Rad Power Bikes In trouble?

every dog went crazy because of the pandemic and the flood of buyers. Now people realize why they drive cars still.
 
A contrarian would say buy Rad. Stock, that is. They figured out the ebike market, but now what are they going to do?
 
They are doing the necessary thing. They have recognized a declining market and they are periodically cutting the labor force to match the sales rate. Every company is doing it, or already has contingency plans to do it. We are heading into a long economic winter that will probably last 2-3 years. This is just the beginning.
 
Rad investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company; Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley); Vulcan Capital; Durable Capital Partners LP; The Rise Fund (TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy); and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. Blue Nile and Zulily co-founders Darrell Cavens and Mark Vadon also invested in 2019.

While it's true that maybe Radenbaugh grew his force way too big; the real driver behind the layoffs are the above players. Sure, Rad got alot of capital dollars to spend when they went public. But once you got into the wall street game, you were now beholden to act for the people who fronted you a heck of a lot of money. So it's not surprising at all to see Radenbaugh stepping down from this CEO position and put into a show position. He no longer has control of the helm of the company he built from the ground up. The investors do. And it's an old story within wall street.
 
Mike TowpathTraveler said:
He no longer has control of the helm of the company he built from the ground up. The investors do. And it's an old story within wall street.
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Well, I've worked for a lot of startups and have seen quite a few of them absolutely wrecked by the founders when they got in over their heads. The same skill sets and talents that are great for starting a company, building up a crew, and figuring out a new product that never existed before can massively get in the way in a larger company where the emphasis has to be on turning the crank and maintaining ongoing operations. Good founders know this.
 
Rad's problem more than any other company in this industry is that it's heavy on marketing/name recognition, low on quality, value and features.

But that's nothing new, the real kicker is they kept amping up their production but demand finally plateaued or even dipped, and now they're caught with too much volume. Thus their recent $500 ebike fire sale.

Hard for me to see the value of Rad when brands like Aventon and Ride1Up deliver better value, and LBS offer less hassle. I do think Rad could succeed, just that it's bikes are so dull and uninspired. They can coast when the overall market is growing, but once the market plateaus or customers become more informed, their niche dissipates.
gromike said:
A contrarian would say buy Rad. Stock, that is. They figured out the ebike market, but now what are they going to do?
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An ignoramus would say to buy Rad, because it's not publicly traded.
Mike TowpathTraveler said:
Rad investors include Fidelity Management & Research Company; Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley); Vulcan Capital; Durable Capital Partners LP; The Rise Fund (TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy); and funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates. Blue Nile and Zulily co-founders Darrell Cavens and Mark Vadon also invested in 2019.

While it's true that maybe Radenbaugh grew his force way too big; the real driver behind the layoffs are the above players. Sure, Rad got alot of capital dollars to spend when they went public. But once you got into the wall street game, you were now beholden to act for the people who fronted you a heck of a lot of money. So it's not surprising at all to see Radenbaugh stepping down from this CEO position and put into a show position. He no longer has control of the helm of the company he built from the ground up. The investors do. And it's an old story within wall street.
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You think you've written something profound but it's really empty conspiracy thinking. No doubt investors are in it for themselves, that's the game, but they're there to generate profit, not take out the founder. Mr. Coffee put it well. Rad took on investors to grow faster, it's a calculated risk.
 
Now Lectric has Rad on their heels with the 3.0 after Rad discontinued the Mini and then a trike for $1,000 less then the one they just released.
 
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And now we have Lectric's cargo bike with better specs and $600 cheaper after a massive Rad wagon proprietary tire recall. Rad can't catch a break.
 
Jimmy666 said:
And now we have Lectric's cargo bike with better specs and $600 cheaper after a massive Rad wagon proprietary tire recall. Rad can't catch a break.
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Plus the Aventon one coming Feb 28. And the cargo cruiser that Ride1Up already offers for $1400

Rad's target market is people who have a friend with a Rad and have never heard of any other e-bike brand. Because if they did, they'd buy that instead... Aventon, Lectric, Ride1Up, Juiced - for most anything you'd want, those brands offer better value, higher speed and with no record of battery fires.
 
Never ridden a Rad machine, but have to assume they're good bikes.

Wife and I bought two of the Lectric XP 2.0st bikes a little over a year ago, and I continue to be impressed at the quality and features for the price. Reading numerous other bike reviews I keep saying to myself, "Okay, but it doesn't have a ...." over and over again. Really rich feature set and the components are decent quality. Bikes are a bit heavy, though, but to shed a few pounds you'd be looking at adding multiple $K for titanium or carbon fiber.

To me the biggest issue BY FAR facing the industry is fire danger. Every single battery and charger allowed into the country has to have a UL certification. The battery packs hold a lot of energy and are potentially very dangerous and extremely hard to extinguish; numerous major fires in NYC apartments, for example, and some cities are starting to simply ban ebike batteries indoors.
 
Dorkyman said:
Never ridden a Rad machine, but have to assume they're good bikes.

Wife and I bought two of the Lectric XP 2.0st bikes a little over a year ago, and I continue to be impressed at the quality and features for the price. Reading numerous other bike reviews I keep saying to myself, "Okay, but it doesn't have a ...." over and over again. Really rich feature set and the components are decent quality. Bikes are a bit heavy, though, but to shed a few pounds you'd be looking at adding multiple $K for titanium or carbon fiber.

To me the biggest issue BY FAR facing the industry is fire danger. Every single battery and charger allowed into the country has to have a UL certification. The battery packs hold a lot of energy and are potentially very dangerous and extremely hard to extinguish; numerous major fires in NYC apartments, for example, and some cities are starting to simply ban ebike batteries indoors.
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I will say this. Observing the tons of new ebikes on the road here in touristy Palm Springs CA, I see RAD bikes the most often. It may be due to that's what the local rental companies offer or thats what the people are buying...
 
My wife bought one and have been happy with it. We did the test ride with the mobile vans but I heard those got discontinued. I would not buy a $1000 plus bike without a test ride. That could hurt them a lot. I bought mine from a local bike shop mainly on the ride quality. I’m sure their profit is being squeezed fast with supply chain costs and labor costs increasing at the same time that bike prices are dropping, not a great combo. Plus every month a new ebike brand seems to launch. I bought my ebikes almost two years ago and was overwhelmed by the options, I would hate to shop now.
 
Asher said:
Rad's target market is people who have a friend with a Rad and have never heard of any other e-bike brand. Because if they did, they'd buy that instead... Aventon, Lectric, Ride1Up, Juiced - for most anything you'd want, those brands offer better value, higher speed and with no record of battery fires.
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I am really starting to think you don't know what you're talking about and that you have a bias about Rad bikes for some reason. I don't have any more of a database on bike battery fires by bike manufacturer than anyone else, and the 2 reports you posted in another thread are totally insignificant statistically. As for brands with no record of battery fires, which are those brands and how do you know?

Best I can tell, the vast majority of ebike battery fires are related to off-brand or cheap Chinese or non-professonally constructed batteries with cheap cells and careless or irresponsible charging. I'm not aware of any statistics the that point the finger at Rad or any other major manufacturers.

As far as I'm concerned, Rad's target market is people who know how and are willing to turn a wrench.

TT
 
Tars Tarkas said:
I am really starting to think you don't know what you're talking about and that you have a bias about Rad bikes for some reason. I don't have any more of a database on bike battery fires by bike manufacturer than anyone else, and the 2 reports you posted in another thread are totally insignificant statistically. As for brands with no record of battery fires, which are those brands and how do you know?

Best I can tell, the vast majority of ebike battery fires are related to off-brand or cheap Chinese or non-professonally constructed batteries with cheap cells and careless or irresponsible charging. I'm not aware of any statistics the that point the finger at Rad or any other major manufacturers.

As far as I'm concerned, Rad's target market is people who know how and are willing to turn a wrench.

TT
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There were four reports. I could not find any reports on rival brands except Super73 as noted. If you do find other fires, let us know.

Juiced has delivered plenty of bikes as well, and there are no reported fires I could find.

Plus Peter Flax has reported widespread problems with Rad brakes. Rad itself acknowledges it's had safety problems that you seem to deny or minimize.

My 'bias against Rad' is based on the information above.

electricbikereview.com

Burnt to a Crisp: Name and Fame for E-Bikes Aflame (Open Thread of E-Bike Fires)

There are tons of stories of e-bike fires, but for whatever reason, fire departments and reporters can't be bothered to share the maker of the e-bike in question. I imagine most are nameless imports, but there are still some with recognizable brands. But there are exceptions - this thread is to...
electricbikereview.com electricbikereview.com
 
That whole rim strip debacle was ridiculous. When I got my RadRunner 1 the first thing I did was put additional Mr. Tuffy tire liners in. Guess what, both tire rim strips were off center. I sent Rad a simple "heads-up" email, saying to start doing some random checks. Not a word. Then I order a RadMini ST awhile later and again, rim strips just slapped on, not covering the spokes. I guess a quick buck was more important than safety, and everyone knows quality control cost money. Great product for the price at the time but has now been overshadowed by better options with better customer service. I still loved that humble little RadRunner though.
 
Asher said:
There were four reports. I could not find any reports on rival brands except Super73 as noted. If you do find other fires, let us know.

Juiced has delivered plenty of bikes as well, and there are no reported fires I could find.

Plus Peter Flax has reported widespread problems with Rad brakes. Rad itself acknowledges it's had safety problems that you seem to deny or minimize.

My 'bias against Rad' is based on the
Click to expand...

Asher said:
There were four reports. I could not find any reports on rival brands except Super73 as noted. If you do find other fires, let us know.

Juiced has delivered plenty of bikes as well, and there are no reported fires I could find.

Plus Peter Flax has reported widespread problems with Rad brakes. Rad itself acknowledges it's had safety problems that you seem to deny or minimize.

My 'bias against Rad' is based on the information above.
Click to expand...
Oh, well, four! That makes all the difference! NOT.

And you couldn't find reports on other bikes so there haven’t been any problems with them. I have this great bridge I can sell you real cheap.

What do we know about just the Rad battery fires? Were they OEM batteries with no damage, being properly maintained and charged?

TT
 
Mr. Coffee said:
Well, I've worked for a lot of startups and have seen quite a few of them absolutely wrecked by the founders when they got in over their heads. The same skill sets and talents that are great for starting a company, building up a crew, and figuring out a new product that never existed before can massively get in the way in a larger company where the emphasis has to be on turning the crank and maintaining ongoing operations. Good founders know this.
Click to expand...
My life in a nutshell
 
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