Gettin' there, but still a work in progress on a June 2020 bike.

Major additions/replacements include:

  2nd Battery is a 48V, 17.5ah from BafangUSA Direct. It's mounted where the original Rad Battery was
    on the back of the seat tube, and the lighter OEM Rad 14Ah battery has been moved up to the rack.
    Both battery carriers have Rad harness compatible electrical connectors, presently switched by hand
    but I'm considering easier switching options for a winter project (OEM warranty has now expired,
    no reason not to cut into Rad harnesses now to change connectors to something I like better).
    I have used two different brands of the electronic parallel battery connectors in the past in other
    applications and both failed. I don't need that when I'm 50 miles from home so I'm considering a
    simple, reliable marine grade A-B switch with at last a 50 Amp rating (I believe in overkill in some
    areas). That battery was not the cheapest I could find, I chose it because of name brand recognition
    in hopes they would stand behind the product in case something went wrong (as will happen with
    a small percentage of lithium ion battery packs from even the best manufacturers/suppliers) and
    it has lived up to expectations. Charging it to 80% yields the same ~14Ah capacity as the Rad OEM
    battery and should improve its cycle life (so I can abuse it in other ways).  Unfortunately that
    particular size appears to no longer be available on their website (maybe just temporarily?):
    http://bafangusadirect.com/collections/batteries 

  The swept handlebars are Jones SG  2.5 Loop Aluminum H-Bars in 710mm length (Single Gauge with
    a 2.5 inch rise). Grips are Jones Kraton in standard length (for their 660mm bars), you don't need the
    long ones on this setup, in fact you have to cut down the right side grip. My OEM Rad cables were
    barely long enough to work with the front steering riser all the way up without having to be replaced
    with longer ones. Maximum width is 29 inches tip to tip, way more comfortable than the stock flat bars:
    http://jonesbikes.com/jones-h-bar-sg-2-5-loop-aluminum/
     
The pimped out bike now weighs 120+ pounds (54+ kg) with both batteries on board as I also routinely carry a lot of stuff like trail maintenance gear including folding saw(s), hand loppers and  digging tools. I occasionally add a Rad Large Basket or Platform with plus size milk crate(s) to the front rack when doing more serious trail work to be able to carry two chainsaws (the spare oil, gas, saw batteries and bigger trenching tools get carried in back rack mounted side baskets/panniers to minimize overloading the front rack in that configuration).

Range (I ride for exercise, often on canal and rail trails, so Mode 1 [with occasional throttle blips] suits me fine much of the time):
  Longest continuous run with maximum conservation efforts on the Rad OEM 14Ah battery = 63.5 miles
  Theoretical maximum on both batteries if get the same efficiency out of the 17.5Ah 2nd battery = 139 miles
  Farthest actual one day out & back trip to date = 102 miles   

Just to clarify for those with Minis, aftermarket front mount, dual water bottle mounting adapters with multiple/tilting bottle cage mounting positions are unnecessary. Single position adapters like the  MRI-Denver and the cheaper ones listed above will easily allow use of the tallest 24 oz Polar insulated bottles with no interference with anything (this may also apply to the other "high steering riser" Rad models,  but I'm not sure). I use Topeak adjustable bottle cages to accommodate a wide range of bottle diameters as well.

On the other hand, a Rad City or Rover, depending on the cage(s) used, needs to have the bottle cages tilted back at the top with all but the shortest kids bottles, or the bottles will hit the handlebar or display mount (not good when trying to steer).

I've used several kinds and find the ones from 1859 Northwest to be better than those sold by various people on Etsy:

http://1859-northwest.myshopify.com/products/battery-tray-cap-sets-rectangle-connections-free-shipping

You could try the following:

Trace the wire from the button cluster to the first plug, then carefully unplug and reseat it a few times (be sure to line up the arrows on the two housing halfs). You can trace the wire even farther and check/replug other connectors if necessary.

The buttons respond best to straight on pushes (if you ever ride in the winter with heavy gloves you won't believe how hard they can be to actuate, but there are solutions to that problem). Pay attention to how your down button is being actuated, as opposed to the up one. For instance, if you are having to reach farther with your finger to hit the down button, you can loosen the screw that secures the button cluster housing and carefully rotate it so both actuation motions are relatively straight on and  comfortably the same, then carefully retighten the screw.

I wouldn't try disassembling the button cluster housing (it is screwed together) and cleaning the switch of an in-warranty bike without checking with Rad first. The may ask for a video of your switch not working before they send you a new one, if you're comfortable doing the required replacement work.

Quote from: RandyS on August 23, 2021, 07:51:04 AM...it means that the basket doesn't turn with the front wheel but points in the direction of the frame

After riding thousands of miles with fork mounted front racks (that turn) and frame mounted front racks (that don't), I never want to ride another bike with a load that flops around when you turn the handlebars. I was overjoyed to see Rads came standard with threaded frame bosses for fixed front racks, a big reason I  choose Rad over alternatives (and several dogs I know have indicated they appreciate the more stable ride too).

Just saying that there are other takes on the situation, and I'd be the first to admit that a fixed front rack can seem a bit squirrely at first and take some getting used to but most do with time (and I should be a worst case as I have balance issues).

Quote from: RDUB on August 22, 2021, 07:11:44 PM...ElectricBikesReview specs the RR 6+ at only 68 NM torque

They got that number from the Rad website and I saw it there when the 6 was first announced, but as you noted, it seems to have disappeared now.

Another misleading thing about the EBR written summary that accompanies the video review is where it says "Custom 750 watt geared hub motor offers 15% more torque than prior generation". If I recall that was an ad slogan Rad used when transitioning from direct drive to geared hub motors YEARS AGO, maybe a leftover that sneaked into the Rover 6 press release somehow. Any reasonable person who read that might think the Rover 5 is the prior generation they were referring to, and the new 6 must therefore climb way better, not so.

Maybe because the "clincher" profile rims/tires Rad has used (at least until now) technically aren't "Tubeless Ready". The rims don't have the correct profile to properly grip and retain industry standard tubeless tire beads.

There are internet tutorials on doing "ghetto tubeless" conversions of non-tubless rims & tires using the slit tube approach, good luck there.

I'm sure it's been done, one way or another, maybe by someone who lost a tire and crashed and died before they could post about their great mod.

I've had 3 flats on my Mini, all in the first week/100 miles. No tubeless conversion would have survived the biggest puncture, and I would have had slimy,sticky latex all over my bike and a tire flopping all over the place while I tried to push it miles to someplace it could be retrieved. Because I was carrying Park Tool TB-2 Emergency Tire Boots and  GP-2 Pre-Glued Super Patches, I was able to self-rescue by making a temporary repair and riding the ~20+ miles home. The tire was ruined, cords broken. When I replaced it, I added Mr Tuffys (tan, shortened) and sealant to both tires, but I still carry the Park boots & patches. No flats in the last 3700+ miles (fingers crossed).

I bought a Tannus Armour kit, had the things on for less than 20 miles when one of the valve cores in the incredibly crappy tubes they supplied came unbonded, allowing me to test the run flat feature. It works, sort of, better when pushing (NOT easy) than trying to actually ride. After seeing multiple reports of the same thing happening to others, I removed the Tannus thingys and put them where they belong.

I've successfully run tubeless the right way (with fully compatible rims/tires) on two of my bikes in the past, a Cannondale Jekyll and a Salsa Mukluk (a fatty, like Rads). Both bikes could be picked up and carried to the car from whatever trail I was riding if something went wrong, can't so that with a 100+ pound RadMini. Any latex based sealant (including tubeless) eventually dries out and I got tired of the mess and extra hassles involved in maintaining the tubeless bikes, so they're back to conventional tire/tube setups now. Tubeless has its place in the competition world where minor improvements in rotating weight reduction and sidewall flexibility can be fully exploited by pro level riders. Then there are the poser/wannabes with a conscience, who won't just put Stans stickers on their car or bike without actually having the stuff in the tires.

FWIW, I have now added the ~$30 a year RV rider to my AAA annual membership, which covers Ebike retrieval and delivery to anyplace within 50 miles (specifics may vary locally).   

Quote from: JimInPT on August 22, 2021, 11:38:02 AM
....so the only thing they could do is what they've claimed to get better hill-climbing - mess with the motor's internal planetary gear ratio.

They're still advertising the same "5:1 planetary gear reduction" as they did on the Rover 5 (and Mini 2, Mini 4 and others), also the same 42 tooth chainring and 11-34 Freewheel as used on the Rover 5. Hard to tell at this point if they're delivering what they're advertising component wise, but it sounds like they may not be doing so performance wise. They seem to have dropped the initial published torque spec for the Rover 6 from their website, the one that was less than than the old 80 Nm one for the Rover 5s, Minis & others. The website (particularly the Rover 6 page) seems to be "evolving".

Although Minis can outclimb Rovers on motor power alone (with equal rider/load weight) because of their smaller wheels, just remember they do have a 48 tooth chainring to reduce cadence at their lawful 20 MPH top speed (so they won't "spin out"), which means the Mini loses some of that apparent advantage and both bike styles can still require a significant amount of "rider assist"/pedaling on really steep hills (the Mini just not so much).

You mentioned something that brought back terrible memories/nightmares for me (no offense taken though)!

PANNIERS and MILK are not necessarily a good combination!

Back in the good old days I used to occasionally grab groceries on my pannier equipped (front and rear) analog touring bikes. I found out the hard way that panniers that "hang" can tend to squish contents sideways and pop tops off some types of bottles, particularly those without screw-tops. Happened more than once, with milk and orange juice.

It has never happened on any of my basket equipped Ebikes using firm bottom reusable shopping bags carefully bungeed to baskets/racks, at least not yet, and Ive carried WAY more groceries in the later configuration.  If you're going to use panniers with groceries, I'd recommend lining then with robust plastic bags of some sort.

Won't work, Minis need the Mini Rear Rack. The only Rad racks that work across model lines are the Front Racks (and the various rack accessory baskets/platform).

Rad, like most companies, probably has one of those "Specifications subject to change without notice" clauses tucked away somewhere so I don't know if complaining to them will accomplish anything other than letting them know how much people like us hate them invoking it to weasel out providing us with what we paid for and thought we would be getting.

Mezzu MicroShift components have been around and available on Amazon and eBay for a while as cheaper alternatives to the more familiar name brands and have received mixed reviews, from no problems to crap, so it's difficult to say whether you should give it a try or just replace it with an Altus (I've never used or had a bike that came with them).

My Altus equipped (June) 2020 RadMini 4 has never been particularly quite in the shifting department, but has improved a bit with time. I always attributed that to the DNP Epoch Freewheel which is kind of notorious for noisy, but fairly reliable shifting. I borrowed a higher end Shimano Deore off one of my other bikes and tried it in place the OEM Altus for a while and although it worked well, I didn't see any obvious benefit/improvement so I took it off and went back to the Altus.

The only obvious substitution on my bike as delivered was a KungFu or something I've never heard of brand chain in place of the advertised well know and highly regarded as bulletproof KMC Z7. I have spare Z7s but didn't get around to changing it right away and now, 3800+ miles later, the KungFu is still cranking out the miles, having been inspected, cleaned and lubed about 10 times. Even so, I'm not totally on board with accepting the replacement of every familiar to me component with something that will force me to abandon my preconceptions/prejudices and broaden my horizons, at least not yet, and maybe never. 

Quote from: Altema on August 20, 2021, 10:20:15 AM...Aventon's are nice, even if not the best at hills..

Not surprising as 26" Avetons have an 8-Speed 12-32T Cassette while your Mini (or even a bone stock one) has a 7-Speed 11-34T Freewheel AND smaller diameter 20" wheels. The arguably "higher quality" components use by Aventon can't make up for the increased climbing ability offered by a 34 vs 32 tooth rear cog and smaller diameter wheels, simple physics.

While 99% of the distance I cover on my routine rides is relatively flat "MODE 1 or 2" type terrain, I often encounter al least one or two 1st gear, 750 Watt hills on most rides (western New York, ice age drumlin remnants and such). I was putting too much strain on my borderline knee(s) and getting off and pushing my first Rad, a Rover, too often so I got a RadMini 4 and was more than happy with the improvement, EASILY outclimbed the Rover. As presently equipped, Avetons would climb even worse than Rovers (again, the 32 vs 34-tooth rear cog thing).

If one lives in a flat place like Florida where they won't let you near the biggest hills around (the "gypsum mountains"), then extreme climbing ability really doesn't mean much and the Aventon should be Ok  but even so, its 12-tooth cog would result in a higher top end cadence RPM than with the 11 tooth one on a Rover,  and some people may not like that.

How about Rads optional Front Rack? It can carry 14 kg/30 lb and is rigidly frame mounted so your load doesn't flop around while you steer. It has screw bosses for securing Rads optional small or large "Basket" (or their Platform), and Rad also sells different sized zippered bags which are custom fit to their Baskets. An alternative to a Rad Basket is the good old  plastic "Milk Crate", in single or double sizes (and accenting colors), which can easily be zip tied  to your rack if you use enough good quality strong ones.

There's also the Rad Front Mounted Basket at: https://bit.ly/3mv92XQ which combines a front rack AND basket into one unit and seems to match the styling of the Wagon with its wood bottom BUT it isn't rated to carry as much, only 10kg/22 lb. Just be aware that the added width up front can make the bike harder to maneuver around some obstacles or fit into bike racks. I had my Rad Large Basket mounted similarly (long dimension sideways) up front for a while and it definitely was a liability on trails, but that probably isn't the kind of thing you're likely to be doing with a couple of kids on the back. Although it doesn't offer the myriad of combinatiions possible with the separate rack/basket/other container approach, sometimes simple is better IF your intended loads are always on the smaller and lighter side.   

It probably wouldn't be safe to try to use pannier type bags with a Rad Front Rack as there's no side bracing to secure them to so they would tend to flop from side to side and could hit the front wheel, not good. However, even the small Rad Basket can probably carry more stuff (by volume) than a lot of the more reasonably priced so-called panniers I've seen, and you could always strap one or more small to medium sized bike handlebar or frame type bags directly to the sides of a Rad Basket if you need more places to stash small stuff.

Carrying loads up front has other benefits as it allows you to keep an eye on things in case a bungee breaks or starts slipping, or if you need to quickly stop and grab something important for the kids (like cookies/biscuits!), and you my not even have to get off the bike.

Although I have a Rad Large Basket and Platform, lately I've just been using the Rad Front Rack bare on my RadMini. I can carry one or two reusable shopping bags (the kind with the separate plastic piece on the inside at the bottom for reinforcement) secured to the rack (wrapped) by one 4 foot adjustable bungee each, sometimes hitting 10 to 12 pounds of groceries per bag (I measured some of the heavier feeling ones when I got home). I'm way over 50 loads and haven't had anything come loose, yet.

I have been trying to work something into this reply subtlety, but without success, so I'll just have to come right out and say I fondly remember Manneken Pis (like may others who have visited Bruxelles). 

The problem with the peel-off sticker approach is whether or not it's reversible in the eyes of the law. I live in a a part  of my state where Class 3 Ebikes are technically illegal (but most local bike shops sell them), and only Class 1 & 2 Ebikes are legal anywhere on the state trail system. My states laws are a mess: Class 3 Ebikes can only be ridden in cities with a population of one million or more and NO Ebike (Class 1, 2 or 3) can be ridden on any street with a speed limit of 30 MPH or more (but analog bikes can), go figure. So technically I can't legally ride my Mini off the edge of my property, have to load it in/on the car and take it to a trail or street with a 25 MPH MMax speed limit. It's quite discouraging at times.

Another thing that confuses me is that some Rad Mission owners appear to be reporting that the speed override thing works on that model, which wasn't even released until after it was disabled on our Minis, sometime around mid 2020.

Fortunately enforcement on technicalities has been lax in the part of the state where I live, but it will only take one crusading Dudley Do-Right to completely ruin a trip someday. 

It hasn't worked for over a year, Rad changed something, probably because US Federal regulations limit Class 1 & 2 Ebike speed to 20 MPH and their lawyers got nervous. They're always changing things, like tires or eliminating the 22 inch wheel size setting recently.

If you try to cheat by entering a different wheel size it will mess up your odometer but it won't change the top speed because the revolution counter pulse from the rear wheel apparently splits into two different paths, one to the Display odometer function which is affected by changing wheel size, and the other to some form of electronic top speed limiter which is no longer affected by changing the Max speed display setting (hardware or firmware change).

Many YouTube tutorials are out of date (check when they were posted), or people with old and different bikes make new posts without knowing your bike may be significantly different.