There are eight gears, five levels of assist, a twist throttle and also a zero assist mode. Rad now has a new torque sensor that makes it feel infinitely better and much more natural when pedaling. It is also much quieter. I previously put Lectric bikes in a similar category of affordable direct-to-consumer, but my husband uses a Lectric and got angry when he realized how smooth and quiet he was pedaling, while he continued to hum.
It also has hydraulic disc brakes, front suspension with 80 millimeters of travel (feels great! Feels comfortable!), and a ton of features that make it look much more expensive than it is. For example, you may have noticed that I didn’t mention what kind of electric bike it is. While it ships as a Class 2 e-bike, you can scroll through the menu and change which class it’s in, and therefore what the legal top speed is, depending on whether you’re in the city or the countryside. It’s really cool. In the menu, you can also do things like clear trip data or set a password to lock the screen.
Photography: Adrienne So
It also has a bell! And signal buttons! What I have been told by people I know is that I often turn the signal on and forget to turn it off, or accidentally turn it on when I am changing assistance, and then my hand flies to the point where it automatically goes because I have been signaling with the signals for 30 years. arms. That’s funny. Instead of turn signals, I would have preferred a brighter headlight. Two hundred lumens is brighter than forgetting the front light, but I’d really prefer 400 or even 1000 when I’m cycling at night in the rain, which I do often.
A big reason people often buy bikes direct-to-consumer is proprietary accessories. Cars don’t ship without lights or storage options, so car substitutes must have them too. The Radster Road ships with fenders, a chain guard, and a rear rack with a payload of 55 pounds. It fits me Po Campo backpack saddlebag no problem. Compared to other direct consumers, Rad Power Bikes has a huge variety of accessories; I would be remiss if I didn’t admit that while riding my bike with my kids and spouse, I thought about putting in some lockable storage and a pet trailer so my older dog could come too.
I think $2,000 is the sweet spot for electric commuter bikes. It is enough to cover some very solid components, but not so expensive that discourages you from riding a bike because you’re worried about it being stolen or damaged. It fits very well on normal bike racks and I can I used a regular U-lock on the head tube, although I felt more comfortable locking it twice on various parts of the frame. Unlike the Santa Cruz Skitch (9/10, WIRED recommends), I did Take Radster Road and jump on it when I had to run to Grocery Outlet. Not every trip has to be so incredibly funny that you can’t stop laughing; sometimes you just need to get somewhere, you hate parking your car and you are very late.
For many years I was wary of Rad Power Bikes; It’s hard for a gear tester to let go of things like a bike hitting you or multiple lawsuits. However, it is clear that many lessons have been learned in recent years. Radster Road does it right, for miles and miles.