Tire and Brake Pad Replacement

[jackkpts]

Picking up a new to me RadRunner + on Saturday. Approximately how many miles does one get on a set of tires and brake pads?

[santacruzpaul]

I got 1500 miles on the back tire and front brakes on my Radrover 5, I know, Yours is a whole different animal, I have heard from Rad owners, That all models eat brake pads, Maybe it is because of some hilly area's here in Santa Cruz Ca.

[CostaMoses]

I'd be curious to hear other's experiences, too.

Just went from a Radwagon with regen braking, to a RadRunner+ this week.

[handlebar]

Picking up a new to me RadRunner + on Saturday. Approximately how many miles does one get on a set of tires and brake pads?

My Radrunner tires are fine after 2,000 miles.

I use my brakes together, but a few months ago, my rear brake failed. The front still works like new, and there's not enough pad wear to notice.

I'd left the calipers alone because I didn't understand Radpower's instructions. I looked at the rear pads and found that the caliper must have come from the factory askew. When I installed new pads, I discovered that adjustment is quick and simple. I made sure the cable adjustment would allow the lever on the caliper to open to the stop. I loosened the mounting screws a little so that the caliper could slide but not wobble. Reaching through the spokes with an Allen bit, I tightened the inner pad until the caliper clamped the rotor. Then I loosened it a couple of clicks, until the wheel turned freely.

I tried the brake lever on the handlebar and tightened the cable if necessary. Then I locked the brake by using a clove hitch to pull the lever toward the handlebar. This centered and aligned the caliper. I tightened the caliper mounting screws and untied the lever.

Here are the pads I bought.
https://amzn.to/3PGgxHm

You can choose from five pad materials. I chose resin. It's supposed to be the quietest, but it's noisier than the OEM pads on the front. It sounds like dragging a cardboard box. In case the pads were dirty, I removed and cleaned them. Removal, reinstallation, and readjustment were a snap but for one thing. The cotter pin supplied with the pads is made of hard, heavy-gauge stainless steel. It was hard to unbend for withdrawal and harder to straighten enough to reinsert. What were they thinking!

The rear brake had always felt spongy and the cable had always creaked. I replaced the cable and housing. The creak was gone, but it was spongier than ever. It occurred to me that the front wasn't spongy because the cable had a relatively straight path and was much shorter. A cable housing is a spring whose turns separate to flex. The new housing had come in a 4" roll, so straightening would cause little gaps between turns. Unlike the front cable, it had to curve to reach the down tube, then make three S curves: entering the tube, exiting the tube, and at the caliper.

When I wasn't riding, I would leave the lever tied tightly to the hand grip to keep strong tension on the cable, which would compress the housing spring in curves. I switched off the battery to avoid draining it through the brake light. It made a big difference. The cable adjuster on the caliper had been screwed in most of the way. After 24 hours, I had to screw it out to the max, so the housing had shortened a lot. The response is much firmer, almost like the front. I'll continue switching off the battery and tying the lever to see of I can get more improvement.