ME & MY TWO RADS
SoCal has some excellent trails to ride on the sands of the Mojave Desert. Fortunately a lot of it is hard packed but there are soft spots the equivalent of soft beach sand. The typical trail ride here will have you running thru portions of each, but it is not impossible for any bike to traverse as shown by the road bikes and their narrow tires that travel on some of them. The two RAD Power Bikes I have do exceptionally well, each performing a little differently, but certainly able to tackle any terrain the desert has to offer. I rode thru the desert for years on motorcycles tricked out for desert racing. Can't do that anymore because the desert has been closed off to offroading except for designated areas and occasional sanctioned events. But I can still have fun riding on secluded back roads and trails on a 2017 RAD Rover and my new 2018 Rad City Step Thru. That's fine because the potential to bonzai down these trails needs to be reined in somewhat because afterall, they are not mountain bikes and won't hold up to the harsh treatment those bikes normally get. The two bikes that are quite different structurally, but since the Step Thru is new I'll be talking about it most and will mention first that there is no need to be timid about riding trails just because your new Step Thru is a city commuter bike, it is also equipped for trail rides and holds its own with its power and its 26'x2.3" dual purpose tires.
CITY COMMUTE & TRAILS TOO
The RAD City Step Thru is powered by a Shengyi rear hub motor and although not having the low end thrust of the Rover, when in throttle mode it gradually gains power as speed increases, but gains full power quickly when pedaling in power assist mode. The rider never has to be concerned about a sudden thrust forward on the Step Thru. It behaves very well and can still be ridden everywhere the Rover can travel, and while getting accustomed to riding it, ran it thru different areas of difficulty just to see how well it performs. It blasts thru patches of soft sand that would stop a road bike in it's tracks. This is because the tires are the same tread and width found on many mountain bikes, and they are built for traction on all sorts of surfaces. They are not intended for all-day riding in soft sand, but regardless the Step Thru will still develop power quickly from a dead stop in first gear in power assist mode. Getting started in soft sand just using the throttle takes a little coaxing for it to finally develop sufficient power. This is when shifting down before needing the low end boost helps to keep from getting bogged down unnecessarily in a difficult situation. Each push of the gear shift button raises the gear to the next higher gear, and pushing the lever switches gears down to the next lower gear. Button Up, Lever Down.
PEDAL POWER
Riding offroad in pedal only mode with no help from the motor entirely blew away my original thinking. It is quite easy, and it's nice knowing that if somehow all the power gets used up, the bike can still be pedaled just like a real bicycle. 90% of the trails I ride can be ridden easily and without any real effort using pedal power only. That is unless it is pushing against the wind, in which case when climbing steep sandy hills its best to be in at least step 3 of power assisted mode or risk stalling out halfway up the hill. Afterall, that is why we buy e-bikes - for the POWER! Otherwise on an excellent day for riding with no wind, I can take either bike and never use any power at all to ride the 15 miles into town on a trail that runs up and down hills and through washouts. The ride back is even easier with some fast downhills.
POWER ASSIST MODE
In addition to the introduction of a new style of city bike, 2018 at RPB also saw some changes in bike design and new power components. The 5 power assist modes on the new City limit the bike's speed while pedaling so I always put it on step 5 as I start up the hill to my residence. I would guess the mile long hill to be about a 10% grade, and I have no problem topping it in 7th gear and PAS 5 at 20 MPH. Topping the hill just using the throttle is slower, but the bike wants to FLY UP THAT HILL when pedaling using power assist! The watts indicator shows about 550 watts whereas powering the bike without pedaling jumps immediately up to 750 watts while sadly bogged down at around 15 MPH.
LITTLE THINGS
The new City bike requires keeping the key close by and must be used to allow it to power up. To turn the battery power off now also requires using the key. That's probably a new safety feature that works for many riders, but I prefer the older push button on/off instead. Ah well, such is progress.
Overall I am really impressed with the design and performance of the new RAD City Step Thru and that it is even suitable for some youngsters to ride. It's an excellent bike for running errands, and for even taking a trip out on a secluded trail to get away from the noisy city and its traffic.
