Tire fell off while riding downhill

[megsallans]

Has anyone else had this happen? I was riding my RadRunner Plus yesterday (I've owned it since June and have about 200 miles on it) and I was coming down a hill, no power being used, and my tire literally just fell off! I've sustained multiple injuries and broke my helmet, as the impact was so hard. I'm not sure if this is a manufacturing issue or an assembly issue? My brother, who is in the ebike business, encouraged me to get ALEOED 2 pcs bicycle hub safety washers, but if I need these why does the bike not come with them? Hoping to get some answers, as now I'm scared that this will happen again.

[FortunatelyTheMilk]

I'm guessing the whole wheel came off?
There's a knack to getting the tension right on the Quick release hubs, tighten the nut so that when you press the qr lever to close it, it leaves a print on the Palm of your hand.

[DCH3416]

Never dropped the front wheel. But once I could feel it a little loose once day after moving it in my car. Usually try and pop a wheelie a little bit to see if the wheel slides around (not recommended).

[RadJohn]

From the information provided in the OP it's difficult to give a specific response:

1) Did a tire or a whole wheel fall off?

2) Was it the front or the rear?

The main reason for tires "falling off" is low air pressure from a puncture or blowout (been there done that, hurts, also cracked/buckled helmet(s))

The referenced "Bicycle Fork Safety Retaining Washers" generally come on the front forks of "department store bikes" with bolted thru axles. The tabs are designed to fit into rectangular holes machined above the dropout slots. My Rad forks don't have holes for the tabs, but I don't have a RR+ to look at. To install them on a bike without the required slots would require using something like a Dremel tool to modify your forks, which may weaken them and would certainly void your warranty.

Instead of "Bicycle Fork Safety Retaining Washers", the OEM forks on your Rad use "Lawyer Lips", the raised protrusions at the bottom of the front fork dropout slots, which are much more common these days on higher end bikes/those with quick release (QR) skewers.

[SDrider]

Geez man that sounds absolutely brutal, sorry to hear that happened to you.

I've had a Runner Plus since June as well, also with about 200 miles on it.

No wheel loss but I've definitely noticed a lot of nuts and bolts loosening up quicker than on my "normal" bike.  My reasoning is that I'm riding the RR+ much harder and faster than I could on my non-motorized bikes. After a surfboard rack malfunction, I'm getting in the habit of running a quick diagnostic every few days on all the attachments, etc.

Also been meaning to purchase a torque wrench, which is a tool I never bothered with when working on traditional bikes.

[d0n]

I've worried about this too! I put my bike together and thought how easily the front wheel / axle could come out. It doesn't go through holes, it's simply held in by friction. Kind of scary.

[DocMartin]

This happened to me recently. I was riding downhill on a paved street and a dip in the road caused the front fork to lift right off the wheel. I'm still in recovery after suffering broken bones in my right foot and a lacerated heel. I had to have screws and a plate installed in my foot and still can't walk over two months later. The hard fork is not safe without some kind of safety mechanism on the quick release. I contacted Rad Power Bikes to order a front suspension fork from the Rad Runner Plus but they told me it's not compatible with the Rad Runner. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be compatible based on the photos.

[Courtwest]

I just got home from the er after this happened to me. I was riding downhill and my front tire fell of. My bike is damaged. I'm injured. I don't know if I feel safe riding it even after it is fixed.

[MagnumPA]

How does this keep happening?  Faulty equipment, faulty assembly, the quick release just rattles loose after a few hundred miles, or something else?  I bought my RR+ to haul my 4 year old to school, but now I'm starting to worry as this thread adds new victims...

[DocMartin]

After close inspection, I observed that the quick release skewer snapped at the point where the fork rests on it. I think that the weight of the bike in combination with a hard front fork creates too much force on the skewer. I'm curious if these other cases also involved a broken skewer. You might have to inspect it closely if you were able to recover the skewer.

[Fahrrad]

That's scary as hell. When I was younger I got knocked out when someone removed the skewer on my vintage Mercier road bike, and the wheel came off while I was racing home.

Those original skewers might not be high quality. The first Radrunner that was shipped to me took some hits in transit and the skewer arm had snapped like pot-metal. The bike had other issues such as a bent fork so we sent it back for replacement. As soon as the second one arrived, I put a Pinhead security skewer on the front wheel-- for theft deterrent-- but the way I bomb around the city, hopping curbs, it hasn't given me any issues. I did snug it up at about 70 miles, along with a few other bolts, but there has been very little maintenance in the first ~1100 miles.

[MagnumPA]

Good to know.  Does anyone know what length/diameter the skewer is?  I was looking at replacement options last night after DocMartins's reply, seems like we should upgrade ASAP. 

[Veggyhed]

That's scary as hell. When I was younger I got knocked out when someone removed the skewer on my vintage Mercier road bike, and the wheel came off while I was racing home.

Those original skewers might not be high quality. The first Radrunner that was shipped to me took some hits in transit and the skewer arm had snapped like pot-metal. The bike had other issues such as a bent fork so we sent it back for replacement. As soon as the second one arrived, I put a Pinhead security skewer on the front wheel-- for theft deterrent-- but the way I bomb around the city, hopping curbs, it hasn't given me any issues. I did snug it up at about 70 miles, along with a few other bolts, but there has been very little maintenance in the first ~1100 miles.

Which pinhead security skewer did you buy for your Red runner Plus? What did you do for the back wheel to secure it?

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

[puddles]

Fitting suspension forks to the radrunner is said to cause wobble at high speed, wondered if a steering damper would stop the wobble like they have on electric scooters if it would fit on the bike

[Fahrrad]

Which pinhead security skewer did you buy for your Red runner Plus? What did you do for the back wheel to secure it?

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk
[/quote]

I bought this road-bike 4 pc set from rei:
https://bit.ly/3Uzkjot

I used the longer skewer on the front wheel, and also secured the headset and seatpost. The rear wheel-- I haven't done any replacements.

For locking in front of my apartment, I always take the battery inside. In the city, I use a Kryptonite Long Shackle New York U-lock through the frame above the battery, which also prevents the battery from being pulled out, and an ABUS Granite 6500 link lock to secure the rear wheel. Sometimes I can get around the rear wheel, within the back triangle of the frame, to a bike rack. Not that a thief couldn't get it, but it would be pretty involved vs walking down the street for an easier target.