I’m new the forum. My wife and I bought 2 Rad Mini’s a number of weeks ago. We live in a hilly area and our pedal bikes were just not getting used. We attend vintage trailer rallies with a small camping trailer and would bring our pedal bikes to the rallies. (The campgrounds are usually flat) I used an extended trailer hitch which allowed me to put the bikes between the trailer and the tow vehicle. I had always thought that having an E-Bike would be great, but the weight would be too much for the type of bike carrier and the set-up that we have.
Then I saw a Rad Mini. I figured that 2 folded Rad Mini’s would fit into the back of our SUV. (...and they do) We went to a rental shop that Rad suggested and the folks at the shop were more than happy to let us try the bikes out. (Like "wave goodbye" try them out, not just in the parking lot) We were impressed. A week or so later, I went back and took one more test ride before I made the order. The bikes arrived with just one of the boxes torn-up a bit, but there was no apparent damage and that bike went together just fine. The other bike was a different story.
Now, before I go any further, I want to tell everyone that we are very happy with our purchase so far and the folks at Rad have been great. We have one bike with over 70 miles on it and the other with close to 100 miles.
But there were problems with one of the bikes. It must have been manufactured on “Murphy’s Law” day. The first thing I did before assembling the bikes was to start charging the batteries. The “problem” bike’s battery was defective, the charge indicators didn’t work so the folks at Rad sent me a new one right away. A couple days later, I got down to putting the “problem” bike together. (The other one was already together and working just fine) That’s when I discovered that the fork was bent when I couldn’t get the front wheel on. The folks at Rad sent me a new fork right away and told me that I could take it to a shop and they would pay for it, but I figured I would learn by doing. So when the fork arrived, I went back to putting the bike together, that's when I found that the controller box cover only had one screw holding it on. A little bit of weld was in the way so that the cover wouldn’t fit. The guy who worked on this particular bike must have been having a bad day. He tried to force it on with no luck. He buggered it up and then, just gave up. It was an easy fix, a bit of grinding along with the screws and touch-up paint Rad sent me.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there was also a small dent on the rear luggage rack. Apparently something at the factory got dropped on the bike or vice-versa. Rad was willing to send me a new rack but I declined, you could hardly see the dent, but it showed me how sturdy the rack really is. Whatever banged it was pretty darn heavy.
I finally figured that it was all ready to go and it ran well for 40 or 50 miles but then the throttle intermittently stopped working, and then just start up working again. The PAS still worked so the bike was functional and we could use it. Rad had me check all the connections and that seemed to work, until it didn’t. Then Rad sent me a new controller but that didn’t do it, so they sent me a new throttle. Guess what... That didn’t fix it either. It turned out to be a bad wiring harness.
That seemed to do it. Now, it’s only been 30 or 40 miles since then but I’m pretty sure it be fixed!
So why did I put up with all this nonsense? Because I could tell that this was a great little bike and a good piece of engineering. At one point Rad even offered to send me a brand new bike, but by that time I wanted the satisfaction of fixing this darned thing.
That said, Rad Power Bikes was great! They bent over backwards to make this debacle right. They were willing to pay a bike shop to do the work and they were willing to replace the bike itself.
The quality of anything built in a factory comes down to the humans putting it all together. Little problems will happen now and then. And once in a great while, a whole bunch of little things will happen all together.
Caca Occurs.
The bike is working great now, I just took a 12 or 13 mile ride this morning. Heading to a big vintage trailer rally next weekend and I know that the bikes are going to be a real hit.
Then I saw a Rad Mini. I figured that 2 folded Rad Mini’s would fit into the back of our SUV. (...and they do) We went to a rental shop that Rad suggested and the folks at the shop were more than happy to let us try the bikes out. (Like "wave goodbye" try them out, not just in the parking lot) We were impressed. A week or so later, I went back and took one more test ride before I made the order. The bikes arrived with just one of the boxes torn-up a bit, but there was no apparent damage and that bike went together just fine. The other bike was a different story.
Now, before I go any further, I want to tell everyone that we are very happy with our purchase so far and the folks at Rad have been great. We have one bike with over 70 miles on it and the other with close to 100 miles.
But there were problems with one of the bikes. It must have been manufactured on “Murphy’s Law” day. The first thing I did before assembling the bikes was to start charging the batteries. The “problem” bike’s battery was defective, the charge indicators didn’t work so the folks at Rad sent me a new one right away. A couple days later, I got down to putting the “problem” bike together. (The other one was already together and working just fine) That’s when I discovered that the fork was bent when I couldn’t get the front wheel on. The folks at Rad sent me a new fork right away and told me that I could take it to a shop and they would pay for it, but I figured I would learn by doing. So when the fork arrived, I went back to putting the bike together, that's when I found that the controller box cover only had one screw holding it on. A little bit of weld was in the way so that the cover wouldn’t fit. The guy who worked on this particular bike must have been having a bad day. He tried to force it on with no luck. He buggered it up and then, just gave up. It was an easy fix, a bit of grinding along with the screws and touch-up paint Rad sent me.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there was also a small dent on the rear luggage rack. Apparently something at the factory got dropped on the bike or vice-versa. Rad was willing to send me a new rack but I declined, you could hardly see the dent, but it showed me how sturdy the rack really is. Whatever banged it was pretty darn heavy.
I finally figured that it was all ready to go and it ran well for 40 or 50 miles but then the throttle intermittently stopped working, and then just start up working again. The PAS still worked so the bike was functional and we could use it. Rad had me check all the connections and that seemed to work, until it didn’t. Then Rad sent me a new controller but that didn’t do it, so they sent me a new throttle. Guess what... That didn’t fix it either. It turned out to be a bad wiring harness.
That seemed to do it. Now, it’s only been 30 or 40 miles since then but I’m pretty sure it be fixed!
So why did I put up with all this nonsense? Because I could tell that this was a great little bike and a good piece of engineering. At one point Rad even offered to send me a brand new bike, but by that time I wanted the satisfaction of fixing this darned thing.
That said, Rad Power Bikes was great! They bent over backwards to make this debacle right. They were willing to pay a bike shop to do the work and they were willing to replace the bike itself.
The quality of anything built in a factory comes down to the humans putting it all together. Little problems will happen now and then. And once in a great while, a whole bunch of little things will happen all together.
Caca Occurs.
The bike is working great now, I just took a 12 or 13 mile ride this morning. Heading to a big vintage trailer rally next weekend and I know that the bikes are going to be a real hit.
