I have to admit - I almost backed out of buying an ebike after joining EBR - glad I didn't

and just like that,another joins the ranks! Radmini is a very cool bike and even at full price its a great value!
i watched that guy JamesBond(over on Youtube) just abuse the hell out of his, month after month and its held up great,that guy rides hard.
 
Casual Rider said:
"I hope your Rad serves you well. If the dozen pages of posters on known problems thread are right, don't give up with this entry level product."

Thanks for the example. That is exactly the type of comment I was referring to in my original post.
Click to expand...
dont let Salty comments like this scare you off man, it is very,very common around here and its very funny and entertaining imho lol, there are a few different owner types around here, the Funniest are the LBS guys who get offended whenever anyone buys a cheap bike online and instantly chime in about how the bike they Purchased at whatever LBS is better than whatever lower price or made in China bike you have but will have zero statistical data to support this claim and end up slinging salty kneejerk comment like "ya get what ya pay for" or "good luck when something breaks" while knowing nothing about your bike or the company that made it! 2) would be the nutjobs who actually ride downhill lol, these guys are fit,badass and will generally bash anyone with saltyness who is not using there E-Bike to rip down a mountain at light speed, 3) the DIY guys,anything that you didnt fabricate/mold or bolt on with your own 2 hands is TRASH! TRASH! this is a Cult be warned! some who have joined were never seen again, there is also the Online buyer guys,Juiced,Rad etc along with the Highspeed scrambler guys, both these groups from what i have seen are less likely to post Salty comments and are a little less biased against bikes they dont own or know about. the good part is all these owner types are more than willing to help their own group so when you post a question you may have to weed out the negative comments and but there will always be some helpful ones!
 
ElevenAD said:
dont let Salty comments like this scare you off man, it is very,very common around here and its very funny and entertaining imho lol, there are a few different owner types around here, the Funniest are the LBS guys who get offended whenever anyone buys a cheap bike online and instantly chime in about how the bike they Purchased at whatever LBS is better than whatever lower price or made in China bike you have but will have zero statistical data to support this claim and end up slinging salty kneejerk comment like "ya get what ya pay for" or "good luck when something breaks" while knowing nothing about your bike or the company that made it! 2) would be the nutjobs who actually ride downhill lol, these guys are fit,badass and will generally bash anyone with saltyness who is not using there E-Bike to rip down a mountain at light speed, 3) the DIY guys,anything that you didnt fabricate/mold or bolt on with your own 2 hands is TRASH! TRASH! this is a Cult be warned! some who have joined were never seen again, there is also the Online buyer guys,Juiced,Rad etc along with the Highspeed scrambler guys, both these groups from what i have seen are less likely to post Salty comments and are a little less biased against bikes they dont own or know about. the good part is all these owner types are more than willing to help their own group so when you post a question you may have to weed out the negative comments and but there will always be some helpful ones!
Click to expand...

Thanks buddy! Yeah I figured out the types who post degrading comments about the choices of others. I belong to a few forums... dirt bikes... guitars... golf clubs... so I've heard it all - dating back to the '70s, when the European bike motocross prima donnas pissed on those of us riding Hondas. How'd that work out?
Anything with two wheels and an engine is going to require more maintenance over time than a simple bicycle. But this is pretty simple... a frame, two wheels and an electric engine. I could pick up a Bafang motor for a couple hundred bucks and have it installed in an afternoon. I can see after just two days of riding the RadMini that the fun factor is well worth the extra maintenance over a regular bicycle.
I was a little discouraged at first reading this forum and some of the negative comments, but I put more trust into people I know that strangers online. One of my friends has a RadWagon and he posts videos of his rides on Facebook almost every day. He's had the bike for three years and has put over 4000 kilometers on it with zero issues. That type of real-world experience from someone I know and trust means a lot more to me than some pretentious stranger on the web peeing on a bike he doesn't own.
What bothers me is how those types of comments affect other newcomers to ebikes. I'm a diehard and a pretty decent mechanic due to my background in motocross, so it only held me back for a few weeks, but I wonder how many other new seniors to the sport have done research, read comments on this forum and thought they either had to spend 5 grand or forget about an ebike.
This is by far the premium forum on the web for ebike research and I think as members we all need to keep that in mind when we post our comments. We want to welcome newcomers to ebiking and build the sport. It's one thing to tell someone that the ebike they are considering is an entry level model and they might be in the long run better served with a more expensive bike if they can easily swing it. It's another thing to say 'your bike is a piece of crap. Unless you want to spend 5 grand, forget about ebikes'. That's the difference between class and pettiness.
I do appreciate however that anyone serious should probably be warned away from the really cheap ones found on Amazon etc., but there's about 1000 ways to provide advice to newcomers without being a dink.
Anyway just a newbie's two cents :)
 
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There are posters here that have had horror stories to relate in an effort to help. For the relative newcomer it can be difficult to know who's who and what's what. But the vast majority of posters here genuinely want to help. You'll see the difference between helpful, bashing and fanboy soon enough. Some in any of the three categories are just more enthusiastic than others. To get the background on any poster click on their avatar and read some of their recent posts. The dedicated bashers tend to flame out quick.

Buy what you like and ride the heck out of it. When I'm out riding with friends I look at, and interact with the rider. When I'm on my bike using it as intended I can't see it. If it does what I want it to do, that's all I need to know.

Its spring (almost 😜), enjoy!
 
ElevenAD said:
and just like that,another joins the ranks! Radmini is a very cool bike and even at full price its a great value!
i watched that guy JamesBond(over on Youtube) just abuse the hell out of his, month after month and its held up great,that guy rides hard.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I got the RadMini for slightly more than half the price of a new one and it was just two months old with only a couple of miles on it. I feel like I'm well ahead of the game already :)
 
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Once you try an ebike, you realize immediately what it means: fun, freedom, superhero legs empowerment and never fearing a hill again. They're a blast!

I do feel sorry for people who, because of the pandemic and shortages or just because of where they live, are unable to try out a bunch of different makes and models. But if you're happy with the first one you try, terrific!
 
Casual Rider said:
I joined EBR a couple of months ago because I was planning on buying an ebike and wanted to do a little research. My reasons for wanting an ebike were pretty simple: I'm 62, starting to find myself avoiding certain routes with a lot of hills and cutting my rides shorter. I want to get the same exercise with less work and more mileage.
But I have to admit that I almost got talked out of it. I found I would read a lot of great things about ebikes here, but it also exposed me to some of the problems, people criticizing other models of bikes, or brands they did not like. Basically, things that make you go hmmm....
I've been riding the same Iron Horse hybrid bike I bought new in 1990 for the past 30 years. It's never left me on the side of the road, never had to call the company warranty line. Basically, I've gotten a tune up done every couple of years and had the tires replaced when needed. That's about it. I was beginning to think, 'do I really want to deal with batteries etc., just to get a little help up the hills?' If you had asked me last week (and my wife did) if I was still planning to buy an ebike I would have said 'nah, I think I'm going to hold off and ride my old hybrid for another year while I think about it some more.'
Well, yesterday a friend who has way too much money offered me a deal on his almost brand new RadMini because he had decided he wanted a different toy. It was one of those 'you really can't lose' opportunities and I took it.
Today I rode an ebike for the first time, other than the brief spin I took on it yesterday when he showed me how it worked. I was working from home today and had about an hour free after lunch. It was fairly cold, so I decided to just go out to the end of my street, take a short ride and see how it worked up the long hill near my place.
About 20 miles later, I turned back into my driveway. I rode that thing over an hour and a half up every hilly road I knew, I went down roads I normally wouldn't even take because they are so hilly. I'd probably still be out there, except I wasn't really dressed for such a long ride in the cold and I did have to get back to work.
I am SO happy I didn't chicken out of buying one!
Click to expand...
Welcome to the e bike world, I'm sure you will enjoy those hills now ;) I'm 63 now and loving my e bike more than ever! When I first got my Giant Road E+1 Pro back in 2018 I was shocked at how heavy it was, I was used to light carbon bikes! I live in a very hilly area so you can imagine how much I enjoyed those hills, I soon realised the weight didn't matter at all;) My first ride was supposed to be around 30 miles to get a proper feel for the bike, almost 67 miles later and I arrived home with the biggest smile ever!😁 Stats of my ride on April 1st 2018!

1616159215019.png
 
Casual Rider said:
I joined EBR a couple of months ago because I was planning on buying an ebike and wanted to do a little research. My reasons for wanting an ebike were pretty simple: I'm 62, starting to find myself avoiding certain routes with a lot of hills and cutting my rides shorter. I want to get the same exercise with less work and more mileage.
But I have to admit that I almost got talked out of it. I found I would read a lot of great things about ebikes here, but it also exposed me to some of the problems, people criticizing other models of bikes, or brands they did not like. Basically, things that make you go hmmm....
I've been riding the same Iron Horse hybrid bike I bought new in 1990 for the past 30 years. It's never left me on the side of the road, never had to call the company warranty line. Basically, I've gotten a tune up done every couple of years and had the tires replaced when needed. That's about it. I was beginning to think, 'do I really want to deal with batteries etc., just to get a little help up the hills?' If you had asked me last week (and my wife did) if I was still planning to buy an ebike I would have said 'nah, I think I'm going to hold off and ride my old hybrid for another year while I think about it some more.'
Well, yesterday a friend who has way too much money offered me a deal on his almost brand new RadMini because he had decided he wanted a different toy. It was one of those 'you really can't lose' opportunities and I took it.
Today I rode an ebike for the first time, other than the brief spin I took on it yesterday when he showed me how it worked. I was working from home today and had about an hour free after lunch. It was fairly cold, so I decided to just go out to the end of my street, take a short ride and see how it worked up the long hill near my place.
About 20 miles later, I turned back into my driveway. I rode that thing over an hour and a half up every hilly road I knew, I went down roads I normally wouldn't even take because they are so hilly. I'd probably still be out there, except I wasn't really dressed for such a long ride in the cold and I did have to get back to work.
I am SO happy I didn't chicken out of buying one!
Click to expand...
Congratulations on your new ride and welcome to EBR.
 
When I talk to people who are on the fence about ebikes I just tell them to try one out for one ride, by the end of it they're asking me where and how to buy one. It's hard to quantify the fun factor on paper!

I'm glad to hear you got such a great deal on your first one too! Welcome to EBR and happy riding to ya :)
 
Casual Rider said:
I joined EBR a couple of months ago because I was planning on buying an ebike and wanted to do a little research. My reasons for wanting an ebike were pretty simple: I'm 62, starting to find myself avoiding certain routes with a lot of hills and cutting my rides shorter. I want to get the same exercise with less work and more mileage.
But I have to admit that I almost got talked out of it. I found I would read a lot of great things about ebikes here, but it also exposed me to some of the problems, people criticizing other models of bikes, or brands they did not like. Basically, things that make you go hmmm....
I've been riding the same Iron Horse hybrid bike I bought new in 1990 for the past 30 years. It's never left me on the side of the road, never had to call the company warranty line. Basically, I've gotten a tune up done every couple of years and had the tires replaced when needed. That's about it. I was beginning to think, 'do I really want to deal with batteries etc., just to get a little help up the hills?' If you had asked me last week (and my wife did) if I was still planning to buy an ebike I would have said 'nah, I think I'm going to hold off and ride my old hybrid for another year while I think about it some more.'
Well, yesterday a friend who has way too much money offered me a deal on his almost brand new RadMini because he had decided he wanted a different toy. It was one of those 'you really can't lose' opportunities and I took it.
Today I rode an ebike for the first time, other than the brief spin I took on it yesterday when he showed me how it worked. I was working from home today and had about an hour free after lunch. It was fairly cold, so I decided to just go out to the end of my street, take a short ride and see how it worked up the long hill near my place.
About 20 miles later, I turned back into my driveway. I rode that thing over an hour and a half up every hilly road I knew, I went down roads I normally wouldn't even take because they are so hilly. I'd probably still be out there, except I wasn't really dressed for such a long ride in the cold and I did have to get back to work.
I am SO happy I didn't chicken out of buying one!
Click to expand...
That’s great - it’s mind blowing how the EBike thing has absolutely exploded! 15 years ago when I bought a hub motor lithium batteries were crazy expensive and the lead acid really put a crimp in the range/weight situation- Enjoy your bike! Mirror! Lights! Helmet ! You know ! Be safe
 
Hang in there Casual Rider, there are also those who don't approve of us that build our own bike, bash hub drives, and the loudest ones are the "throttle police". Like you, I belong to a number of forums and have other interests, hot rods, boating, guitar, and harmonica forums. You will find "cyber bullies" in all of them. I couldn't give a "rat's ass" what some of these guys think! The majority of the posters can be helpful and friendly. I've got to many interests to be spending 6k on an ebike...
 
Casual Rider said:
Thanks! I got the RadMini for slightly more than half the price of a new one and it was just two months old with only a couple of miles on it. I feel like I'm well ahead of the game already :)
Click to expand...
What I find funny is that as hard as that initial leap to buy the first e-bike was, the second e-bike will come very easily, as now that you have some experience, it will be MUCH easier to justify - and - #2 bike (and those that follow) will very likely be MUCH nicer than the first one....

If you're a good tech and don't mind getting your hands dirty, look into some of the performance mods available. Imagine that RAD with 3 times as much power available (1000w Bafang)! That, and little things like instead of waiting for the controller to allow full power to the motor, imagine having that power right now with the Bolton controller mod. Imagine having that kind of power on tap, without ruining your battery mileage.

Yah, ahead of the game all right. It sounds more like you're now hooked but don't realize it just yet.... Have fun!
 
AHicks said:
What I find funny is that as hard as that initial leap to buy the first e-bike was, the second e-bike will come very easily, as now that you have some experience, it will be MUCH easier to justify - and - #2 bike (and those that follow) will very likely be MUCH nicer than the first one....

If you're a good tech and don't mind getting your hands dirty, look into some of the performance mods available. Imagine that RAD with 3 times as much power available (1000w Bafang)! That, and little things like instead of waiting for the controller to allow full power to the motor, imagine having that power right now with the Bolton controller mod. Imagine having that kind of power on tap, without ruining your battery mileage.

Yah, ahead of the game all right. It sounds more like you're now hooked but don't realize it just yet.... Have fun!
Click to expand...

You may be right. But I think the RadMini I have is almost perfect for me. Performance isn't that important to me... I just like to cruise around at a reasonable pace like I'm a tourist.
As for mods.... I don't have to imagine. The previous owner did them before he even rode the bike. See my 'more money than brains' comment in the original post LOL!.
She zips my 220 pounds along pretty good, while still remaining legal :)
 
Casual Rider said:
What bothers me is how those types of comments affect other newcomers to ebikes. I'm a diehard and a pretty decent mechanic due to my background in motocross, so it only held me back for a few weeks, but I wonder how many other new seniors to the sport have done research, read comments on this forum and thought they either had to spend 5 grand or forget about an ebike.
This is by far the premium forum on the web for ebike research and I think as members we all need to keep that in mind when we post our comments. We want to welcome newcomers to ebiking and build the sport. It's one thing to tell someone that the ebike they are considering is an entry level model and they might be in the long run better served with a more expensive bike if they can easily swing it. It's another thing to say 'your bike is a piece of crap. Unless you want to spend 5 grand, forget about ebikes'.
Click to expand...
If I would have listened to the know-it-alls that bashed Tongsheng TSDZ2 mid drive conversions I would have missed out on a easy, affordable and good performing DIY ebike. It did deter me at first but other positive reviews were re-assuring. One guy got his shorts all twisted up when I posted that for an uncomplicated bike it was an easy and quick installation - then when I replied that it might not be his cup of tea he insisted he was a great mechanic but it would be too hard for someone else to do. Turns out he had never installed one but watched some youtube videos so he thought he was qualified to give advice. I've done the installation on two different bikes (one one as a temporary test) and just ordered another kit to put on an old Walmart Schwinn hybrid that I have and like. But somehow my experience was invalid in his opinion.
I do have a purpose built BH gravel bike that has a Yamaha mid drive, great bike and I've had a lot of fun with it but so have I with the Tongsheng mid drive DIY and a cheap 500w geared rear hub motor kit that I put on an old mountain bike. IMO the rear geared motor pulls long and steep hills about equally as well as the expensive Yamaha assist (with a lot of effort on my part with both bikes). You would never get that opinion from reading most posts about mid vs hub motors on this site, or cheap vs expensive. I just want to get out and ride, not interested in having the best and latest, just something that works well for me.
 
EMGX said:
If I would have listened to the know-it-alls that bashed Tongsheng TSDZ2 mid drive conversions I would have missed out on a easy, affordable and good performing DIY ebike. It did deter me at first but other positive reviews were re-assuring. One guy got his shorts all twisted up when I posted that for an uncomplicated bike it was an easy and quick installation - then when I replied that it might not be his cup of tea he insisted he was a great mechanic but it would be too hard for someone else to do. Turns out he had never installed one but watched some youtube videos so he thought he was qualified to give advice. I've done the installation on two different bikes (one one as a temporary test) and just ordered another kit to put on an old Walmart Schwinn hybrid that I have and like. But somehow my experience was invalid in his opinion.
I do have a purpose built BH gravel bike that has a Yamaha mid drive, great bike and I've had a lot of fun with it but so have I with the Tongsheng mid drive DIY and a cheap 500w geared rear hub motor kit that I put on an old mountain bike. IMO the rear geared motor pulls long and steep hills about equally as well as the expensive Yamaha assist (with a lot of effort on my part with both bikes). You would never get that opinion from reading most posts about mid vs hub motors on this site, or cheap vs expensive. I just want to get out and ride, not interested in having the best and latest, just something that works well for me.
Click to expand...
OTOH, I will be eternally grateful to the members of the forum for suggesting I buy a Raleigh Lore, a 4000 dollar bike that was selling for $2500 at the time. After 2 years, and 6000 miles, I can't justify replacing it. There are prettier bikes, with better components, but I've already upgraded it and replaced so many parts...
I guess those kinds of bargains departed with the pandemic, though.
 
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