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I think it's ok to say that Radpowers have a lot of problems that better built and much more expensive ebikes don't have.
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Sep 8, 2022 17:36
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 15:22 |
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webcams for christ posted:sorry roasting suburbanites who drive overpriced pickups that they don't need isn't gatekeeping cars any more than roasting other forms overbuilt transportation evil_bunnY posted:Fat bikes are like rubicons. They're a great 3rd bike. mystes fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Sep 8, 2022 |
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Sep 8, 2022 17:49
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Test rode the Riese and Muller Load 60. The handling and suspension were great, but the Bosch Cargo Line motor seemed to be really torque-limited. It just had no puff when I dialed the enviolo into higher gear ranges. An Urban Arrow I could get up to 25mph pretty easily, and here, I had to pedal decently hard to get it to 19. On a steep hill test, I was really mashing to maintain 9mph. In a scenario where my effort alone would be maybe 5-6mph. It was weak enough that I didn't think it was enough to justify the extra weight of the motor and battery. Brought it up with the store, and they thought the bike was all properly tuned up and updated, but that maybe it was defective in some way. If this is the default setup, I'm really surprised. Because it's got rear suspension, the belt is run through a tensioner. I wonder if that plays into their decision to limit the torque. I didn't bother trying the Load 75 they had -- it's just too long for my needs.
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Sep 9, 2022 21:56
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$300 off for a lightly used model, guessing a return: https://bikeisland.com/cgi-bin/BKTK_STOR20.cgi?Action=Details&ProdID=3625 Decent price for the spec.
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Sep 14, 2022 07:28
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God bless it, I took my Gazelle to the shop because my rear tire was swiss cheese and the self sealing tube was leaking. They replaced the tires, trued the wheel, bled the brakes, replaced the shifter cable and housing, updated the firmware, but what's still there? The same drat inner tube! At least the owner was really nice and offered to comp the labor if it starts leaking again.
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Sep 16, 2022 00:53
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The amount of dumb stuff i'm seeing in the Rad Power Bikes reddit these days is crazy. There's a dude running motorcycle tires on his Rad Wagon under 25 psi and wondering why they're coming off the rims . I understand the tire situation sucks, but there's so much bad information over there.
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Sep 17, 2022 01:55
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Joined the ebike community this weekend! With a recent move I am able to bike commute again so after a few months of riding my tired Karate Monkey 15 miles a day we sold our second car and put that money towards a HSD P9 performance. I've only logged about 20 miles so far but loving it so far. This morning I was able to load up all our laundry (currently doing our laundry at work) without issue and the bike handled the weight like a champ, can't wait to try some heavier loads. Feels great to be a one car household again and I feel good about our purchase, we tried several bikes and the Tern HSD felt like the best choice. Can't wait to log some serious miles on her and make some minor changes. My Karate Monkey with the HSD, keeping the Karate Monkey for bike packing someday.  Laundry day 
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Sep 19, 2022 22:26
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I finally did something about the brake caliper alignment on my homebrew hub motor driven e-bike. The original plan was to make a new bracket, but it became obvious I could just modify the existing one. I measured the unused sliver on a worn brake pad, which was 2.5mm, so I simply shaved off 3mm on the adapter in the mill: A small chamfer and thread chase of the holes and a kiss of the file to de-burr the part and it was ready for install again.  The disc sits visibly in the right place in the caliper at last! Sadly the pads have been impregnated with mineral oil from a leaking bleed nipple so I'll have to replace those before I have a good rear brake, but this should work now, even though there's less meat than ideal in one of the threaded holes. Still five complete threads should suffice, especially since it's all shearing force on the bolt. If it doesn't I'll fabricate a whole new part.
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Sep 20, 2022 07:58
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Rad Power has their Radmission for $499 instead of $1,199, and their fat tire is $1300 from $2k Both are in my price range for a first time e-bike, any thoughts or experience for or against? I know the drawbacks of a fat tire but still see the appeal. Or wait a bit and get a Grizzly which may be way out of line from what I’m used to as a bike.
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Oct 7, 2022 07:10
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Rads are inexpensive and generally pretty well regarded, but if parts wear out or get damaged replacement parts can be hard to source and their support is less than stellar. I'd call some local bike shops and see if they'll even service Rad bikes. If yes, then that's a pretty good price.
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Oct 7, 2022 07:15
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I usually take every opportunity I can to poo poo on radpower, but of the cheap ebike brands you could do a lot worse. Also, holy poo poo $500 is insane. You're not going to find a new push bike for much less than that.
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Oct 7, 2022 07:40
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50:16 is what I would consider a very high gear for a single speed bike. I would personally prefer something around 40t or 46t chainring, but I'm a snob about cadence.
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Oct 7, 2022 07:46
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Single speed just feels like an odd choice for an ebike.
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Oct 7, 2022 12:44
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T.C. posted:Single speed just feels like an odd choice for an ebike. The torque helps make it a lot more versatile, and I get the cost savings, including in assembly.
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Oct 7, 2022 13:51
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Ah thats why I see so many rad bikers peddling with super high cadence...
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Oct 7, 2022 18:28
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On that bike, 80rpm, which I'd only call brisk, is already 20.6mph. E: hmmm, the hub motor has a 5:1 reduction?? There's no way it's 80rpm for 4mph... kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 20:25 on Oct 7, 2022 |
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Oct 7, 2022 20:13
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kimbo305 posted:On that bike, 80rpm, which I'd only call brisk, is already 20.6mph.
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Oct 7, 2022 20:51
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Apparently the RadMission presently costs $499 until they run out or something or Halloween has passed. Hail Satan. https://www.radpowerbikes.com/products/radmission-electric-city-bike
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Oct 8, 2022 03:31
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I was looking forward to giving you all a review both about how lovely it is and how it is the best ebike you can get for the money, but they are all out of stock now.
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Oct 8, 2022 16:39
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CopperHound posted:I was looking forward to giving you all a review both about how lovely it is and how it is the best ebike you can get for the money, but they are all out of stock now. This is what indecisiveness gets me, I’m either gonna get that stupid Grizzly or start shopping for a fat tire or mountain bike (non electric) I must get a deal!
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Oct 8, 2022 16:47
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I was considering the Grizzly or similar when I got the itch for an e-bike, but I ended up going with the Zooz Ultra Urban 1100. 2 months and 622 miles later, and I am not regretting the choice in the least. The performance is excellent, it's a blast to ride, and it looks amazing. The speed is a game changer for the roads I can ride, but it still looks like a bike for use of bike paths.
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Oct 10, 2022 01:52
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sigseven posted:it still looks like a bike for use of bike paths. Given the non adjustable height and shape of the saddle, do you pedal it at all?
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Oct 10, 2022 13:33
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You don't have to pedal if you don't want to, haha. The adjustment for longer legs is to sit further back on the seat, plus standing if you need to push hard. Just cruising with pedal assist it feels fine for me (at 5'11"), but yeah, it's not ideal for a full ride of hard/fast pedaling. I still have my regular bike when I want that. Mainly I only use the pedal assist when I'm trying to stretch my range, help it up to speed a little faster, or look extra bicycle-y. Though I did see a post by some madman going 120 miles using only pedal assist level 1.
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Oct 10, 2022 14:36
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CopperHound posted:I was looking forward to giving you all a review both about how lovely it is and how it is the best ebike you can get for the money, but they are all out of stock now.
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Oct 10, 2022 16:49
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mystes posted:I give this a B+ as an attempt at elitist bike gatekeeping mystes posted:No I think evil_bunnY likes suvs and fat bikes, just not ebikes with fat tires, probably because they aren't expensive enough kimbo305 posted:Test rode the Riese and Muller Load 60. evil_bunnY fucked around with this message at 20:08 on Oct 10, 2022 |
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Oct 10, 2022 20:02
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evil_bunnY posted:In the US the pedal-assist should stop at 20mph no? That doesn't really explain the low speed wimpiness tho. Our bosch motor on turbo is actually unmanageable from a stop, it pulls way too hard. Class 3s are legal on the US, afaik.
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Oct 11, 2022 01:50
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kimbo305 posted:Class 3s are legal on the US, afaik. And not sure about other brands, but Aventon software lets you take bump it up to nearly 32. Around here at least the limits are unenforced.
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Oct 11, 2022 02:19
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Well my wife and I drove down to the local Rad Power retail location and test rode several models. People were super cool and not pushy about sales at all, just made recommendations and talked about what we needed. Having not ridden a bike in years to riding the streets of Berkeley was a little panic-inducing but it went really well! In the end we ordered a RadRover 6 Plus step through for me and a RadExpand 5 for my wife. They’re heavy as hell but manageable. Looking forward to them becoming our daily commuters since gas just went up to $6.50 in our area.
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Oct 11, 2022 02:36
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kimbo305 posted:Class 3s are legal on the US, afaik. AreWeDrunkYet posted:And not sure about other brands, but Aventon software lets you take bump it up to nearly 32. Around here at least the limits are unenforced. evil_bunnY fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Oct 11, 2022 |
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Oct 11, 2022 14:12
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kimbo305 posted:Class 3s are legal on the US, afaik. In Massachusetts there is no specific provision for class 3 ebikes in the relevant laws, so it's not totally clear, but that may mean that they're illegal or need registration as mopeds or something technically. Also IIRC the way class 3 is actually defined they probably can't actually have throttles at all so must "class 3" ebikes aren't actually class 3 at all and are probably illegal everywhere (people are deliberately misinterpreting it as allowing higher speeds on a bike with a throttle as long as the throttle cuts out and you can only use pedal assist at those speeds). mystes fucked around with this message at 14:32 on Oct 11, 2022 |
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Oct 11, 2022 14:25
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So long as you don't ride like an rear end in a top hat you generally won't get hassled. 1000w BBSHD's are over the limit in every state, but they are everywhere and I haven't heard of people getting their bikes confiscated. If you're going out on shared trails ripping around and doing wheelies on a sur-ron people will definitely call the cops on you though. Cops would warn you and tell you to stay off the shared trails. If you decided at that point to continue to gently caress around, then you probably would find out.
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Oct 11, 2022 14:32
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mystes posted:Also IIRC the way class 3 is actually defined they probably can't actually have throttles at all so must "class 3" ebikes aren't actually class 3 at all and are probably illegal everywhere (people are deliberately misinterpreting it as allowing higher speeds on a bike with a throttle as long as the throttle cuts out and you can only use pedal assist at those speeds). Interesting -- didn't know brands were selling throttled bikes running up to 28mph, but not surprised -- it seems to squarely appeal to people not coming from regular cycling. I had committed this to memory early on: Class 1 is assist only, to 20mph. Class 2 is throttle up 20. Class 3 is assist to 28.
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Oct 11, 2022 20:41
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evil_bunnY posted:From reading around a little bit ebike seems about as consistently regulated as goddamn firearms in the US. It's the dumbest. At least the feds don't give a poo poo about ebikes as long as you're not importing thousands of dollars of sketchy battery packs.
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Oct 11, 2022 21:00
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kimbo305 posted:Interesting -- didn't know brands were selling throttled bikes running up to 28mph, but not surprised -- it seems to squarely appeal to people not coming from regular cycling.
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Oct 11, 2022 21:39
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sigseven posted:Generally they are sold with a software setting limiting throttle to 20, but they have a settings menu where you can change it, disclaiming that it's only allowed on private land. I was able to increase the max speed of my radrover6 to 24 mph in a 'hidden' settings menu. So loving glad I learned about that right when I got it. Don't know what I would do without it. It's literally +20% top speed.
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Oct 12, 2022 03:43
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I'm a big honkin' dude, so I recently got an Aventon Aventure to help me get some exercise. It's great! I used give up at the slightest hill, but now I can push myself. Around mile 80 picked up a screw, which was a whole ordeal. But, in the process of removing and reinstalling my rear wheel to swap the tube (tbh, I had a shop replace the tube. next time...) I realized I don't know how the gear system works. Which lead me to another realization: I've been rolling around in the lowest gear possible the entire time. I'm looking forward to shifting up gears to push myself further.
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Oct 18, 2022 04:04
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Yeah ebikes are not really regulated in the US unless you have one that looks like a straight up dirtbike like the Sur Rons. I heard they're more strict in national parks, but I never tried since I use mine mainly for commuting.
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Oct 18, 2022 09:18
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Does anyone have suggestions for decent quality locks for fat tire bikes or if there's a thread that covers that? They'll be stored inside overnight and in a secure location during the day, more concerned with biking downtown and having dinner and hanging out.
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Oct 20, 2022 04:04
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Get a big fat chain lock.
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Oct 20, 2022 04:36
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 15:22 |
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Aperture Priority posted:Does anyone have suggestions for decent quality locks for fat tire bikes or if there's a thread that covers that? They'll be stored inside overnight and in a secure location during the day, more concerned with biking downtown and having dinner and hanging out. I have an OnGuard Beast chain lock for my front wheel and securing the frame to a fixed object. I have a u lock for the back wheel that fits around the fattish tire just barely. I’ll take a pic if I remember. Gotta be like 20 lbs of locks lol
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Oct 20, 2022 07:24
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