Radmini or Voltbike Mariner?

[Olrocker]

Brand-new to e-bikes and the forum. My wife and I are looking for a pair of e-bikes to take with us on our RV travels. After some research on this site and others, we've pretty much narrowed it down to the Radmini and Voltbike Mariner since we like the idea of something we could take on the beach or off-road as well as the street.

The reviews for these two bikes have them neck-and-neck in our view. Similar weight, style, and capabilities. We'd be carrying them in the bed of our Tundra (we tow a 27' travel trailer.) Does anyone with experience with both have a preference? One question I have regarding the Radmini: it has two reviews on EBR; the older one says it has a 12 magnet cadence sensor and plastic pedals and the more recent one says a 6 magnet sensor and aluminum pedals. Was that a change made for the production run?

Any other observations are welcome. Thanks in advance!

 

[Cnugget]

Mariner.. but I am biased. I don't have the most recent upgrades they have done to the Mariner. Never tried a RadMini.
Easier to fold/lift. If you can at all test drive them, I recommend it.

 

[Olrocker]

Thanks Cnugget. There was an ad on here for two nearly new Mariners in my area (Raleigh NC); $2K for both but I missed the opportunity. I was thinking about splitting the difference and getting the Radmini for me and the Mariner for my wife; then I could really do a comparison.

Cheers!

 

[Cnugget]

Thanks Cnugget. There was an ad on here for two nearly new Mariners in my area (Raleigh NC); $2K for both but I missed the opportunity. I was thinking about splitting the difference and getting the Radmini for me and the Mariner for my wife; then I could really do a comparison.

Cheers!

Haha.. Now that would be a worthy video and I would watch.

Some things are hard to tell until you get on them. Looks like the bike has had some new updates... Hopefully it's all good. I wasn't sure if I would use an ebike at all. My bow and I decided it would be better to have two bikes at ~3,000 instead of just one.. It is a great cheap date and we have fun saving the money and commuting. It is a good launcher into the world of ebikes.. I don't expect it to last forever nor compete with some of the other amazing things out there but happy so far.. but that is just me. Good luck with your purchase. Rad or Volt or whatever.. May it be fun and give you lots of grins and chuckles.

Don't forget accessories will cost ya as well.. I've probably dropped about $500 on stuff for the bike since I've picked it up. It's a can of worms so save some dollars for that too..

 

[Cally]

My Radmini should arrive in the next day. Hubby has Rad Cruiser. I test rode the Volt and liked it but opted for the Radmini for a couple reasons. Battery Volt a bit better, has dual carrier racks on front and back and the stand over. I'm short...5' 2" so the extra 8" on the stand over make a big difference for me :}. Also prefer the white vs. the black only offered by Volt. Agree that either would be a good choice but you can get $200 off when you buy two Rads at same time!!

 

[Olrocker]

I ended up getting two RadMinis for my wife and me (hers is white, mine black.) They will be here Tuesday. The Mariner looks fine, but it has the same frame and features as a number of other Chinese-made folding ebikes, so I went with the more unique style. The 750W hub motor on the Rad appealed to me as well.

Cheers!

 

[Helena Wolfenstein]

I would choose none but as you bought then have a happy ride.

 

[attyjenkins]

OK, I had the big debate about which ebike to get -- Radmini or Voltbike Mariner. For me, Voltbike won. It was close, but I went for the suspension seat post and fenders (though I think I could have easily lined the bottom of Radmini's front and rear racks with milk jugs cut to shape as fenders). So, I pulled the trigger and ordered online.

The first disappointment -- although the Voltbike website says "in stock", I was told it would be a few days before they could ship. All right, I am patient. Second problem, the helmet was not available in the color I wanted. OK, it is "free" so how can I complain.

A few days later, I am told my shiny new bike has shipped, and here is the tracking number. The shipper, YRC Freight, tracks by saying basically "It is on its way", and estimated arrival is 10 days. Really? Are they pedaling it here? Later, that was pushed back another day, but who knows? It isn't here yet.

Oh, and one last disappointment -- the price. Voltbike advertises on Facebook for a great price, but no, they simply don't honor that. So I pay the website price, quoted in US dollars. But my credit card charges a 2% foreign transaction fee. So any price advantage shrinks a lot.

I hope when my Mariner finally arrives some of the bitterness fades.

 

[attyjenkins]

Well, my Voltbike Mariner arrived (after some struggle with the shipper, who did not want to come down my street at first, but wanted me to meet him at an intersection a quarter-mile away). The box was banged up, but the inner packaging was very good and the bike had not a scratch.

Here are some pictures.

It looks like some changes from what I expected. Primarily, the throttle is a twist grip (and the red button a cut-off). There is now a guard over the fragile right rear axle, and a neoprene guard between the frame and the chain.

But the main problem is this -- the charger's plug does not match the battery. Apparently, this new shipment has mismatched parts. So now I have to wait until Voltbike can send me a new charger.

This may be worse than waiting for the delivery -- now I can see and touch my new bike, but I cannot use it.

 

[roshan]

How about a Kutty?

https://www.biktrix.com/collections/bikes/products/biktrix-kutty

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)