Rjbur
Member
2018 Radwagon - 2 of them just arrived last week and I put them together. One came in a damaged box and the front rotor was bent. After photos of box and a video, support is sending me a rotor. The second one seems to have an issue with the rear fender as the wheel spins straight but the fender rubs right at the rear of the bike where that rubber thing attaches to the plastic fender. Thinking fender was deformed a bit in shipment. Had to remove the rear tire, which was actually a good practice to learn, and try and loosen the screw to move the fender over a bit. First attempt failed so I had to remove the tire again. Took screw out all the way to learn there is no play at all. The hole is only as big as the screw. So I took a hobby knife and made it just a small bit wider so I could move it over a bit and tighten it down. That fixed it. So now on that second bike I moved on to try and align the disc brakes.... Oh, I forgot to mention, every single disc rotor was rubbing on the brakes! Ok, yes, one was bent... but I’m sure it would have as well since the others were as well. So I’m an engineer, pretty good DIY’er and mechanically inclined. I have taken care of all of our family bikes, have a good set of tools and torque wrenches etc etc.... but I have never had disc brakes and these have been a pain in the royal ______ to adjust. The first tire I attempted to adjust was the front on the second bike that was not bent... I watched all kinds of videos on mechanical disk brakes and even the one that someone put together on the Radwagon and the business card trick. You know how when the bike arrives and the brake levers are tight, I mean a short pull and the brakes engage... well there was no way I could get that to happen without this rotors rubbing... Oh I eventually got that front tire spinning nicely with no rub and the brakes work, but I have to squeeze them a bit more than I’d like. So today I moved to the rear tire and with the pads installed in these it seemed even closer to the disc rotors than the front. I had to remove the rotor to even get to the rear fixed pad adjustment. Trying to use the various business card tricks was a pain. I finally got it as adjusted as I could, but there is still a slight rub. I had to give up. Yes I tried all the alignment tricks out there... remember, I watched a ton of videos. I had to come to the conclusion that these are Just difficult to adjust calipers. The fixed pad side seems to be too close to the rotors and even if I try and push the calipers in to make a larger space back there I can’t do much, they don’t go back much. I tried to retract the pad, but you can only go so far and the disc would be pushed against the metal frame of the caliper instead of the pad. Next I’ll have to try the rear brakes on the first bike as I’m still waiting for the replacement rotor for the front..... Oh yea, I had to remove one of the bolts on the plastic shield so I could get an extension in with my torque wrench to tighten the bolts...
I’m waiting for a new spoke wrench \ tool to show up as all the ones I have are too small. Based on many comments it sounds like I should try and give each a 1/2 turn to make sure they are tight to start...
BTW... yes the brakes should have been easy to adjust... heck every video I watched made it look very easy... yes I tried them all... no, I’m not incapable of following directions, heck I write them as part of my job and have to do way more difficult things than adjust disc brakes...
Ok, now the big question, can I replace these ____ disc brakes with a set of those hydraulic ones that still use a cable without voiding the warranty? If so, which ones are plug and play with the 2018 Radwagon? One guy on a RadRover was using the Junitech M1’s, but they seem to possibly be and older option based on what or who I find selling them.
Still no ride, no joy... Mostly my fault as I have the bikes at work as I’m trying to surprise my wife for Xmas. Thus I can only work on them for a few hours after work... I spent 2+ hours trying all those tricks on all those videos grrrr...
Batteries are charged and I can’t wait to test drive each bike soon...
Hey, another question from an eBike Neophyte... the front wheel spins great and freely. The rear, even when the disc rotor is not rubbing, seems to want to come to a stop much faster. Acts like the motor is adding friction or resistance to free spinning. Is that typical on an eBike with a rear axel motor?
Wow I ramble... enough for now... thanks for a great forum...
I’m waiting for a new spoke wrench \ tool to show up as all the ones I have are too small. Based on many comments it sounds like I should try and give each a 1/2 turn to make sure they are tight to start...
BTW... yes the brakes should have been easy to adjust... heck every video I watched made it look very easy... yes I tried them all... no, I’m not incapable of following directions, heck I write them as part of my job and have to do way more difficult things than adjust disc brakes...
Ok, now the big question, can I replace these ____ disc brakes with a set of those hydraulic ones that still use a cable without voiding the warranty? If so, which ones are plug and play with the 2018 Radwagon? One guy on a RadRover was using the Junitech M1’s, but they seem to possibly be and older option based on what or who I find selling them.
Still no ride, no joy... Mostly my fault as I have the bikes at work as I’m trying to surprise my wife for Xmas. Thus I can only work on them for a few hours after work... I spent 2+ hours trying all those tricks on all those videos grrrr...
Batteries are charged and I can’t wait to test drive each bike soon...
Hey, another question from an eBike Neophyte... the front wheel spins great and freely. The rear, even when the disc rotor is not rubbing, seems to want to come to a stop much faster. Acts like the motor is adding friction or resistance to free spinning. Is that typical on an eBike with a rear axel motor?
Wow I ramble... enough for now... thanks for a great forum...
Last edited: