I love Rad.  I love my bike.  I believe it is the best bike for me.  I was a road rider for many years but I am planning to slow down and relax just a bit.  I have a Rad Mini Step Thru which is supposed to be one of the smaller bikes.  The handlebars are 44.5 inches off the ground at the lowest position. My road bike's drop bar, at the drop, is 28 inches off the ground.  I thought I share. <<I might have been unclear. What I mean to say, with a handlebar this high, it is going to be hard to replicate a regular road bike experience, exercise the same muscle groups, with a handlebar 44.5 inches off the ground.  And I have the smallest Rad model so your other choices will have about the same handlebar height.  If you really want to get back on a road bike again, this may not be your best choice. On the other hand, if you are ready for something new and exciting, the models you choose will be fine.>>

My advice is to be very slow and careful putting the bike together.  Don't throw anything out.  The bolt and screw that held the fender came off during shipping and was in the bottom of the pile.  Treat everything like a delicate jewel.  That is because if you break a part, you may be looking at a long wait for the part to arrive.    Congratulations.  I am enjoying the bike.

Just my personal opinion - use your own judgment and consult others.  Don't worry about brake noise if the wheel is spinning freely.  Wait until 50 miles, using both the front and back brakes.  You would need to adjust the brake again and it seems to me it is much easier then. By then the brakes have settled in.

I like the stock grips - especially the grip profile - but wish it had a locking ring so that I can put weight on the flat part of the grip and it would not rotate during a ride. There are many grips available but they are for regular bikes without a throttle.  Does anyone have a recommendation for something for ebikes (I guess it means having half a grip on the right).  Thanks.

I bought some brake cables and it came with assorted barrel adjusters so I can figure out the one that fits.

My feeling is that the size of barrel adjusters that fits the original equipment brake levers is: 10mm x 26tpi.

The diameter of the threads is 9.44 or 9.5 mm.  But somehow they call it a 10 mm barrel adjuster.  I hope this information is useful for somebody.

●●● Battery repair or even opening up a battery is dangerous. You can hurt yourself and burn down the house. ●●●

I am guessing there is a chance for repair but you have to know what you are doing.
I think there are fuses, so the battery does not blow up and have a thermo meltdown in a regular short - but who knows.  So was there a big explosion, heat, smoke?  Then it is hopeless.  If there was just a small arc then maybe there is hope.

Plan one: Check and replace the fuses on the outside.

Plan two: Plan 1. Open the battery, replace the burned out hardware like some wires and connectors. But this is risky if you are wrong or don't know what is going on, or leave some bad parts unreplaced.

Plan three: High risk.  I don't recommend it.  Open it, check each bank of 4 cells for health.  Voltage.  Ability to hold a charge. You need a power supply, and volt meter. Throw out all the bad cells. Consolidate all the good used cells into banks of 4. Don't parallel a good cell with a bad cell.  If you don't have enough cells, you need buy and make new banks of 4 parallel cells. You may need to spot weld cells.
Get another battery management system - I think some people here know where to get something similar to what Rad uses. Solder it on.
Then you need to test the system.  Run it down, charge it up.  See if everything is working correctly and all the cell banks are charging up and balanced by the BMS after a charge.
Replace all burned up hardware.  Put it all back together securing everything so things don't bounce and disconnect.  Reseal the casing so water would not intrude.  Then test it again.  This is once again dangerous because you can start a fire charging a defective battery.

That's basically it.  It is not that complex but would require tools, practice and experience etc. In the end, you won't save money and you will have a rebuilt battery of dubious reliability (unless you are experienced but then if you are you won't be asking).  Also, depending on your skill and attention to detail and damage, the repaired battery may look like a hack job on the outside. If there is a short you can start a serious fire.  I wouldn't charge such a battery when I am sleeping.
 
Considering the time and labor and risks involved, also considering the time away from your family and friends, you should just buy a new battery.  Enjoy life.

The sizes are different.  Please check for yourself - meaning don't rely on this.  I am 99% sure you need both an M5 and an M6 tap making this an expensive attempt if you want to tap out the holes.  The holes at the top are a different size than the holes on the bottom near the axle.

As other have said, before every start, use a bit of throttle half a second before you crank to compensate.  You can get used to it. No setting would make everyone happy.

Both bikes are limited to 20 mph.  I don't see a problem.  On a hill climb, it is possible that your friend would have trouble keeping up with you. However, a stronger cyclist can always pull away by using supplementary human power - riding at 22 mph in a burst here and there for example.  But I would say you should be able to catch up and not be a severe liability running at 20 mph.

Bicycling together, with regular bikes or ebikes is a group activity.  The faster bicyclist should adjust to accommodate the slower one.  If the slower cyclist is a burden, then you really have to look at the friendship - why are you all doing this?  I am not talking about you in particular but in any sort of group ride, group walking, group running, group skiing, there will be faster people and slower people. The idea (at least my idea) is not to torture the slow people to show superiority and everyone should have a good time.

On an ebike, it is easy and is perfect for group rides especially if both of you use the same battery.  I suggest a handicap system.  The faster rider limit him/herself to PAS 2.  The slower rider should have no limit.  Then everybody gets enough exercise.  And if the slower rider run out of battery, he/she should swap with the faster rider.  Once again, things are handicaped and everyone gets as much exercise as needed and nobody is left behind and nobody runs out of battery first.

I have a 5-gallon metal bucket that used to hold paint when I painted my fence.  I put the battery in the bucket and close it with a metal bucket cover.  I figure even in a fire, the fire would be contained in the bucket and there would be limited oxygen.  I keep the battery indoor and warm.

It is held on by friction and glue for my rad mini step thru.  I rotate them and pull with both hands and put one foot right on the stem holding the handlebar and push with the foot.  Use socks on your feet, don't wear shoes, so you don't mark up the bike.  It is probably harder in the winter when the bike is cold - it is very hard work. Eventually, it works. Try to compress the grip by pulling at the end that is deeper in.  Pulling from the further out end elongates and narrows the plastic - narrowing the plastic makes the grip stick even more.  For putting it back in, I used water as a lubricant. 

On my bike, there is a plug held by friction. You can pry it off first with a screwdriver.  But you have to check yourself - maybe you have a different arrangement.

I don't know if this works.  If you have an electric heating pad you can try to warm up the grip before pulling.

I want to replace the grips with something with the same profile but with a locking ring to make future replacements easier.  Does anyone have a recommendation?

Ordered around Aug 31, 2021. The last day of the "sale."  After the sale ended, the sale price continued (meaning the price did not go up). Finally got a bike Nov 8.  Shipping date pushed back twice.  2 weeks, 3 weeks until it got really cold in my neighborhood.  So around 9-10 weeks?  I love my Rad Bike but you have to understand you are buying mail order and you are on your own in terms of setting up and getting things fixed.  Getting replacement parts under warranty takes forever.  It does not bother me because I have a lot of tools but I can see how a person new to biking can be frustrated even after the sale.

Thank you.  Nice writeup.  Thanks so much.

FYI. The screw holes for mounting a rack on a Rad often have paint inside.  The paint and the purple threadlock pre applied on the screw, together makes for a very difficult install.  The hole don't take a screw easily.  I stripped a hex screw head and the screw still won't get in.  Just sharing. After Rad send me the new hardware, I tried again.

The best way is to use a tap to clean out the hole but I don't have that.

I used a lot of WD-40 and screwed it in like I was tapping it.  That is, one turn in, half turn out, apply WD-40, one turn in, half turn out, apply WD-40, and so on.

Many web pages say you should replace a helmet every 5 years.  I think SNELL say replace every 3 years.  Just sharing.

The replacement part came. I was able to attach the nut to the screw in mount without disassembling the bike.  I enclose a picture of the replacement part (screw and nut) for your future reference and I only used the nut.  I'm keeping the screw as a spare part.  It is a very small part.

I tightened the nut and applied a liberal dose of threadlock. I don't think I'll ever having to loosen that nut again.

●●● Just a heads up to you all - remember to check and tighten and threadlock that nut!!! ●●●