We are thinking about pulling the trigger on the Rad commuters. We have ridden Pedego but not Rad. Saving $1000 on two bikes is almost too good to pass up “Black Friday Sale”. Does anyone have experience with both Pedego and Rad? Are the rides and features much different? We are not young and will just use the bikes mostly when we travel in our motorhome. Just don’t want to make a mistake. I know there are a great deal of young diy guys and girls but has anyone had trouble getting service done. I read about a lot of broken spokes, does that stop the ride? Any helpful information on service or quality is appreciated.
The real deal?
- Thread starter Jamjan
- Start date
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
Which Rads are you looking to purchase? 2018 or 2019 modes? Radcity, Step-Thru, mini, or Rover? Did you see the updated Radmini Step-Thru for 2019 with puncture resistant liners on commuter tires, improved top end gearing, and integrated brake light? That looks like a perfect ebike for a RV is you are tight on space.
We are thinking about 2018 Radcitys. Space not an issue as we will place them on a rack behind the Jeep we tow behind our motorhome.
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
I was able to ride the Radcity Step-thru and BH Easy Motion Evo City Wave back in May 2018. Wife and I rented the ebikes from a local bike store for two separate 3 hour city tour in California (Newport Beach & Santa Barbara). The Radcity handled better, felt more comfy for her, and had more power compared to the 2X more expensive Evo City Wave. Place our order for the Radcity right after that. Any option in your area to rent the RadCity (commuter or step-thru)?
I don't do a lot of social media other than EBR and a few Acura car forum; but, there is a Rad Power Bikes section on Facebook. I imagine there has to be several local owners of Rad ebikes that would be happy to let you take a test ride.
I don't do a lot of social media other than EBR and a few Acura car forum; but, there is a Rad Power Bikes section on Facebook. I imagine there has to be several local owners of Rad ebikes that would be happy to let you take a test ride.
Thanks for the info we are near Nashville Tn and I have not found anyone near who sells or does service on Rad is my only hesitation at this time. Really would like to have someone knowledgeable about Rads in case I run into problems. Guess I need to get on the phone and just call bikeshops. My local shop sells Giant brand ebikes but I don’t like the fact that they have no throttle. Any difficulties with your Radcitys so far?
Pedego was the first brand I rode. They are nice bikes but I feel they are very overpriced for what they are. You're better off with a Bosch or Brose bike in that price range. The RBP bikes compete with Juiced and other "mid-range" manufactures. I feel they are good for their price and are definitely priced for what you get. The components are pretty cheap but better than low end bikes you can find at Amazon or Costco for instance. I've had a lot of brake trouble with my 2018 RadCity out of the box, I've replaced the chain 1800 miles in, the wheels were out of true and the spokes were super loose. That has been my only experience with issues so far at 2200 miles. They are good value for money, but if you want a quality eBike, I suggest the $3000-$6000 range bikes where you will get quality drive trains, hydraulic brakes. and better built bikes that aren't made in China.
mrgold35
Well-Known Member
I've have two 2016 Radrovers (around 3000 miles each) and a 2018 Radcity Step-Thru (wife's with only about 250 miles). Almost ZERO ebike support in ABQ, NM, for something like the Rad. Shipping and Quality control has improved comparing my 16 Rad -vs- my 18 Rad. I've had issues with my 16 Rover like damaged shipping boxes, bend/broken components because of shipping, replaced two controllers, and replace left crank pedal. All taken care of under the 1 year warranty ASAP by Rad technical support and labor on my part. Zero issues with my Radcity after +6 months and shipping box and ebike had zero damage on it.
One thing I like about the Rad ebikes are they look like regular bikes with ebike components added (LCD, wiring harness, battery, and rear hub). The rest of the bike is standard bike stuff any bike shop can upgrade, maintain, modify, or fix. The Rad ebike components are all plug-n-play. It was just 20-30 minutes of unscrewing 4 bolts and dis-connecting/re-connecting to the wiring harness to exchange my controller to fix the firmware error on my rover.
One thing I like about the Rad ebikes are they look like regular bikes with ebike components added (LCD, wiring harness, battery, and rear hub). The rest of the bike is standard bike stuff any bike shop can upgrade, maintain, modify, or fix. The Rad ebike components are all plug-n-play. It was just 20-30 minutes of unscrewing 4 bolts and dis-connecting/re-connecting to the wiring harness to exchange my controller to fix the firmware error on my rover.
Nice to know thanks for the input very helpful.
I should mention that the Rad Bikes really are still basic bikes and any bike shop should be able to work on all the mechanical functions of the bike. Even though there may not be an electric bike store, don't worry about not having that nearby as much as a regular bike shop. The electronics would probably need to be addressed by Rad support which is great!
I've owned the Rad City step-through for 9 days. I've put 250 miles on in that time and I am thrilled with my purchase. I visited the local Pedego dealer and chose the Rad, primarily for the savings. The two biggest differences off the top of my head. The Pedego comes fully assembled from your dealer and that dealer remains a nearby place of support. Secondly, the Pedego most similar to the Rad Step-through, has the battery up high below the rear rack vs the Rad's positioning down low on the frame above the crank. I was concerned the battery level so high might make the Pedego bike even more top heavy. There are also some technical differences. For example, I think that the battery that is as powerful as the RAD one is an upgrade that costs several hundred $$$. Please check on this, at my age, I could be wrong. Also I think there are tech differences between the 2 motors.
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