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See also: Electric Bikes
RAD
Articles
The RadCity E-Bike Brings New Utility & Performance To The Classic Mountain Bike
Would you trade in your car for this e-bike?
By Rob Clymo 25 April 2019
A real alternative for heavy loads
Rad Power Bikes' RadWagon (https://radpowerbikes.eu/products/radwagon-electric-cargo-bike?variant=19529902817373) is a beast of a machine, but in a good way. It’s the end product of a business that was started up in Seattle by two childhood friends. Their love of bikes has resulted in a growing company that has its headquarters in the Pacific North West city. Unsurprisingly, however, Rad Power Bikes also has an office in Utrecht, Holland. (See also: https://www.radpowerbikes.com/)
https://www.techradar.com/news/would-you-trade-in-your-car-for-this-e-bike
Rad Power Bikes launches new RadWagon e-cargo bike full of new surprises
Micah Toll - May. 21st 2020 12:30 pm ET
Rad Power Bikes is the largest e-bike company in the US and is known for its diverse lineup of affordable e-bikes. Now the RadWagon, the brand’s electric cargo bike, has received a major overhaul with a brand new frame, motor, tires, increased adjustability, additional accessories, and more.
Rad Power Bikes’ RadMission is a whole lot of e-bike for $999
Napier Lopez - June 23, 2020 — 22:41 UTC
Rad Power Bikes is one of the biggest names in e-bikes in the US, creating some of the most popular bikes in the country at relatively affordable prices for electrified two-wheelers. After releasing its most affordable bike — at the time — in the form of the $1,299 RadRunner last year, the company one-upped itself this week with the $999 RadMission.
The $999 price point crosses an important psychological barrier, but the RadMission has more going for it than just the low price.
Rad Power launches a lightweight e-bike for $999
Less weight, less cost.
Rachel England, June 23, 2020
The way we get from A to B is changing. With the climate crisis looming and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic making public transit less appealing, traditional methods of transport are becoming increasingly unsustainable. Enter e-bikes, designed to make getting around quick, cheap and easy. As demand has slowly but surely increased, we’ve seen all kinds of innovations in e-bikes in recent times — now, Rad Power Bikes has launched a model that tackles some of the biggest barriers to uptake.
The RadMission Electric Metro Bike is a stripped back e-bike designed for commuters. It doesn’t come with any fancy add-ons or wild innovations, but it does pack in a punchy 500W geared hub motor, a top speed of 20mph and a battery smaller than, but just as powerful as, previous Rad Power Bikes’ iterations. And it costs just $999.
https://www.engadget.com/rad-power-launches-a-lightweight-ebike-for-999-140004049.html
Finally, an affordable e-bike that can do it all
Electric bikes aren’t just good for the environment, they’re also fun to ride
By Megan Barber - Nov 19, 2018, 4:15pm EST
For most adults, there are a plethora of factors that prevent people from riding a bike. Weather, road infrastructure, and safety are all concerns that keep people in cars and stuck in traffic.
But two other concerns are also front and center when it comes to biking: cost and convenience. Not many people have showers at their places of employment, and who wants to show up to work coated in sweat and stinky for the rest of the day? Electric bikes solve the convenience problem by making the process almost effortless; you can bike for miles—even up and down hills—without breaking a sweat.
The problem of cost, however, is a larger obstacle. Search for e-bikes for sale and you’ll see many that cost thousands of dollars. Fortunately, new companies are working to deliver quality bikes at a more affordable price point, and I decided to check one out to see how it rides.
https://www.curbed.com/2018/11/19/18018744/electric-bike-for-sale-review-rad-power
The RadMission 1 is a $1,099 e-bike that delivers the basics
Rad Power Bikes' latest is a simple but comfortable workhorse.
Nick Summers - 28 October 2020
More people than ever before are considering an electric bicycle. The benefits are numerous: it’s faster than walking and, while a good form of exercise, won’t make you sweat like a traditional bike would. It helps the environment — more so than a gas-guzzling car, anyway — and keeps you outside, minimizing the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The vast majority of e-bikes are too expensive for the average person, though. To become truly mainstream, the industry is going to need cheaper models like the RadMission 1, developed by Rad Power Bikes.
The bicycle was first unveiled with a $999 introductory price. That’s hardly an impulse purchase — the entry-level iPhone 12 costs $200 less, after all. But for a modern e-bike, that’s shockingly cheap. Rad Power Bikes has since raised the price to $1,099, which is still competitive with entry-level alternatives such as the Propella and Aventon Pace 350. The question with all these bikes, though, is quality. If your budget is around $1,000, you can’t expect too many tech-related luxuries like location tracking and integrated lights. It needs to be well-made, though, otherwise you’re better off saving your money or spending the same amount on a traditional bike with better parts.
https://www.engadget.com/rad-power-bikes-radmission-electric-bicycle-review-120020625.html
RadMission e-bike review: Rad Power Bikes’ best (and most affordable) electric bike yet?
Micah Toll - Nov. 20th 2020 9:52 am ET
The RadMission electric bicycle from Rad Power Bikes is one of the company’s most interesting e-bikes to date. While it makes a few modest compromises to hit its impressive $1,099 price point (and is on sale as a bundle for $200 off right now through Black Friday), it scores big wins in most categories, making this an incredibly high bang-for-your-buck e-bike.
RadMini e-bike review: Why you need this folding fat tire electric bike in your life
Micah Toll - Feb. 2nd 2021 10:12 am E
The Rad Power Bikes RadMini is the Swiss Army knife of the fat tire e-bike world. It offers all of the diverse riding advantages of fat tire e-bikes while providing surprising portability to take it just about anywhere.
Whether on grass, dirt, or asphalt, the RadMini can do just about anything most e-bike riders could ever need.
I took the ultra-affordable RadMission electric bike off-roading — here’s how it went
Micah Toll - Apr. 1st 2021 8:03 am ET
I first found my way into electric bicycles over 10 years ago as a form of alternative urban transportation. But lately I’ve been getting more into gravel riding for fitness. And in my never-ending quest to find more affordable ways to help get people onto their first electric bicycle, I decided to take a value-priced e-bike on a gravel ride to see how it would go.
If you’re not already familiar, gravel bikes or gravel riding make up one of the more increasingly popular trends in cycling.
Gravel riding combines road cycling and mountain biking, usually consisting of longer rides over unpaved roads and trails.
Thus gravel bikes are usually designed as a hybrid somewhere in the middle of the two disciplines. They lack the suspension of mountain bikes and instead take on a more road bike form, but are built to be more rugged and designed with features such as larger clearance for dirt and gravel-ready tires.
‘We’ve been shocked,’ CEO of US’s largest e-bike company, Rad Power Bikes, talks future plans
Micah Toll - May. 12th 2021 6:49 am ET
There’s no two ways about it, Rad Power Bikes is absolutely crushing it in the e-bike market. The Seattle-based electric bicycle manufacturer holds the largest share of the US market by far with all other companies competing for a distant second.
To learn more about what the leading e-bike brand is up to next, we caught up with founder and CEO Mike Radenbaugh. In speaking with Mike, it is obvious that he is an e-bike rider first and CEO of an e-bike company second – his passion for the electric bike community shines through every time he talks about the company. Having founded Rad Power Bikes after working on his own experiments with building electric bikes in his garage, he’s seen the larger industry grow even as Rad has grown within it.
But it’s impossible to talk about the direction of the e-bike industry as a whole or Rad Power Bikes’ position in it without also discussing the long shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rad Power Bikes founder Mike Randenbaugh on fueling the e-bike revolution
Rebecca Bellan - 11:48 AM PDT•October 14, 2021
Rad Power Bikes founder Mike Radenbaugh grew up among the Redwood trees on the Lost Coast of Northern California with “tree hugger parents and tree hugger neighbors,” and a life connected to nature. This exposed the founder not only to alternative ways of living that are more responsible to the planet but also to alternative energy. As a young teenager watching the electric vehicle space, Radenbaugh became energized seeing electric motorcycles and cars popping up but was impatient with their slow commercialization.
When Radenbaugh was 15, he built his first e-bike hacking together parts he ordered from Radio Shack and eBay with the money he saved from his job as a bellboy at the one hotel in town. This was back in 2007, and despite his young age, Radenbaugh says this is the year Rad Power Bikes was founded.
“I started advertising in the local newspaper and they gave me the first ad free I think because I went in as this punk kid and they felt sympathy for me,” Radenbaugh told TechCrunch.
Institutional investors double down on Rad Power Bikes with $154M Series D raise
Rebecca Bellan - 6:00 AM PDT October 28, 2021
Fat tire e-bike manufacturer Rad Power Bikes just raised another $154 million. The Series D raise from existing investors, which brings the company’s total funding to $329 million, comes just eight months after Rad raised $150 million. The Seattle-based startup aims to use the funds to boost investments in product and technology innovation and beef out its distribution network, according to founder and CEO Mike Radenbaugh.
Rad’s latest round is led by institutional investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, with investments from funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Counterpoint Global (Morgan Stanley), Vulcan Capital, Durable Capital Partners LP and The Rise Fund, TPG’s multisector global impact investing strategy.
“I think the fact that some of the world’s most respected investors are doubling down just shows this competence in our business, both with the scale advantage that we have and also just the overall potential in the e-bike market,” Radenbaugh told TechCrunch.
https://techcrunch.com/2021/10/28/rad-power-bikes-raises-154m-series-d/
Rad Power’s RadWagon 4: A great e-bike at a surprisingly low price
This sub-$2,000 e-bike is thoughtfully designed and a joy to ride.
Jim Salter - 11/11/2021 4:00 AM
The Salter household is very much a bicycling household, so when Rad Power offered me a review unit of one of its 2021 model e-bikes, I eagerly accepted. Rad offers a wide selection of models with a few important common features; all of them are powered aluminum-chassis e-bikes that retail for less than $2,000.
I tried the $1,899 RadWagon 4—a large, aggressively utilitarian, and very configurable cargo bike aimed at folks who need to haul passengers or groceries. After spending three full months with the RadWagon and putting several hundred miles on it, I'm happy to recommend it as an outstanding e-bike at a low price.
Rad Power Bikes launches new low-cost RadExpand 5 electric bike, replacing RadMini
Micah Toll - Mar. 9th 2022 7:00 am PT
Rad Power Bikes didn’t become the largest electric bicycle company in North America by resting on its laurels. The Seattle-based company has been hard at work on a new model to be added to the lineup. The RadExpand 5 electric bike has just been unveiled, and it comes with an attractive price of just US $1,299.
That price makes it the second most affordable model in Rad’s lineup’s, right after the $1,199 RadMission. But unlike the RadMission, the RadExpand 5 comes with Rad’s highest power motor at 750W and highest capacity battery at 624Wh, plus a seven-speed transmission.
That means the RadExpand 5 will offer similar performance levels to the rest of Rad’s Class 2 e-bike lineup. A top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) will be possible with both the bike’s half-twist hand throttle and its cadence sensor-based pedal assist.
The most exciting e-bike of 2022 is way cheaper than you’d expect
Fast folding fun
Cat Ellis - 9 March 2022
Rad Power Bikes, maker of some of the toughest and best e-bikes around, has released a new folding e-bike that's built like a tank, packs down small enough to toss in the trunk of your car, and costs far less than you might expect.
Good quality e-bikes under $1,500 / £1,000 are hard to find, let alone folding models, due to the extra engineering involved in building a frame that can be packed down neatly but is still strong enough to handle the weight of a rider and the force of a powerful motor.
The new RadExpand 5 is the exception, costing just $1,299 (about £900 / AU$1,600), folding down in seconds, and boasting a 48V, 750W motor to make light work of hills and tough terrain.
Unlike most folding e-bikes we've tested, the RadExpand 5 isn't built for commuters (although you could certainly use it to cruise to work in style if you like). Instead, it's built for tackling mud and rutted trails on weekend adventures, with 4-inch-wide tires, full-coverage front and fenders, water-resistant wiring and connectors, and a range of up to 45 miles on a single charge.
https://www.techradar.com/news/the-most-exciting-e-bike-of-2022-is-way-cheaper-than-youd-expect
Rad Power Bikes and Cycle pilot consumer e-bike subscriptions
Rebecca Bellan - 7:00 PM PDT September 22, 2022
Rad Power Bikes, a popular American e-bike brand that has raised over $300 million in the past two years, will start offering bikes as a subscription service next week. The company is partnering with Cycle, a Berlin-based e-bike subscription service that caters to couriers and last-mile delivery, to pilot the offering in Berlin.
Starting September 22, Cycle will provide two cargo bikes, the RadRunner and RadWagon, for rent with a starting price of €79.90 per month and the choice between a rolling monthly rental or a yearly contract, according to Cycle.
This partnership is Rad’s first subscription play — the company has been hyperfocused on direct-to-consumer sales but wants to attract a new segment of customers that prefer to pay for the usage of an e-bike rather than owning it outright, according to Arno Saladin, Rad’s European business director.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/09/22/rad-power-bikes-and-cycle-pilot-consumer-e-bike-subscriptions/
The trials and jubilations of owning a Rad Power e-bike
November 1, 2022 - Taylor Griggs (Staff Writer)
My roommate and friend Dagny Daniel was in the market for an electric bike, and when she saw 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.
https://bikeportland.org/2022/11/01/the-trials-and-jubilations-of-owning-a-rad-power-e-bike-366486
Is Rad Power Bikes planning a new low-cost electric bike? These 3 signs point to yes
Micah Toll - Nov. 2nd 2022 11:24 pm PT
Rad Power Bikes is the largest electric bicycle company in North America, meaning that when they make moves, the industry responds. And the latest move we could soon see from the Seattle, Washington-based e-bike manufacturer may be the introduction of a new low-cost electric bike to replace the RadMission.
Here’s why.
https://electrek.co/2022/11/02/rad-power-bikes-low-cost-electric-bike-radmission/
How Rad Power Bikes stacks up for a Boomer and a Millennial
Rebecca Bellan - 9:00 AM PST November 12, 2022
Rad Power Bikes, the U.S.-based e-bike manufacturer, has made its mark as a direct-to-consumer business selling fat tire bikes that helped shape the COVID e-bike boom. In 2021, the company raised two massive rounds – $150 million in February 2021 and another $154 million just eight months later – that brought its total funding above and beyond what Europe’s e-bike darling VanMoof secured.
I wanted to see why investors seemed so keen on the company and why these bikes were gaining in popularity.
The company recently sent me two e-bikes to test out: the RadRunner 2 and the RadExpand 5. They both appealed to me as affordable and stable bikes that could be delivered to your door, but I also wanted to give them a go based on a comment that Rad chief product officer Redwood Stephens made in a recent interview with TechCrunch.
https://techcrunch.com/2022/11/12/how-rad-power-bikes-stacks-up-for-a-boomer-and-a-millennial/
What we bought: I sold my car and bought this e-bike instead
The RadRunner Plus helps me carry a kid and groceries without breaking a sweat.
Amy Skorheim - January 6, 2023 10:35 AM
To be clear, I still own a car. While I might wish I were hardcore enough to live car-free, I’m not. But instead of owning two or more vehicles (like most American households do), my family now just has one. We bought the RadRunner Plus from Rad Power Bikes after we sold our second car, but I should note that two factors made that move feasible: My husband and I both started working from home, and we moved to a neighborhood that’s only a three-minute walk from our kid’s school. So if I feel a touch of pride in swapping a car for an e-bike, I realize I’m in a fortunate situation that doesn’t apply to everyone.
That said, this bike is rad. It’s fun to ride, it can carry a lot of cargo and takes on hills with seemingly zero effort. I feel like what keeps more people from adopting the bike as a routine form of transport are sweatiness and cargo space. No one wants to show up wherever they’re going looking like they just got out of a sauna, and most of us need to carry around more stuff than what fits in a small bag. The RadRunner solves both issues. If you don't want to pedal a single stroke, the throttle and 750-watt motor will oblige. If you need space for your kid, your coffee and a bag of groceries, you can configure the bike to handle them all at once (though the accessories are going to cost you).
https://www.engadget.com/rad-power-radrunner-plus-electric-bike-irl-153525330.html
Rad Power Bikes announces ‘New Rad’ after saying that it ‘made mistakes’
Micah Toll - Jan 26 2023 11:04 am PT
The CEO of Rad Power Bikes, the leading electric bicycle company in North America, just sent out a mass email committing to changes that it says will strengthen the company’s focus on safety, reliability, and customer service.
“A new era of innovation.” That’s what was emblazoned across the top of the email that landed in my inbox, along with presumably hundreds of thousands of other inboxes across Rad Power Bike’s vast rider base.
The email from Rad Power Bikes’ new CEO Phil Molyneux explained that Rad was entering a “new era.” It began with an explanation of how he was brought on board by Rad’s founder and previous CEO, Mike Radenbaugh.
Molyneux, who came to Rad after leadership positions at Sony and Dyson, took the wheel at a time when Rad was already navigating several different storms. The company’s e-cargo bike known as the RadWagon – which was likely the most popular long tail cargo e-bike in North America – was recalled due to an issue with its wheels. The company is also in the midst of multiple lawsuits ranging from a battery fire to a tragic underage riding death.
https://electrek.co/2023/01/26/rad-power-bikes-pledges-future-refocus-on-safety/
Rad Power Bikes announces major update to its entire e-bike lineup
Micah Toll - Sep 12 2023 6:00 am PT
Seattle-based electric bike maker Rad Power Bikes has just announced the biggest update to its entire product lineup yet, promising full UL-compliance for its batteries and e-bikes.
The move comes as UL-listing is seen as an increasingly popular issue among e-bike makers, customers, and local governments seeking ways to regulate e-bike safety.
According to Rad Power Bikes, all of the company’s e-bikes moving forward will be compliant with UL 2849 and all of the company’s lithium-ion batteries will be compliant with UL 2271.
UL 2849, known as the “UL Standard for Electrical Systems for eBikes,” provides fire safety certification by examining the electrical drive train, battery, and charger system combinations in e-bikes. The standard covers the entire e-bike drivetrain, including the battery.
UL 2271, by comparison, applies just to batteries used in light electric vehicles (LEVs) such as e-bikes and e-scooters. The standard covers the safety requirements for the design, manufacture, and testing of lithium-ion batteries used in LEVs.
By adopting both standards, Rad is ensuring comprehensive fire safety compliance throughout the systems used in all of its electric bikes moving forward.
https://electrek.co/2023/09/12/rad-power-bikes-announces-ul-listing/
We need to talk about Rad Power Bikes’ new e-bike batteries
Micah Toll - Mar 8 2024 5:47 am PT
Electric bikes just may be the biggest transportation revolution of our generation, helping millions replace car usage with more affordable, more efficient alternatives. But there’s no denying that concerns have been swirling about the safety of e-bike batteries, even if such fire fears have primarily been overblown by much of the media.
Leading electric bicycle maker Rad Power Bikes has just unveiled its new “Safe Shield Battery” in an effort to mitigate worries over e-bike battery safety. And it’s something we need to talk about.
The whole underlying issue here is based on the fact that e-bike batteries are usually comprised of dozens of smaller, energy-dense lithium-ion battery cells. Those cells are similar – and sometimes identical – to the battery cells used in everything from electric cars to power tool battery packs.
The individual battery cells store lots of energy and are generally quite safe. However, danger can occur when the cells are punctured or short-circuited, with the latter often happening when water makes its way into battery packs over time. Well-made e-bike batteries use several methods to mitigate these risks, and the result is that battery fires are exceedingly rare. Even in e-bikes, which seem to unfairly receive the brunt of lithium-ion battery fire scaremongering, such fires occur in a tiny, tiny fraction of a percent of e-bikes.
https://electrek.co/2024/03/08/we-need-to-talk-about-rad-power-bikes-new-e-bike-batteries/
RAD Power Bikes Drops the RadKick, a Belt Driven eBike That is Their Lightest Yet
Ron Frazelle - Aug 13, 2024 9:30 a.m. ET
Last week, Rad Power Bikes released the RadKick 7-Speed and RadKick Belt Drive. They say these eBikes are engineered to ride more like a standard bicycle. This new bike was a way for RAD to “fill a gap in their line” – a need expressed by their customers.
After compiling that customer feedback, Rad says they designed the RadKick to be a simpler, more intuitive, and lighter-weight eBike. Lightweight is all relative, especially when talking about affordable ebikes. Rad says the claimed weight of the RadKick belt drive is “under 55lbs”.
The RadKick comes in two different drivetrains. They come in a 7-speed chain drive flavor, a first for Rad Power. And a single-speed belt drive flavor.
https://bikerumor.com/rad-power-bikes-radkick-belt-drive-ebike-lightest/
Company
Layoff 2024
VC darling Rad Power Bikes hit with another round of layoffs
Rebecca Bellan - 7:59 AM PDT August 1, 2024
Rad Power Bikes, the Seattle-based e-bike startup that has raised more than $300 million from investors, went through another round of layoffs in July, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. This is the company’s fifth round since April 2021, when it cut back 100 staffers.
Rad’s latest layoffs follow a culling a year ago, when the e-bike maker pulled out of Europe and laid off around 40 employees. Rad laid off staff twice in 2022.
The layoffs at the popular e-bike startup come after VanMoof, another ventured-backed e-bike darling, declared bankruptcy last year. The turbulence in the e-bike industry has demonstrated that manufacturing and shipping two-wheelers is a tough business to get right, particularly if a startup is under pressure to scale quickly to provide investors with a return on investment.
Rad did not share how many staffers it cut in July or which teams were affected. Sources familiar with the layoffs told TechCrunch the cuts mostly hit Rad’s product development teams. According to LinkedIn, Rad Power employs 394 people.
Price
Rad Power Bikes announces price reductions across all electric bike models
Micah Toll - Jan 17 2024 6:37 am PT
Rad Power Bikes, one of the leading electric bicycle companies in the US, has just slashed prices on all of its e-bikes.
The company made the announcement today, effectively ushering in many of the best holiday sales from late last year as new permanent pricing for 2024.
“We’re lowering 2024 prices across our lineup of award-winning electric bikes,” explained the brand in an email. “From day one, our mission has been to create radical electric bikes that are built for everything, and priced for everyone. Now, we’re thrilled to make our high-quality, awesome electric bikes even more affordable and accessible for everyone.”