Radwagon, replace wheel to hold more weight?

[radwagonmama]

Hi there!
I love my radwagon, but my daughter is getting heavier and to carry her and one of her friends, it's over 120lbs. I could get a pricey yuba, etc, so that I could get more weight on the back without the spokeds doing that clicking thing.... but I don't want to. What can I do? Could I get a higher quality rim and spokes. Would this help? I'd like to be able to carry up to 180-200lbs on the back. Any suggestions? I've tightened the spokes in the past and it helps for 50-100 miles and then it's back to clicking even with just 80lbs on the back.
Got advice for me?
Thanks so much!

[Ryan]

In theory the new RadWagon 4 should be a bit more sturdy since the wheels are smaller. Beyond that I can't think of an economical solution and I'm not even sure where you'd be able to get someone to build you a custom wheel. I did a quick search and I didn't find a wheel where the spokes were larger than 12 gauge.

[radwagonmama]

But the new radwagon still says the carry load for the back is 120lbs. Why can other brands carry so much more on the back? The tern can carry 400lbs between the front and back. Whats up with the radwagon that it can't do it without the spokes crackling?

[Ryan]

But the new radwagon still says the carry load for the back is 120lbs. Why can other brands carry so much more on the back? The tern can carry 400lbs between the front and back. Whats up with the radwagon that it can't do it without the spokes crackling?

Good question for Rad. Having not seen a Tern in person I can't speak to what makes it so strong. Maybe check out the YouTube reviews on Electric Bike Review and see if it is mentioned.

[ejonesss]

bikes like other products  are usually tested to failure and the max specs are usually set low enough to give a very good safety margin.

however there is a point when you start overloading the bike you should get some kind of warning of overload like for example you will get the unstable feeling you get when the tires get low or you are riding in and out of ruts in the road.

i should know because i power my radwagon from chevy volt battery module and i recycle scrap metal and i picked up a window air conditioner and dehumidifier and had them on the rear rack and when i would start off i got that same unstable feeling so i had to ride slowly and carefully home and once the load was removed the handling went back to normal.

you may be able to get more weight on if you add more air to the tires but i have not tried it so i am not sure if that would help so a warning i would not recommend you trying it unless you are prepared to stop immediately and remove the extra weight and i would not recommend going very fast either as it could be a safety issue.