WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:07.520 The Rad Mini is a sturdy fat tire folding ebike from Rad Power Bikes. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:11.519 That's a fairly unique combination. This bike is popular among people who don't 00:00:09.360 --> 00:00:16.480 have a lot of space to store a bike. It can fit in a boat, an RV, or just a 00:00:13.759 --> 00:00:21.039 normal size car. And the fat tires and geared hub motor mean you can take it on 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:25.350 rough and steep terrain. So, I like to think of it as an adventurer's bike. 00:00:23.279 --> 00:00:34.640 Let's check it out. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:41.600 be quiet!'s Silent Wings 3 uses a smooth running six-pole motor to remain silent 00:00:39.440 --> 00:00:47.360 and cool your PC better. Check them out at the link below. The Rad Mini arrives 00:00:44.559 --> 00:00:51.280 in a small bike box. Interestingly, not already folded, and it requires a bit of 00:00:49.680 --> 00:00:55.680 assembly. You have to put on the front wheel, the handlebars, pedals, and the 00:00:53.440 --> 00:01:00.559 optional front rack. I had a bit of trouble with it, but if you attach these 00:00:57.680 --> 00:01:04.479 two arms first, you'll be fine. Now that it's assembled, let's try folding it. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:09.280 Each of the folding joints features several points of redundancy to prevent 00:01:06.880 --> 00:01:13.040 the bike from accidentally folding mid ride. So, if this lever is loosened, 00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:17.840 you'll be fine. If the whole assembly rotates away, you're still fine. You 00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:21.600 have to pull this whole contraption up before the bike will be able to fold in 00:01:19.759 --> 00:01:25.840 half. And it's the same story with the handlebars. to fold. This plastic holder 00:01:24.080 --> 00:01:30.159 needs to be rotated. This handle needs to be pulled down, and the spring-loaded 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:34.079 part needs to be moved. Now that it's folded, you might notice that the gears 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.920 are exposed. This guard around the derailure prevents them from being 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:42.000 damaged in transit. But it should be noted that there's nothing to prevent 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:46.320 the bike from scratching its own paint. So, I juryrigged a solution out of some 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:51.360 old bicycle tubes. Handy things, by the way. I keep them in my car next to the 00:01:48.159 --> 00:01:54.000 duct tape and WD40. At 60 lb, the bike 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:58.320 is heavier than most folding ebikes, but that contributes to its sturdy feel, and 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:02.880 I was able to carry it comfortably, especially when compared to the 75lb Rad 00:02:00.960 --> 00:02:06.799 Wagon. The rear rack can even be extended, but if your bike bags aren't 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:11.280 very rigid, they'll rub up against the back wheel, unless you bought the 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:16.480 optional fenders. And I like how it looks, but I found no real use for the 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:21.200 front rack. It's a weird hybrid between a rack and a basket. with the front 00:02:18.959 --> 00:02:25.280 open, I guess, to accommodate larger items, but I also would have gotten rid 00:02:23.200 --> 00:02:29.280 of these extra railings on the sides so I could carry a more diverse range of 00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:33.640 objects. It's also worth noting that it kind of prevents you from parking inside 00:02:31.440 --> 00:02:38.000 most bike racks. Well, time to start it up. The 00:02:36.319 --> 00:02:41.840 key needs to stay inserted for the bike to run. I wish this wasn't the case 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:46.239 since they ended up hitting my foot while I'm riding. Separating the bike 00:02:44.160 --> 00:02:50.640 key from the rest of my keys solves this problem, but it makes it easy to forget 00:02:48.480 --> 00:02:54.720 the key in the ignition, which would allow someone to steal the expensive 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:59.680 battery. Now, let's talk about the riding experience. The bike has only one 00:02:57.280 --> 00:03:03.680 derailure with seven speeds. That's usually fine, but I wish the highest 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:07.440 gear was a little higher. There's a back lit LCD display, which shows everything 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:11.280 you could ever want, except for estimated remaining range. The wimpy 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:16.480 front light runs off the main battery and the backlight uses double's. There's 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:21.280 no suspension on the Rad Mini. Combined with the smaller diameter tires, bumps 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:25.840 will feel harder than usual. The fat tires definitely soak up all the little 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:29.920 bumps, but not the big ones. On the subject of soaking, you can take the Rad 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:35.840 Mini out in the rain as long as you don't stay out for too long. But my Rad 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:40.000 Mini did not come with fenders. Pretty surprising since the company is located 00:03:37.760 --> 00:03:44.480 in Seattle where it rains all winter long. I folded my bike bags over the top 00:03:42.640 --> 00:03:49.280 of the rack to keep the water off my back, but the bike has still gotten 00:03:46.799 --> 00:03:54.640 absolutely filthy. Apparently, there were no pre-existing fenders available 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:59.360 for a 20-in fat tire bicycle. So, Rad Power Bikes had to specially design and 00:03:56.640 --> 00:04:03.120 manufacture them. As of December 2016, the fenders have finally become 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:08.319 available, and they're great. They work just as fenders should. But at 159 USD, 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:16.479 they're definitely priced like custom parts. Yikes. The Rad Mini has a 556Wh 00:04:12.799 --> 00:04:18.799 battery and a powerful 750W planetary 00:04:16.479 --> 00:04:23.120 geared hub motor, but because of the geared motor, the Rad Mini does not have 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:27.199 regenerative braking. Though, it makes up for this with better acceleration 00:04:24.800 --> 00:04:32.479 than the Rad Wagon up to its governor limited top speed of 20 mph. However, it 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:37.280 takes almost a second for the motor to engage after you twist the throttle. The 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:41.720 bike has a throttle and five modes of pedal assist based on the cadence 00:04:39.280 --> 00:04:47.840 sensor, but the pedal assist is absolutely awful, or at least it was out 00:04:44.800 --> 00:04:50.400 of the box. Basically, the problem was 00:04:47.840 --> 00:04:56.320 that they added speed limits on top of the usual watt limits for all of the 00:04:53.280 --> 00:04:58.720 five pedal assist modes. This resulted 00:04:56.320 --> 00:05:04.720 in most of the load being taken by either the rider or the motor instead of 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:06.960 being equally distributed. After I and 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:10.880 some other users sent Rad Power Bikes some feedback, they reworked their 00:05:09.039 --> 00:05:15.759 firmware for the motor controller and sent me a new one in the mail. It was a 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:20.479 pain in the ass to install, but now the motor controller works just the way it 00:05:17.759 --> 00:05:25.840 should, and that's great. But what's not great is that my first motor controller 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:28.320 on the Rad Wagon was also buggy and 00:05:25.840 --> 00:05:32.960 needed to be replaced. So, it's become a pattern for me. And looking through 00:05:30.320 --> 00:05:37.039 online forums, I'm not the only one. This is something I feel Rad Power Bikes 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:42.080 could address with more stringent pre-release testing and quality control. 00:05:39.919 --> 00:05:45.759 But let's not dwell on that. What can you expect from the Rad Mini with the 00:05:44.000 --> 00:05:50.880 updated motor controller that they're shipping now? good things. It turns out 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:55.600 due to its superior acceleration and possibly even higher top speed when 00:05:53.039 --> 00:06:00.400 pedaling, the Rad Mini was able to beat all the other electric vehicles in my 00:05:57.919 --> 00:06:05.759 office to Costco benchmark. As for range, the website claims 20 to 40 m and 00:06:03.440 --> 00:06:11.680 the furthest I've ever gotten was 30. Which leads us to price. At 1,500 USD, 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:16.560 there is quite a lot of competition from other folding ebikes, such as the Enzo 00:06:14.479 --> 00:06:20.960 or the Volt Bike, which both come with fenders included, by the way. But 00:06:18.960 --> 00:06:26.080 despite that and any negative things that I've said about the Rad Mini, I 00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:30.400 still really like it. And because of its superior acceleration and top speed, 00:06:28.479 --> 00:06:35.759 more upright sitting position, wider tires, and reduced size and weight, for 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:40.639 most of my adventures, I prefer the Rad Mini over the Rad Wagon. And the 00:06:38.479 --> 00:06:44.560 foldability means you can take it pretty much anywhere. Just make sure to bring a 00:06:43.120 --> 00:06:48.360 tarp so you don't get your buddy's Lamborghini dirty. 00:06:49.039 --> 00:06:55.280 Yeah, Ting is the mobile carrier that is 00:06:53.759 --> 00:06:59.440 focused on customer service and satisfaction first. You can call them 00:06:57.280 --> 00:07:03.360 and speak directly to a real living person. And with Ting, you only pay for 00:07:01.440 --> 00:07:07.840 what you use. The average TING bill is only $23 per month per device. If you're 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:13.280 currently stuck in a contract, you can switch to TING and they will cover 25% 00:07:10.080 --> 00:07:15.840 of your cancellation fee up to $75. Head 00:07:13.280 --> 00:07:19.560 over to Linus.ing.com ting.com today and try out their savings calculator to find 00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:24.560 out what you could save. Thanks for watching, guys. Give it 00:07:21.919 --> 00:07:29.680 a like or a dislike. Get subscribed and get bled as well cuz that's a new thing 00:07:27.039 --> 00:07:35.440 you can do. I'm not sure what it is. Uh check out our link to Amazon to buy 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:40.919 stuff. We've also got a merch store where you can buy a t-shirt. You can't 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:44.080 buy this jacket. Uh check out the Rad 00:07:40.919 --> 00:07:45.599 Wagon video. I talked about that in this 00:07:44.080 --> 00:07:50.280 video. So, if you haven't seen that, you're going to be kind of confused. So, 00:07:47.280 --> 00:07:50.280 goodbye.