I am not a blind Rad follower and I am not related to the bicycle business in any way.  And, I feel you should definitely try to get what you can get if there is a legitimate warranty issue.

I found my chain/derailleur noise went away after 300 miles and after the cables have become loose, and a after I had to readjust the brakes/derailleur.

So in addition to what other's have suggest and pursuing other avenues - I suggest you keep riding as long as the noise is not indicating your bike is grinding itself apart.

People tow another bike with the fork attached to the rear rack a few times back in the days before ebikes. I think the speeds would be closer to 10-15 mph for an average person.  An ebike going 30 mph is probably safe but I am not sure.  The danger would be high-speed wobbling.

The other problem is possible failure. If you get slightly hurt during exercise or a bike is broken, now you are stuck with getting two bikes home by yourself.

I humbly suggest just taking a car because you can store so much more and when you are exercising it is nice to have a locker nearby (car). And when you get hurt you don't have to impose on your friends to rescue you with a car.

Just my opinion:

I think Rad is getting out of the low-end business because it is hard to compete.

It is a direct-drive bike, with lower torque, and if you don't apply electricity, there is a drag. I don't think I want a direct-drive bike but it is personal. I prefer something with more torque in stop-and-go city traffic with an occasional stop on a steep hill. Sometimes when the car in front of you stop, you got to stop too.  And then you got to go when there is a chance so the torque is important.

It is a city bike, so a step-through is probably more versatile. You can lend a step through to your kid, grandpa/ma, boy/girl friend for a trip to the grocery.  For a stop and go city bike (maybe carrying groceries), the ability to put your feet solidly on the ground when you stop is probably more important than an off road or racing bike. The city/cargo/commuter bike would preferably be exactly the right size or even a bit smaller if you are carrying a load and stopping at all traffic signs.

It is a good deal for the right height person who can put both heels solidly on the ground with some clearance to spread the legs out a bit for stability on a stop and don't mind my two points above.

Handlebar, Thanks for your insights.

I think the theory behind the air loss are as follows:

1. Bicycle tire technology with inner tubes is old. You must not use today's car/motorcycle tires as a comparison. Tires lost pressure all the time in the old days.

2. All surfaces of the inner tube leak air at a certain rate.  Modern tubeless tires in a car are thick, with the road tread being part of the "tube." Inner tubes are thin, so the loss is greater.

3.  The surface-to-volume of a tire's inner tube is way higher than a car tire.  So any loss of air affects pressure greatly.  Whereas in a car tire, losing the same amount of air would not affect the pressure as much.  Similar to something like this:  A small cup of hot water would cool off much faster than a bathtub of hot water.

4. Modern tubeless tires were mounted with sealant of some sort to stop leaks at the bead and elsewhere.  Tubes (except for some) don't have sealants. Some modern cars don't even have spare tires because of sealant technology.

5.  Bicycle tubes are cheap. So not much care was put into making them.  They don't care about leaks when you can buy a tube for $4 and assume you will use some sealants, liners etc. if it is so important for you.

I use a bit of Slime, some people say Flat-Out is better.  I pump my tires once a year, twice a year, something like that.

My bike don't get that dirty.  Also, if you bike regularly get very dirty, cleaning it to showroom condition is a waste of time.  It will get very dirty again.  If you ride on dirt all the time, I suggest just removing about 98% of the dirt is enough.  I never use the hose on my bicycle, my motorcycle, or the engine of the car.

I don't think the connectors are that waterproof.  You will eventually get into trouble.  Keep water away from the rear hub with the motor.

I get an old towel, wet it, wipe the bike.  If there is a lot of mud, wet the towel a lot. At the very end, wipe the chain too.  Use a second towel, spray some cleaner on it like 409, wipe the bike again.  Lube the chain.

Send the towel to the washing machine.  Save it for the next wash.

I think my bike is good enough for showing, for example, if I want to sell it.

I think Rad is not all that powerful. Same with car companies, I think.  By the way, I am a Rad fan. Like car companies, Rad is a component gatherer and assembler and assembles in China. Nothing wrong with that.

They probably bought an existing design and asked for adjustments and changes.  For example, you can see a number of bikes resembling the MiniST2 and the Expand on the web. They are different but the family resemblance is easy to spot.

Yes, I agree.  They should have bought and specify another folding stem and changed the fork so the steering tube sticks out more.  I have looked at the folding stem removed and it can only take a short steerer tube.

Even if I had to use the existing stem, I would have spec-ed a longer steerer tube and use some spacers. Thus, if the user decides to use another stem, they would have a choice.

I think the stem of the steering tube do not stick out enough.  I wonder why they have this design. I think I know the answer. That is because they are trying to fit that folding stem. They should find another source for folding stems.

Quote from: handlebar on October 26, 2022, 05:44:03 AM
I think quick-release axles are a disservice to most riders in terms of convenience as well as safety. Adjustment requires trial and error and may still not be as secure as using a conveniently small wrench. Both ends clamp simultaneously, and I can't be certain that both were fully seated at that instant. I wish it were feasible to retrofit front axles with nuts, like rear axles.

I agree with you.  Thank you for your insight.

Just adding a qualifier.  I took 2 years of physics in college and got good grades.  I apologize if I over simplify below but it makes the discussion shorter.

When quick release was first introduced, the brakes were at the rim, at the top.  When the brakes were applied, the wheel axle were pulled ●backwards●, roughly 90 degrees to the fork opening which was pointed down.  So some problem but not much even if you forgot to use the quick release - I know from experience by being stupid as a kid. <<please don't try this, you will get hurt>>

When the disc brake pads were put behind the front wheel axle, the axle were pulled ●down● during braking in the same direction as the fork opening (down), causing problems as I described. So the rules changed. If you forgot to tighten the front axle you will hurt yourself.

A further problem is the disc brake pads were so close to the axle and cause a force multiplier effect.  If the braking was 100 pounds say, where the rubber meets the road, the braking force on a rim sidepull brake would be say 110 pounds and the force on the front axle would be about 110 pounds because the rim is in the interior of the wheel.  With modern disc brakes, the brake pad may be only 1/3 of the diameter of the wheel or maybe 1/4 so the force is multiplied 3 to 4 times.  Once again, if the force was 100 pounds where the rubber meets the road, the force on the disc brake may be 300 to 400 pounds and the pulling force on the front axle would be also 300 to 400 pounds down in the direction of the opening causing great demand on the integrity of the quick release lever.  About 3 to 4 times the demand of a traditional quick release.  And if the bike is 70 pounds and loaded with a passenger, maybe 5-10 times the demand of a traditional quick release on a racing bike.

You can do a thought experiment to see this is true.  If you are trying to stop a spinning tire on a stand with no brakes, it is much easier to put your hand on the rubber.  It will take 3-4 times the effort/hand strength/pressure to try to stop the wheel by rubbing against the disc brake only.

Quote from: JedidiahStolzfus on October 24, 2022, 03:33:59 PM
Is there space inside to slip in a small desiccant pack?  Spraying the PCB with conformal coating would also solve that problem.

I bought a pound of desiccant mail order from a famous web shopping site.  If something like that happened to me, I'll put the desiccant in a bag and tie the bag around the controller and let it sit for a week or 2 during a downtime.  Dry up everything.  Then seal with those bathroom clear caulk things which can be peeled off.

The desiccant can be regenerated in the oven.  A pound of desiccant can suck out a lot of water.  I dried a water-soaked book once with it.

Quote from: handlebar on October 25, 2022, 04:42:36 AM
A dealer was quoted saying that in the industry, the Radrunner's front brake mounting is known to be unsafe. I don't understand.

Thanks for your tips in your full email.

I don't take a position on the lawsuit - just my thoughts on this sentence.

I think when the brake is behind the front axle, ●when you apply the front brake going forward●, it tends to pull the front axle away from the fork. The front axle may be loose because of user error or the neighborhood kid decided to play a bad joke on you. Bad things happen when you lose the front wheel. Conversely, ● when you apply the brakes going backwards● it tends to wedge the front axle deeper into the fork.  In other words, even if the neighborhood kids completely loosen the front wheel bolts, if you brake going backwards, the wheel is not coming off the bike.  This situation would occur say you are going uphill and stopped and the bike wants to slide downhill backwards.

<<Please don't ride with loose axle bolts.  I am just saying as an example - a hypothetical.>>

Therefore, according to some way of thinking, it would be safer putting the brake pads in front of the front axle because when you brake going forward, which is most of the time, the axle would be pushed up into the fork and you don't have to rely on the front axle bolts to work.

<<Side story.  It is an interesting design in cars because it has been used for an anti-dive system.  If the brake pad is behind the car, the harder the car brakes, the harder the front would be pushed up, countering some of the front-diving tendencies of a braking car. This does not apply to bicycles because of the simple fork design.>>

Many bikes have brakes like Rad. My guess is that it is a design decision for simplicity - which may be a safety feature in itself.

Putting the brake pads in front would increase the chance of damage (e.g., in a crash) and possibly make the cables longer and make the design heavier, and complications increase the risk of failure due to damage or bad maintenance.

Just my guess of the answer.  I don't know if this is a good argument and it is easier to say after the fact.  For example, having a welded on non adjustable seat and handlebar is probably safer too. Getting rid of all bike front racks and backracks would make the bike safer.  It goes on and on.

Are your wheels true?  Have you inspected them on a truing stand?

You can check easily but taping a toothpick to the fork or the frame and have one end of the toothpick almost tough the rim. Then rotate the tires to see if the wheel wobble side to side or up and down.

My guess is that there is a fundamental frequency of resonance.  When you hit it the bike resonates.  Putting things on the rack or just the rack itself changes this frequency and that is why you are seeing the effect.

I assume you have already tightened the rack.

If you have a crack on the frame or a crack in the rack, or a loose connection, it can contribute to resonance frequency and amplitude.

Usually the frame has a geometry to prevent resonance and increase stability.  But if the frame is bent then that may be hard. 

One test, it is dangerous.  I don't take responsibility if you do it.  Can you ride the bike without holding on to the handlebar? That's a test of frame geometry. Don't go too fast. Don't do it if you don't know what you are doing and once again, I do not take responsibility if you get hurt.

I agree with you all.  I think since some Rad bikes are 60 to 70 pounds, and since we have a battery, we might as well adjust for some comfort.  If we lived in a situation where we need to extract every ounce of energy out of the battery, or we are constantly caught with a dead battery on a ride, we would have gotten some other bike or an extra battery.  With a 60/70 pound bike, we might as well be comfortable vs efficient. The option has been decided when we got the bike.

Quote from: jbroehl on September 08, 2022, 01:52:31 PM

Anyone on here had their tires pop? Does this really happen suddenly or is it a slow steady leak?

Not on a Rad but I have had it happen.  It is really loud - like the popping of a firecracker.  And then you are suddenly riding on rims.