How to ride, shift, etc

[stevenn]

Hi everyone.  Glad I found this spot.  I bought a 2018 Radwagon in October 2018 but just now getting the weather to ride it.  My second day of riding; I put two miles on it .  But I was wondering about shifting.  How do you use the gear shifters?  There's two'of'em and I'm not sure how to use them.  Are you constantly shifting?  Or do you set it and forget?  Any other advice for a new e-bike rider (and bike for that matter), is appreciated.  Thanks...stevenn

[Ryan]

Hey Stevenn, thanks for joining us. We too have a 2018 Rad Wagon and I think a lot depends on the individual. For us when there is only one of us on it we typically keep it in the third chainring up front and max it out in the back as well (hardest to pedal). Then we use pedal assist 2/3 which allows us to get up to 20 mph pretty easily. On hills try just adjusting the rear shifter if possible and increase to pedal assist 3 (this should keep it under 500 watts which is recommended when going up long hills, use throttle for an additional quick boost if needed). When you're pulling a load, like a kid, another adult or groceries we still keep it in the third chain ring in the front but adjust the rear, still in pedal assist 2 or 3 on flatter roads. We're 29/30 years old, are quite active and enjoy putting a bit more effort in though. Generally though we do tend to not touch the shifters very much unless we need to. For instance, I'm ok with a slow start at a red light being in a higher gear but you may be more comfortable in down shifting. Ultimately I think whatever works best for you and I'm sure you'll get a feel for it as you put on more miles. Rad on!

[stevenn]

Thanks Ryan...this is helpful.  I wasn't really sure where to start basing my normal riding configuration from.  I'm newly retired and looking forward to spending some sunny mornings/afternoons riding the numerous bike trails around the city where I live (Sacramento area).  It was a very pleasant experience the other day when I did a two-mile trail, through a park and protected green space; I could just feel the stress of decades of working just melting away. Now, if I could just figure out how to secure my bike when at the grocery store.

[Ryan]

Firstly, huge congrats on your retirement and good for you for making it an active one by still riding.

We've been using this utility lock linked below for our Rad Power Bikes Rad Wagon but just keep in mind we don't live in a city where bike theft is common. When you start going down the rabbit hole of researching locks it becomes overwhelming since I believe there is no perfect lock. The only way to never have to worry about theft of your ebike is going with a service like Velosurance to insure the bike. Downsides are that this lock takes up some space and is moderately heavy. It is better than a cable lock though and I think is a good value for the price. For a grocery store runs where there are lots of people it is more than adequate in my opinion. The below link to it is an affiliate link so if you end up buying it the site gets a small commission which helps with my website hosting fees.

https://amzn.to/2XwwW5m


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk