Is the Rad City a good bike without the battery?

[Tromboner98]

If you turned off the battery, would the Rad City still function well? At least as well as a 50 dollar bike from Wal-mart? Say I’m riding with a bunch of friends who don’t have Ebikes and I want to handicap myself, and turn off my battery, am I gonna suddenly be unable to keep up with them?

 

[rich c]

It has a direct drive motor, right? Then as easy as any 61 pound bicycle that won't coast well from ratcheting feel from the magnets spinning past each other. Just leave it in low assist and reduce your cadence. Now if your friends ride road bikes and cruise at 20 mph, no need to worry!

 

[Rakku]

Exactly, alone the additional weight of the bike will make it way harder then driving a normal bike.
I have the Radrhino and it weighs 32kg. A normal bike is half the weight or even less.

Just go in the lowest setting possible and all is easy.

 

[Banzai]

I ride mine without power assist as much as possible to get the exercise. On PAS 0 the speedometer and odometer will still function. Otherwise I would probably just leave the battery turned off.
There are times though when a little boost is necessary.

 

[Steve Pierce]

I ride mine without power assist as much as possible to get the exercise. On PAS 0 the speedometer and odometer will still function. Otherwise I would probably just leave the battery turned off.
There are times though when a little boost is necessary.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but why would anybody purchase an ebike and ride it mostly unpowered?

 

[Rakku]

Please don't take this the wrong way, but why would anybody purchase an ebike and ride it mostly unpowered?

I do get where you come from, but Im not riding that differently.

I mostly use PAS 1 to get myself exhausted and then use the boost to get home without much effort.

Basicly you can reserve all your energy to have fun and dont need to plan those reserves for the way back.

Thats my take on how I use a ebike.

 

[Steve Pierce]

PAS 1 is still utilizing the functions of an ebike. I ride in PAS 1 often also. I just don't understand why people would turn the battery off and ride it. These are twice the weight. I would just buy a regular bike for much less money.
PAS 1 does compensate for most of the additional weight, drag and accessories on the Radrover. Turning off all assistance now puts you at a disadvantage to non powered bikes.

 

[Rakku]

If you have the battery completly off, yeah then I agree with you.
You get lighter bikes, with better components at that price.

 

[Banzai]

Probably easier to pedal than carry the bike. Just a guess...

 

[rich c]

Probably easier to pedal than carry the bike. Just a guess...

Right! If you really want a workout, carry the bike! None of this wimpy pedaling.

 

[Banzai]

No doubt - you are a pro...

 

[mrgold35]

You could always make your ebike the "chase vehicle" and pack extra water, flat repair, first aid, battery charger with LCD USB slot, snacks, sunblock, bad weather gear, etc... An extra 10-20lbs of extra gear wouldn't be an issue for the Radcity; but, could make for a more enjoyable and safer ride for everyone else.

 

[harryS]

Depends on your speed. Store bought ebikes don't skimp on weight. When I test rode a Stromer ST, the sales guy said PAS 1 was just enough to overcome the motor drag and added weight, but I disagree. It seemed rideable at slow speeds w/o assist.

My ebikes were regular bikes with motor/battery added. The latter varies from 8 to 18 pounds, while most of the bikes were 35-45 pounds. I weigh 195, so we're looking at less than 10% increase in weight. Since I ride slow, going unpowered or in PAS 1 works well for my style, and helped me lose about 20 pounds too.

I admit I've slacked off. Used to ride out 10 miles unpowered and come back with assist. Haven't done that this year.