RAD RIP OFF

[suspci]

I had my Rad City 5 controller die just before the warranty expired, it was replaced by a Rad store. The controller is dying 5 months later and Rad claim there is no warranty for the replacement product or the work they carried out!

What absolute bullshit. I have opened a BBB ticket and will never buy another product from this shower of shit

[JimInPT]

It sure seems Rad is burning up their inventory of goodwill earned over previous years.  I bet their investors who got in on the last round a couple years ago ($150M, IIRC) are not happy and are squeezing them.

If your problem is limited to the controller, I'd suggest buying (if available for the City 5) a controller/display upgrade from either Area13 or Electro Bike World; I bought my 35A MiniST controller from Area13 and it's amazing - both companies sell essentially the same product, but I have no customer experience with EBW, although it seems they're the first to make these controllers available for the Rover 6+.

If all you need is a controller, and one of these is available for your bike, you'll like it a lot.

[suspci]

The bike is okay, I'm loathe to put more money in to it. I have had lots of issues with the brakes and controller, numerous arguements with their support team and I've now reported them twice to the BBB.

I have it booked in for a service at a Rad store at the end of the month. I am probably going to give them another chance to fix it under warranty.

Is this the controller to which you refer and did you use the screen or the original Rad one?
https://area13ebikes.com/products/radkit

[Jay West]

This is the one you need for the Rad City 5 Plus.
https://electrobikeworld.com/products/rad-power-6-upgrade-kit. 

[JimInPT]

Is this the controller to which you refer and did you use the screen or the original Rad one?
https://area13ebikes.com/products/radkit

Yep, that's it.  I see Area13 has finally elaborated on compatibility notes, which is a good thing; I had to verify with other users that it would work on my bike because in Fall 2021 the product listing was unclear.  Plug-and-play and fits fine with heavy-duty zipties and velcro to secure it to the bike in place of the original, although one of the cables is short for the MiniST2 - it's long enough, but just barely.  Amazing boost to performance and after a couple hundred miles completely reliable.  A version for your bike would have different cabling, of course.

You can't use the factory displays with these controller upgrades (although the cables/connectors are the same), so make sure if you order one that you get the full kit with display included.  It's a very nice and functional color display and there are new features like cruise control and a trip odometer that doesn't clear itself if the display times out and shuts off.  That always pissed me off with the original setup.

Note that the new controller's main odometer will start at zero of course, and you can't modify that, so if you care about total mileage on the bike after a controller swap, make note of the mileage before disconnecting the old one.

[SemperVee]

Thanks for the good info Jim.  I am not far away south of you..  I imagine this is the upgrade path I will travel one day and bigger chain ring! 
As an aside I get asked about my RAD often,  but now consider Lectric bikes as better value alternative Lectric 3.0 when it comes to a folding mini.  Just Sayin..

[cssshb]

This is the one you need for the Rad City 5 Plus.
https://electrobikeworld.com/products/rad-power-6-upgrade-kit.

Will this work with the RadCity 5 Plus *Step-Thru* model?