Mission for trails?

[Saluki]

Hi - new to the group, and looking for the right E-bike to get. First, I've been riding - road & trails - for about 20 years. But age is catching up to me ( 70+) and I thought an E-bike would allow me to keep on biking. I've given up on road biking of late, and we have a pretty good network of RR trails to bike here in the Adirondacks. The RR trails are flat - no real hills - but can get muddy, and in winter, snow packed. I've been riding my Kona Caldera MTB with pretty good results on the trails, but thought an E-bike would allow me to explore further with the same effort. I don't care about going fast, just concerned with increasing my distance over what I can manage with the Kona. The bike I'm looking at is the Rad Mission. Looks like a "regular" bike, low stepover, and a reasonable weight (48 lbs) so I expect I can get it into my Nissan Rogue.  On the minus side - singe gear, and max wt listed at 275. I'm a big guy - 260 or so, 6'2". Yikes!  Does that mean the bike will collapse under me if I'm dressed for winter riding? As to the single gear, with the electric power be sufficient to handle the flat RR trails? Or is it possible to modify the Mission's gearing with either a swap of the crank gears to dual or even adding say 7 speed freewheel and derailleur? I have looked at the Rad Rover, but the 70 lb weight is getting a bit much to hump into the back of my Rogue. So, suggestions? Recommendations? Thanks - hope to get the new bike before Christmas :-)

[DCH3416]

I occasionally take my RadCity out onto trails. For dirt and mud I tend to keep my pedal assist in lower settings, and drop down a couple gears (normally I just use 7th all the time). So. Probably want something with gearing and suspension. That said, you can install those things for less than the cost of a new rover. Have a look around the forums for things folks have done.

Another other thing to consider, how tight are the trails you're looking at? Fat tire bikes can be a bit of handful to maneuver around at lower speeds. Reduced weight of a mission may help there.

Bikes not going to collapse under you, your stopping distance greater as you approach the weight limit though.

[mtatkow]

Been using my Radmission on the great rails to trails up here in Wisconsin.  Got it a bit less than a month ago - in 16 days prior to a business trip hammered out well over 300 miles on the trails.   Age and other physical issues are catching up with me, why I went to an ebike.

The Radmission is has adequate power, and if you look a couple posts back, I modified mine to a 2 speed front to give me a low range when I need a little more pedal grunt, to help the motor up something a tad more steep, or when it calls to run slower than a 50:16 gear ratio allows.  My only real complaint with the bike is the battery capacity, which at 10.5ah is easy to burn up in a couple hours.  I recently upped mine to a 13ah which helped a bit.  All other Rad bikes come with a 14ah, but also have larger 750w motors to burn it up with. 

[synthesizerman]

I know this isn't exactly the topic of this thread but...

I recently upped mine to a 13ah which helped a bit. 

did you open the 10.5aH and add some more cells in parallel or purchase a different battery?

[trepaning]

you will need to get a stem extension to raise the handlebars or you will be hunched over way too much, or in a very awkward position for balance, look at the RAD Mission promo video with the 5 or 6 riders, including one tall guy, it does not look comfortable for him, or at least not safe for a quick move if needed. I am 5'10" and had to get a riser to raise the handlebars, and it is 80% better, but the angle of the bar itself is not natural, but usable, when raised, so will need to be replaced in the future. Out of the box, the handlebars cannot be raised.

[mtatkow]

Sorry about the belated reply - I swapped out the entire battery and base plate, and purchased an adapter from XT60 to the odd round connector RAD uses.  I used the RAD battery for a 350w ebike conversion I performed last fall on a 1975 Motobecane Grand Touring, which is probably the only 21 speed, hybrid configured you will ever see.   The 10.5 battery is fine for the smaller battery and weights a bit less

[Eric7]

An ebike is great for trails.  The motor makes you not notice the weight of the bike until you fall.  An ebike is much heavier so during a fall, especially a zero speed fall (e.g., where you are climbing and you can't climb anymore because of steepness or mud) there is less control at least for me.  It is harder to correct by putting your foot down.

[Spoonbender]

An ebike is great for trails.  The motor makes you not notice the weight of the bike until you fall.  An ebike is much heavier so during a fall, especially a zero speed fall (e.g., where you are climbing and you can't climb anymore because of steepness or mud) there is less control at least for me.  It is harder to correct by putting your foot down.

Front suspension really helps on the trails;)