Looking to buy Radwagon, questions for owners

[Klein Rider]

Ever since the Radwagon was lowered to $1,499 I've been thinking of adding one to my fleet. I'll be adding the front rack, rear large basket, suspension seat post and an extra battery. Questions for owners... how do you like your RW?

• Is the DD 750w hub motor fast and powerful enough for your usage and how does it compare to other ebikes if you have others?
• Increasing speed to ~25mph in a USA 2019 model... is it possible (I've heard possible for 2018 but some say it was removed for 2019)?
• I've heard the trip meter resets every time the bike is turned off... is this true?
• Any comments on my above accessories? I'll also be adding a mirror.
• What accessories did you buy... what's useful and what to avoid?

I currently own a M2S Fatbike with a 750w IG hub motor and I'm really happy with it. It does have 80nm vs RW's 40nm torque so I'm expecting slower acceleration although I've seen the video of a throttle only Radrover (750w IG) vs Radwagon drag race and the RW was not far behind.

I'll be using the RW for mix trail and street commuting hence the suspension seatpost. The relaxed riding position will extend my riding season here in the mid west. Generally the RW will give me a more fun relaxing cruiser ride experience since I've owned many beach cruisers. My Fatbike is really for sport with a more aggressive riding position.

Any comments appreciated.

 

[AHicks]

I have an '18 City, now highly modified to fit my personal tastes, but that's what I do. The original City uses the same motor and electronics as the Wagon, so I can share that if you're OK with the slower acceleration, and you aren't planning on spending a lot of time in hilly areas, it should be fine from a power perspective.

I love the City bike itself. It suits my purposes perfectly. My modifications were to the bike's electronics and motor, which weren't up to snuff for my personal tastes. That's all been replaced, and I still have less wrapped up in this bike than anything comparable that will run with it.

Point being, at pricing levels like this, suggest you give it a try as is, and if there is anything you don't like about it, there's not much that can't be changed economically!

 

[Klein Rider]

Thanks AHicks, you bring up good points.

One thing bugging me about Rad Power is the tripmeter resets to 0 every time the bike is powered off. Personally I use the tripmeter to determine range within a battery charge. Example: I use one charged battery for multiple errands. If the tripmeter is retained in the memory I will add up the miles and know far I've ridden on that charge. This is how it works on my M2S.

If the tripmeter reset to 0 at every power off than I don't know how many miles were on that battery. The 5 bar battery gauge in the RP is helpful but not precise enough IMO.

Not sure if this is as much an annoyance as I'm making it but I sure wish the tripmeter would retain in memory until I manually reset (like a car).

 

[TimJohn]

I would think they would have a battery level indicator, From what I remember with Court's review it did. So isn't that good enough?

I just checked with their web page...


Backlit LCD with Charge Indicator, Speedometer, Odometer, Trip Odometer, Pedal Assist Level, Wattmeter, and More

 

[Klein Rider]

Thanks TimJohn,

Yes there is the 5 bar battery indicator but I was hoping for more.

I think having a cumulative trip distance that correlates to a battery charge is very helpful.

 

[AHicks]

Yes, you want the trip meter to be MANUALLY reset. At least in my world anyway. That may be worth a call to Rad though, to see if there's a way to defeat the reset every power cycle?

 

[Pay Jota]

In addition to the trip reset every time it is powered down, there appears to be about a 10 minute "time out" that powers down the display when the bike is not moving. I tried to defeat the trip reset by just leaving my display on (LCDs draw such a minimal amount) as I went into stores or on a short walk away from the bike, but it powers down itself. Disappointing.

AHicks, there is the old-style, analog way of figuring what you want.......just write down the accumulated trip readings or note the overall odometer reading between chargings.

I know, we've supposed evolved past needing to do this. LOL! But I often mention to my wife (since I am a person who only got their first smart phone about three years ago) that the smarter our DEVICES get, the dumber we become. It really hits home when you are WITHOUT a smart phone and realize how helpless we are at doing some things anymore. At least I do.

 

[Klein Rider]

To me the automatic trip reset (at power down) is kinda deal breaker for me. This helpful info is needed to gauge range and battery usage... which is critical to any electric bike. Why RadPower omit this as a feature is a mystery.

Personally I commute a lot on my ebike and the most critical info on my screen is PAS, Current Speed and Trip Distance... and my Trip Distance can only be manually reset, as my controller will retain the trip distance even if the bike is turned off and even if the battery removed. I only reset the trip when switching to a fully charge battery.

 

[snipun]

I have the 2019 model. I love it. It's definitely powerful enough. At different times I've hauled 2-50 lb kids on back, a 100ish pound kid on back, and a 175 lb skateboarder behind with good power.

The tripmeter doesn't bother me at all. I don't see how that's a deal breaker. Keep a memory of it or write it down in your mobile phone or just don't care about it. But to consider it a deal breaker seems a bit of an overreaction.

I can set it to 25mph by accessing the menu.

I got the front rack, front basket, and caboose. I also got the Top tube bag but wish it was higher quality and easier to work with.