rad power bike lcd display quotation

The LCD Display Upgrade provides additional information while riding, including Speedometer, Odometer, Trip Odometer, Average Speed, Max Speed, and Pedal Assist (PAS) levels 1-4. This replaces the stock LED display on the RadRunner, RadMission, and RadExpand.

Just trying to help you deal with it and look on the bright side. At least now you have two controllers, one new and hopefully good one; and one that is functional but maybe forgets the mileage. The controller is probably the most unique part of the bike that you cannot produce yourself - everything else can be replaced by third party even the wiring harness. While you can buy 3rd party controllers that may be "better" in some ways (allegedly faster, more powerful), it won"t ride like a Rad or have the mileage of a Rad controller. And the data would be gone in 5 to 10 years anyway when you retire the bike.

Hi, I"m bumping this thread to see if there are any updates on this subject. I"ve looked for SW-LCD displays with the proper (Higo?) connector, and have found next to nothing for sale online. I found one on Aliexpress, that"s just as expensive as the one sold by Rad and that"s about it. I would love to know if anyone has actually installed a stock King Meter display on a Radrunner and if it worked. Right now, it seems the only options for plug and play displays are the Rad one or the Eggrider. Are there any other options?

My roommate and friend Dagny Daniel was in the market for an electric bike, and when she saw Rad Power Bikes was selling their entry-level e-bike for a $500 ($700 lower than its usual price), she jumped at the opportunity to buy it. When the bike came, Dagny put it together and charged it up, excited to hit the bike path.

But she’d only had it for a few days when the honeymoon period ended. Dagny and I were riding with a group of other people on bikes deep in the north Portland peninsula this past weekend when all the sudden, the lights on her bike turned off and the pedal-assist stopped working. (No, it wasn’t dead.) Eventually, we got it going again, but only briefly before it puttered out once more and she had to ride to back without any electric assistance or lights. Right now, the bike is sitting in our basement waiting for someone to figure out what went wrong and get it back in commission.

Dagny isn’t the only person who just bought a Rad Power bike. The e-bike company’s recent sale was very popular – turns out, $500 e-bikes sell like hotcakes. On my own Twitter feed, I heard dozens of accounts of people buying their first electric bikes because of this sale. One particularly exciting anecdote was from someone who said that the person who delivered their bike was so inspired by all the boxes of bikes he was delivering that he decided to get one for himself.

Some e-bike advocates saw the success of this sale as an indication that there’s a demand for electric bikes that should be met with more rebate programs. The popularity of such programs in places like Colorado has shown that people are interested in buying e-bikes at reduced rates and once they have the bikes, they often become game-changers for reducing their car use.

But Dagny’s experience made me wonder if there are more people who have had trouble with their new Rad Power bikes and how local bike shops are dealing with it.

Rad Power is based out of Seattle, and they have brick-and-mortar service centers in some other cities in the United States and Canada (but not in Portland). They used to operate a mobile repair service in some other cities, including Portland, so people could get help directly from Rad Power, but they cancelled that program a few months before the big sale. (According to Rad Power’s website, local mobile bike repair service Velofix is still available to help.) This has left some bike shops in a lurch.

Employees at the The eBike Store in the Piedmont Neighborhood express skepticism about direct-to-consumer electric bike companies like Rad Power. Andrew Schnell, a sales employee at the bike shop, says he thinks they’ve been able to hone in on an important market of people who want functional, non-luxury electric bikes at an affordable price.

The least expensive bike sold at the eBike store is $2500 – twice as much as what the RadMission usually costs, and five times as much as its sale price. Schnell said he thinks it’s worth the cost for a better quality bike that you can get serviced locally, but he understands why people are hesitant to pay that much for a bike.

Schnell said he has had trouble getting ahold of people from Rad Power when he has questions about their bikes, so the shop is limited in what it can do to help people who run into problems with them. This has meant some angry customers leaving one-star Yelp reviews for the eBike Store, which never claimed to be a Rad Power retailer or service shop in the first place.

There are several stores in Portland that Rad Power owners have said will service their bikes. Rad Power’s website lists the Bikeologist Mobile Bicycle Repair and Upcycles as options for people who want to get help in-person. But part replacements for Rad Power bikes are hard to come by right now because of all the demand.

Thankfully, experiences like Dagny’s seem rare. When I tweeted asking for people’s experiences with their new Rad Power bikes, I received overwhelmingly positive reports, and most people writing reviews online are very pleased with their purchase. (And by the way, Dagny isn’t giving up on her bike – she’ll get back on the seat as soon as she can, but it might take some time to find someone who can help.)

Schnell acknowledges that his exposure to the bikes is more likely to be negative because people are coming to the bike shop with their grievances. But his overall takeaway is that because this industry is fairly new, there are going to be some kinks to work out as e-bikes stake their place as a popular mode of transportation.

Taylor has been BikePortland’s staff writer since November 2021. She has also written for Street Roots and Eugene Weekly. Contact her at taylorgriggswriter@gmail.com

Rad Power Bike’s RadWagon cargo bike has a highly modular design to allow you to carry a wide range of loads, from big boxes to your kids. Despite its adaptability, it’s one of the cheapest electrically assisted cargo bikes on the market.

With urban centres becoming increasingly congested, and with the current ‘Climate Crisis’ an ever-growing source of concern, cargo bikes, electric or otherwise, could, and should, prove to be part of the solution.

The first thing to clarify is that the RadWagon isn’t a ‘normal’ electric bike because its motor and inclusion of a throttle exclude it from regular ‘e-bike’ legislation. It is classed as a L1e-A electric bicycle, which allows a throttle for auxiliary propulsion with the primary aim to aid pedalling.

The RadWagon features brake lights to supplement the always-on front light, as well as an instant cut in the motor’s power as soon as the brakes are applied.

The front half of the aluminium bike is fairly regular, with a low-slung top tube to aid getting on and off the bike, especially when loaded up with weight. The bars sit high out in front, contributing to a comfortable forward-looking position on the bike.

The rear half of the bike is more interesting; its chainstays are 673mm long, so a good 25cm longer than many other (non-cargo) bikes, which helps give plenty of real estate for the rear cargo rack.

Cables all route externally, there’s a threaded bottom bracket shell and a small spring connecting front triangle to fork crown to prevent the front wheel flopping around when the bike is on its spring-loaded kickstand – as the wheel turns, the spring is extended, so unloaded, the wheel will return to centre. While riding, the spring has no noticeable effect on handling.

Rad Power uses a Shengyi direct-drive hub motor on the RadWagon, which has 750W of power. This is supplied by a 672Wh battery, located within the front triangle.

On the bars there’s an LCD screen showing plenty of detail, which is backlit when the front and rear lights are illuminated (the front light is always on, the rear light and screen back light can be turned on). It shows speed, distance, power being delivered and which of the five power modes the bike is currently in.

Next to the left-hand grip is the on/off button, and the buttons that toggle between power modes. The whole system can be secured with a key located by the battery – lock it and the system can’t start up. I left it turned to ‘on’ all of the time which allows the system to be turned on or off with the switch by the grip.

As mentioned, the RadWagon has a throttle. This is a twist-grip style unit on the right-hand side of the handlebars. Twisting the throttle provides power to the rear wheel and the level of power is determined by the mode the system is in. There is a supplementary button next to the throttle, which is there to turn the throttle on and off, however, at times we’ve found it varying in how effective it is.

The bike comes with a 7-speed single-ring drivetrain, with Shimano’s Acera groupset providing the bulk of the kit. There’s an 11-34t cassette which, while not massive in range, tended to cover all bases when travelling around Bristol, thanks in part to the motor’s assistance. A 42t chainring drives the bike and is built on to 170mm cranks.

The stem is highly adjustable and with only one frame size, this should allow a wider range of riders to fit on the bike. The saddle is a bulky unit and I’d change it for long rides, but for short hops across town it’s functional.

The bike rolls on 26in wheels that are constructed with 36 spokes and shod with Kenda K-Rad tyres, which were built specifically for Rad Power. These have a grid-like tread, which provided fine traction on tarmacked surfaces.

On top of the rack and running boards that come with the bike, which sit slightly lower than regular chainstays, there are a wide range of accessories to fit straight on to the bike.

These include various (metal tubing) baskets, bags and panniers, and range in price, but on the face of it don’t look quite as good value as the bike. Although they could vastly improve the usability of the bike, depending on what you want the bike for.

When ordering the test bike, I requested a Front Rack (€69), Large Platform (€39), Fremont Pannier (€59) and Abus Bordo Granit X-plus 6500 lock (€89).

I feel that your initial impression of the RadWagon will depend a lot on whether you’ve ridden e-bikes before, or not, and that’s because of the bike’s motor.

In essence, the hub-based motor doesn’t have the slick reactivity of a Bosch or Shimano unit, with a noticeable lag in power delivery to the bike when you pedal before the motor provides assistance. Without the throttle, this makes those initial pedal strokes harder work and should you stop pedalling while negotiating tight turns, it doesn’t leap to your assistance once you start pedalling again.

For this reason, the throttle becomes immediately handy. During testing I used the throttle almost exclusively to start the bike moving, rather than coasting along on the throttle. It makes getting away from lights with any load a lot easier than it would be otherwise.

In summary, the throttle is very, very handy on this bike, thanks to the un-reactivity of the pedal assistance from the motor. I very rarely felt the need to use the throttle while cruising along, but it is perfectly possible to, however I see it more as an initial acceleration aid, rather than an excuse to stop pedalling.

The next point about the motor is that despite the headline 750W power, it doesn’t ‘feel’ like it has three times the power of a normal e-bike motor. I think this is because its torque figures probably aren’t quite so impressive.

I never felt the bike was under-powered by any stretch, and the assistance it provides is pretty good, but don’t expect motorbike levels of acceleration. With the heaviest loads I carried, or on steeper inclines at low speed, there wasn’t masses of assistance, so I really had to add the power via my legs.

With a lot of bike comes a substantial carrying capacity, both in terms of weight and the size of items one can carry. The Large Platform has been mounted on the rear, giving a broad surface area onto which items can be strapped. The strutted frame design means there are plenty of places bungee cords can be clipped on to the rack, to ensure a secure hold on the item, but I found that the diameter of the tubes is just a little broader than the internal diameter of hooks on my bungee cords – a small frustration.

The bike’s frame itself also has plenty of struts and tubes onto which straps and bungees can be strapped. So, aslong as you have the right lengths of strap/bungee, and you’re not being overly ambitious, you should be able to attach what you need to the bike (taking care of side-to-side balance points, etc).

The flip-side of all this carrying capacity is that the length and width overall makes the bike trickier to live with than others. Locking it to bike racks (especially if you can’t get an end-rack) is tricky, and storing it is limited to garages with wide entrances – you’d be lucky to get it through a door, and if you had to do so frequently would quickly become a chore.

With the Large Platform removed life becomes easier, but the length and weight still make many bike racks and storage areas a frustration. All said, though, the number of tubes available means there’s loads of locking point options, as well as a place to grab if you need to lug the bike around – backed up by the handle on the back of the saddle.

The centrally mounted kickstand has been very handy. It’s spring loaded, so just rocking the bike forwards leaves the stand to rotate up and out of the way. It’s broad enough to give reasonable balance with luggage on the bike. When stood on the stand, the bike balances very close to its balance point, so only a little extra weight on the front, or back, of the bike will cause it to flip from resting on the stand and front or rear wheel.

While I have no children, the RadWagon has numerous attachments to take smaller passengers on trips: handles, foam rack covers and the running boards. I have, it has to be said, given a friend a slightly drunken lift home from the pub, and he reported that the ride was much better than walking. While unfair to comment too much on this experience, it did highlight the importance of potentially adjusting tyre pressures for your luggage.

With a considerably heavier load than usual on the bike, the tyres could have done with more than the 40psi I had in them and they squirmed around, as would be expected. So, this is no criticism, but a point of interest because it’s rare on a ‘normal’ bike that load weight would need much consideration.

As yet I have not had any issues with battery life or performance. There’s enough capacity to make plenty of inner-city trips, and I tend to top up the battery every 40km or so (rarely have I run it close to flat). Unlike e-MTBs, I feel the general useage of this bike would be less likely to push the bike to its battery limits in a single ride.

Given that this bike is used as a mode of transport, rather than a way to get more exercise (my normal bike riding does a good enough job there!), I have used the bike exclusively in its most powerful mode. It has enough range to do so, given the generally short nature of the trips, so it makes sense to use all the available power.

It’s easy to pick faults with such a unique bike, but it is also important to bear in mind that it is incredibly useful, and it is some of this usefulness that makes more menial tasks a pain.

It is also worth noting just how ‘cheap’ the bike is compared to its competitors, whether that be boutique cargo bike brands such as Reise and Müller, or companies such as Kona and Surly who have the Electric Ute and Big Easy respectively. While these may have an arguably better, more torquey motor, they are also considerably more expensive.

Finally, a word on e-cargo bikes as a concept. In short, I’m sold. They make travelling around a city a far easier, less stressful option than driving, or lugging a non-powered bike around.

Sure, there’s less ‘exercise’ than there would be on a normal bike, but I believe that these bikes should be seen as a quicker, more convenient alternative to the car. They are simply a mode of transport, not a vehicle for exercise.

I hate owning a car. The daily hunt for a parking spot, the inevitability of traffic, the knowledge that for every gallon of gas I pump another chunk of the polar ice cap slides into the ocean. My dream is to completely replace my car with a bike, preferably an electric one, but it’s a tough sell. My wife and I have two little kids, and we like having the freedom to take weekend trips outside the city. A car accommodates our lifestyle. I’m desperate for an e-bike that will, too.

The RadWagon from Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes gets me most of the way there. This electric cargo bike is the first legitimate car replacement that I’ve encountered in my (admittedly) short time testing and reviewing e-bikes. The RadWagon mostly replaced my own need for a car for over a month of testing. I used it to take my kids to school, commute to work, and go grocery shopping. Meanwhile, my car sat gathering dust (and bird droppings).

Cargo bikes are not for everyone — they’re longer, heftier, and they have a larger turning radius that can be unwieldy for some riders. But the RadWagon’s powerful battery and motor helped neutralize most of the downsides of riding a cargo bike. I never felt sluggish while blazing past other bikers on my six-mile commute to work or flying down the bike path with two kids and a pannier full of groceries on the back deck.

If anything, the bike’s sturdiness gave me the added confidence to truly own the road, as I often found myself riding down the middle of the lane rather than shirking the line of parked cars on the right-hand side of the street. The RadWagon is the SUV of e-bikes.

That said, the RadWagon won’t fit seamlessly into everyone’s lives. One drawback was its extreme weight, but we’ll get to that later. Thankfully, it comes at a price point that’s really kind of astonishing in its affordability. Seriously, Rad Power Bikes, $1,499 for a cargo bike? How are you making money?

Rad Power Bikes CEO Mike Radenbaugh told me he built his first electric bike at age 17, after getting tired of riding the school bus. He used a high-powered brushless motor and Tupperware containers to hold the wires together. He founded the company in 2007, later bringing on two college friends to help him sell bikes online.

The company has since grown to over 100 employees with offices in Seattle, Washington, Vancouver, BC, and Utrecht in the Netherlands. Rad Power Bikes, which is profitable, brought in $45 million in revenue in 2018, a 125 percent year-over-year increase, and it expects to rake in $100 million by the end of 2019.

Rad Power Bikes offers several different models: the RadWagon; the fat-tired RadRover; and the folding RadMini and commuter RadCity, both also with step-thru models.

The RadWagon won’t win any beauty contests, with its garish orange aluminum frame and tubby 672Wh removable battery perched obscenely on the down tube. But it can still turn heads out on the street. I was stopped a number of times while out riding with questions about the bike’s specs and price — usually by parents pushing strollers.

It’s no question why this thing is so appealing to parents: the RadWagon can fit two Yepp child seats on the back. Maybe your kids are too old for their own seats? Rad Power Bikes sells accessories, like seat pads ($25) and fixed rails ($199) that keep the kids centered on the rear deck. Remove the rails, and give an adult friend a ride. The entire bike’s maximum carrying capacity is 350 pounds (159 kg), with the rear deck alone rated for 120 pounds (55 kg).

There are wooden running boards on either side, which were useful when my daughter wanted to climb up into her seat. And the center kickstand was sturdy enough that I never worried that she was going to bring the whole bike down on top of her.

When weighed down by children or packages, the bike can get a little pokey, especially when climbing uphill. But that’s to be expected. I’ve never known any bike, electric or otherwise, that doesn’t struggle with over 250 pounds of weight. For those heavier trips, the seven-speed gear shifter really helped out. I enjoyed the interface of RadWagon’s gear shifter: a thumb-sized paddle to shift up and a separate button for down.

The RadWagon isn’t the most powerful e-bike on the market, but the 750W direct drive hub motor isn’t anything to sniff at. The motor kicks in after about a half-turn of the pedals, but I’ll readily admit to using the twist-throttle to kick-start the bike from a dead stop more than once. (Most of the time, if I’m being totally honest.) The top speed is 20 mph (32 km/h), though I was able to squeeze an extra mph or two with some fast pedaling.

There are five power settings that you can toggle through on the LCD screen: the first two were mostly useless, the third and fourth settings were more than adequate. I didn’t notice a huge difference between four and five, so I found myself sticking with four to save on battery.

Rad Power Bikes says the RadWagon’s range is between 25-45 miles, but I found that with kids in tow and the power setting on four, I was depleting the battery after only 26 miles or so. Riding the RadWagon without battery or motor is extremely difficult given the overall weight, so I would recommend being very mindful of your battery level. Regenerative braking helps, but regular overnight charging with the 48V 2 amp charger (which operates on both 110V and 230V AC power outlets) is the safest bet.

The RadWagon is affordable because it eschews a lot of the bells and whistles you tend to associate with e-bikes: no app, no GPS tracking, no Bluetooth, no anti-theft. There are integrated front and rear lights that run off the motor. The rear one lights up every time you squeeze the brakes, which is a nice touch. But a VanMoof this ain’t. Depending on your e-bike expectations, this is either a relief or a drag.

The ride experience was mostly enjoyable, though I would have loved to have a suspension fork up front to absorb some of the bumps in the road. There were a few times, after hitting a pothole or speed bump a little faster than I intended, when I could feel all the gears and components underneath physically shift, which was nerve-wracking. Front and rear 180mm Tektro Aries mechanical disc brakes provided plenty of stopping power, even in loose terrain. I did detect a persistent squeak when reversing the bike that, while annoying, I’m sure could be fixed by tightening the spokes.

Speaking of noise, the Shengyi motor definitely gives off a noticeable hum during riding, which I found a little rankling at times, but easy to ignore at others. To be sure, a tolerance for some motor noise is required with most e-bikes.

The inclusion of the throttle is sure to rankle some purists who think this makes bikes like the RadWagon more of a moped than a bicycle. It certainly places them adjacent to the throttle-powered e-bikes used by New York City’s legions of food delivery workers, which are technically illegal in New York State. Is a throttle-powered bike a bike or moped? That’s a debate for a different day.

Let’s talk about the weight very quickly, because holy crap was this thing heavy. I probably wouldn’t be commenting on this if I had a garage where I could just park the RadWagon, no fuss. But alas, I live in an apartment building with bike storage in the basement, so that meant wrangling the RadWagon up and down a flight of stairs every time I wanted to ride it. And folks, I’m not exaggerating when I say it nearly killed me.

On its own, the RadWagon weighs 73 lbs (33 kg). Attach an 8 lb child seat or two, and you can see how this thing can start to get unwieldy. But this is by design, according to CEO Mike Radenbaugh. After all, it’s not meant to replace your regular bike, it’s meant to replace your car.

“Our bikes are usually five to 10 pounds heavier,” Radenbaugh tells me. “That’s because our battery packs are higher capacity, we use bigger hub motors, we use thicker spokes and downhill rims and tires with liners built into them, and big comfy seats. Everything’s just kind of built to be more robust and more approachable by people that are transitioning from car lifestyle to bike lifestyle.”

Lugging the RadWagon up and down a set of stairs didn’t make me more inclined to transition to a car-free lifestyle. And while there’s plenty of free storage for my 3,600 lb Subaru Outback on the street in front of my building, there is not a safe, accessible public place for me to keep an electric cargo bike. That’s not RadWagon’s fault; it’s a failure of city planning.

One thing about the RadWagon that isn’t heavy is the price. The cargo bike sells for $1,499, down $100 since June, which is the same as each of Rad Power Bikes’ other seven models. That’s cheaper than practically every electric cargo bike on the market. If you’re looking to replace a car with an e-bike, a price like that is sure to soften the blow.

Bicycle prices increase every year and cyclists who are serious about their sport are spending big money on high value bikes. Other forms of insurance, like homeowners and renters insurance, do a poor job insuring high value bicycles so we founded Velosurance to fix that.

Velosurance provides a stand-alone, no bike value depreciation, bicycle insurance policy to replace the cobbled together, sub standard coverages offered by traditional insurance.

We are cyclists just like you, and we understand that when your bike gets damaged in an accident you want the shortest possible downtime. We make it our mission to see that your claim check arrives before the repair parts do and you get back pedaling as soon as you want to.

The RadRunner 2 is an electric utility bike that attempts to do it all, but in trying to be everything to everyone it inevitably falls down. It will appeal to first-time buyers looking for an inexpensive electric bike for carrying luggage (or a second person), but range is relatively limited and optional accessories can push the price up quite a lot. Plus, taller riders will find the frame too small for comfort.

The electric bike as a product category is, in the grand scheme of things, pretty new. Exploding in popularity, particularly as Joe Public looks for an alternate transport option for short commutes, it seems the market for these bikes will only continue to grow.

One style in particular that seeks to replace short car journeys is the utility bike. For small business couriers, parents with kids and more, the ability to easily shift a small (but heavy) cargo with relatively minimal effort is highly welcome.

The RadRunner 2 is one such option, which starts at US$1499/£1349 and positions itself as a jack-of-all-trades rather than a dedicated utility bike, able to work as just about any kind of bike as well as being a capable cargo carrier. Its marketing even touts it as part of something new altogether, with a classic step-through ‘moped’ style.

The utility bike, as a general rule, doesn’t ascribe to the same design principles as the ‘standard’ bike. There’s no requirement to produce something lithe and elegant that could be as at home on the Champs d’Elysee as on Ordinary Street – instead it is robustness and the size of the rack that count.

Even on these merits, the RadRunner 2 is a slightly odd customer. First, and unusually, it is designed to fit a range of ‘average’ heights, those being 150cm to 188cm. This is to be applauded as many e-bikes in particular leave out the sub-160cm club, however it introduces a range of compromises.

At 177cm, approaching the upper limits of the fit, I found that the bike was difficult to adjust into a comfortable riding position between the handlebars and the saddle. This made for a cramped ride in general, though those with shorter legs might not encounter the same issue. A friend at 150cm was delighted to find a bike that wasn’t way too big – so perceptions of this may skew heavily on height.

However, this is why other manufacturers offer different frame sizes. But, like Cowboy, Rad Power Bikes does not do this. It’s a one-size-fits-some bike

The large, sturdy cargo rack can be customised with a number of different accessories provided by Rad Power Bikes, including to carry an extra passenger if desired (with the added seat for $99/£89). This is what in part defines the ‘moped’ style, and the riding position – which requires an unusually straight back. This, with the price, will automatically make this bike of interest to those who regularly ride with a cargo, as there is almost nothing available for this sort of price.

Beyond the fit, what stands out about the RadRunner 2 is the battery, which sits behind the seat post. Years ago, that was generally accepted as the only place it could go, but these days most manufacturers embed the battery within the frame for a sleeker look.

The size of the battery along with the generally chunky design also bring another compromise: weight. At 29kg, the relatively diminutive dimensions of the RadRunner 2 belie its sheer heft. If you are a commuter, this might automatically mean looking elsewhere, particularly for those who take their bikes with them on public transport.

The battery can be removed from the frame for charging off the bike, but it isn’t the easiest thing to do. The key-operated lock prevents anyone from taking the battery while the bike is parked, and it also used as an ‘ignition’: it must be set to the appropriate position before the bike will power on. But you can then remove the keys before riding.

An interesting choice made with the design of the RadRunner 2 is the choice of tyres. Typically, different tyre profiles are for different kinds of terrain, with thin tyres being for the road and thicker tyres for off-road conditions. With this in mind, the RadRunner 2 is a road bike that has very thick tyres and so blazes a trail of its own. There are of course drawbacks to this, chiefly being that there’s a fair amount of resistance on asphalt.

It does mean that riding over cobbles is a little more cushioned, but it seems that ‘fat-tyre’ bikes are becoming more and more common on the road. Other electric bikes around this price deigned for on-road use might lack the versatility of the RadRunner 2, but they are easier to ride, especially when the battery runs out.

Another inclusion which might be considered as somewhat odd is the single gear system. Where a more typical option might contain at least a five or seven gear option, the RadRunner 2 is single speed (with a derailleur to tension the chain – something we’ve not seen before).

The display is clearly intended to save cost too. Where some e-bike displays show a variety of useful information, the RadRunner 2’s shows barely anything.

The remaining battery power and the current assist level are indicated via rows of LEDs, and buttons are available to increase the assistance, decrease it and activate the included headlight, nothing more and nothing less. There isn’t any differentiation between the buttons in touch, so you have to look at them to change assist levels while cycling, and they need a good push to activate.

People looking for a budget load carrier likely won’t find this to be too much of an issue, but other bikes around this price have much better displays. (You can upgrade to an LCD screen for $95 / £85.)

It is possible to have the bike assembled on your doorstep following delivery as an add-on service, and it may be worth paying for the privilege. Although the more technically minded might find it not to be an issue, we found the RadRunner 2 relatively complex to assemble, with the fenders in particular proving difficult.

So what is the bike like to ride? This is of course the big question, to which the answer is: mostly fine. Though slightly non-descriptive as an answer, this means the RadRunner 2 is very average to ride.

It might have been possible to produce something with a little more finesse, but for the price it gets the job done. Though there is a whirr produced, it is only occasionally distracting, and four power levels are offered.

The maximum speed of the bike is 15.5 mph in the UK and EU, increasing to 20 mph (32 kmh) in the US, with the model reviewed being the version sold in the UK and EU. Between the ride position required, the option for extra passengers to be carried and the ‘moped’ category assigned, it does feel as though the bike was designed for those who want ‘electric’ performance over ‘traditional’ performance.

If you are looking to use the bike with the highest power setting on to whizz to the shops and don’t plan on taking longer rides, the RadRunner 2 will suit you well. If you are looking for something to use for off-road riding or for longer road journeys, there are better alternatives.

With a quoted range of up to 88 km/45+ miles, range would seem to be a particular strength of the RadRunner 2. But of course the picture changes in the real world. Lots of factors can affect how many miles the battery will transport you, including the temperature, the ride load and the rider weight.

With these in mind, although the RadRunner 2 can’t reach anything quite like the quoted maximum length, we managed around 30km (19 miles) before the battery needed a recharge. This will be enough for many commutes, but those needing more endurance should probably look elsewhere. A full charge of the battery took roughly five hours to complete.

Starting at are the operative words here. As Rad Power Bikes is keen to point out, there are dozens of accessories you could buy, from front racks and baskets to kids’ seats and passenger grab handles, plus the LCD upgrade and passenger seat mentioned earlier. These can add significantly to the price, even if it is nice to have the options there.

Releasing any device, let alone an e-bike, that tries to do everything is a tricky task. Chances are that while it will do a few things well, it will never quite live up to their promise in the long run.

I’m well aware that other reviewers have loved the RadRunner 2 (mainly in the US, it has to be said). For me, in the UK, this jack-of-all-trades is a master of none.

If you specifically want a utility e-bike to replace your car for short journeys – maybe to the shops or to take a child to school – then it will carry your cargo happily, and has a comfortable ride and sturdy, reassuring tires. But if you’re considering it for commuting, it is just too heavy and may well not offer enough range. Those who prefer off-road riding will want something with gears.

Your new ebike will be delivered directly to your door by the parcel service (FedEx, Purolator, etc.). While the bike is 85 percent assembled before it leaves the factory, additional assembly is required prior to your first ride. Rad Power Bikes provides helpful online resources to assist you in this process, including in-depth videos and an extensive digital Help Center.

A Rad Power Bikes Mobile Service Ambassador will build, tune, and accessorize your new ebike before delivering it directly to your door. Upon arrival, our RMS Ambassador will walk you through how to use your ebike and answer any questions you might have.

Your new ebike will be fully built, tuned, and delivered to your door by a velofix Mobile Mechanic. The velofix Mobile Mechanic will work with you directly to schedule a preferred date/time for your delivery and can install accessories for an additional fee.