Something New Coming From Rad Power Bikes.
- Thread starter woodsusa
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mrgold35
Well-Known Member
I'm leaning towards a lighter city commuter/hybrid bike with 700X40c tires. My RadRover is a lot of firepower for my daily 14 mile round-trip commute to work on 100% roads/side streets. There a a few places on my commute where I can get to 25-28 mph downhill on my GT Transeo 3.0 commuter pedal power bike; but, I'm limited to 20-22 mph on the RadRover at full speed.
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thatdude902
Active Member
Good guess on the city bike. Turns out it's the "Radcity." It makes a lot of sense. I mean, none of their other bikes are all that apartment friendly. At 60 lb & above, they are difficult to bring up stairsways & such. And some of us use the other bikes as mostly city bikes anyway. I know I do.
Nothing on the cost yet. Just that it looks complete with fenders and rack.
Nothing on the cost yet. Just that it looks complete with fenders and rack.
This should be a good selling bike. I'm glad I got my Radrover because I ride on a lot of unpaved roads and trails and it's more for recreation for me. This one should be a more suited to city streets and bike lanes. I'd love to see a full suspension bike with a more upright seating position. Even with a soft seat and a Bodyfloat post my butt gets sore.
Metalusion
Active Member
this is Radpowerbikes we're talking about right? if it's a mid drive i expect no less than a 750 watt motor at the heart of the beast!
hoping for 1000watts myself.
hoping for 1000watts myself.
walawn
Active Member
@Metalusion It's a rear hub design. Looks gearless from photos. I would guess 500-750W myself
Kingsinger
Member
Looks like it could be the same motor that's on the Radwagon based on the picture.....
thatdude902
Active Member
The specs are out: (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)
It's close to a narrow tire RR with fenders & rack, with the same price as the RR. Seems like they missed an opportunity for a low cost - lighter bike to compete with the likes of Sondors thin.
It's close to a narrow tire RR with fenders & rack, with the same price as the RR. Seems like they missed an opportunity for a low cost - lighter bike to compete with the likes of Sondors thin.
Kingsinger
Member
I don't think competing with Sondors on price is really the Rad business model. They seem content to offer a more fully integrated solution in the price tier directly above Sondors. With shipping the the Thin is $799. Actually, now it's going to be $899 (I think), because they're bundling the LCD screen, which you need for PAS, etc. There are a lot of upgrades that one can do to the Thin. But out of the gate, it's got a 350w geared rear hub motor and a 36v 8.7ah battery.
There are some great upgrades you can make to the controller and battery on the Thin. I've also seen people adding a 3-speed cassette and derailleur to it, along with fenders, rack etc. But by the time you do all that stuff, you're not that far away from the price of the Radcity, which comes stock with a more powerful motor, regen braking, 7-speeds, a rack, etc. But if you'd rather have more control of the upgrades and perhaps pay for them over time, the Thin seems like it could be a good way to go, especially if you live in a place without seriously hills.
All that said, I do wish Rad had managed to get the bike weight of the City bike down under 55lbs, so you could put it on a metro bus bike rack without removing the battery (I'm assuming the bike weighs under 60 without the battery). Still, it's better than the Radwagon for using with transit, because you can put it on the light rail (at least in Seattle).
There are some great upgrades you can make to the controller and battery on the Thin. I've also seen people adding a 3-speed cassette and derailleur to it, along with fenders, rack etc. But by the time you do all that stuff, you're not that far away from the price of the Radcity, which comes stock with a more powerful motor, regen braking, 7-speeds, a rack, etc. But if you'd rather have more control of the upgrades and perhaps pay for them over time, the Thin seems like it could be a good way to go, especially if you live in a place without seriously hills.
All that said, I do wish Rad had managed to get the bike weight of the City bike down under 55lbs, so you could put it on a metro bus bike rack without removing the battery (I'm assuming the bike weighs under 60 without the battery). Still, it's better than the Radwagon for using with transit, because you can put it on the light rail (at least in Seattle).
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
Weight is the problem my wife has with her Radrover at +60lbs. She is only 4'11" and 130lbs and the RR can be a lot to handle for her in low speed maneuvers, starting at a dead stop up inclines, and she is unable to lift the RR on our Saris Freedom Superclamp 4 bike rack.
I was hoping the Radcity would be be 5-10lbs lighter in the smaller size. Might have to put helium in the wife's RR to see if that will lighten her bike a little.
I was hoping the Radcity would be be 5-10lbs lighter in the smaller size. Might have to put helium in the wife's RR to see if that will lighten her bike a little.
walawn
Active Member
Per my suspicions, the RadCity is a direct drive, gearless motor. Not good for torque, but it has regen braking which is a plus. I'm not sure how the bike ended up being the same wieght (60 lbs.) as the fattire, larger frame Radrover, which is disappointing. Somewhere in the 50 lb. range would be nice for a city, commuter bike. Hopefully someone can post a review once they get one. I would almost immediately buy a 52V dolphin pack if I purchased one and keep the 48V as a spare. More torque and top speed are always nice.
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
I was messing around with the Radrover LCD setup screen (press and hold the up/down arrow at the same time on the keypad and use the Mode button to view choices). You can set the max speed from 32 km/h (20mph) up to 40 km/h (25mph). Unfortunately, the 7 gears of the Radrover makes the max speed around 21-22 mph and your legs look like a hamster on a exercise wheel at that speed.
I imagine the Radcity would have the same type of programing and maybe adding a 3 gear front chain wheel with derailleur for 21 speeds might get you at least 25 mph at PAS 5?
thatdude902
Active Member
Yep, it's easier with clipless pedals if you want to spin that fast. Though I thought about swapping out the front 42T chainring for something bigger, like 44t or even 46t.
Looking at the specs of the Radcity, it looks similar to the RR: single chainring plus 7 gears in the back, except for the hub from the Radwagon.
Looking at the specs of the Radcity, it looks similar to the RR: single chainring plus 7 gears in the back, except for the hub from the Radwagon.
eobanb
New Member
Hi everyone, first-time poster here.
I've had a RadWagon for just over a year now; I bought it right when it was first released. I have a few thoughts about the RadCity.
Except for the frame, nearly all the parts from the RadCity seem to be shared with either the RadWagon or the RadRover. There are major economic/logistical advantages to doing this, especially where service and warranty replacements are concerned.
Overall the RadCity, like the RadWagon, is a very 'rationally-designed' bike. It really takes the best of the RadWagon and RadRover and distills them down into a general-purpose city bike, which has kind of been the missing piece of the puzzle in Rad Power's lineup.
I think there are probably still a few things Rad Power could improve on, but overall it hits high marks for me. I would never have thought about buying two electric bikes, but I've found myself using the RadWagon even for everyday commuting, not just big trips to the grocery store. If I had one complaint about the RadWagon it's that sometimes it stands out too much (a big orange bike) and I've found myself occasionally wishing I were riding a more ordinary-looking black bike.
I've had a RadWagon for just over a year now; I bought it right when it was first released. I have a few thoughts about the RadCity.
Except for the frame, nearly all the parts from the RadCity seem to be shared with either the RadWagon or the RadRover. There are major economic/logistical advantages to doing this, especially where service and warranty replacements are concerned.
Overall the RadCity, like the RadWagon, is a very 'rationally-designed' bike. It really takes the best of the RadWagon and RadRover and distills them down into a general-purpose city bike, which has kind of been the missing piece of the puzzle in Rad Power's lineup.
I think there are probably still a few things Rad Power could improve on, but overall it hits high marks for me. I would never have thought about buying two electric bikes, but I've found myself using the RadWagon even for everyday commuting, not just big trips to the grocery store. If I had one complaint about the RadWagon it's that sometimes it stands out too much (a big orange bike) and I've found myself occasionally wishing I were riding a more ordinary-looking black bike.
ArmyHokie
Member
I'm new to e-bikes, but I'm struggling to see the value proposition on the RadCity versus its other offerings. For just $100 more (on sale) you can get the RadWagon with all of the same components and a lot more capability. I was expecting upgraded components and lighter weight at $1499, or a lower price for what appears to be just a new frame with parts from the factory bins and no weight savings. Perhaps they are pricing against other manufacturers rather than internally?
Kingsinger
Member
Not everybody wants a bike as big and long as the Radwagon. I too wish the weight was a lower, but for my needs, the Radcity seems like the best form factor yet. Radwagon is too long to take on the light rail in Seattle (and I suspect elsewhere), as cargo bikes are banned. The tires on RadRover and RadMini are too wide to go into the bike rack on a King County Metro bus (3 inch max). The knobby tires on these two bikes also seem ill-suited to city riding. So if you want smoother tires, you'd need to upgrade and spend more on that.
As I said above in a previous post, the maximum weight for Seattle city bus bike racks is 55lbs, so the RadCity is unfortunately 5 pounds over that weight (it seems like the racks on our buses here are similar to the racks on buses in other cities, so I'm assuming the weight limit is probably similar in other places).
That said, I'm assuming the 60lb figure includes the battery. And I can't imagine the battery doesn't weigh at least 5 lbs, so perhaps taking it off puts you under the weight limit. That's a bit inconvenient. But at least it means that in a pinch you can remove the battery, put the bike on the bus rack, and then carry the battery onto the bus with you.
That feels like a much more useful integrated commuting solution in a city with good transit. Seems like the RadCity would also fit better on a conventional car bike rack as well. So in a town like Portland, where many of the Car2Go cars have bike racks, it might be possible to put the bike on one of those racks in a pinch, or put it on your own car rack if that was needed. Seems like some cities also have Uber cars with bike racks.
And in places like Seattle and the Bay Area, companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google also have their own private shuttle buses for employees and some of those also have bike racks.
That's the one problem I see with some of the other Rad offerings: They seem to conceptualize the electric bike as a unitary solution, rather than seeing it as potentially part of a larger more integrated solution that incorporates multiple modes of transit. To me, that's going to be the future for a lot of folks, especially in cities.
On a nice day, it might be great to ride the bike 15 miles to work. But on a rainy day, perhaps you just use it as first and last mile on your commute, riding to the train station, and then riding to work from the train station. Or maybe you just want to ride home from work, so you put the bike on the rack going to work and then ride it home. There are definitely Microsoft employees I know who do this with the Connector buses they run. Ride to the Connector stop. Put the bike on the rack. Ride bus to stop near work. Ride to office. Then, ride home in the evening.
While not perfect, the RadCity seems better suited to most of these scenarios.
As I said above in a previous post, the maximum weight for Seattle city bus bike racks is 55lbs, so the RadCity is unfortunately 5 pounds over that weight (it seems like the racks on our buses here are similar to the racks on buses in other cities, so I'm assuming the weight limit is probably similar in other places).
That said, I'm assuming the 60lb figure includes the battery. And I can't imagine the battery doesn't weigh at least 5 lbs, so perhaps taking it off puts you under the weight limit. That's a bit inconvenient. But at least it means that in a pinch you can remove the battery, put the bike on the bus rack, and then carry the battery onto the bus with you.
That feels like a much more useful integrated commuting solution in a city with good transit. Seems like the RadCity would also fit better on a conventional car bike rack as well. So in a town like Portland, where many of the Car2Go cars have bike racks, it might be possible to put the bike on one of those racks in a pinch, or put it on your own car rack if that was needed. Seems like some cities also have Uber cars with bike racks.
And in places like Seattle and the Bay Area, companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Google also have their own private shuttle buses for employees and some of those also have bike racks.
That's the one problem I see with some of the other Rad offerings: They seem to conceptualize the electric bike as a unitary solution, rather than seeing it as potentially part of a larger more integrated solution that incorporates multiple modes of transit. To me, that's going to be the future for a lot of folks, especially in cities.
On a nice day, it might be great to ride the bike 15 miles to work. But on a rainy day, perhaps you just use it as first and last mile on your commute, riding to the train station, and then riding to work from the train station. Or maybe you just want to ride home from work, so you put the bike on the rack going to work and then ride it home. There are definitely Microsoft employees I know who do this with the Connector buses they run. Ride to the Connector stop. Put the bike on the rack. Ride bus to stop near work. Ride to office. Then, ride home in the evening.
While not perfect, the RadCity seems better suited to most of these scenarios.
Cameron Newland
Well-Known Member
At first I was a bit disappointed by the design of the RadCity because I feel its specs aren't as impressive as the Juiced CrossCurrent and I think the RadCity is a really ugly bike, however, it's very difficult to mount a rear cargo rack on the CrossCurrent (no M4/M5 braze-ons near the rear axle/dropout), so in that department, the RadCity is a real winner. It'd be nice if they had thought of offering a 25MPH variant of the RadCity with different gearing.
