What?s going on at Rad???

[lagerloef]

Rad seems very disorganized right now and this may be the reason for their financial issues. Certain departments are the darlings while others like customer support are now being neglected. This points to lack of direction and focus at the top. May not be a solvable problem. I like the bike I bought for my wife and some aspects of the purchase and the product were/are great but others are rookie. Hope they straighten out. They have employees depending on their jobs and customers depending on their bikes.

[suspci]

I opened a ticket on May 11, they got back to me on May 29th. They are also claiming that any service work and parts used are not covered by warranty!

[Robin3654]

I purchased two Rad bikes and live in Pennsylvania. I am finding out that this was a mistake. Their customer support is non existent. I would never recommend that someone purchase a Rad bike.

[JimInPT]

I purchased two Rad bikes and live in Pennsylvania. I am finding out that this was a mistake. Their customer support is non existent. I would never recommend that someone purchase a Rad bike.

Yeah, that sucks; my rare experiences with Rad support when I bought my Mini were just stellar; the service was just amazing.  And now it's gone to crap from what I keep reading, so I don't blame you for being disappointed.  It also seems Rad has its hands full with bad tire and controller batches that caused a lot of problems for recent buyers and likely enormous expenses for Rad.

However, this forum is pretty good and has helped me quite a bit with sometimes esoteric stuff that wouldn't be a Rad support issue, so if you wrote up your problems and posted them in the right forum subsection, you might find answers quickly, depending on what problems you're having.

FWIW, after a little more than 2 years I couldn't be happier with my MiniST2, which has had only minor issues like a front wheel squeak (in that case, the guy who answered the phone walked me through the fix immediately on my cordless phone out in the garage and showed me how to kill the squeak in 5 minutes, staying on the line until he was sure I fixed it and was happy).  I upgraded the controller/display, brakes and accessories to turn it into a very nice little bike.  So don't give up too quickly, but I'm also wary of recommending a purchase to others right now as well, mostly because they dropped the Minis (replacing them with the Expand, which I think is quite inferior to the point of sucking) and seem to have been cost-reducing components.

[SemperVee]

  My customer service like Jims was Fabulous also with 4 RAD bikes and now single and down to one I love my 2021 RAD mini that is no longer made and has 1000 miles on it.    The replacement is so much less than the original.  I suspect some of the customer complaints as I have no direct confirmation of that really is going on and no one i know with a RAD has had a significant problem.  I have found that some people are quite neglectful of basic maintenance, don't know where to put air in their tires nor which end of the screwdriver to use but complain loudly!

[Naranja_CT5+]

@SemperVee
As I waited impatiently for the arrival of my City+. I am glad to hear that. I have been reading a lot here and taking notes of user experiences.

And I?ve wondered if some of the troubles were the result of ?if it ain?t broke, don?t fix? situation.
Secondly, Has anyone done a survey regarding users having controller issues. keeping their bikes stock vs unlocking their speed/watts?

I for one thought I was being cheated by having a 500w motor and still pay the same as the 750w version. Therefore my initial thought was just to unlock as soon as warranty expires. I know better now that it?s not that simple.

My motivation to get an electric bike was to help me on hills. I think I will be content in having a 500w without modifications. Unfortunately I won?t know until I have my bike.

[inoxa]

@Naranja_CT5+

I unlocked my original RAD controller within days of getting my Rover 5.  It adds just a little more.  Within a few months I upgraded my controller and unlocked it.  The upgraded one is what helped the most on hills and some extra speed.  Then I added the motor.  That is what really helped all around.  But as expected it does drain the battery faster. 

As far as your 500 vs a 750, the dealer cost difference was minimal if not the same.  For some reason Canada places the limits, but a regular bicycle can out preform a 500 watt bike.  Many can out preform a 750 RAD stock motor.  It just depends if you want the easy ride of electric bike. 

I am glad I upgraded.  The first day I was like come on. I could tell it wanted to go faster as it would jerk at 20mph to limit the speed. 

I wouldn't be afraid of upgrading.  I have over 6000 miles on my RAD.  1300 on the original motor and the rest on the upgraded motor. 

Good Luck

[SemperVee]

@SemperVee
As I waited impatiently for the arrival of my City+. I am glad to hear that. I have been reading a lot here and taking notes of user experiences.

And I?ve wondered if some of the troubles were the result of ?if it ain?t broke, don?t fix? situation.
Secondly, Has anyone done a survey regarding users having controller issues. keeping their bikes stock vs unlocking their speed/watts?

I for one thought I was being cheated by having a 500w motor and still pay the same as the 750w version. Therefore my initial thought was just to unlock as soon as warranty expires. I know better now that it?s not that simple.

My motivation to get an electric bike was to help me on hills. I think I will be content in having a 500w without modifications. Unfortunately I won?t know until I have my bike.

I unlocked the stock ecm right away.  Other than cosmetics I have been very happy with 20+MPH up and down steep hills...  What a relief to know I don't have to stop weighing my ability to finish the ride back, NOW that I have elec help.  I often ride WITHOUT any motor input or very little PAS but love having the security knowing it is there to help!!

[JimInPT]

Therefore my initial thought was just to unlock as soon as warranty expires. I know better now that it?s not that simple.

My motivation to get an electric bike was to help me on hills. I think I will be content in having a 500w without modifications. Unfortunately I won?t know until I have my bike.

If it works on your bike, the simple unlocking of top speed via a 'secret' menu on the stock controller won't hurt anything, so do that first.  It simply unlocks the bike to achieve the top speed the stock controller/motor can achieve - stock bikes are artificially crippled to whatever top speed some bureaucrat who hasn't been on a bike in 40 years figured was all you could handle.  So, if available, unlock it!  You can always reverse and re-lock if if necessary (like for a new rider or child).

A higher-wattage controller will provide more torque, but not more top speed; Altema here on the forum has demonstrated that stock motors can handle quite a bit - he was unable to burn one out even when trying to kill a spare stock motor with a 1,600w upgrade.    Your City will have larger wheels than my 20" MiniST, which means it requires more torque to have the same hill-climbing ability as mine, so you may find a controller upgrade is worth trying if there's one available for your model. 

My controller upgrade turned my Mini into a real stealthy little pocket-rocket that now easily climbs the two steep hills in town that were impossible previously.  Top wattage I've seen on the display is about 1,575, but it mostly runs in stock ranges of 100-600w or so unless I'm on a steep incline and therefore still gets about the same range on a charge as it did before.  Like SemperVee, I pedal as much as I can for the exercise, but the motor is a big help to an old guy when necessary.