For my part I'll post this last update to finish off this topic. I finally laced up a 24 in rear wheel for my Radwagon 4, and I installed a studded winter tires on the back as well. The actual lacing and wheel building was fairly straightforward.

The studded tire works really well. We just had a pretty big snowstorm here in Helsinki and biking to work was fairly alright. Now we are back above freezing fora few days and then everything is going to freeze to ice again making for slippery conditions.


Unsurprisingly the studded tire has a lot more traction and I feel more comfortable riding to work and running errands.

The new Radwagon 5 has solved this issue by using a more standard wheel size, but if there are any other Radwagon 4 riders in cold climates I can recommend moving to 24in tires. It was somewhat expensive, but everything has a cost.


On a side note I also upgraded to Tektro hydraulic brakes. It made a world of difference to the braking power and also much less fussing with brake adjustment.

I just rolled over the odometer on the bike and with these upgrades I hope to still get many more thousands of kilometers from the bike. If I buy a new cargo bike in the future I will be sure to spend some more upfront on a quality bike such as a Tern.

I've had a lot of the same issues - front light broke, controller broke, kickstand springs broke, Rad freewheel removal tool was completely useless, etc., but the tires have not been an issue on my bike.

The bottom bracket is a one-off size, but cartridge bottom brackets can be overhauled. The bearings are a standard size and they can be easily found. Overhauling the bottom bracket was actually not all that difficult. I used the linked video as a guide.

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

Regards,
Antti

I had this same issue with my RadWagon4. This happened while my bike was under warranty and Rad sent me a new controller, which fixed the problem. I don't have enough electrical know-how to guide you through a controller repair / diagnostic process. It's a relatively cheap bike with cheap parts...

My front tire is 47mm so about 1.85 inches wide. I run it at just below 4 bar (about 55 psi).

I've decided to convert the whole bike to 24in, so I will be re-lacing the rear hub motor to a 24in rim in the near future. The studded front tire is fine for 85% of the riding that I do, but  we've had a few days of above freezing temperatures and now that it is back to below freezing, the melted snow has turned into massive sheets of ice. I have decided that I want more grip in the rear as well.

For summer riding, once converted completely to 24in, I have been eyeing the Schwalbe Pick Ups. They seem like nice cargo bike tires also available in 24in.

I've also decided to upgrade to hydraulic brakes. The stopping power on the Tektros that came with the bike is fine, but the constant adjusting that is required is a real PITA.

Quote from: John Rose on October 03, 2023, 06:35:22 PM
Are winter tires for bicycles supposed to have softer rubber, as with automobile winter tires?
Or does it really matter?

I think that most winter tires for bikes rely on studs for added traction on ice, and they tend to be knobby for grip in the snow. I have also tried Continentals Top Contact Winter tire which is a studless winter tire. It relies on the compound and tread design for grip in the snow, kind of like a studless Nordic winter tire for a car. They work surprisingly well in snowy and slippery conditions, but don't have enough grip on ice, so I switched back to studded tires for the winter. I think that these studless winter tires are a good idea for places that get some snow from time to time. Snow itself is not slippery and regular bike tires do just fine on hard packed snow. The problem is ice and the freezing and thawing conditions that we have in Helsinki for example. Snow melts then freezes again and you end up with large sheets of ice covering a bike path. In these conditions it is very easy for the front wheel to slip out for underneath you. A good studded tire is really the only thing that helps. The downside with studded tires however is the increased rolling resistance, which is quite noticeable. This is why I usually run just one studded tire on the front and a non studded on the back. The front is where you need the grip in order to avoid falls.

Quote from: Banjopete on September 27, 2023, 11:55:39 AM
Fun related note my tires have arrived. Big and knobby, seem really stout. Hopefully they go on okay.

As mentioned above these are kenda k262 small blocks, 18 x 2.75

It would be nice to get an update at the end of the winter on how these work in icy conditions.

Regards,
Antti

Hi,

I live in Helsinki and have the RadWagon4. I have been through 3 Finnish winters with it. In Helsinki the temperature tends to fluctuate around freezing throughout the beginning of winter and then stays below freezing in Jan - Feb, so we get lots of slush, ice, and re-frozen semi-melted snow, with lots of bike-corroding salt thrown in for good measure 

I noticed that the stock RadWagon tires are slippery in the cold and they have almost no lateral grip in icy conditions. I've taken several falls when the front tire slipped out from under me. This makes riding in the winter very unpleasant. I don't like having to be "on edge" the whole time.

Last winter I laced up a 24in rim to a new front hub and used a 24in studded winter tire at around 3 bar of pressure. There were no tire clearance issues, and it completely transformed the bike. The grip, even on ice, was much much better and I felt a lot more comfortable and safe riding around in icy and frozen conditions. I just left the rear tire as stock. There is some slippage from time to time, but the back sliding out isn't really a problem.

Getting a new rim for the front can be kind of expensive, but if you are serious about riding around in the winter I would recommend it. I would say forget the snow chains or moped tires and get a studded tire.

I am having the same issues with my RadWagon4. I weigh about 85 kg (185 lbs). I also have to tighten the clamp as much as physically possible, but still the seat slips and after about 30-45 min of riding it has slipped enough to be noticeable. This is a big PITA. I share the RadWagon with my spouse, who is much shorter than me, so she needs to adjust the seat, but she can't undo the clamp as it is too tight, so she basically can't use the bike. I have cleaned the extra grease off of the seat tube, but it doesn't help, and to avoid galvanic corrosion the seat tube should be lightly greased anyway. This is just one of many problems and issues that I've had with my RadWagon. If I could go back in time I would fork out the extra cash for a Tern GSD. If you ride sometimes on the weekends, then sure, the RadWagon is fine for that, but I live without a car, and for such heavy duty daily use, the quality just isn't there with the RadWagon.

Please post if you find a working solution!

So I finally got around to building my 24in front wheel for my RadWagon 4. The hub is a Hope fatbike front disc hub and the rim is a Ryde Andra and the spokes are DT Swiss Competition. The tire is a Suomi Tyres studded winter tire, which I am running at 3 bar. It works really well in the snow and ice. The grip is really good and the bike has really been transformed. I have so much more confidence riding around in the ice and snow now compared to the stock tire. I have kept the original back tire. It does slip a bit on ice, but it's really not much of a problem. The biggest problem was the front tire sliding out on ice. I'm really happy with the 24in tire and I am thinking about lacing up the rear hub motor to a 24in rim as well.

A few pictures I took the other day. The temperature was -12C.

Quote from: roper on November 03, 2020, 01:48:15 AM
Hi Antti,
nice idea and findings!

How do you plan on doing this for the back wheel or would you keep the current tire on that?

For the front wheel, I did come across a slightly less costly front hub (Novatech Fatbike) which I've seen for around 50 EUR right now in Germany.

On first look, the 24" inch rims aren't as easy to come by either. I'm looking for one that would fit the Schwalbe Marathon Winter wheels (47-507). Did you already come across a brand?

I've also never installed spokes myself on a rim and have to read up on what length I'd need, which I guess depends on the installation I'd want to do.

So if you'd like to share any more details, I'd be happy to hear more on your plans and progress on this.

I plan on keeping the rear wheel as is. During the winter I have found that the biggest risk is the front wheel slipping on ice and this causing the rider to fall (this has happened to me a few times over the years). Snow is not a problem for normal tires and the rear wheel slipping is not a big risk for falling. Traction will not be as good as during the summer, but this isn't really an issue for me (falling is the issue). I have run my normal around-the-town bike with a studded front tire during the winter and a regular "summer" tire on the back.

For the rims I have been looking at Holland Bike Shop (https://hollandbikeshop.com/en-gb/bicycle-wheels/bicycle-rims/bicycle-rim-24-inch/) they have a lot of 24in rims to choose from.

I have built a few sets of wheels from rims, spokes and hubs myself. It takes a bit of learning, but if you are into fixing bikes, it is a fun skill to develop. When I built my first set, I found a local bike shop where you could "hire" the mechanic and work under his guidance using the shop's tools. The whole process took a few hours.

I also recommend Jobst Brandt's book "The Bicycle Wheel", it will tell you step by step how to lace up a standard 3-cross pattern.

I will update once I get around to building the wheel. The long term forecast for Helsinki, where I live, is that we are looking at a warmer than usual winter, so I will have to see if there is a need for winter tires. Of course this would all be much more simple if Rad had put 20in wheels on the RadWagon and I could buy tires from Schwalbe and put them on the rims as is.

My Radwagon was delivered at the end of September. I have about 270 km on the odometer and yesterday I noticed that one of the springs was missing, so I am experiencing the same issue. Even with both springs the kickstand has a tendency to bang around while riding even over small bumps. This is annoying. I noticed that if I have a passenger on the back then the kickstand does not make any sound. Maybe the extra weight of the passenger dampens the motion of the back of the bike?

Hi. "We The People" is a German BMX company that is specialized around 22 in tire BMX bikes. They have a global distribution network and their products include 22in tires and tubes, but the widest tire they have is 2.35in (the "Feelin' Tire") instead of the 3in that Rad has put on the Radwagon 4. The tire is not as wide, but maybe it will suffice for you while you wait for Rad to stock their own 22in tires.

https://wethepeoplebmx.de/

I live in Finland and I plan to ride my Radwagon 4 throughout the winter, so I was looking for a studded winter tire solution. I calculated that I can fit a normal 24in tire on the Radwagon as the standard balloon-y 22x3in is almost the same circumference as a 24in tire. The issue here, however, is the fat bike-y 135mm front dropout width. I had to order a fat bike front hub from Hope (not cheap) and I plan to lace it up to a 24in rim. I knew this limitation going in when I bought the bike, but the other option was to go for a TERN GSD, but it would have been over 2.5x the price of the Radwagon.