...I just have a new job which often leaves me burned out at the end of the day! I still get to ride a few times a week, but it's always dark by the time I get home, so rides are shorter and closer to home. This past week we finally got winter with -25? F windchills, but it's the ice that has kept me from riding 🥶

How is the RadMini 4 doing? Excellent. It's been dead reliable and has about 8,000 miles on it now, with 5,918 of those being on the Phaserunner. The throttle is still buttery smooth, and the dynamic pedal assist is working so well that I like it better than some torque sensing systems I rode last year. I increased the maximum battery amperage from 60 to 80 amps, and the controller and motor really seem to like the extra overhead. The new sweet spot in sport mode is 3,200 watts, and the bike is a riot at that power level, but I'll be honest and say 750 watts is what I mostly use when riding solo. The normal group rides are over, but I still hang out and ride with buddies in Ann Arbor occasionally. A lot of them have Sur Rons, and keeping up with them is where the extra power comes in handy.

I spend a good part of my day riding with and on the new Rad trike. After a small group ride, the owner and I installed a new version of the 35amp controller, and it made no difference in top speed. Anyone have experience with this model, or is the motor speed limited internally?

Lots has happened in the last few months and I have not been posting much. My brother passed away and I'm still cleaning up the mess he left behind, we've been house hunting because our landlord is selling the house we're in now, but on the good side I did a major career change which is working out well. I still have some time to ride after work, but it's usually a quick one while the sun is going down. Local group rides started recently and I've been on three of them in two weeks:

1. "Wrench and Ride" sponsored by Trek. Short ride around Detroit, casual pace with a mix of e-bikes and pedal bikes.
2. "Electric Thursdays" not specifically sponsored by Trek, but hosted by the Trek Bicycle shop. Slightly faster pace and longer route, with more OneWheels and EUC's.
3. "A2 Tech" ride with YouTuber Rik Cordero (Runplayback). This was just an impromptu get together, and possibly due to the cold, there was only the four of us. However it was the longest ride at close to 20 miles.

I was supposed to go this weekend on group rides in Maryland, Washington DC, and possibly Delaware, but complications arouse and I stayed home.

The bike is running VERY well, and efficiency has gone way up. On the "Wrench and Ride", I did 12 miles on a single 20ah battery, and finished with the battery at 99%. On the A2 Tech ride yesterday, we mostly throttled, and at the end Onyx LZR Pro was down to 40% and the Ariel Rider X Class battery was almost dead. The RadMini was running the dual Tesla batteries, so I was not concerned about range, but even I was surprised to finish the day at 94%. Only downside to this ride was the mediocre pizza, and almost freezing! It was raining and we had micro-hail as well, and I was shivering after riding back to my car. Thank goodness for excellent heat on the way home! I'll post pictures from the rides soon.

I have not been on as regularly thinks to things being a bit busy. Our landlord decided to sell our house so we are looking for someplace to move to, and I finally got a job I can love, but it took crash courses and cramming to knock out all the requirements. Still trying to clean out my brother's house and deal with that as well, so it has not left me with much spare time.

The RadMini has been fun and fine, but it's dark when I get home, so rides are limited. I leave my batteries at storage charge levels, and charge them the rest of the way when I know I'm going to ride. Last night I decided to have some fun, loaded two of the high amperage batteries, and turned up the power. It was a hoot, and hopefully I'll get some more riding in before any serious snow lands.

I had to come face to face with reality. It's been many years since I've had a flat, and that includes 3000 miles on my RadMini with no flats. Then I installed Tannus Armour, and I've had SIX flats due to tube failures. I took the Tanus Armour liners out, and stopped having flats. The last group ride was also the last straw, with two flats on the same ride. A clue to what is going on came in the form of finding shredded rubber inside the tire. The Tannus Armour liners create internal friction, and the friction apparently causes failure of the tube. In addition to emptying a handful of shredded rubber, the liner has rubber bits melted into it, and my tire was worn down to the bare cords on the INSIDE . The heavier the load and the faster the speed, the more internal friction is generated and the quicker the tube fails. My last tube only lasted 6 miles.

Below are photos of the inside of a tire without Tannus Armour, and one tire that was used with Tannus Armour.

Just a word of warning.

I did yet another group ride with gas mopeds and motorcycles, and ran into some tire problems with the continuous high speed. Well, not really tire problems, but problems with Tannus Armour causing tube failures, and I'll discuss that specifically in another post. So as a result of TWO flats in a row on the same ride, the owner of the moped shop hosting the event suggested I try something more durable. I purchased a set of Shinko "Golden Boy" tires, which are extra thick knobby tires, and the matching tubes. Installation was difficult due to the thickness, but with a helper I got them mounted. A photo is below of the two types of tires, and I chose the one on the left.

First thing I noticed is how stable they are. Taking my hands off the handlebars, there was not a hint of wobble. Matter of fact, I had trouble changing direction with my hands off the bars. Secondly, I don't think I would ever get a flat with these, and I bet they are better in sand and snow. High speed handling is good, and they are actually rated for 93mph, which I won't be doing!

Now for the downsides. These tires are heavy at 5.9 pounds each, then add another pound for the tube. That comes to almost 14 pounds versus 7.4 pounds total for the Kenda tires and tubes. You might think this is not a big deal, but that 14 pounds of rubber and cord is on the rim of the wheel, and rotating mass is quite a bit different from just having extra static weight in your backpack. The bike accelerates more slowly and takes longer to stop. Then there's the friction. Tires "flatten out" where the rubber meets the road, and with the tread blocks being so thick, this means the blocks move closer together as soon as they meet the pavement. What do you get when rubber blocks get closer then spread back out? Friction, and that friction creates enough resistance that the bike feels like the brakes are dragging. You stop pedaling and the bike slows down immediately. It literally takes more power to get up to speed, and more power to maintain that speed. And since the drag is always there, it reduces top speed as well. Not just on a Rad bike either. A friend of mine has these tires on a dual motor 3000 watt Ariel Rider Grizzly, and he lost  several MPH off his top end.

Despite the huge positive points, the deal breaker for me is that the bike no longer feels like a bike. It feels like a heavy moped and the pleasure of pedaling is gone. This would be fine if it was used just for commuting, but I often ride for pleasure. On normal pedal assist I'd be using 250 to 275 watts. Now it's 400 watts, and the the bike feels like it's dragging the moment you stop pedaling.

So I went through the work of changing to the original Kenda tires, without the Tannus Armour which I will never use again, and the bike is light and lively again. But of course I had to verify efficiency differences, and I logged two similar rides on the different tires to verify things. A screenshot of the datasheet is included, but to summarize, the Kenda ride had a higher average AND top speed, and used 172.34 watt hours of battery. The moped tire ride had a slower average and top speed, and used 233.11 watt hours of battery. This means that riding aggressively with my smallest battery (650Wh) will get me 27.53 miles on the Kendas, but only 19.58 miles on the Shinkos. Anyway, I prefer the feel of the Kenda tires, but may switch to the Shinkos for extreme conditions.

I had to order a few parts from Rad today after an incident (crank spindle, arm, chainring, grips), and the whole process took less than ten minutes. Parts should be here in 3 to 5 days, so we shall see!

It technically was a wheelie, but only for a second, then the bike left me behind. This happened when I sped up to jump off of a speed bump, and gave it a bit too much throttle. I thought it was a whiskey throttle, but after looking at the video frame by frame, the power level did not change and it wasn't even full throttle. I'd stood up on the pedals a bit which raised the center of gravity, and the front wheel came up on it's own and kept going. Another factor is that this was the first group ride with a new motor, which appears to have an unexpected amount of torque at lower power levels.

The bike sustained some damage this time, as it went airborne and came down hard on the right side. The right pedal is ground down, the crank arm and chainring are bent enough so the chain won't stay on, and the spindle itself is bent. Both hand grips are torn, and I have to check my bar end mirrors to see if they are just loose or broken. Oh well, time to order more parts! A frame grab from the video is below.

I did it again. Got myself invited to a silly gas moped and scooter group ride, and I went, lol.
I'm not sure if this one was inspired by the similar ride in Connecticut a month or so ago, but this ride seemed more challenging for an e-bike than the prior ride. It was stated that all vehicles must be able to "hold AT LEAST 30mph, for AT LEAST 30 miles", and that's how they worded it on the invitation. So who was there? Seven gas mopeds. Two souped up Razor mini dirt bikes with 6,000 watt motors. One 60mph King Cobra e-scooter. Two Sur Rons with controller upgrades. And one Monday motorbike. Then some idiot shows up and pulls a Rad folding e-bike out of the trunk of his car, looking like he brought the wrong bike 🤣🤣

Yeah, that was me looking out of place, but interestingly, the owner of the gas moped shop had heard of me and was telling others about the RadMini. The ride started though, and it no longer seemed like the idiot was that much out of step. Everyone was super nice, and I was happy to go against the perception that gas and electric riders oppose each other (like pickup trucks and Teslas). I made some new friends and acquaintances. The RadMini did well cruising at 35mph, and although the Sur Rons are obviously much faster, the lead moped topped out around 32mph-ish, so I had no trouble keeping up. What did concern me was sustaining that speed for miles at a time, and the effect of that riding style on my range. The motor never overheated or showed signs of stress, and once I got up to speed it only took about 800 to 1200 watts to hold it there. To play it safe with the range I used the dual Tesla battery setup, and it did not disappoint. Although I didn't intentionally abuse the battery, I didn't try to conserve it either, and I stayed with the crew when they took off from lights. The AVERAGE speed for the ride was 20mph including stops, my own max speed for the night was 36.7mph, and after 30.6 miles of riding in traffic, my battery level was 46%.

There really was no downside to this trip, and despite a moped throttle cable snapping and a gas can falling off one of the bikes, we made it safely with no incident. I did lose my leftover pizza crossing some rough railroad tracks, and that was the worst of the night for me 😊

I mentioned in another thread that I did a motor swap in Delaware. This was due to a hall sensor failure, but as things turned out, I'd ordered a replacement motor that was supposed to arrive after my trip, but it arrived the day before the trip, so I took it with me! The new motor worked fine, but after a high speed ride alongside gas bikes, I noticed an odd noise that sounded like gears slipping. I pulled the motor apart and found the nylon gears were fine, so I switched the clutch out, and still had the noise.

The ring gear tested fine as well, then I saw it: The replacement motor was missing the internal lacing! That's the string-like cord used to secure the coils and other bits. Without it, the wires are subject to vibration and movement, and this leads to metal fatigue and failure. This is common is cheap throwaway motors, but motors built to last usually have the internal lacing, I was surprised Bafang went in this direction. The only reason to do so is because it's cheaper and saves time and materials. The motor itself works fine, and although the motor on the right is better made, it's out of commission due to the sensor failure. So I went to the hardware store, got some appropriate string, laced up the critical spots, glued the knots, and tested it. The noise is gone and I can use full power again, so we shall see how it holds up!

I took advantage of a few more days of recovery to do a group ride in Delaware. Yes, bike riding is therapeutic and helps in my recovery, in case you were wondering 😉
It was supposed to be a big event with riders from several states joining in, but with rain forecast for that Saturday, a few of us went riding on Friday instead. It was fun and we covered about 60 miles riding into the night, but I ran into a problem with my motor cutting out. I thought it was batteries getting low, but they were at 45% so they weren't THAT low. It only happened in the 2000 watt mode, so I switched to the 1200 watt mode and it was fine.

Back at the hotel, I plugged in my laptop to the Phaserunner, and found the motor was having hall sensor errors. The hall sensor keeps track of what position the magnets are in, and is used to give proper timing for the stator coils to be energized. I told the guys I had a spare motor with me to swap in, and they wanted to work on it together, then last minute Shreddie McSkate said "Let's make it a live show!". He sent a notification out and said we were going live in five minutes, lol. So I winged it and it seemed to go well, and the replacement motor worked fine.

Link is below for anyone interested...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBmX1EBe0M

No, this is not a new bike announcement from Rad
I had a situation come up yesterday with my motor making an odd sound. Since I had a group ride in the evening, I decided to pull the motor apart and inspect it. Seems that Bafang is still using weak adhesive for higher powered motors as well, and the magnets separated from the magnet shell. Even after the adhesive fails, the magnets still stick to the steel magnet shell, but the coils of the motor can be strong enough to pull them away in high power situations. I carefully tapped the magnets back into position with a wood block (the magnets crack and shatter easily), then I used Scotch liquid superglue which is less brittle than Krazy Glue. I forced it into the spaces between the magnets, let it soak into all the cracks and crevices, applied it around the perimeter of all twenty individual magnets, then set the assembly in an intentionally steamy bathroom with a fan blowing through it.

I was a bit late for the group ride, but it was well worth it. My Mini usually tops out around 33 to 35mph on level ground, but it seems that the magnets have been separated and shifted out of position for a while, and when they do separate at high speed, it creates internal drag. The ride I attended was actually two rides, with the first one being for families at low speed, and the second one being on the streets in traffic with Sur Ron's and Onyx's and Super73's, along with an Ariel Rider and a Juiced Hyper Scorpion. We still kept the speeds moderate at first, then after some photos and drone shots in a parking lot, the lead Onyx and the Sur Ron's took off. You should have seen the double takes as I moved into the third position, and the guy on the Sur Ron next to me looked, looked again, and looked again. Not only was the RadMini past it's usual top speed, but it was cruising at 42mph on flat ground. I was uncomfortable with it for very long at that speed because the bike had a slight squirm, which felt like the beginning of a speed wobble, but I believe that was due to both batteries in back, combined with the wind resistance of an upright riding position, made the front of the bike very light. I'm sure having only 16PSI in the tires didn't help. Slowing down to 40mph eliminated the squirm, and my top tube battery may come in handy here. Not that I WANT to go that fast, but the good news is that the motor was happy with it. So to the Rad folding bike that still looks stock but has a few surprises, I dub thee "RadMini GT".

This was just an experiment, you know, in case the zombie apocalypse took place and I REALLY needed to add another battery, lol.
Actually, I was more interested in balancing out the weight distribution, and getting more choices in which batteries I can use together. Currently, I have one shark battery mount in the stock location, and the second battery MUST be on the rack. This option would let me to use two lighter batteries and leave the rack empty, or use two shark batteries and one rack battery for a three setup. If I really wanted to go crazy, I could run four batteries, and I do have the connection system in place for that!

The mounts were 3D printed in halves, lined up on the frame and screwed together with screws and nylon locking nuts. The screws for attaching the battery mount to the frame mount had to be trimmed precisely, otherwise they would mark up or damage the top tube. The nylon locking nuts for these screws are captive inside the top half of the frame mount, and I had to cut away part of the battery mount to clear the bike hinge. The battery mount screws to the frame mounts, the cable plugs into the power distribution block under my rear rack, then you slide the battery onto the mount and lock it.

Results
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On the good side, the battery position does not look that odd, and Super73 owners would probably like it. It does balance the front/rear weight distribution better than having both batteries in back. The bike does feel more stable, and I can still straddle the bike during stops, but it feels a bit weird having a battery there.
The downside is the bike has lost it's nimbleness, and I don't think I'd want to try our tight mountain bike trails and hairpin turns with it this way. I had to adjust the front suspension preload to compensate for the extra weight on the front. Was there a deal breaker in all this? Yes, and that was the bike not being able to fold unless you unscrew the battery mount and remove it from the bike. A possible workaround from that is just cutting off the battery mount above the hinge, and the lower part is not actively supporting weight anyways because there's no frame mount there. So, I may try that and see how it goes. Pics are below, let me know what you think, and questions are welcome!

 

I completed the permanent installation of the 12 volt converter on my bike. The converter had been on there for a couple months, but was left unplugged because I didn't want the battery to drain all the time the bike was turned on. I knew it needed a switch, but I couldn't find a suitable mount for it. I recently found a mount design I liked, and 3D printed it.

The switch cuts power to the converter, and to turn it on I just reach under the edge of the rack and flip the switch forward. On my bike I use XT90 connectors for main power lines, XT60 for high voltage accessories (52v), and small Anderson connectors for low voltage (12v). The first photo is the switch mount still on the printer, second photo shows the rack removed from the bike and upside-down. You can get an idea of the orientation by the taillight at the top of the photo. The actual 12 volt output with the Anderson connectors is covered with a red cap which is actually made for an XT connector, but it fits, keeps it clean, and prevents it from rattling

When the rack is on the bike, the top of the fender is almost touching the switch mount and converter, so the Anderson connector stays in this position nicely. For connecting to a 12v accessory, just I pull off the red cap and plug the accessory in I currently have 3 accessories I use with the system: One is a simple 12 volt power outlet, similar to the one in most cars, and you can plug pretty much anything into it. The second accessory is a high power USB strip with 6 USB-A fast charging ports (up to 13 amps). The third accessory is a a direct-connected 110 volt AC power inverter with a 350 watt output, and this can actually charge other e-bikes.

If you have any questions or suggestions for improvement, let me know!

There was an e-bike company in Connecticut that invited me to do a group ride with them last month. The odd twist is that they allowed gas bikes up to 50cc, and we wound up with about eight or nine gas bikes riding with us, and most of them could do about 30mph. But fear not; electric prevailed, and not only could we keep up, but the gas bikes fell behind on the climb to New Haven Overlook Vista. When you come out of hairpin turn and have instant torque, it makes a huge difference! Not all the e-bikes did well, as the last bike to the top was a stock Super73, but we all still had fun. On one downhill section the RadMini and a factory prototype "speed bike" hit 45mph (well, 44.8 mph, technically). A modified gas bike was not too far behind us, but I know the guy on the prototype was holding back because that bike can hit at least 50mph.

My setup for the RadMini this trip was running dual Tesla batteries totaling 39.5Ah, and maximum power was limited to 2500 watts to conserve battery. I did that because I thought the ride was going to be much longer, and the bike finished with about 70% battery left after 19 miles. This was definitely one of the most fun rides I've been on, but I'm not sure when I'll be back for another because of the 11 hour drive to get there. 22 hours of driving for about an hour of riding is not a practical trade off, and trips like this usually cost me about 1k in US dollars. Some pictures are below!

 

The mechanical analysis is complete, and the good news for Rad owners is that my crash was not cause by a component failure. The front skewer assembly consists of 9 parts, and an analysis was made of the possible results of potential failure points. I won't put the whole study here, but the physical damage and the noise made by the front axle indicates that the skewer was loose, and eventually unscrewed itself due to axle rotation over the next 2.5 miles. The brakes were used heavily during this time, but the wheel did not come off because the raised metal safety lip around the ends of the fork prevented it due to the clamp and nut still being in place on the axle. The safety lip does not work with either the clamp or the nut missing, and the brakes would have dislodged the axle on the first use.

The conclusion is that the turning of the axle in the fork slots unscrewed the nut enough for it to fall off, the fork separated enough for the 5mm nubs of the axle to move upward, the brake caliper jammed and bent the rotor, and the fork caught the spokes of the wheel. This whole sequence can be confirmed from the damage, even the path of the axle ends as the threads cut a pattern into the fork paint.

The bad news means that someone simply flipped the lever open (it was tight when I arrived at work, loose when I left), and I sincerely hope it was just a prank and they're afraid to come out about it because of how it ended. The police have been involved in the matter, but the only way to get a positive ID is to fingerprint the lever, and that part went flying and has not been located. I have not ridden my bike to work since then, and probably will not until I replace the front axle with a solid bolt-on axle, but the reason for doing that is to make it harder to tamper with.

Sorry I haven't had much time to post, but I'm certainly not neglecting my Rad! Recovery from the crash is going mostly well, with no obvious problems from the head injury, the clavicle fracture is fully healed, and I have almost my full range of motion back for my arm. I still have shoulder pain which gets pretty intense, and work is making that worse, but I'll find out more Monday. I've been going on solo rides almost every day, even if it's a trip around the neighborhood which is about 6 miles. I did a group ride in Connecticut with gas and electric bikes, and it was crazy and fun at the same time, but I'll give that it's own post. This was followed by a group Ride in Detroit which is always good, but this particular one was marred by a crash, and much less importantly, a flat tire. There was a teenager with us on a rental e-bike for the first time, and someone on a OneWheel either swerved or cut in front of him, and the kid fell and scraped up his face. He got back on the bike after receiving medical attention and finished the ride, so I hopefully it won't turn him against e-bikes.

The third group ride was in Ann Arbor Michigan, with a newly-formed group called the A2 Tech Ride. This had a large variety of e-bikes ranging from 250 watt folding bikes to Sur Ron's, and unfortunately, a Sur Ron led the group and things got split up pretty quickly with the slower bikes being left behind. So we stopped to regroup, and some of the family members dropped off. Then some of the mid range bikes like Super73's and the like dropped out after one of them had a fall. In the end, we wound up with a Sur- Ron, an Onyx RCR, Onyx CTY2, a Monday Motorbike, and my RadMini. To solve the problems next time, we will have a slower "Family" ride on bike paths which is properly paced, followed by a separate 30mph ride in traffic on the streets.

And in other news... my RadMini has hit six thousand miles and is still going strong!

I got to work last night on the rebuild/repairs after losing my front wheel while riding. Progress is slow due to the one handed situation, but at least some progress was made. I removed the front brake rotor and found the rim was damaged and spokes were bent. I bend some spokes back into shape by hand, but one was so bad I had to remove it and us a hammer and anvil to straighten it. The spoke hole in the rim was bent up, so that had to be hammered back as well. I have a new wheel on order, but have no idea how long it will take to get here. The new brake rotors are the "floating" type which center themselves, and the hub is anodized in red. I replaced the whole front fork assembly, and installed a solid axle on the wheel with nuts. Solid axles are a bit stiffer than quick releases, but I did it mostly to make it more difficult if someone decides to tamper with it again.

So far, the damage from this crash is as follows:

Front spokes and rim bent
Front hub damaged, but might be usable
Quick release skewer and nut missing
Front brake rake rotor severely bent
Front brake pads damaged
Front fork bent
Front fender support bent
Nitecore headlight gouged and scarred by asphalt, but still works!
Handlebar stem mounting bolt threads pulled out
Support stand under crank bent


The stem mounting bolt was a surprise, but when I pulled it out, the threads from the stem came out with it. It will require tapping out to a larger size, or replacing. I may try buying the Expand handlebars and stem, but am not sure if Rad will allow that. I'll keep you posted on progress, and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!

Had a bad crash a couple days ago. Someone at work tampered with the bike (possibly) and opened the front wheel quick release, and the wheel came off while I was going 18mph on pavement. I'm hoping it was a prank, but know it was intentional because I checked the wheel the day before. The axle is damaged, brake rotor is bent, the fork is bent, and some of the spokes are bent. The bike flipped and slammed me to the pavement, and the emergency room doctors credited the helmet for saving my life. As it is I have a concussion, dislocated shoulder, torn and stretched ligaments, and gnarly bruises... but no broken bones!

Anyways, just posting this to remind others that safety gear can make a difference. Don't worry about the quick release axle on your Rad bikes: They're safe, just check them once in a while. Especially after suspicious activity!

PS: After research, it turns out that it is possible for a quick release to fail, either by the lever breaking or the skewer snapping.

With apologies to those who brought us the Wizard of Oz 

I dug through my files and found my battery range test sheets. A blank spreadsheet is attached if anyone wants to know what type of data I collected. The efficiency of all four types of controllers I used is listed below. The reason I used watt hours instead of amp hours, is because amp hours is voltage dependent. A 14Ah battery will store more or less energy depending on the voltage, but 500 watt hours will always be the same amount regardless of voltage.

A stock Rad battery is 14Ah @ 48 volts nominal, which is 672 watt hours total. To get the range, divide the total watt hours of the battery into the watt hours per mile, and that will give you the maximum mileage for using the battery up. These tests were performed with conservative pedal assist (levels 2 and 3).

Power usage per mile, listed in order of testing.
Stock Rad controller: 16.8 watt hours per mile, 39.95 mile range at this rate of use.
25 amp controller: 26.88 watt hours per mile, 25 mile range at this rate of use.
35 amp controller: 22.4 watt hours per mile, 30 mile range at this rate of use.
Phaserunner controller: 20.5 watt hours per mile, 32.78 mile range at this rate of use.


Now, each controller has it's own power capacity, and that can make a big difference in range if you are joy riding with the throttle. Another list is below, but this time it's maximum power with the battery as used by me. The reason for the "observed" power is that electrical resistance and efficiency losses take a bite out of the mathematically perfect score, and will be lower. No "observed" power level for the Phaserunner because I don't own a motor that will handle that much. The Rad is hard limited to 750 watts day and night, and if struck by lightning, may go to 752 ⚡ .

16 amp Rad controller: 48 volts, limited to 750 watts
25 amp controller: 52 volts, 1300 watts, 1170 observed
35 amp controller: 52 volts, 1820 watts, 1741 observed.
96 amp Phaserunner controller: 52 volts, 4992 watts.

I just thought the info might be useful or entertaining to some, so let me know if you have any questions.