RadWagon 4 Tire/Tube Issue Clarification

[nllanos87]

Hey there everyone, first time posting as a RW4 owner for the last month or so. Needless to say I'm bummed about the news...

I wanted to clarify something, reading through the email I received today I'm under the impression that there are TWO issues to note.

From the email:

"Dear Nicolas
Thank you for choosing to ride Rad. We are so happy to have you as a part of our amazing community of ebike advocates. We?re sorry to interrupt your ride, but we have an important update about your ebike.

Last week we sent a notice to customers who recently purchased a RadWagon 4 ebike on or after June 1, 2022. Out of an abundance of caution, we asked them to stop riding while we investigated a potential assembly issue where the rim strip may be misaligned on some RadWagon 4 ebikes. This misalignment could cause the tube to pop early and damage the tire.

After further investigation, we identified another tire quality issue on some RadWagon 4 ebikes purchased which may lead to an increased risk of flats. Depending on the results of the inspection we ask you to conduct below, your RadWagon 4 may require replacement parts before it is safe to ride the bike again. We will be providing complimentary parts and service by a local ebike mechanic to repair both issues."

So for those of you who are choosing to follow the steps laid out by RP, it seems that for now every bike has a possible rim strip issue AND a sub-set of those bikes may also have a tire issue.

Please comment/clarify if anyone has heard differently through customer services (I haven't bothered to call-in yet, didn't seem to be much reason...)

[jbroehl]

Two general replies to your post and this issue in general:

1) It's still not very clear to me from the guidance issued today by Rad whether if I have the tires affected or not. Other owners could wonder the same. The "good and bad" graphic they provided (included here) says to look for a smooth sidewall or a ribbed one. What if the sidewall has both? Mine is around 90% smooth with 10% ribbed. That means it's probably the "bad" ones. But the guidance photo from Rad implies a much bigger area that's ribbed. I bought mine on June 4 so I'm over 3 months in. I might be in the clear if it hasn't popped yet. But it still might be the "bad" tires.

2) Bigger picture: this inspection and repair is probably going to be a big hassle for everyone who plans to do it. My guess is that the urgency expressed by Rad is probably mostly CYA (Cover Your A$$) to show they made every effort to resolve/repair it up to safe standards to avoid legal exposure. I could be wrong but doesn't it seem like most flats would not occur instantly, which would be dangerous. Most tube pops occur as consistent but slow leaks that would not be so sudden and dangerous. I don't know. What do others think? Have most of these flats been sudden while riding and therefore dangerous? I do cart kids around so a lot rides on this.

[RadMig]

Your tires have The ridges around the outside of the sidewall you have to follow through with their instructions. It says in the response if you have to smooth side walls you can begin riding again and it's a non-issue that's how I read it and you didn't post the whole notice in this blog it clearly says if you have a smooth side wall there are no known issues and to begin riding the bike again however after calling customer service I was able to find out that they are accepting returns if need be for this issue.from the email;..if your tire is identified in Figure 1 with a Smooth sidewall, as indicated by the Green Check Mark, your RadWagon 4 is not affected by this notice. You can continue riding your RadWagon 4 ebike. I'm going to ride but my local bike mechanic will inspect the inner strip on the inside of the rim for me for $12 a tire. I'll probably let them do a tune up too and then I'm riding

[RadMig]

Rad's resource: https://radpowerbikes.pxf.io/Kj1Xev

[Ddaybc]

I agree with Radmig. If one has the ribs on their tires then do as Rad suggests. If one has a smooth sidewall then ride. It seemed pretty clear to me but if I had any ribs on the sidewall I wouldn't take the chance.
It has been good of Rad to come up with a reasonable solution in a short amount of time. Those who are affected are going to need to be patient. Supply chain issues etc.

[RadMig]

TY Ddaybc..

[nllanos87]

Two general replies to your post and this issue in general:

1) It's still not very clear to me from the guidance issued today by Rad whether if I have the tires affected or not. Other owners could wonder the same. The "good and bad" graphic they provided (included here) says to look for a smooth sidewall or a ribbed one. What if the sidewall has both? Mine is around 90% smooth with 10% ribbed. That means it's probably the "bad" ones. But the guidance photo from Rad implies a much bigger area that's ribbed. I bought mine on June 4 so I'm over 3 months in. I might be in the clear if it hasn't popped yet. But it still might be the "bad" tires.

2) Bigger picture: this inspection and repair is probably going to be a big hassle for everyone who plans to do it. My guess is that the urgency expressed by Rad is probably mostly CYA (Cover Your A$$) to show they made every effort to resolve/repair it up to safe standards to avoid legal exposure. I could be wrong but doesn't it seem like most flats would not occur instantly, which would be dangerous. Most tube pops occur as consistent but slow leaks that would not be so sudden and dangerous. I don't know. What do others think? Have most of these flats been sudden while riding and therefore dangerous? I do cart kids around so a lot rides on this.

Thank you for this reply, and for pointing out the issue in regards to the emailed diagram/figure and the actual look/appearance of the tire. I have the same tire as you, and wondered if it was ribbed or not due to the discrepancy in represented scale of the ribbed area. As it turns out, there are actual images of the tire side-walls posted on some of their website information, but it seems theres a good amount of variance in the "height" of the ribs.

On the second topic you mentioned, I found earlier that some of the posts in the RadWagon directory of this forum contain stories and experiences of those who had failures of either the tubes or tires. Look at the posts discussing different tube and tire options (to avoid paying the premium through RadPower) its interesting as some of the folks mention the reason they are looking for tubes or tires is due to a failure. As you said, little ones (my kids) are on this bike most often with me, and having a flat, at speed, with a loaded rear gives me some anxiety for sure...

Not sure what to say other than I guess I'm going to be waiting this out. I really don't want to return this thing, as during the few weeks I had with it before the notice, it was such a joyful addition to my life.

[cgoldin]

 I have an affected RW4, about 6 weeks ago my RW4 front tube exploded while I was dropping off my 4 year old at summer camp with less than 20 miles on the bike. Scared a bunch of kids but was luckily not riding it. After that the tire would slip off the rim almost immediately once you start riding and soon explode(photo attached pre-explosion for your viewing pleasure). I called rad after going through 3 tubes and they sent me a new tire, which has worked, but my rear wheel still has a ribbed tire so now Im stuck. Anyway, the exploding tire is not fun, to anyone that has an affected bike I do not recommend riding it until you get a replacement.

[nllanos87]

I have an affected RW4, about 6 weeks ago my RW4 front tube exploded while I was dropping off my 4 year old at summer camp with less than 20 miles on the bike. Scared a bunch of kids but was luckily not riding it. After that the tire would slip off the rim almost immediately once you start riding and soon explode(photo attached pre-explosion for your viewing pleasure). I called rad after going through 3 tubes and they sent me a new tire, which has worked, but my rear wheel still has a ribbed tire so now Im stuck. Anyway, the exploding tire is not fun, to anyone that has an affected bike I do not recommend riding it until you get a replacement.

Holy crap, thats scary! Thank you for sharing the experience. I am now just waiting patiently I guess, with a nice orange bike sitting in the garage waiting to see the sunlight again!