First impressions: Rad Rover step-thru 2 days

[1Eye]

We finally got one of our bikes. Of course, it was the wife's 

The shipping box was almost in pristine condition which blew my mind considering I live in central PA. I had watched countless hours of YouTube videos on these bikes and cringed at the shape of some of the shipping boxes. After opening the box, the top of the handlebar neck had pushed through the interior lid. The only damage at all oddly enough was a chunk of plastic out of the top, back of the headlight. It's odd because the light is in a bag and in a separate box. The piece was not in the bag so it had to be that way when they put it in the bag. Honestly, I could care less given the distance, and if that's all there was I felt lucky.

There really is minimal assembly needed and I watched the rad video as I did it just to be sure I didn't do anything out of order. Took about an hour and really that was mostly me taking pictures of everything since I may have had to repack it if the wife didn't like it.

You can be like me and have watched hours and hours of videos of these bikes but I can tell you that you really cannot appreciate how much of a beast these things are. The fat tires are massive! My wife was already apprehensive about the size of these bikes and her first words when she saw it was "oh, hell no" LOL! I will also say they are heavy. I was able to lift it up and put in the back of my truck but my wife would never be able to do that so we will need a lower rack. I have an old tray-type rack but the bike is just too long for it.

We really went back and forth at the beginning on whether to get her the mini or not. We are both 5'5". Any shorties out there wondering what to do, let me assure you that you will be fine on this bike. I have the seat at it's lowest position and I can sit on the seat and touch the ground on my tippy toes. Not bad but I wasn't worried about it since I never just sit on the seat with both feet on the ground anyways. I always have one foot on the pedals and lean the bike over slightly so my opposite foot is on the ground.

There are probably a lot of guys out there cough "you got a girls bike" cough but let me tell you something. I just turned 50 and am 5'5" tall. My knees are shot and it seems like the simple act of reaching into the back of my truck induces hours long excruciating muscle cramps in my shoulders. Yes, I am out of shape. The fact of the matter is I just didn't want to have to do the hop/jump maneuver to get my leg over the ball crusher bar. Speaking of the birth control bar, I don't miss it one iota!

These bikes are a BLAST! My wife is(was) kinda, afraid of it. The first ride for her took me back to when I taught our daughter to ride. There were almost tears, a lot of encouragement like "that's it, you got it. Look how much of a big girl you are" the only difference between my wife and daughter was the swearing and threats of violence.

I rode it for about a mile initially and my first thought was, we need old people seats. I then later that evening I rode it for 8 miles and then to work the next day and that confirmed that yes we need old people seats. There is a certain area between a man's legs that really does not do well with chaffing and rough treatment. If I ordered it months ago I could have forgone some of my medical exams that you get when you turn 50.

I also noticed that my fingers hurt and my wife had the same thing. Might have been the death grips we had on the handlebars as we rocketed down the street at 20mph. When you haven't ridden for years having a bike that goes 20 mph takes a bit to get use to before you get over the need to peel your fingers off the leather grips when you get done.

You need at least one mirror on these. Trying to look over your shoulder to see if there is a car coming is a recipe for disaster. It's amazing that when you pull this maneuver you almost always drift towards the way you're looking which is dangerous. I ordered the Hafny 2019 New Handlebar Bike Mirror, HD,Blast-Resistant, Glass Lens, HF-MR088LS (Anti-Glare Blue Left) two days ago and it came today. I have not installed it but one thing I was looking for something to hang under the handlebar as others have reported that your forearm blocks some of the mirror and I didn't want one of the end bar mirrors. I know that it would take me 5 minutes to snap that thing off whenever there is a tight path. The great thing about this one is that you can mount it either way since the mirror rotates 365 degrees.

You need a rack. Unless you are one of those people that likes to wear a backpack all the time. You need a lock. I live in small-town rural PA but I still wouldn't trust that someone wouldn't take off with it. These bikes are expensive and the prevalence of ebikes has made the more unsavory among us hip to that fact. You need insurance. I'm not sure if I can cover them under our homeowners or if I need separate bike-specific insurance. Unless you have lots of extra cash then, carry on. I got a cell phone holder, the one on the rad accessories list but got it from Amazon for a few bucks cheaper. I haven't mounted it yet but it is all metal and feels very secure. We need to figure out a hydration holding system. There are two mounting screws on the down tube for this but it is much tighter between the nose of the seat and the down tube. If you're packing a beer gut it's already tight so putting a bottle hanger on there would defeat the purpose of the step-thru.

Since I plan to ride this beast to work and since I have to be to work at 6 am I got a wheel light. I only got one and I will put it on and report back when I get my bike.

They take up some room in the garage so be prepared. These are not your old human-powered peddle bikes. Have I mentioned they are a beast? They are.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. Cheers!

[1Eye]

Installed the mirror and cellphone holder.

I tried the mirror upside down like some suggested but no go on that. While it is true that some of you forearm is in the mirror it's not that hard to just tilt your are for a little more view.

The size and shape of the handlebars make it tough to mount the cellphone holder. There just isn't enough horizontal bar so the cell is cocked to the right slightly. Not a big deal at all for me. I couldn't really find any good way to mount it so the phone is in landscape mode but didn't try real hard either. 

[FormerBiker]

I got the cell holder like the one RAD sells but were out of stock.  Amazon had it for the same price. Mounting on the left side of the bar in the portrait position, it blocks the view of the mode and assist switches but is high enough I can reach them w/o any problem.

I have almost 70 miles on my Rover already and love it.

[Jimcap]

My handlebars were getting crowded, so i went for this for my phone. Very happy with it.

https://amzn.to/3828zD5

[jshill]

Hi 1Eye - I'm happy to hear your report. Let me offer you a few comments. For your wife - start in PAS 2 to make everything EASY as she adjusts. It will NOT run away at that assist level. You might also have her use the throttle a bit to work an adjusting to BALANCE and the size of the thing (I called my Rover "Godzilla). If she doesn't adjust to the thing, sell it and get her a Mini step-thru. If your fingers hurt on a Rover, I would BET it is because of tense hands. Once you have a lighter grip, the bike's grips are quite comfortable. "Light hands, heavy legs", as the saying goes. Take some easy practice rides to practice keeping your hands relaxed.

If you ride at night, FORGET the Rad light and buy a higher powered rechargeable headlight. I don't even use my Mini's lights any more. If you and she are going to ride together, it would be advantageous to have mirrors on BOTH sides. When your "wingman" is behind you on the right side, you want to be able to see them!

Best of luck, and HAVE FUN.

[Ryan]

1Eye - I finally got around to reading this but it is really nice to have a different perspective on these bikes. I bet many will appreciate your report so thank you!

A Cloud-9 or some other comparable seat PLUS a suspension seatpost will do wonders. I just got the Suntour one listed on my accessories list. Though of course it is on my RadWagon which has recently turned into my wife's bike as of two weeks ago once we received our second ebike. She has allowed me to test it out and maybe she will let me do a video review in the next couple of weeks 

[1Eye]

Thanks jimcap, Jshill, and Ryan for the information.

I'm happy to report that the wife loves her bike now. It took my sister taking her on a ride for her to realize that these things are awesome!!

Sadly, I'm still waiting on mine.

She calls it her e-hog  maybe we'll get tee shirts with Hehog and Shehog on them LOL!!