RadRover Odometer Thread

[Christopher85083]

1,405 as of 2/6/16

I live in Phoenix, AZ and commute just over 50 miles round trip to work on my RR.

400 miles - had a shop true my rear wheel
650 miles - had a shop true my rear wheel
980 miles - front suspension collapsed. Upgraded to the new fork under warranty
1004 miles - installed Maxxis Hookworm tires
1405 miles - sold with no issues

I'm not setting any rules, just thought it would be useful to have a thread like this.

Chris

 

[MarkB]

Wow, I just read two threads in two minutes about people getting flat tires from thorns! Thorns? I can understand nails, tacks, screws, or sharp pieces of bent metal, but thorns? I haven't received my RR yet, but should I be really worried about thorns, and avoid going off road??? Ha! Not trying to hijack your thread here, but I'm thinking I may have to look into those Mr. tuffy tire liners that you talk about if these tires are prone to punctures...

 

[J.R.]

Wow, I just read two threads in two minutes about people getting flat tires from thorns! Thorns? I can understand nails, tacks, screws, or sharp pieces of bent metal, but thorns? I haven't received my RR yet, but should I be really worried about thorns, and avoid going off road??? Ha! Not trying to hijack your thread here, but I'm thinking I may have to look into those Mr. tuffy tire liners that you talk about if these tires are prone to punctures...

Hi Mark,

If you live in the Eastern U.S. you shouldn't have too many problems with thorns as western U.S. riders have. That being said I've seen riders on trails with low pressure tires get sharp sticks stuck into their tires and fat tires are low pressure, high volume tires.

There is a great deal of discussion on ebike forums about protecting tires from flats and some form of flat protection is needed with most bike tires. That can be flat resistant tires, liners, heavy duty flat resistant tubes or some sort of additive like Slime or Stans. Higher pressure in your tires is also important to protect against flats, but that can take away from the cushy ride of a fat bike.

There's a lot you can do to minimize your chance for flats, nose around here for some solutions! Use the search tool in the upper right corner of any forum here. Good luck and don't let worry ruin the fun! By the way, always have some way to repair a flat road/trailside.

 

[Christopher85083]

Mark is right - the desert thorns are nasty things. More like nails than anything else.

I have the Tuffy liners and run my tires at 25 psi now. It's not as cushy, but I commute just over 19 miles each way to work, so I care more about efficiency than cushy.

 

[Christopher85083]

Apparently this is MY odometer thread. Haha.

407 now.

I stopped by a bike shop and had the wheels trued. Some of the spokes were totally loose, and none had locktite on them. Now they are all tight and true, with locktite to keep things snug as I keep riding. The shop measured the chain, and it is at 75% stretch. They guessed I have another couple hundred miles of life in it, and will need to replace it between 600 and 800 total miles.

 

[amd1]

Only 62 here, but I've only had it for a week. It's been a fun week, though! I've never looked forward to my commute until now.

The shop measured the chain, and it is at 75% stretch. They guessed I have another couple hundred miles of life in it, and will need to replace it between 600 and 800 total miles.

That sounds like the chain is wearing pretty fast. Do you ride aggressively or is it the desert dust getting to it?

 

[JoePah]

According to the guru Sheldon Brown, and others, replace the chain when the chain elongation is >/= 1/16" for a 12" length of chain... That's about 0.5% stretch.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

If you're really going to replace the chain at 800 miles, suggest you find the strongest chain out there.. Just check the measurements yourself.

Loctite is not needed to maintain properly tensioned spokes.. Your spokes were loose because they were never set up properly when it was shipped from China.

Ask the guy what color Loctite he used. If he says blue, walk away from him.. If he says green at least he knows to use a wickering type... still it won't help and can actually cause a problem if the loctite comes loose inside your rim.

 

[Christopher85083]

According to the guru Sheldon Brown, and others, replace the chain when the chain elongation is >/= 1/16" for a 12" length of chain... That's about 0.5% stretch.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/chains.html

Ask the guy what color Loctite he used. If he says blue, walk away from him.. If he says green at least he knows to use a wickering type... still it won't help and can actually cause a problem if the loctite comes loose inside your rim.

Great info. I'll check the loctite, and I'll read up on chain maintenance, too.

I ride at full speed and full power all the time, so I can probably expect a shorter lifespan on chains. But even so, 800 miles surprised me for chain life. And I'll certainly upgrade components whenever I need to replace something.

 

[Jim123]

Now they are all tight and true, with locktite to keep things snug as I keep riding.

Any guesses as to what would happen if I used superglue on the spoke inserts and connecting points? Magnesium wheels don't seem to be available in my weight category. I need some sort of help. Many wheel makers say 220 lbs limit and leave it at that.

 

[Christopher85083]

Any guesses as to what would happen if I used superglue on the spoke inserts and connecting points? Magnesium wheels don't seem to be available in my weight category. I need some sort of help. Many wheel makers say 220 lbs limit and leave it at that.

220 per wheel? Just keep both wheels on the ground and you'll be fine.

But no, superglue is not the right product for that. Keep the spokes tightened properly yourself or take it to a shop like I did for the first time.

 

[J.R.]

@Jim123

Don't superglue your spokes to the nipples. You would never get the glue to the threads without removing the spokes from the nipples and you'll never get the wheel trued before the glue dries. If you are the Superhero Flash and got it done, the glue is too brittle and would crackup on the first bump.

You could tie and solder your spokes, used to be done all the time, but there aren't many custom wheel builders around anymore. See link:

http://www.urbanvelo.org/issue11/urbanvelo11_p70-71.html

 

[Jim123]

Thanks for the info guys. The solder might have mercury is a worry. I noticed the RadRover has 12 gauge spokes(or 11 gauge, a lot of websites for Ebikes have small typos for some reason). I am sure if I could get to scooter or motorcycle thickness, goodbye spoke trouble. Amazon has bad reviews for the magnesium solid wheels that are for sale. I weigh 265 lbs but carry 2 gallons water in the summer and pedal like a weight machine with high gear at a slow pace, bikes don't like it.

 

[amd1]

I'm at 139 and the PAS sensor broke about 40 miles ago. Somehow, all of their replacement PAS sensors were broken, so I'm waiting longer than anticipated on the replacement to be sent.

 

[Christopher85083]

595 miles.

Been good for awhile now, no issues except I finally took off the silly light. Just not bright enough to see anything.

 

[MarkB]

I picked up my RR in Seattle about a week ago, it was raining, and it hasn't stopped since. So I've only got one mile on it so far. I need fenders...
Have you noticed that they sell an accessory light on their web site now?
http://www.radpowerbikes.com

Mark -

 

[J.P.]

202 miles after one month of commuting and a little recreational off roading. No issues yet.

 

[Christopher85083]

750

770 by the time I get home tonight. Should hit the big 1,000 mile mark next week!

 

[MarkB]

Ha! 1000 miles! I got my first day of sunshine yesterday in the week and a half since I picked up my bike. The Wife and I took a ride on a paved bike trail for about 15 miles. It was great and I was finally able to experiment with all the modes of opperation. The battery guage didn't move off full charge. On one particularly long straight I got up to 21 MPH on PAS 5 and left my wife in the dust... Most of the time I spent at PAS 1 which was a good speed for our 12-13 MPH pace. It was about 42 degrees F, but was a very pleasant ride. I'm now looking forward to many more...

Mark -

 

[Hellfish]

I picked up the RR a little less than a month ago and have 300km (186miles) on it, all recreational ridding as opposed to commuting. The weather here on the west coast was very windy and rainy for the first couple of weeks but turned cold and clear recently. My longest ride so far is 52.5km (32.6miles) at 4c (39f) and I've been very pleased with the battery life and power even in the cold temps. At the end of that long ride the battery meter still showed 4 out of 5 bars dropping to 3 bars at times when I bumped up to PAS 4. For the most part I ride on gravel rail trails in PAS 2 putting in about the same effort that I would on a normal bike. I just ride farther and faster. No real maintenance issues so far just lots of cleaning and checking of spokes and fasteners. The derailleur needed a couple of small adjustments.

 

[Shawn W]

Wow, I just read two threads in two minutes about people getting flat tires from thorns! Thorns? I can understand nails, tacks, screws, or sharp pieces of bent metal, but thorns? I haven't received my RR yet, but should I be really worried about thorns, and avoid going off road??? Ha! Not trying to hijack your thread here, but I'm thinking I may have to look into those Mr. tuffy tire liners that you talk about if these tires are prone to punctures...

I bought the green goop made for bikes at the auto shop after my second flat in two weeks. First front tire close to home and then back tire while off road. So far so good and I am surrounded by starthistle.