New RadMini rider observations Day 1

[RadRider]

Hello all. New to the forum. Lots of good info here that made my decision on this bike. I wanted to give some info on my purchase and riding experience to help any other would-be Rad Powered buyers. I'll start from the beginning. I ultimately decided on the RadMini after deciding a folding bike would suit my lifestyle a little better. I like the beefy frame and the unique look too. I've not gone on rides before purely because the hassle of putting the bike rack on my car would take too much time (I don't have a hitch). Seeing pictures on the Internet of the RadMini in the back of a tiny Fiat made me realize I could easily fold and pack the bike in seconds. So I made the purchase with 0% financing and it shipped. The bike box arrived in decent shape. Only one rip in the side about 4 inches long. It looked mostly intact. I was really worried because I'm sure the UPS guys friggin hate boxes this big and take out their frustration on our stuff. I had to return a bike several years ago to BikesDirect because it arrived in such bad condition. So I was hopeful seeing this box. I take the bike out and notice a few paint dings here and there. I fixed those up quickly with a Sharpie. The worst damage was the rear derailleur protection bar. It was completely bent in down under the derailleur (see pic). I bent it back out and just hoped there was no damage to the derailleur itself. After reading about various issues people had with their bikes right out of the box, I decided to have it looked at by a professional before trying to ride it myself. The disc brakes were rubbing pretty bad to the point that the wheels would barely free spin more than 1-2 seconds. I drop it off with a local bike guy and he found a few issues I want you guys to be aware of on your own purchases: 1. A few spokes were loose. That was an easy fix. 2. The top head set lock wasn't tight and was sticking out (see pic). This could have been bad. Overall my guy said it was mostly good and just needed some fine tuning. The brakes felt WAY better afterwards. The next day, I decided to head to the beach for a boardwalk ride. It definitely turned some heads and I even saw a few RadRover's running around. I really like the integrated index finger bell. I had no idea these existed. Very convenient and almost hidden. Not like my other bikes with a giant ugly bell on them. Now to the motor performance.... just wow! Way more powerful than I thought. It easily carried by big ass girth (270lbs) in pedal assist. I could only use setting 1-3 since 4 would sometimes push it really close to 500 watts and I read not to go over that amount. Anybody have any input on this? Isn't it a 750 watt motor? Would hitting over a little over 500 watts on it really damage/burn it out? No way I'd even want to try setting 5. It would be too hard/fast/scary unless I was alone on an open road with nobody else in site. I rode about 18 miles that day and the battery didn't even go down one bar until around the 12 mile mark. I was very impressed with that. By the time I decided to pack the bike back up, the battery meter was only at half. I think I could have gone another 18 miles or so before it died. My riding that day was 90% pedal assist. I rarely used the throttle alone. I'm very impressed with this bike so far and look forward to much more riding and shedding some pounds on it. It is exercise that is fun. It has a good quality build feel to it. It performed very well and didn't hurt my wallet like I thought an eBike would. I just hope my weight doesn't cause anything to crack or bend. If anybody has any questions on it or if you are considering buying one, feel free to message me. Ride on everybody.

 

[mrgold35]

Congrats on the new ride!

I have two his and her Radrovers since Sept/2016 and have +3000 miles between them both. A few of us had similar shipping issues and they were resolved with on-the-spot fixin', local bike shops, or help from Rad Power Bike warranty program. The minor issues I've had hasn't changed my mind or produced any regrets about my purchase of my first ebikes.

I'm about the same weight and I add another 20lbs on top of that with rear rack bag and commuter back pack. The 750w hub motor has plenty of power to get me to cruising speed of 18-20 mph in PAS 3 (sometimes 21-22 with min wind or slight tailwind). I have a few hills and sometimes +15 mph headwinds heading home. It is nice to up the PAS to level 4 sometimes and power my way home at +15 mph compared to being forced to slow down to 2-4 mph on my old pedal bike.

I've noticed the Kenda tires are better suited for trail duties compared to paved roads. I only got around 800 miles from the rear tires with a good mix of road and trail (the fronts lasted 2X longer). I think it was my extra weight and the ebike being so tail heavy increased the tire wear. I would think about rotating the tires around the 600-750 mile mark depending on the amount of wear your get.

I've noticed the Kenda's produce a lot road noise and have some drag to them that reduces acceleration and range. I didn't notice this until I upgraded one Radrover to Vee8 120tpi tires and kept the Kenda's on the other Radrover. I don't know what type of tires choices you have in the Radmini sizes when you are due to replace them; but, the Kenda's are about a C- for my kind of riding of +50% paved roads.

 

[MikeDD]

Just a few comments. I have 300 miles on my Mini. I only use pas 1 or 2 on the flats around town. pas 3,4,5 I use for hills. I have hit full watts on steep hills.

I use throttle assist only at stop signs, or when pulling out into traffic, worry about the pedals after you get out of danger. Use it like a motorcycle.

When learning to ride this bike, I would not start out in 3, like you said, it is fast.

Have fun.

 

[George S.]

Interesting and in-depth comments. Apparently that 750w Bafang geared hub is a pretty good motor. The best test, if you are worried, is to touch the motor and see if it is hot. Anything 'too hot to touch' is getting up there. Those fat folders really look like fun.

 

[brrrett]

Just a few comments. I have 300 miles on my Mini. I only use pas 1 or 2 on the flats around town. pas 3,4,5 I use for hills. I have hit full watts on steep hills.

I use throttle assist only at stop signs, or when pulling out into traffic, worry about the pedals after you get out of danger. Use it like a motorcycle.

When learning to ride this bike, I would not start out in 3, like you said, it is fast.

Have fun.

Bought two Rad Minis in Seattle for the wife and I to travel with. In PAS 5 while pedaling from an intersection was surprised that the front wheel came up... that's a lot of torque! Found out I can do some pretty nice wheelies in five!