How well does the Rad Expand 5 FOLD with front and back baskets attached?

[Blork]

I'm seriously considering buying a Rad Expand 5 Plus, and I'd like to attach the small basket to the back and maybe also the front basket (with the wooden bottom). But none of the videos of the Rad Expand bikes I've seen show them folded with those accessories. I see NO ACCESSORIES and FOLDED, or I see WITH ACCESSORIES but NOT FOLDED.

Does anyone here use those accessories with a Rad Expand 5? If so, how do they affect folding? Do they obstruct folding at all? Does it make it difficult to pick up the bike in the folded position? Pictures if possible. Thanks!

[inoxa]

if you add the accessories you mention then you won't be able to fold it.

[John Rose]

It should be possible to build a front rack with hinges at the bottom so that it would fold up. Then add a quick-release (velcro straps?) basket.

Another plan would be a sort of shallow "hot-shoe" mount bolted to the bike (much like the battery mount), for a basket with a corresponding bracket. I can easily picture banging (literally) one out of two pieces of 12 gauge sheet steel and a couple of nuts and bolts.

Whether or not such a thing can be bought ready-made is a whole other issue.

[Blork]

Yeah, that's way beyond what I'm interested in. I want the stock Rad baskets. The Expand 5 has the right rear rack and front mounting receivers for those baskets, so I assumed it would probably work (i.e. be able to fold) but I guess not.

I'm shifting my thinking now towards the Rad Runner 3 Plus instead. Although which is the better bike I wonder? The new Expand 5 Plus but unfoldable, or the Runner 3 Plus? As in, is it silly to get a folding bike and then accessorize it so it can't be folded? (I would not very often even need to fold it, but I'd like to have the option.) But is that still a better bike than the Runner 3 Plus?

Hmmm. More thinking to do...

It should be possible to build a front rack with hinges at the bottom so that it would fold up. Then add a quick-release (velcro straps?) basket.

Another plan would be a sort of shallow "hot-shoe" mount bolted to the bike (much like the battery mount), for a basket with a corresponding bracket. I can easily picture banging (literally) one out of two pieces of 12 gauge sheet steel and a couple of nuts and bolts.

Whether or not such a thing can be bought ready-made is a whole other issue.

[Blork]

Heck, Rad's website for the Expand 5 Plus even shows the bike with front basket and locking box and under that picture it says "Do Anything. Store Anywhere.
Outfit your bike for whatever your ride calls for with our full lineup of accessories. When the day's done, the folding mechanism and new collapsible pedals ensure compact, convenient storage."

That certainly implies it can fold with basket accessories attached. I'm really hoping someone here can tell me from actual experience!

[John Rose]

You can still fold just the frame. It looks like a basket on the front might even clear the rear rack, and a basket on the rear rack might clear the front wheel (with no front rack).

Forget about the stem riser with a front rack though. You might get it half-way down at best, but you could still fold the frame.

[edit] On second thought, the stem riser folds diagonally, so I really have no clue how far it (the stem riser) might fold.

[crorris]

I have a Lectric Trike that I was having trouble folding well with the front basket on. I bought these bolts to attach it with so I could take it off easily without any tools.  It only has 4 bolts, so it's pretty quick and easy to remove with these. It only takes a minute. Not sure if these bolts are the same size as the bolts on the Rad, but they have many sizes available.

https://amzn.to/4bFsNSN

[Blork]

UPDATE: I just saw an ad on Facebook showing a woman with a Rad Expand 5 Plus with the front basket. She carries it down the stairs folded, unfolds it, and rides away. So maybe not such a problem...