New member looking at buying their first Rad bike.

[RussK]

Hello. First time poster.

I've been shopping for an E-bike for the last couple of months. Unfortunately I live outside Syracuse, NY and there are not a lot of options.

I think I have narrowed it down to two companies. Rad Power Bikes and EG Bikes.

I really like the Mission and the Rover. If I went with the Rover I would want to strip it down to the basic bike, like lose the fenders, lights, no basket or anything like that, and go down to a 2.5 inch tire.

The Mission would basically work as is but I'd like to take it in a gravel bike direction.

My riding time is divided between light trails riding, nothing extreme, and urban and bike paths. My ideal bike would be an E-gravel bike. The currently existing ones however are way out of my price range. I went so far as sending a message to Rad asking if they've considered making one.

My questions are has any tried turning the Rover into more of a regular mountain bike for light trail or single track?

How hard are they to assemble? Has anyone got one on the East Coast?

And accessories. What are you guys doing for pedal clips or clipless pedals even?

And just any opinions on the Mission and Rover?

Thanks from the new kid.

[wkindred]

Hello. First time poster.

I've been shopping for an E-bike for the last couple of months. Unfortunately I live outside Syracuse, NY and there are not a lot of options.

I think I have narrowed it down to two companies. Rad Power Bikes and EG Bikes.

I really like the Mission and the Rover. If I went with the Rover I would want to strip it down to the basic bike, like lose the fenders, lights, no basket or anything like that, and go down to a 2.5 inch tire.

The Mission would basically work as is but I'd like to take it in a gravel bike direction.

My riding time is divided between light trails riding, nothing extreme, and urban and bike paths. My ideal bike would be an E-gravel bike. The currently existing ones however are way out of my price range. I went so far as sending a message to Rad asking if they've considered making one.

My questions are has any tried turning the Rover into more of a regular mountain bike for light trail or single track?

How hard are they to assemble? Has anyone got one on the East Coast?

And accessories. What are you guys doing for pedal clips or clipless pedals even?

And just any opinions on the Mission and Rover?

Thanks from the new kid.

rad rover assembly video -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGALpCB49qM

rad mission assembly video -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQdvs955Q1g


pedal clip-related threads from this forum -

https://www.radowners.com/index.php?topic=280.msg1229#msg1229

https://www.radowners.com/index.php?topic=982.msg4952#msg4952

[RussK]

Thank you. I had seen those. Was hoping for a little more information. Maybe some comments from people who have assembled and maintained their own Rad bike for awhile.

My general take away from searching for more information on clips and pedals with E-bikes is that most people don't bother. Was hoping since this is the big Rad forum there would be more people who have gone that route.

[FortunatelyTheMilk]

I don't think I've seen a Rad Gravel build yet. That said, I think starting with the Mission (it's half the weight of the River) and adding drop bars and gravel tyres would be a better option.

Micah Toll kinda did some gravel riding on a mission here:
https://electrek.co/2021/04/01/i-took-the-ultra-affordable-radmission-electric-bike-off-roading-heres-how-it-went/


They only complication O can think of  (compared to converting a regular flat bar bike to drop bars) is that the braking on an ebike  also cuts power to the motor, so installing standard road bike brake levers might now work.

For pedals, the Rads use a standard pedal fitting, so any pedal should work. I've a pair of MTB flat pedals on mine.

Assembly is a piece of cake, I bolted my Rad together on a couple of hours, with an awful hangover.

[FortunatelyTheMilk]

Regarding long term maintenance, they're pretty easy to maintain. Keep air in the tyres, clean the chain semi regularly, and adjust the tension on the brakes occasionally. I went throu a set of rear pads in a year's riding, I've about 2500km on mine (1500miles)

I've had one puncture from a really sharp gravel shard.

[RussK]

Thanks for the response. Good to hear assembly is easy. I did find a couple of places near me that would build it. They've never built a Rad bike before though.

Thinking the only two mods I would do would be pedals and a front suspension fork.

Still waiting to hear back from Rad.

[FortunatelyTheMilk]

There's not a lot to assemble tbh, just attach the front wheel (it's quick release), adjust the handlebars, and run through the checks in the video. I think I spent more time bolting on the accessories than I did building the bike itself!

[Bert-63]

Hello. First time poster.

I've been shopping for an E-bike for the last couple of months. Unfortunately I live outside Syracuse, NY and there are not a lot of options.

I think I have narrowed it down to two companies. Rad Power Bikes and EG Bikes.

I really like the Mission and the Rover. If I went with the Rover I would want to strip it down to the basic bike, like lose the fenders, lights, no basket or anything like that, and go down to a 2.5 inch tire.

The Mission would basically work as is but I'd like to take it in a gravel bike direction.

My riding time is divided between light trails riding, nothing extreme, and urban and bike paths. My ideal bike would be an E-gravel bike. The currently existing ones however are way out of my price range. I went so far as sending a message to Rad asking if they've considered making one.

My questions are has any tried turning the Rover into more of a regular mountain bike for light trail or single track?

How hard are they to assemble? Has anyone got one on the East Coast?

And accessories. What are you guys doing for pedal clips or clipless pedals even?

And just any opinions on the Mission and Rover?

Thanks from the new kid.

Here's my take after working with two Rovers and a Wagon.

- Stripping the Rover down would be simple but you wouldn't save a ton of weight.  It's a big beast.  Period.

- If you've ever worked with bikes at all the assembly for any of these bikes is simple.  Even if you haven't worked with bikes, it's simple.  All the work is done - you just add a thing or two and you're done.

- You can put any pedal you want on any of these bikes.  Nothing proprietary here.

- Love the Wagon and the Rover.  They are entry level but have decent components and a large community (relative).  They are heavy, but none of these type bikes are light.  They hold up well and are easy to work on.  They are worth the price IMO.