Radcity 750w Motor and comparison

[Alex M]

Watts and amps are all over the place on motors. There is not a good standard for motors now that I have found. Like car hp at the crank or wheels. It is the wheels that mater.
Johnny

Johny, there is a reliable standard for bike motors - it's called torque. This is more complicated in bikes (than in cars) because while the actual force at the wheels does matter, hub motors and mid-drive motors transfer motor torque to the wheel differently. Plus, the mechanical advantage of smaller wheels on some bikes.

Geared hubs (like E-Glide Dapu) have a higher torque than DD (like RAD City) of the same or higher wattage. This is not brand-specific. Consumers need to educate themselves a little, I don't mean anybody in particular.

This thread is a month old, the OP has probably made up his mind already, while the members keep on kicking the dead horse. E-Glide is priced lower than some other comparable bikes (note: introductory price, not clear for how long).
And so is RAD, note: permanent low price. It is cheap but hardly any cheaper than similar online bikes. Customers buy RAD for reliable support, compared to many fly-by-night online sellers of low-cost bikes. Not for top-quality parts. Their parts are "ok".

E-Glide is more "commuter", while City is more "cruiser", this alone makes comparison difficult. E-Glide has overall better parts than RAD, and lower weight. But:
Geared Dapu hub is more expensive than RAD DD, impossible to get anywhere but from the dealer integrated with the wheel, and (likely) will last less than an average DD, but it has a higher torque - the choice is up to the user. I wouldn't worry about low torque (of DD) on flat terrains.
$$ Selle Royale seat wouldn't be a value to me because I would replace with a wide and cheap C9 anyway, not being a commuter or super-active.
Hydraulic brakes (if RAD had them) would be less important on DD that has regen braking, and wouldn't be a selling point to me, being a slow rider - but would be difficult to service DIY.
Depends on who you are, where you are and what you need it for.

 

[AHicks]

Mike, not here to pick a fight, or debate whether a gear drive or a direct drive is a better way to go when selecting an e-bike. I wrote the note above looking to level what appears to be downhill playing field. If you are going to compare 2 bike's torque values, be clear when comparing geared vs. direct drive power - otherwise it's very easy to dismiss the stated opinion as one sided.

Regarding direct drive vs. geared, there's a good reason both are on the market, regardless of what your opinions are. With ANY attempt at objectivity regarding each, it's pretty clear to most with an open mind on the topic, that a good case can be made for either, depending on circumstances. Which is BEST for a rider, is going to depend on how the rider plans on using the bike.

As a dealer, I'm surprised you haven't figured that out yet. Further, with your one sided approach to the topic, you are a perfect example of a good reason more people don't go to a dealer for their bike purchases. Typical of a lot of salespeople (and bike shops), you seem to be sharing only the story favoring the product you sell.....

 

[harryS]

Just got a ticked for 93 in my Miata a minute it was close to 130 if speedometer is close to being right. It has headers and bigger exhaust and ecu remapping.
Johnny

That's a bummer. My 90 didn't have the gearing for 130. I had it up around 105 while following some exuberant miata friends. No engine mods, but I swapped in a used '92 engine at 150K miles because of the crankshaft failure. Rust ate that car up after 17 years. Scrapper paid me $500 and probably got over $1500 for the parts, but I knew that would happen. I have a 2016 now. Miss the 7200 rpm redline.

 

[johnny333]

That's a bummer. My 90 didn't have the gearing for 130. I had it up around 105 while following some exuberant miata friends. No engine mods, but I swapped in a used '92 engine at 150K miles because of the crankshaft failure. Rust ate that car up after 17 years. Scrapper paid me $500 and probably got over $1500 for the parts, but I knew that would happen. I have a 2016 now. Miss the 7200 rpm redline.

My is a 2017 put headers ,bigger mid pipe and new muffler. Get openflashtablet my sees 7500 all the time sometime 8000 in first and second if I can't shift fast enough. If you don't live in California you can do away with the cat in the header. Still Liked my 2005 turbo.

 

[DavidBer]

Seeing that I am the OP . . .

I wound up with an Eglide. However, there is a little asterisk next to it. I spent some time with Chris at Propel and test drove a R&M. Holy s@#$! those are very nice bikes. Seriously VERY NICE bikes. If the bike was not ~4x the cost of the Eglide we would have gotten two of them. My wife looked at me and said, "We can go on a very nice cruise for the difference between the two bikes." And a serious shout out to Chris at Propel. What a seriously professional person and awesome place in Long Beach. He is about another two hours away from us and it would still be worth dealing with them.

As far as the Eglide - we have a love/hate relationship with it. If we were to do it again, we probably would not buy the bike. The reason has absolutely nothing to do with the bike though. It has everything to do with our usage of the bike. Our usage is one ~11 mile round trip per day and the other is about a 20 mile round trip per day. The path that is taken is 100% street. It is on bike paths. It is on a 8 lane road. The bike never ever sees off road anything. The Eglide is built to be able to be taken off road for some light trail work. It is geared that way. It has tires to support that. It has handlebars to support that. Ironically, I was adamant about having front suspension. I was adamant about having seat suspension. I turned the fork suspension off because of being on the road, there was no need. The seat suspension I am close to going to a solid seat post.

As far as the bike goes, I am changing out the grips to Ergons because . . . again . . . the usage.

I will also give a major shout out to Dave at Eglide. What an awesome and professional man. So far in our dealings, our local bike stores, the people have been so-so. Dave at Eglide and Chris at Propel are the gold standard.

Now comparing the Eglide to the R&M. The R&M was more comfortable. The R&M was smoother. The R&M made me feel that a throttle was not necessary. The R&M though seemed slower than the Eglide. Honestly, I am not sure if it was or not. The bike may have been going the same speed as the Eglide but felt more stable. That was either a product of the bike or the tires or both. The Eglide has Schwable marathons on it and I think the R&M has Schwable big bens on it. When the marathons wear out, I think we will replace them with more 'street' oriented tires.

With about 100 miles on the bike so far, the only issue has been the chain popped off during some quick shifting. As I was about 1/2 mile away from home, I went full on lazy. I used the throttle the whole way back. Something that I could not have done with the R&M. But the R&M had a belt drive and I doubt it was as messy as the chain.