I'm new to eBikes.  I got a Rad City 5 last month, (lovin' it) and I've put about 1,200km on it.  (And as backstory, when I was much younger, I was quite an avid road biker and have 10's of thousands of km in the saddle.)

Yesterday, I was riding with a strong mostly crosswind (with some headwind) up 30km/hr.  I was trying to make up some time, so I was in PAS 5 and the bike was moving at full-assisted speed.  I got hit by a very strong crosswind gust and I experienced the most disorienting feeling - almost sickening, like a turbulence bump in a plane.  My path didn't deviate much, but it was very noticeable.  For a moment, I thought I was going down into the street.  I'm sure I tipped a good 10º or more, and I've never felt anything like it on a road bike before.

Now, I know it's related to the centripetal force - the wheels trying to maintain a straight, circular path in the face of an external push, and I'm guessing the reason I've never noticed it on a road bike is related to either (A) the more massive wheels, (B) the larger mass of the bike itself, (C) the larger mass of the whole system [bike and rider - as I'm also twice the mass I was when I was younger], (D) the velocity, or (E) some combination of the above.

I guess what I'm curious to know is... Is this a thing others have experienced on eBikes (or any bike, for that matter.)

•I love my Rad City 5, and I'd buy it again, but it is a beast to lift. If I had to lift it often, that might be an issue.  It's not just that you're lifting a 50lb sack of flour, bikes can also be unwieldy.

•The display on the left is very difficult to see on sunny days, although the PAS level is the easiest to read on it. I think it's far worse than the online reviews that tend to give it a pass and say, "it's a little hard to read."  It's nearly impossible to read at times, and the battery indicator might as well not be there, it's so hard to see.

•There's a company (probably more than one) making AirTag holders for either under the seat or under a water bottle cage, easily found on Amazon. I have one, and luckily never needed it. (Knock on wood). It's fairly well concealed and offers a bit peace of mind.

•I do have the abus frame lock, and the accessory chain, but I would be nervous if it were locked up out of my direct line if sight for more than a couple minutes. The Rad City draws a LOT of attention. (I've added an abus folding lock, too. I'm paranoid.)

It really is a delight to ride, and you've done well to put your finger of some points that might be areas of concern.

I would make sure your insurance covers it, too.


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Quote from: Eric7 on March 06, 2022, 12:31:10 PM


I understand what Rad is saying but I think it is wrong and it is just some fancy way of saying the gauge cannot be relied upon for range.  If it is not range, what is the gauge measuring?  How can it be useful for the average ebiker? 

Any battery gauge with 5 bars will have to make some interpretation as to what constitutes a bar.  I think the bars should be proportional to the amount of work the battery can still do. To put it another way, the bars should represent the remaining distance or range.  This is what the public is used to in a gas gauge.  The public, used to gas gauges, will understand this.  I know about voltage sag.  If there is voltage sag in the system, the gauge should show an even lower percentage so the user will not be stuck.  The power meter is not a voltage meter - otherwise, just call it a voltage meter and make no reference to "battery gauge."

If we use any other type of standard, my question is, what does 50% mean?  50% of what? Alternative question: 4/5 bars of what? 3/5 bars of what? 2/5 bars of what? 1/5 bars of what?

The simplest way to visualize this is that a user should be able to drive away from home on flat ground until the battery is 50%.  Then the user should be able to turn around and drive the ebike back home, using roughly the same battery assistance and under roughly the same conditions (flat ground in this hypothetical), and be able to reach home.  Any gauge that cannot do this is inaccurate and useless in my mind. 

In fact, in a car, there is reserved capacity.  In any modern car, I can drive away from home until there is 50%, drive home, and still have some in reserve for another 10% of driving range.

I think most (probably all) modern ebikes have inaccurate meters that exaggerates range for sales purposes.  I do not single out Rad.  Everybody does it.

Thank you for that!

That is EXACTLY right, a gauge that tells you nothing useful may actually be harmful.

The gauge may be technically correct, but it is not communicating information that is particularly clear or useful to the rider.

Obviously, there are a LOT of other factors, like grade, PAS level, wind speed and direction that make it difficult to judge range, but that's actually true with a car, too.

The rider should not need to memorize the hockey-stick shaped output curve of a lithium ion battery and then apply that to the information presented to have a reasonable estimate of remaining ride time/distance available.

The simple fact is, if I ride out in ideal conditions, on flat ground, with no wind until the battery gauge reads 50%, I should have a reasonable expectation (NOT A GUARANTEE) of being able to turn around a get home.

As the gauge stands, this is not even close to true.  Maybe a charge indicator isn't even what we need?

They're monitoring motor output, battery output, distance, time, etc.  perhaps something a little more interpretive is what's needed?

My Toyota estimates the range I have remaining to the nearest gas station, it's not perfect, but it's close, and it's helpful, and it updates based on current driving conditions.

This is not an insurmountable programming problem.

This is especially true since the two gauges don't even match!  Have the true battery gauge on the battery, and something more helpful on the head unit.

(Then, all they'd need to do is make the left-hand readout ACTUALLY readable on clear days in sunlight.)


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I've only had my RadCity 5 for a few weeks, and, on just a couple of occasions ridden it almost dry.  Those rides have been about 50-55km, on mostly flat, city riding in Phoenix, AZ, with little or no wind.)

I've noticed a couple odd things and want to see if this is anyone else's experience.

• (It's been mentioned elsewhere) The battery gauge on the battery and the one on the handlebars often don't match, with the handlebar gauge being 1-2 bars lower than the indicator on the battery - until it gets to about 50%, then they seem to sync up all the time.
• The battery drain seems to be exponential.  For example, the first 15-20km only uses 10% (90% full).  By the time I'm at 30km the battery reads about 70% full.  Based on that, I would expect to be getting closer to 90km range, nonetheless, by the time I hit 50km, the battery is on it's last bar. (Note: I'm using the readings from the battery rather than from the handlebars, since... I don't know... that one should be more accurate?)

Any idea if this is typical or is this a service issue I need to take up with Rad?

Quote from: jcvdd on March 02, 2022, 07:13:50 AM
Greetings -
On my new RadRover 6 Plus my handlebar display indicates 8 bars of power available
and on the battery display it indicates 6 bars of power available.
Which one is correct and is this an item of concern? Thanks

I was about to post about battery issues - that's one of them. My RC5+ starts off very quickly diverging between the display and the battery LEDs, but as it gets lower (down to about 5 or 6) they finally seem to match up.


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Like another poster here, I too topped out at 6'3" and am now in decline at 6'2". My RC5+ fits darned near perfectly without hitting minimum insertion on the seat post.

I think it's good to remember that the sizing of a bike/seat height isn't about the rider's height, but about their inseam length. 


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Quote from: wlfarrell on January 10, 2022, 04:38:44 AM
I bought the Topeake rear rack adapter (the metal one, found on Amazon) and then I can switch between my Topeake bag or the Topeake rear basket.  Works perfectly.

This sounded like a perfect solution for me, but I'll be darned if I can find it on Amazon. Can't find it on Topeak, either.  Topeak does list the Omni Quicktrack Adaptor, but that appears to be plastic.  (I'm guessing not the same as what you found since you specified metal.)

I'd settle for the plastic one, but cannot find that one anywhere to order, either.