[HN Gopher] RadTrike Electric Tricycle
___________________________________________________________________
RadTrike Electric Tricycle
Author : mconbere
Score : 42 points
Date : 2022-12-06 19:40 UTC (3 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.radpowerbikes.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.radpowerbikes.com)
| cialowicz wrote:
| I recently learned about The Villages, FL, which is a sprawling
| retirement community, and was the fastest growing metro area in
| the US over the past decade [0]. This feels like the perfect bike
| for an aging demographic living in that sort of community. This
| sort of e-bike will be less intimidating to use for older people,
| and ultimately it feels like a good move for the company. It's
| hard to argue with getting more people outdoors and active on
| bicycles.
|
| [0] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/us/the-villages-census-
| fl...
| blamazon wrote:
| Smaller than The Villages, is Peachtree City outside of
| Atlanta, which is notable for making off-street micromobility
| pathways a priority in city planning: (relative to the rest of
| the suburban US)
|
| https://www.peachtree-city.org/DocumentCenter/View/17110/Pat...
|
| (If the map looks a little weird, it's because there's a
| zillion unofficial paths to connect the dots)
|
| They've rallied around golf carts historically but it's a great
| place to bike. I use an E-bike and see a lot of recumbent
| bicycles using the pathways.
| throwayyy479087 wrote:
| I truly hate these things because I can JUST BARELY convince
| myself not to buy one. EBikes are so much fun, and in this format
| are so practical....
|
| Maybe i'll wait for the second gen
| beau_g wrote:
| This is the perfect combination we've been waiting for: safety of
| a 1980s Honda 3 wheeler ATC, design language of a Rascal Scooter
| smileysteve wrote:
| I'm looking for a tricycle that has a differential for the rear
| wheels.
| tgorgolione wrote:
| I tried to learn how to drive a 200cc gas scooter so I could save
| money versus buying a new car, with disastrous effect (broke my
| leg and arm). So now, what I really want is something in tricycle
| form, but at a $3k price point. Maybe an electric trike that can
| go on a town road lane (maybe with a top speed of 40-50mph), and
| has a roof attachment to protect the driver from rain, etc.
| Getting the exercise from pedaling would be an added benefit.
| throwaway1777 wrote:
| At some point the line between electric car and bike gets very
| blurry.
| CharlesW wrote:
| The pre-order price of the e-bike is $2,500. Which electric car
| makes that line blurry?
| austinbeer wrote:
| https://www.wired.com/story/review-wuling-hongguang-mini-ev/
| https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hot-Sale-2022-New-
| Che...
|
| Like $2-$8k electric car / golf cart-sih cars are already
| happening!
| cwoolfe wrote:
| Whoa! +1 for https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hot-
| Sale-2022-New-Che... Is that legal to drive on US roads?!
| sbierwagen wrote:
| Depends on the state and municipality. Check your local
| laws regarding golf carts.
| rmahan wrote:
| Definitely not. Electrek bought a LEV (Light Electric
| Vehicle) truck like this and it wasn't. They're unsafe
| for roads due to lack of many safety features
| bityard wrote:
| We need AgingWheels to buy one of these
| sbierwagen wrote:
| https://jalopnik.com/the-worlds-cheapest-ev-is-genuinely-
| goo...
|
| Basically a fully enclosed golf cart, lead acid batteries and
| all. Was $1,200 a year ago.
|
| Can it go on the highway? No. Is it crashworthy? No. But
| neither is an ebike, and this at least keeps the rain off
| you.
| undersuit wrote:
| Just like the line between an ICE car and a bike with a two-
| stroke strapped on.
| gorgoiler wrote:
| My 2021 radrunner plus has some serious defects. The charging
| port is prone to weather corrosion. Charging is a risky action
| that may or may not blow some very sensitive fuses. The
| mechanical disc brakes suck and are very hard to balance. The
| discs were supplied warped. I pretty much had to suck that up
| because of the misery of returning a faulty machine to an online
| bike company. The seat is a notorious bum numbing pain. The
| shifters are plastic crap. It rusts.
|
| Fixing a rear puncture was a slow but pleasing experience that
| seems to be one thing where they've optimised for: maintenance.
|
| I'm resigned to it hitting the scrap heap after 3000km. It's only
| a matter of time. It's such a shame that at their price points
| these devices are basically disposable. Spend 2x the money on
| something not bought online and you'll probably enjoy 5x the
| lifetime.
|
| Thanks for trying though, Rad. I get your passion. It just didn't
| work out but maybe you'll level out into something cool soon.
| Maybe this trike is it? Heavier, clunkier, even more fixable, and
| with more bulletproof electronics on the drivetrain and you could
| win out against the clones, especially if you had a fully fleshed
| out service partnership in the EU.
| simfree wrote:
| Replacing the discs on each wheel is straightforward, and the
| warping your noticing might be due to pressure from the
| mounting screws that tie it to the rim of the bike.
|
| Have you tried loosening these, applying the brakes fully, and
| tightening the screws hand tight to center the brake disc and
| let it relax to flat?
|
| I think the future is dual hub motors with Regen braking.
| Having tried this on a brakeless bike and a modified scooter,
| the performance is very good.
| germinalphrase wrote:
| Brakeless bike? Are you able to emergency stop?
| insane_dreamer wrote:
| I commuted daily to work on a RadCity bike pre-covid (wfh since
| then) and my experience with it was excellent.
| dohdhdaa wrote:
| 3000km seems ridiculous as the lifetime for a bicycle, and to
| make it worse an e-bike will be e-waste. That would mean it was
| trash in a year for my commute alone, and this is in NYC where
| commutes are pretty short. That doesn't even account for
| recreational riding.
|
| That being said a puncture is just a normal bicycle problem.
| Does Rad offer tubeless compatible components? I'm guessing
| e-bikers may be less "normal bicycle maintenance" oriented than
| your average road/gravel/mountain bike owner and tubeless would
| nearly eliminate punctures.
| darzu wrote:
| Just to add a different anecdote: I have a 2021 radrunner I use
| daily in Seattle (hilly & rainy), love it, and I have non of
| these complaints. I have 4 friends with Rads who love them as
| well.
|
| I don't doubt any of your experiences, but I mention this so
| readers can get more perspectives.
|
| Perhaps one significant difference between us is that Rad has a
| showroom / repair shop in Seattle, although I haven't needed
| them for anything other than easier parts pickup (fenders and
| break pads.)
| jeffbee wrote:
| I usually recommend electric bikes from actual bike companies,
| like Specialized, because there won't be any weird surprises,
| you won't have to assemble it yourself, and it will last
| forever. But everyone I know, other than myself, has gone with
| a newer electric-only company like Rad or VanMoof. I assume
| price is the reason.
| mongol wrote:
| But bikes are not rocket science. They can be advanced and
| high tech, but they can also just be ordinary, well built
| bikes if using good parts. If the parts are good then the
| bike is good, the brand matters less for a bike than say for
| a car.
| jeffbee wrote:
| Well, I just think a real bike company probably has real
| bike engineers on the staff already and maybe real
| engineering experience and resources like FEA models and so
| forth. These new companies make a lot of mistakes, like
| Yuba with their forks sheering off, and like Rad with their
| custom, not-available-anywhere tire size. I feel that with
| a big brand you're going to get a no-surprises bike.
| justinator wrote:
| I think what you're going to get from a big brand is a
| support system for when things go south (ie: a warranty).
| It used to be that bike shops stocked a few brands of
| bikes and those brands had a relationship with the shop
| to provide customer service and a bridge between customer
| and brand. Less so now after Covid, but it's still a
| thing.
|
| Bikes are one of those things that are sort of figured
| out how to make (tho eBikes, less so). You can go to a
| trade show in east Asia, spec out exactly what you want a
| run of bikes to be, and they'll do all the hard work for
| you, and ship you a container full of "your" bikes. Many
| brands use the same bike manufacturer/factory. Shop for
| some of them on bikesdirect.com. Many of the "brand"
| names are just stickers - the companies may have existed
| as something decades ago, but now live as a name only.
|
| Even a more established brand will send over the cad
| files of the frame to be built (usually the only really
| distinguishing thing in most bikes), then spec out the
| rest of the parts to be put on it. A few visits to the
| factory from a brand rep/engineer to get details right
| (welds, layups), then start pumping out orders.
| darzu wrote:
| I've a friend with an electric Specialized, and while his
| bike looks cooler my Rad is faster, half the price, with much
| better millage, and I can still hang it from the wall in my
| apt.
|
| One thing I've noticed is that pretty much every established
| bike company is placing the motor on the pedal crank, whereas
| Rad uses a much bigger (750w in my case) in-wheel hub motor.
| The acceleration with a hub motor is so much better and
| doesn't depend on what gear I'm in.
| enragedcacti wrote:
| mid-drives are usually a higher-end option for more serious
| recreational riding where predictability and responsiveness
| is more important than raw acceleration or long range.
| Basically the goal of the mid-drive is to make you feel
| like you are riding an analog bike but as a much more fit
| rider. Sending the power from the bottom bracket helps to
| keep you and the motor in sync, balances the weight
| distribution, keep unsprung/rotating weight low, etc. and
| the small battery keeps the bike light and maneuverable.
|
| > The acceleration with a hub motor is so much better and
| doesn't depend on what gear I'm in.
|
| I have a 750 watt radbike and I always find this a little
| bit bothersome in that I end up in situations where I feel
| like I'm being dragged forward when I don't want to be
| because my cadence got just a little bit too fast and the
| motor starts dumping power. I end up treating the pedal
| assist as another set of gearing to manage so it doesn't
| start giving me too much power when I am pedalling in a low
| gear. Higher end hub drives and pretty much all mid-drives
| solve this by using a torque sensor so the motor responds
| to the wattage you are putting down rather than the
| cadence.
| jeffbee wrote:
| What do you mean about hanging on the wall? One of the
| things you are getting for your $5k from Specialized is
| light weight. They have ebikes down to 34 pounds, about
| half what a radrunner weighs.
| darzu wrote:
| Yes, the Specialized is much lighter. I mention still
| being able to hang the bike because that's the situation
| where I notice the extra weight the most. If I couldn't,
| it would have been a deal breaker for me.
| dylan604 wrote:
| I really like my RadWagon 4, but several weeks ago, I received
| a recall notice with their recommendation to stop using the
| bike until replacements/repairs have been made. I'm really
| happy they will be making the repairs for me, but since they
| parts won't even be ready until Feb/Mar 2023 it does me no good
| since the eBike is my primary mode of transportation.
|
| I know eBikes popularity went to the moon during the pandemic,
| the global shortages, yadda yadda, but my overall experience
| from RadPowerBikes customer satisfaction isn't the highest.
|
| As of now, my recalled parts have not failed, and I continue
| using it, but it's not a good look. I know they have to make
| those kind of "don't use until repaired" for liability reasons,
| but man it's frustrating.
| googlryas wrote:
| Yup, same. I bought my radwagon 4 in august, and then in
| early september was told I should not ride it. And maybe they
| will be ready to fix it in Feb/Mar, or maybe it will be
| later. If it was just me, I would risk it, but I bought it to
| ferry my kids on so I'm not going to do that. So we got to
| ride it for 4 weeks, and have had it sitting in our garage
| for the past 13 weeks, and it will probably be another 13
| weeks until it is fixed again if we are lucky. And basically
| all we get is the bike fixed to the state it should have been
| in upon delivery, not any kind of compensation for them
| giving us an unsafe bike and not being able to ride it for 6+
| months.
|
| I would not recommend this brand. I guess they decided to do
| a lot of custom components which is why they have like a 6
| month lead time to ship out new non-defective tires (or
| whatever).
|
| You'll find a lot of love for it online, and I think it is
| genuine, but I suspect the love for the brand is because it
| is bought by biking neophytes and makes biking accessible to
| people who don't want to put a lot of effort into it(nothing
| wrong with that). So it opens up a lot of possibilities for
| getting outside and getting fresh air without needing strong
| thighs or aerobic fitness or getting sweaty, and people
| associate that with their radwagon, not just generally with
| an ebike. But there is nothing particularly different about
| this brand compared to other ebike brands. A lot of ebikes
| look and function exactly the same as the radwagon, and
| haven't been part of a longstanding recall.
| qwertox wrote:
| Hazard: The rim strip on the tires can be misaligned,
| causing the tube to pop and damage the tire. Additionally,
| the tires with a ribbed sidewall can unexpectedly go flat,
| risking serious injuries from loss of control and/or crash.
|
| This is something a beginner can repair. This is normal
| stuff for those who ride bikes and don't go to a shop for
| little repairs. Replacing a tube (and fixing it with a
| small vulcanizing kit) is biking 101, and there they're not
| even expecting you to repair that. Just check how to
| replace the tube of a wheel in a youtube video and while at
| it, check if your strip needs alignment. Tyres often go
| flat but you normally feel that something is off because it
| feels "smeary".
|
| The warning is just for those who are not the slightest bit
| technically inclined and don't feel like doing any of this.
| To avoid lawsuits.
|
| I bet in the Netherlands any 10 year old kid could check if
| your wagon is affected and if it is, align the strip.
| stevehawk wrote:
| This seems like a horrible idea. Three wheelers were outlawed for
| a reason, motorcycle trikes/sidecars aren't super stable either.
| I'm surprised someone would opt for this instead of a two wheels
| up front design.
| pnathan wrote:
| Yes, that's an interesting choice. I remember when trikes were
| pulled in the late 80s- very risky. Two wheels up front made a
| return in the last decade.
|
| I'm going to be following this. I think a Trike will be
| enormously popular because of the stability, but it has to be
| _stable_. Rad tends to design for low cost... I hope this wasn
| 't a terrible choice.....
| paulpauper wrote:
| The big advantage of a bike is it's faster and can be used for
| sidewalks and roads easier. A trike is too wide and heavy. You
| cannot use it for commuting
| dylan604 wrote:
| I doubt this trike is any wider than some of the big ass baby
| strollers out and about
| UncleOxidant wrote:
| My dad is 82. He can't ride a 2 wheel bike anymore as he's a
| bit shaky, but he can ride a trike.
| kasey_junk wrote:
| Very few jurisdictions in the US allow you to ride bikes on
| sidewalks as an adult.
| sf4lifer wrote:
| Why hasn't anyone slapped on a gyroscope and just made an
| electric bike self balancing?
| dylan604 wrote:
| Are you just too embarrassed to use training wheels?
| stingrae wrote:
| https://weel.bike/ It's complicated and expensive for something
| that most people don't want.
| topkai22 wrote:
| In this case, it looks like the 3rd wheel also substantially
| increases payload capacity- 415 lbs versus 350 on a radwagon,
| plus a slightly better cargo set up and substantially better
| load, unload experience.
| kennywinker wrote:
| Exactly! Easier to get on/off. Easier to load up with cargo.
| Stopped a light? No need to put a foot down. Super accessible
| for people with reduced mobility, yes, but also super useful
| for people getting around the city and moving stuff with
| them.
|
| Canada Post is currently testing electric cargo trikes for
| delivery in my city. They're beefier than this, but the same
| idea. I live near the postal depo, and I love seeing them zip
| around - feels like the future.
| [deleted]
| Gys wrote:
| https://www.designboom.com/technology/self-driving-bicycle-h...
| dmix wrote:
| That's amazing, I never thought of self-driving ebikes. This
| has to be the future in urban cities right? Especially in
| Asia...
|
| Assuming LIDAR eventually becomes cheap enough or cameras
| become sufficient for the job.
| kennywinker wrote:
| In order for it to self-balance, it'd need full control of the
| front wheel position. Source: I can almost do a track stand.
| FpUser wrote:
| Would be fun on sharp turns.
| flatiron wrote:
| I'm unsure why nobody releases a compact electric 4 seater car
| with a 60 mile range for running the kids to school and grabbing
| some random groceries. Basically a beefed up golf cart. That's
| all I need to drop my kids off at school each day which is 95% of
| my weekday driving.
| justinator wrote:
| Plenty of Moms moving around town with a few kiddos in the back
| of their long trail eBikes. They seem to fit two rugrats on
| those things.
| bagels wrote:
| Nissan leaf? BMW i3?
| zemvpferreira wrote:
| Because people won't buy it. This is just like the "smaller
| iPhone" conversation. Even in Europe compacts are disappearing
| because everyone would rather buy 100% more car for 50% more
| money.
|
| It's that simple.
|
| EDIT: that said we now have the Dacia Spring which is
| approximately what you're asking for. Even that is on the
| chopping block two years after being introduced and selling
| like hotcakes.
| stillbourne wrote:
| I've got a recumbent bike that I added electric to. I had to redo
| the setup though because I initially built it with a hub motor
| which made hill climbing still be a bit of a bitch so I rebuilt
| it with a middrive motor.
| UI_at_80x24 wrote:
| I ride a LongBikes SlipStream and have been considering getting
| a mid-drive myself. Are you on a LWB or a SWB bike? Any
| tips/suggestions?
|
| As a nice bonus, the wheelbase of my bike gives me a TONNE of
| space under the frame and within the frame for battery packs.
| So it's a whole project that I'm going to get started on after
| I move.
| newaccount2021 wrote:
| loufe wrote:
| If anyone here is from RadPower, please fix the Canadian site
| redirect. It's SO frustrating having sites recommend we use their
| Canadian version, only to get redirected to the Canadian home
| page or be told that that product doesn't exist (yet in Canada, I
| presume).
| mgrthrow wrote:
| Electric bikes are an order of magnitude more efficient than cars
| and several times more efficient than bikes. (Measured as
| calories/electrical power).
|
| People who ride electric bikes still get the benefits of exercise
| (elevated heart rate, muscle use) though obviously less than
| regular biking.
|
| I ride mine year round in Seattle, it's incredible. I deliver
| cargo, go grocery shopping, visit the library. This should be the
| default mode.
| dohdhdaa wrote:
| I am a decently experienced NYC cyclist. Not Terry Barentsen or
| anything, but pretty decent at biking both in fitness terms and
| in practical urban NYC riding.
|
| The biggest problem with e-bikers, and general e-thing riders, as
| a population, is that they haven't built the bike skills
| equivalent to the speed that they can go at. I can ride 20mph if
| I want to, but it took a long time for me to be able to do that.
| I had to ride a lot. In doing so, I got a lot of practice.
|
| E-bikes allow you to do that with basically no practice. The
| resulting behavior is not good. They ride erratically. They ride
| with AirPods. They salmon. They salmon at night with no lights.
| They salmon on roads that aren't even one way! They shoal at
| every intersection.
|
| So this thing will make them double wide as they salmon... I
| don't want to be opposed to e-bikes but the practical effects on
| cycling, for those of us that were already doing it, since the
| pandemic explosion, haven't been great.
| UncleOxidant wrote:
| What does 'salmon' mean here? The first time I read it above, I
| thought you meant 'slalom' but then you repeated 'salmon'
| several times so it seems deliberate.
| BoorishBears wrote:
| Go the wrong way up a one way street. Dangerous because
| people are generally not expecting things to come from the
| wrong way.
|
| (Technically going on the wrong side of the road is also
| salmoning, but in NYC it was almost always wrong way on a
| one-way
| bityard wrote:
| I want to know what it means to "shoal" on a bike. There are
| just too many marine references here.
| fudged71 wrote:
| Boomers popularized the e-bike and now they're getting one
| designed for their needs
| kennywinker wrote:
| Can you imagine how many fewer car crash injuries/fatalities
| we'll have if boomers turn to these kinds of vehicles as they
| age instead of driving long past their ability to do it safely?
| Your reaction time to safely drive one of these can be so much
| slower, and the damage you do when you mess up is going to be
| much much smaller. I really hope this catches on.
| CharlesW wrote:
| Seems great! E-trikes are also more accessible for those with
| special needs, and are great for hauling stuff.
| dang wrote:
| No generational flamewar on HN, please.
|
| https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
| jeffbee wrote:
| What? Ebike owners by age: 18-29: 46%; 30-44: 38%; 45-64: 14%;
| 65+: 3%. Boomers are 58-76 years old.
| https://business.yougov.com/content/44110-tracing-demographi...
| endisneigh wrote:
| Trikes are dangerous at high speed. Anyone seriously considering
| this should understand how to properly turn with this style of
| trike. I'm surprised they didn't do the inverted triangle style.
|
| I understand the market for not DIY, but someone considering this
| should also consider buying a Schwinn Meridian and a conversion
| kit (front wheel hub) and saving $1500.
|
| Speaking of which, it would be interesting to see someone bend
| some copper to use as a frame and use some plexiglass to create a
| roof to keep rain off you.
| bityard wrote:
| Some years ago, I followed a YouTuber who did exactly this and
| it turned out he had no end of reliability issues with the
| bearings, wheels, and frame because it turns out pedal-powered
| trikes just aren't built for the significantly higher speeds
| and weight of a motor-powered trike, especially when used for
| multi-mile trips as a daily commuter.
|
| Range was not great either, due to the extra weight of the
| wooden box he made to hold everything but the rest probably
| applies to many lower-end two-wheeled bikes too.
|
| I suspect this is the reason that most higher-end electric
| bikes more closely resemble electric motorcycles than bikes, in
| terms of wheel size and frame build.
| bryanlarsen wrote:
| This is in response to the troll who you can see with showdead.
|
| The average electric bike owner gets more exercise than the
| average cyclist or the average driver:
|
| https://electrek.co/2019/08/11/electric-bike-riders-more-exe...
|
| In retrospect it's not that surprising since the average cyclist
| doesn't use their bike...
| scythe wrote:
| I wonder if you could call this an example of Jevons' Paradox.
| Ebikes get you more distance per calorie, so you spend more
| calories, because more destinations are within reach.
|
| (Refresher: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_Paradox )
| mattwest wrote:
| Yea but you don't become a cyclist until you start pedaling.
| TaylorAlexander wrote:
| I have always been a cyclist. Heck I even competed in the Sea
| Otter Classic mountain bike race when I was 15, where I got
| to ride my bike on Laguna Seca racetrack, which I think is
| neat. I am a cyclist even when I am not on my bike.
|
| In recent years I haven't been riding much. A couple months
| ago I put an electric motor on my bike, and now I am riding
| it all the time. And I am still a cyclist!
| beebmam wrote:
| My best friend was just hit by a car on a 40mph road and had
| to be hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury and seizures
| that he's still not recovered from (and maybe never will).
|
| I'm not cycling again in my city until we start protecting
| cyclists here. The roads where I live are absurdly unsafe for
| cyclists to be on. It's a fucking joke to put a bike lane
| without a physical divider a few inches next to cars on a
| 40mph road.
| bluGill wrote:
| I'll bet your city has a bike advocacy group. Find them and
| get involved. Even if it just write letters, they need
| people to put pressure on to get things to happen. They
| also need people to vote against someone who doesn't help
| their goals.
| labrador wrote:
| Ageist comments always make me laugh. I'm old and let me tell
| you it's a horror movie to have your body slowly decay and stop
| working with no hope of repair. If they only knew the shock of
| a doctor telling you that it's "not worth repairing that" in
| reference to some important body part, such as a knee or hip. I
| wished electric bikes fixed this but no, they only make the
| inevitable easier to take.
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(page generated 2022-12-06 23:00 UTC)