Rad Power Bikes lands massive $150M investment

[JuicePower]

It would be wonderful if they had a showroom in Eastern Canada. I'm dying to try out a Radrunner, but there are absolutely none in my area.

You are making several good points.

Buying an e-bike without dealer set-up and service is wrong for most riders.
Buying a bike online is wrong for many riders.

Even Sears went broke and they had more service than Wards or penneys by far.
The e-treadmill business is tasting retraction in their market.
1-2 years there will be millions of 75 dollar e-bikes at garage sales.

Any way you look at it, a manual bike is easier to put back in service than an e-bike.

 

[JuicePower]

Interesting to note that the largest ebike producer in N. America only makes hub motor bikes.

Lower price points. Less engineering. Also competition they face is a guy buying a dime store bike and adding a kit to make an e-bike.

 

[JuicePower]

A lot of retailers did really good during the pandemic. My sales were up 50% from the year before. I don't expect to see the same this year.
Will Rad do good this year or the next with company's like Sonders, and the other dozen company's that have made a presence over the last 2 years. Are they going to take a bite out of outdated Rad. They have a lot more competition now than they did 2 years ago. But they got a lot of money to work with. Me I wouldn't invest in a company like Rad knowing what I know now.

Rad has a home made look to it.

 

[JuicePower]

The amount is enormous, it makes last year's $25 million funding round look like venture capital companies were happy to have backed a winner because of the increase in sales due to the pandemic, 100,000 ebikes in one year are impressive numbers.

In venture capital that is their "burn rate." Burning thru 25 million divided by shipping out 100,000 (500 a day). 250 per bike.
For 1500 dollar bikes they should have made 25 million.

 

[ExPatBrit]

Rad has a home made look to it.

The new City 5 and Rover 6 are definitely a big improvement in that regard.

 

[AHicks]

1-2 years there will be millions of 75 dollar e-bikes at garage sales.

I seriously doubt this. E-bikes have already been around for several years. You may see a cobbled up "custom" assembled by a 12 year old looking e-bike for 75 bucks but that's worst case. Doubt seriously if you're going to see many production e-bikes in that price range.

 

[Gordon71]

The new City 5 and Rover 6 are definitely a big improvement in that regard.

I agree that it looks better but I don't think it's an improvement. I like the fact that the battery and most other things on my Rad Rover can also be used on my Rad Mini.

 

[JES2020]

Lower price points. Less engineering. Also competition they face is a guy buying a dime store bike and adding a kit to make an e-bike.

Yes, my point exactly ! I believe simplicity is the key point however. There are hub motor production bikes that cost many thousands of dollars.

 

[JES2020]

You are making several good points.

Buying an e-bike without dealer set-up and service is wrong for most riders.
Buying a bike online is wrong for many riders.

Even Sears went broke and they had more service than Wards or penneys by far.
The e-treadmill business is tasting retraction in their market.
1-2 years there will be millions of 75 dollar e-bikes at garage sales.

Any way you look at it, a manual bike is easier to put back in service than an e-bike.

Not so sure. Even without the most expensive component, most used ebikes w/motors will command much more than $75.
Even on the lower range used ebikes, the rule of thumb is 1/2 off new price for used.
I don't know about you, but I have yet to see a new ebike for anywhere near $150.

 

[Solarcabin]

Huffy has sold over 30 million bikes.

Whether ebikes have long life like Huffy will depend on the battery supply which is still primarily a product of China.

 

[JES2020]

Huffy has sold over 30 million bikes.

Whether ebikes have long life like Huffy will depend on the battery supply which is still primarily a product of China.

The battery market is on the verge of exploding internationally. Here in the U.S. even Tesla is developing batteries. S Korea is the home of several high end batteries and Japanise companies are also pouring massive research dollars into batteries, to mention a few.

As far as ebike market share is concerned, I can't imagine it going anywhere but UP !

 

[AHicks]

Huffy has sold over 30 million bikes.

Whether ebikes have long life like Huffy will depend on the battery supply which is still primarily a product of China.

If you'll notice, Huffy bikes don't use any proprietary parts. Just about anything on them available anywhere parts are sold. THAT'S why so many are still in service or can made to be easily.

If this kind of thing is something that impresses you, you would do well when shopping for an e-bike to make sure there are no proprietary parts required there as well. Yes, they do make them! Actually, there are quite a few making them! Like the older Rad's for instance. You know, those outdated looking e-bikes? The ones that are built like a tank with parts available everywhere (like Amazon for instance)?

 

[Solarcabin]

If you'll notice, Huffy bikes don't use any proprietary parts. Just about anything on them available anywhere parts are sold. THAT'S why so many are still in service or can made to be easily.

If this kind of thing is something that impresses you, you would do well when shopping for an e-bike to make sure there are no proprietary parts required there as well. Yes, they do make them! Actually, there are quite a few making them! Like the older Rad's for instance. You know, those outdated looking e-bikes? The ones that are built like a tank with parts available everywhere (like Amazon for instance)?

I agree and it is a matter of getting parts and especially parts for the power train. Controller, display, battery and motor.

You can still get after market kits to replace that whole system for many bikes which is what I think people will do as their bikes age or they will sell them to someone that will.

It is for that reason I didn't buy a very expensive ebike and I like a bike I can get parts for anywhere and customize and rebuild them cheap.

Some of those kits are really powerful and a lot cheaper than getting an entirely new bike.

 

[ExPatBrit]

I agree that it looks better but I don't think it's an improvement. I like the fact that the battery and most other things on my Rad Rover can also be used on my Rad Mini.

If it looks better, that's an improvement. As the OP said many don't work on their bikes.

DIY upgrades including aftermarket battery replacements not so much.

IMHO give it some time, that new battery and motor will eventually be available elsewhere. With the amount of RAD owners there is a big market out there.

 

[Dewey]

If it looks better, that's an improvement. As the OP said many don't work on their bikes.

DIY upgrades including aftermarket battery replacements not so much.

IMHO give it some time, that new battery and motor will eventually be available elsewhere. With the amount of RAD owners there is a big market out there.

I agree, upgrades for RadPower's older models are on the webshops of Bolton ebikes and electrobikeworld, I don't know if the newer models are locked down or if/when controller/motor/battery upgrades may become available but someone is probably working on it.