RadMini - Brake Squeal and Rattle

[rekyt]

Love my new RadMini but having some issues.

Rear brake is squealing extremely loud. Have made all the suggested disk break adjustments\tweaks and nothing has helped. Was told by Rad Support that break-in period is 150 miles which seems excessive.

Also, the front wheel does not spin freely even after adjusting the brakes and i am also hearing a rattle when riding only.

Anyone else have these issues with a brand new Rad bike? I have bought other higher end mtn bikes in the past and never had these issues. Also, normally get a free tune up from a local bike shop but don't feel I should have to pay for one with a new e-bike that only has 25 miles on it.

Thank you for any feedback!

 

[mrgold35]

I have two 2016 Radrovers and one had some damage during shipping (brake rotor out of true, bent derailleur). Both ebikes required constant adjustments to get the right braking feel, emergency stopping power, and no drag against the rotors (rotors wobbled a bit between the pads). They were mostly noisy; with, some days being louder compared to other days.

The brakes became a bigger issue once I started work commuting with speeds up to 25 mph on some downhill runs. I've had the brake cable strands starting to break and the pads were glazing over increasing emergency stopping power. Upgraded to Spyke TRP brakes and JagWire MTB cables (kept same rotors). Little to no noise, excellent pad bite, very short emergency stopping power, and adjustments are 6-8 weeks apart and only take a few minutes (so far, only an Allen wrench to adjust pads).

 

[AHicks]

Love my new RadMini but having some issues.

Rear brake is squealing extremely loud. Have made all the suggested disk break adjustments\tweaks and nothing has helped. Was told by Rad Support that break-in period is 150 miles which seems excessive.

Also, the front wheel does not spin freely even after adjusting the brakes and i am also hearing a rattle when riding only.

Anyone else have these issues with a brand new Rad bike? I have bought other higher end mtn bikes in the past and never had these issues. Also, normally get a free tune up from a local bike shop but don't feel I should have to pay for one with a new e-bike that only has 25 miles on it.

Thank you for any feedback!

I don't feel Rad is responsible for adjustments. In fact, I'm pretty sure they are assuming whoever unpacks and does the final assembly of the bike is qualified to do any necessary adjusting while going over the bike front to rear to make sure all of the nuts, bolts and fittings are tightened and adjusted properly. While some are plenty qualified to do this themselves, if there is a question, a tune up at a local shop, which you will pay for, might be part of a good plan.

 

[GrandPappyMike]

First thing you should do is take it to a local bike shop and see what they say the issue is. I replaced mine with the Juin R1 hydraulic calipers and have not had any issues for over 500 miles now.

 

[trainman]

Make sure your brake cable down by the brake caliper is seated in the slot where the cable comes out of the plastic cable tube on the mounting bracket. Mine was dislodged upon arrival and had to be put back into its proper mounting bracket. My problem was what you described and no adjustments would correct the problem, putting the cable back where it goes solved the problem.

 

[Utter Consternation]

Is it necessary to swop out the rotors too if you are replacing the brakes? Could you just leave the stock rotor on and install the brake caliper?

If you cannot is it easy to install the rotors onto the wheel?