Investor9872
New Member
Hi good gentlemen and ladies. My wife weighs 120 lbs, and we mostly ride our bikes on the beach walk (a smooth pavement bike path). What PSI should I put in the tires? Thanks.
RadCity Step-Thru Tire PSI Recommendation?
- Thread starter Investor9872
- Start date
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
My wife is around 130lbs and I set her RadCity Step-Thru at 55 PSI. I also adjusted the front forks to be a little more stiffer in the open position, added Cloud-9 11.5X12 cruiser seat, and Bodyfloat v2.0 suspension seatpost with purple springs. She seems to like this set-up and the bike felt very good to her at all speeds. My wife is 100% paved road, sidewalk, and bike path rider.
On the side of your tires you will find the pressure range over which the tire is designed to be operated. A good strategy is to start at the high end of the pressure range and then adjust according to conditions and personal preference. The higher the pressure the less rolling resistance, the higher the tire's load carrying capacity, and the better the handling on hard, dry surfaces. Decrease pressure if you want gain more traction on soft or wet surfaces, or if you prefer a softer ride.
Do not exceed either the maximum or minimum ratings as you risk a dangerous blow-out if the pressure is too high, or of the tire coming off the wheel at low pressures (also, increased likelihood of pinch flats).
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Investor9872
New Member
By the "Open Position," do I just rotate the right knob on the spokes all the way clockwise (rotate it away from the arrow)? And to make it stiffer, do I just turn the left knob in the + direction? Thanks.
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
You can adjust the switch on top of the right fork to either:
- lock the forks in place in the 6 o'clock position, or
- moving to the 12 o'clock position to allow some suspension bounce over bumps
I don't think the switch is made for any other location other than 12 or 6 positions? There isn't any click or resistance in the 6 or 12 position to let you know you are there and you can rotate past those points. Be careful not to rotate to far beyond those positions (no go from 7-11 positions) because the knob can pop off the top of the fork. Just pop it back on if you do. So far, the knob has stayed in place when I over rotated and popped off (it also stays in the correct position when riding).
The knob on the left fork allows you to adjust the amount of stiffness you feel while riding when the forks are in the open position. Turning that knob clockwise will let you fine tune the amount of suspension travel over bumps for the rider's weight. I think I twisted the knob around 5-6 times 360 degrees to get the right amount of feel for my wife.
- lock the forks in place in the 6 o'clock position, or
- moving to the 12 o'clock position to allow some suspension bounce over bumps
I don't think the switch is made for any other location other than 12 or 6 positions? There isn't any click or resistance in the 6 or 12 position to let you know you are there and you can rotate past those points. Be careful not to rotate to far beyond those positions (no go from 7-11 positions) because the knob can pop off the top of the fork. Just pop it back on if you do. So far, the knob has stayed in place when I over rotated and popped off (it also stays in the correct position when riding).
The knob on the left fork allows you to adjust the amount of stiffness you feel while riding when the forks are in the open position. Turning that knob clockwise will let you fine tune the amount of suspension travel over bumps for the rider's weight. I think I twisted the knob around 5-6 times 360 degrees to get the right amount of feel for my wife.
Investor9872
New Member
Thanks, MrGold! You've been very helpful. Have a great weekend!
Investor9872
New Member
My wife and I took my new Rover and her Step-Thru out for our first ride today along the beach on the hard pavement bike path, and it was a beautiful experience. Mid way through our ride, we switched bikes for comparison. Wow! My wife's Step-Thru bike does feel like our Porsche compared to my heavy, less nimble, less responsive Rover. The difference was night and day. My wife refused to go past PAS 1 because she felt that her bike was going too fast. The cadence sensor on hers was so responsive. I had to put my Rover to PAS 2 in order to have a similar pedaling experience as her Step-Thru, but it was still lacking that bit of sharpness in the pedal response and acceleration. Another surprise was that her Step-Thru bike free-wheels or coasts a lot better than my Rover. At first I thought that was due to the hefty weight of the Rover. But the Step-Thru has brake regeneration, which inherently has a bit of a drag due to the magnetic coils in the motor, yet it coasts 2x-3x better than my Rover when I was riding it.
After I got home, I decided to put my bike upside down and spin the wheels. I noticed a constant noise from both wheels as they spun around, and saw that there was no spacing between the outer brake pads and my brake disks on both the back and the front wheels. Both of the inner brake pads have a millimeter or two of space between them and the brake disks. I can adjust the inner brake pad distance with the adjustable knob. But is there any way to adjust the OUTER brake pads so that they are not touching my brake disks?
After I got home, I decided to put my bike upside down and spin the wheels. I noticed a constant noise from both wheels as they spun around, and saw that there was no spacing between the outer brake pads and my brake disks on both the back and the front wheels. Both of the inner brake pads have a millimeter or two of space between them and the brake disks. I can adjust the inner brake pad distance with the adjustable knob. But is there any way to adjust the OUTER brake pads so that they are not touching my brake disks?
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
My wife loves her step thru and we went on a 18 mile bike ride. I have to bump my rover one PAS level higher occsionally just to keep up with her most of the time. We made it home with me only having 2 bars and she still had 4 bars. I would need 2 11.6ah batteries to equal her range with one 14ah.
You will need to loosen the two bolts that secure each of the calipers to the rover. The holes for the rover brake calipers are oval in shape and you can adjust left/right to add some space to the fixed pads side. Can be a pain to adjust just right, very hard to secure the bolts without the caliper moving, and can extremely hard to adjust perfectly if the rotors are out of true a little bit.
I upgraded to TRP Spyke pull brakes and the brake pad squeeze from both sides instead of just the outer pad like the standard rover brakes. A little easier to fine tune the TRP Spykes for the right amount of hand brake feel compared to the standard Radrover brakes.
You will need to loosen the two bolts that secure each of the calipers to the rover. The holes for the rover brake calipers are oval in shape and you can adjust left/right to add some space to the fixed pads side. Can be a pain to adjust just right, very hard to secure the bolts without the caliper moving, and can extremely hard to adjust perfectly if the rotors are out of true a little bit.
I upgraded to TRP Spyke pull brakes and the brake pad squeeze from both sides instead of just the outer pad like the standard rover brakes. A little easier to fine tune the TRP Spykes for the right amount of hand brake feel compared to the standard Radrover brakes.
Investor9872
New Member
Thanks for your suggestions and advice. I can see the two bolts that secure the calipers to the bike, but I'm not quite sure which
oval shaped holes you are talking about (the ones that you can adjust left/right to add some space). I see the one large oval shape adjustment knob on the inside of the caliper (facing the motor hub) that you can turn with the supplied Allen ranch, but that will only move the inside brake pad in and out. It doesn't move the outside brake pad as far as I can tell.
My wife loves her Step-Thru. There were a lot of people out this morning, even at 7 am, on the beach path, and she can just use a little bit of throttle to get by them quick enough to move out of the way of incoming traffic. We rode 12 miles on our first run, and she still has 5 bars left on the battery, using PAS 1, with some throttling here and there. I, too, have 5 bars with mostly PAS 2 and a lot of throttling.
Since it's the weekend, the Rad Power Bike tech support will be calling me back on Monday. Hopefully, they can help me with my brake problem, and then I will love mine as much as she loves hers. Thanks for all of your help this weekend.
oval shaped holes you are talking about (the ones that you can adjust left/right to add some space). I see the one large oval shape adjustment knob on the inside of the caliper (facing the motor hub) that you can turn with the supplied Allen ranch, but that will only move the inside brake pad in and out. It doesn't move the outside brake pad as far as I can tell.
My wife loves her Step-Thru. There were a lot of people out this morning, even at 7 am, on the beach path, and she can just use a little bit of throttle to get by them quick enough to move out of the way of incoming traffic. We rode 12 miles on our first run, and she still has 5 bars left on the battery, using PAS 1, with some throttling here and there. I, too, have 5 bars with mostly PAS 2 and a lot of throttling.
Since it's the weekend, the Rad Power Bike tech support will be calling me back on Monday. Hopefully, they can help me with my brake problem, and then I will love mine as much as she loves hers. Thanks for all of your help this weekend.
Banzai
Active Member
Investor9872 wrote:
"Wow! My wife's Step-Thru bike does feel like our Porsche..."
Hello Investor9872,
Lol couldn't help but notice your remark comparing the Step-Thru to a Porsche. That was my impression while riding it around the neighborhood, and especially when climbing the hill to my house. It's about a 10% grade that runs up for about a mile and I have so much fun climbing it with virtually no effort at all, I'll fly right by my drive I'm having so much fun. The electronics are still set just as it was delivered, so the boys there in Seattle did a good job in spec'ing this bike. The lack of any motor noise is also impressive.
It's possible to ride around all day on a level surface in PAS 1, but it goes away when going uphill. Switching it up into the higher levels is truly impressive how well the bike will perform with so little effort.
You have already contacted the service department so they will get back to you. Probably tell you to use a business card to get proper spacing. Whatever the case, it's really easy to keep these bikes tuned up and running right with a little effort.
Always good to hear when so many others enjoy being out riding their bikes.
"Wow! My wife's Step-Thru bike does feel like our Porsche..."
Hello Investor9872,
Lol couldn't help but notice your remark comparing the Step-Thru to a Porsche. That was my impression while riding it around the neighborhood, and especially when climbing the hill to my house. It's about a 10% grade that runs up for about a mile and I have so much fun climbing it with virtually no effort at all, I'll fly right by my drive I'm having so much fun. The electronics are still set just as it was delivered, so the boys there in Seattle did a good job in spec'ing this bike. The lack of any motor noise is also impressive.
It's possible to ride around all day on a level surface in PAS 1, but it goes away when going uphill. Switching it up into the higher levels is truly impressive how well the bike will perform with so little effort.
You have already contacted the service department so they will get back to you. Probably tell you to use a business card to get proper spacing. Whatever the case, it's really easy to keep these bikes tuned up and running right with a little effort.
Always good to hear when so many others enjoy being out riding their bikes.
Investor9872
New Member
Hi Banzai,
I love your comment. The Step-Thru is a gem of a bike, and I'm glad to finally be able to procure one after trying for over a month. I wasn't exaggerating about the Porsche comparison, so I really appreciate your story about your first impression with the Step-Thru.
I did have to stop by a local bike shop to purchase the Cloud 9 Cruiser Select Airflow Saddle seat for my wife due to the stock Velo Plush seat that came with the Step-Thru hurting her quite a bit during our ride.
Mrgold. Thank you so much for the picture of the Rover's brake caliper!
You two good gentlemen have a great rest of Father's Day weekend!
I love your comment. The Step-Thru is a gem of a bike, and I'm glad to finally be able to procure one after trying for over a month. I wasn't exaggerating about the Porsche comparison, so I really appreciate your story about your first impression with the Step-Thru.
I did have to stop by a local bike shop to purchase the Cloud 9 Cruiser Select Airflow Saddle seat for my wife due to the stock Velo Plush seat that came with the Step-Thru hurting her quite a bit during our ride.
Mrgold. Thank you so much for the picture of the Rover's brake caliper!
You two good gentlemen have a great rest of Father's Day weekend!
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