well for what you're asking about. I like the idea of the step through Rover option. Depending on how handy you are and your budget, that 'City is an excellent candidate for a geared rear hub update as an option that would work nicely for you as well.

As far as weight of Mom and kid over grossing the 'City, I wouldn't be real concerned. The bike has a super sturdy rear rack for holding the kid's weight for quite a while. I'm 310-320, and ride an '18 City (with a gear driven rear hub conversion) and I love the bike....Weight has NOT been an issue.