We just picked up the below cellphone handlebar mount for our Rad Wagon by IPOW:

https://amzn.to/2PDIr8m

It now looks like they offer a metal base for slightly more here: https://amzn.to/2WkeGfm

We've only had it a few days but so far so good. I'll post some pictures and share our thoughts here as we use it more.

Yes, I bring our battery in if it's going to get cold overnight. You also want to do this for charging your battery. Rad recommends charging the bike in temps between 50° to 77°F. Battery range is decreased in cold temps and Rad Power Bikes states the cut off for cold weather riding is -4°F.

After getting our Rad Wagon last year we made only a few modifications such as adding battery powered colored lights, modifying the running boards for a bike trailer and using bungee cords to affix a rear basket. There are generally a few popular modifications I see people make initially, usually adding a more comfortable seat () and if they're really serious about comfort a suspension seatpost ().

I'd argue one of the most important modifications to make to your ebike initially have to do with safety. Beyond gear to be seen (we wear safety vests), more lights are always a good add-on but mirrors are also important. Many mirrors will fit your Rad, but the is one of the most popular.

It can be purchased for around $10 and is extremely easy to install as I recently found out. A few pieces to screw together, pop off the end cap on your bike, put the mirror into the handlebar and finally tighten. It comes with all of the tools you need in the box. There are probably some other options which look a bit sleeker but we're really happy with the Mirrycle. See below for the pictures of it installed.




Other accessories including more mirror options on my Rad Power Bikes accessories page: https://www.radowners.com/index.php/topic,104.0.html

Please note you need to register for a forum account to see the images.

Quote from: Radillac on April 22, 2019, 05:20:36 PM
Hi everyone, I'm Ron and I am in Norfolk, Virginia. I am the proud owner of a 2018 Radrover (I posted a pic in the "Pride and Joy" section, btw). I got her late in 2018 (September) so the weather has not been on my side but I have managed to put 815 miles on it and looking forward to more rides now that the weather is improving.

Welcome! Loved the picture of your bike, especially the pedals. We too are hoping to put on many more miles this year.


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Firstly, huge congrats on your retirement and good for you for making it an active one by still riding.

We've been using this utility lock linked below for our Rad Power Bikes Rad Wagon but just keep in mind we don't live in a city where bike theft is common. When you start going down the rabbit hole of researching locks it becomes overwhelming since I believe there is no perfect lock. The only way to never have to worry about theft of your ebike is going with a service like Velosurance to insure the bike. Downsides are that this lock takes up some space and is moderately heavy. It is better than a cable lock though and I think is a good value for the price. For a grocery store runs where there are lots of people it is more than adequate in my opinion. The below link to it is an affiliate link so if you end up buying it the site gets a small commission which helps with my website hosting fees.

https://amzn.to/2XwwW5m


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Hey Stevenn, thanks for joining us. We too have a 2018 Rad Wagon and I think a lot depends on the individual. For us when there is only one of us on it we typically keep it in the third chainring up front and max it out in the back as well (hardest to pedal). Then we use pedal assist 2/3 which allows us to get up to 20 mph pretty easily. On hills try just adjusting the rear shifter if possible and increase to pedal assist 3 (this should keep it under 500 watts which is recommended when going up long hills, use throttle for an additional quick boost if needed). When you're pulling a load, like a kid, another adult or groceries we still keep it in the third chain ring in the front but adjust the rear, still in pedal assist 2 or 3 on flatter roads. We're 29/30 years old, are quite active and enjoy putting a bit more effort in though. Generally though we do tend to not touch the shifters very much unless we need to. For instance, I'm ok with a slow start at a red light being in a higher gear but you may be more comfortable in down shifting. Ultimately I think whatever works best for you and I'm sure you'll get a feel for it as you put on more miles. Rad on!

Quote from: Kowalski on April 15, 2019, 04:02:33 AM
HI, Just registered but I bought my 2018 RadRhino in November 2018. I'm also in North Wales UK. The bike had done about 300 miles so far and its keeps getting better and better.

Awesome! We visited North Wales a few years ago and had a great time. I imagine there are plenty of great riding options there.

Quote from: Rjbur007 on March 30, 2019, 08:28:12 AM
Thanks for sharing.   That was a great link that explains it completely.   For the fun of it I actually went to the link in the article and wow they do have a number of job openings.   One of the reasons I purchased Rad.... ok... the primary reason I purchased from Rad Power Bikes was their people.  It just seem to be a great company with great founders and one I'd be proud to be a part of so rather than work there I bought two 2018 RadWagons on Black Friday to deal in my own way with the Tariff increase.   Thanks again for sharing.

Totally agree, Mike and Ty just seem like genuine folks in all of the videos that I've watched. Plus if you dig deep into YouTube Mike has a few fun videos of some true DIY electric bikes. A true passion for sure!

There is a shop out of Denver who is making some custom parts for Rad Power Bikes. See picture attached - this is pretty slick way to mount your water bottle although also a bit pricey:

https://mri-denver.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Ffront-bottle-holder-mounting-bracket

I'm curious what the consensus is on getting your ebike insured. I imagine for folks in bigger cities it's a no brainer. I've also heard that some people are covered by their home insurance policies. My estimate was $9 per month through Velosurance to get our Rad Power Bike insured which I didn't think was too bad.

We take some easy steps like using a decent lock, but there are lots of other things you can do such as removing the battery completely (we just put ours in the lock position) or getting a motion alarm. We live in a smaller city and we never leave our bike at night and we always lock it up in areas where there are cameras. Most often it is parked for less than an hour.

What are other forum members' thoughts on this?

Snow still melting here in the midwest but it was 44 out so we went for the first short ride of the year! Can't wait for it really to warm up and the bike becomes our main mode of transportation. We finished last year with just short of 1800 miles so curious where we'll end up this year.

I see a lot of people asking about a clicking sound on the Rad bikes. This too happened on my 2018 Rad Wagon and it was coming from the rear wheel and was due to loose spokes. This was more noticeable when the bike had a lot of weight on it. While you can always take this to the bike shop I recommend buying your own spoke wrench since they are incredibly cheap and it is easy to tighten them. You'll also have the tool for any adjustments you need to make down the road. Remember to tighten them it will opposite to righty tighty, lefty loosey - assuming you're looking at them top down. I went around every spoke to feel how tight they were and made minor adjustments to each and then took it for a test ride. Rinse and repeat until the sound stops!

All Rad Bikes have 12 gauge spokes. You'll want to buy the Park Tool SW-3 which fits nipple size .156" or 3.96MM (higher quality, more expensive option). They are offered in packs or individually.

Park Tool combo pack spoke tool set: SW-0 SW-1 SW-2 SW-3

https://amzn.to/2Y7RQZy

Alternatively you can buy one which has six sizes in one. This is the one I actually purchased and it worked just fine:

https://amzn.to/2W9OROB

Another option is the Crankbrothers M19 which has multiple tools including allen wrenches as well as a spoke tool:

It's still frozen here, but let's see some pictures of those actually out on their Rads 

I was in Arizona the other week and saw someone riding a Mini, but didn't get a chance to snap a photo.

Back in August 2018 Rad Power Bikes announced that they were going to have to increase prices across their ebikes by $200 due to tariffs on electric bikes. They shared that they were eating some of the cost, but consumers were going to have to pay more as well. At the time I was happy I had purchased my bike earlier in the year to save the additional money. Today, the company announced that they were absorbing 100% of the tariffs and returning to their original pricing. They are also refunding customers the difference who purchased their ebikes already in 2019. It's great to see them still be able to deliver such a quality product at that price point.

Rad Power Bikes shared a little bit how they were able to achieve this in the below video and on their website: https://bit.ly/3cBMYlB

I saw this video and thought it was pretty cool. It's a guy in Chicago delivering UberEats with a RadRover. Looks like he's got a pretty nice setup with a rear bag that holds food and drinks. I imagine this is far more profitable when you're doing it on an electric bike compared to a car in bigger cities. At the end he shows he made $140 for around 7 hours of work. Enjoy!