Radmini cargo rack alternative?
- Thread starter Koji Dog
- Start date
When we purchased our two Rad Mini's we also purchased two rear racks, they were $80.00 each. I did see back during the Christmas time that Rad offered these racks for a 25% discount, that was a good buy. The racks are built very well and come with all hardware, plus the extension rear lamp cord. I will say the racks were a tight fit and for some without mechanical knowledge the installation could be a problem for some. This fit was different on each Mini, three mounting holes might lineup and the fourth would be off a 1/32" to 1/16" or so, thus having to push on the rack to lineup the holes. From experience I have always found that factory accessories are always much better, the fit and quality are designed to go with their models. Since our Mimi's came in white we went with the orange racks as our only choice was orange, or black, they did come in white in previous years, but for some reason they dropped the white color, we also trimmed our Mimi's in orange and I like the color combination. Also is a pic of the Abus strap lock mounted on the frame, mounts in the water bottle mounting holes, perfect spot for the lock.
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I purchased those bags on Amazon, can't remember what the price was, but I think around $18. Due note here, I found two different ones on Amazon, both were identical except for the logo on the bag and the price difference was around $10 difference between the two. I would recommend this bag as they are worth the price and the quality is good, plenty of pockets and a caring strap is included. I would type in Orange Bike Tail Bags and see what comes up. This is the other bag, I found it on Amazon for $28, I could not find the one I purchased with the logo on the bag, maybe that was a logo for some company, etc. and they were just clearing them out. https://www.amazon.com/VGEBY1-Lugga...range+bicycle+tail+bags&qid=1584554935&sr=8-7
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I have been looking at this as well, with a new Radmini4 arriving next week. There are two reasonable alternatives - Onway Rear Bike Rack (about $50 on Amazon), and the Swagtron V2 Cargo Rack ($30 on Amazon). BUT, neither will include the wire extension required to relocate the Rad brake light. I contacted Swagtron directly to ask about it fitting a Radmini, and they VERY UNHELPFULLY said they could not recommend it, even though it LOOKS like it would fit perfectly. I still have the wiring extension from my destroyed Rad Rover, so I may try either of these. I can also tell you, if you are interested, that I have found NOTHING aftermarket that looks either as good as, or as cheap as, Rad's front rack. Good luck.
Correction to my previous post --- the Swagton V2 rack will NOT fit the Radmini. Its "legs" are too short, and the front won't reach the mounts on the mini. So we're left with the Onway, which on Amazon says it will DEFINITELY fit the Rad mini, or Rad's rack, which is a great rack, but $80! Cheers.
Well, one LAST post on this subject. I bought a $25 rack on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Back-Rear-...985987?hash=item287fedd983:g:ep0AAOSwNdFcpJuS) that does fit the mini well. Attached are pictures of the rack from the eBay page, and on my mini. It took some improvising, because it arrived with NO INSTRUCTIONS, but I have it on. Assembly and mounting struck me as a pain-in-the-ass, and I kind of regretted not spending the $80 for Rad's, until I realized that most of the time and frustration was removing and re-inserting the two screws that originally held the rear light on. THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN JUST AS MUCH TIME AND FRUSTRATION IF I HAD BOUGHT THE RAD RACK!. I don't plan on carrying a lot of heavy stuff (rain clothes, etc.), so I don't think I'll miss the heavier capacity of the Rad rack. Cheers!
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awestover89
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We bought the Ibera RA-5 on Amazon and followed the directions for the non-disc brake bike mounting, even though the Rad Mini has disc brakes. We found the instructions to be moderately terrible (for example it just said 6 small bolts and 2 large bolts, but there were two different size small bolts.) The biggest pain point was removing the rear light and rear light mount, but we got it off and it's been working well since. You do need to buy an extension cable for the rear light, we bought that from Bolton e-bikes.
Beej
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- USA
@Radycle, thanks a ton for showing the photos allowing me to find this model!
I found at $20 price point on ebay as well and can also confirm it fits fine on latest RadMini4 (just received a couple weeks ago).
Previous ebay link was dead for me, so here's some more that'll hopefully help other folks: eBay search, eBay item, Amazon, Amazon
Misc observations...
- feels very light... probably not going to take as much weight as the OEM rack but plenty strong for what i'd expect to be tossing in saddle bags... i quickly tested with a 12 pack of cans on both sides at once and it seemed fine for a long ride but i haven't had a chance to really prove that yet.
- lots more joints than the OEM... that probably means more loose bolts to maintain over time... comes with good hardware but no lock washers, which i highly recommend for all bike bolts... amazing how much those buggers shake loose and bite me when i'm least prepared to deal out on the road.
- after putting this on, i'm thinking most anything you can find out there that has adjustable length to both the upper and lower mount points should work... i was a little worried about having something wide enough but this isn't particularly wide against the normal field of racks for smaller wheel widths
- at first i was like, do i really need that center bracket versus the ones on each end? but yeah, it really forms the final stability that locks it all down from being able to pivot on the other joints.
- like other folks, found removing the tail light bolts to be the most annoying step since they put them on the inside of the frame, harder to get at, especially with electric screwdriver and they require many rotations to get out... i happen to have a "universal joint" which REALLY comes in handy here (see last photo)
- unlike other folks, i found relocating the tail light wiring to be no issue, plenty of slack available, see red lines on image... maybe Rad has changed where they run the wire at this point, to make it easy on us.
- last tip - the dimensions of these mini bikes mean the pannier bags are hanging much closer to the back of your foot on the pedal than a standard large frame... before you tighten it all down and commit to rewiring, try to loosely rig it all up where looks good and hop on to test out the back of your foot doesn't hit the bag while actually riding.
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