For current pricing on the Rad Power Bikes RadTrike click the link below:
For a full detailed written review of the Rad Power Bikes RadTrike click the link below:
In our review of the Rad Power Bikes RadTrike we cover what could be a game-changing new model in Rad’s lineup.
Why is it such a big deal? There are tons of options on the e-bike market, but fewer on the e-trike market. Trikes are highly sought after by those with balance and mobility issues in particular. Sometimes the balance required of two feels excluded other from cycling who would otherwise join the fold.
So for Rad Power Bikes, one of the nation’s leading e-bike makers, to introduce an affordable trike model could further open up the floodgates in e-micromobility.
To better learn what the RadTrike is capable of, our review put it through our standard battery of tests. We examined everything from its battery range, braking ability, hill climbing, and more.
The RadTrike features a 750W front hub motor – that’s plenty of power for sure, but Rad put an emphasis on safety. While it’s the same wattage as found on the RadRover, Rad went ahead and capped the speed at 14 mph, while setting the trike up for success by enabling higher motor torque at lower speeds.
The 480Wh battery may seem small on paper, but it’s efficiently paired with the battery. Make sure to check out the range test for more details!
And of course, a trike isn’t overly useful if you can’t ingrain it into your daily life, and Rad made conscious decisions in the design process to ensure the trike could easily go in and out of a home, or even an SUV or van!
There’s a lot to unpack here, so make sure to watch our full video review of the RadTrike!
#radpowerbikes #radtrike #electricbikereview
0:00 Rad Power Bikes RadTrike Review
1:09 RadTrike Overview
5:07 Specs
9:09 Handling Test
11:23 Brake Test
12:22 Circuit Test
14:54 Battery/Range Test
16:38 Motor/Hill Test
18:19 RadTrike Review Conclusion
Hi everybody Griffin Hale is a little Electric bike report back here with you Today and today I’m bringing you our Review of the rad power bikes rad trike Now this is a pretty exciting review as This model was the most requested from Rad customers now for many people two Wheels just won’t do and they need the Stability of three and that is what Trike design can afford you now that Could be seniors who are looking for a Little bit more balance or people with Physical limitations that just need that The help of the extra third wheel now With that though you also need a trike That is fun that is useful and feels Like it is worth the cost so was rad Able to deliver that let’s go ahead and Dive into our review and find out [Music] Thank you [Music] Now while a trike has been a long Requested model from rad it is not Something that they have rushed to the Market matter of fact the development Team took three years to bring the rad Trike together and the Inception of it Actually goes further back than that rad Power bikes is founder Mike radenbaugh Back in 2007 was helping a customer with Lyme disease try to fit an electric Trike to them now it’s been clear for a While that there is a need for a
Three-wheeled electric device to help People get around and a lot of attention To detail and Care went into how to Bring this bike together now That all starts of course with cost in Order to make something truly accessible To people it has to be something people Can afford and rad has done a good job Of keeping costs fairly low here at Around twenty five hundred dollars and You have to remember that there are a Lot of e-bike options out on the market Today but e-trike options are fewer and Further between especially if you want a Good quality one so at twenty five Hundred dollars that’s relatively Affordable for the average consumer now Not only is it affordable but they’ve Also done a lot to make this trike safe Now a few different things kind of get Put into that whether it’s the 18 inch Wheels that help keep it lower to the Ground the slackened seat tube angle Right here keeps the rider weight a Little bit further back and over the Rear axle to help keep Wheels on the Ground and of course even the drivetrain Which we’re going to dive into here in Just a minute it has been designed in Such a way as to make this trike as safe As possible and as easy to operate as it Can now with a trike you also want Something that is comfortable practical And something you can Envision
Integrating into your everyday life now With Comfort it all starts with the seat Here it’s a generously padded seat and It comes with a backrest as well both of Which can be adjusted forward or back up And down that helps Riders find their Ideal seated position now writers on This by the way the rad track Accommodates from four foot ten up to Six foot four and 325 pounds I cast a Pretty wide net allowing a lot of Different people for the ability to Envision themselves writing along the Rad Tricare now again it’s got to be Something that you can just Envision Moving it around and getting it in and Out of places at your home or at your Office and rad actually thought this Through really well because this trike Can fit through a doorway now here at Our offices we have a double door Entrance and just when I first saw the Trike I instinctively went to go open That second door now Brendan from our Team as soon as he saw me go and open it He said no no it’ll fit And sure enough it had about half an Inch on either side but it fit through Just the single door that kind of blew My mind and again further showcases the Attention to detail here rad went as far As to make recessed lug nuts here on Either side of the wheel so that it Could have that space there probably was
The Difference Maker between getting it Through the door or not Now there is more to it as well because Oftentimes with trikes you can easily Pull yourself into a tight space but It’s hard backing out it’s they are Cumbersome to pick up try to lift or Move around or anything like that but Rad thought that through by giving you a Reverse throttle feature so if you’re Able to pull in you’re also able to Throttle back out and just makes it Really easy to get it around now With the red trick here another thing That I love is it is one of the more Portable trikes out on the market They have designed this so that it could Fit into the back of your average SUV or Minivan that’s thanks to this folding Handlebar right here which you can Engage this latch and fold that down Remove the rear seat post and then it Should be able to slide into an SUV not Only that but when the bike or the trike Rather is shipped to you it comes in two Pieces and you can actually disconnect This right here and it should fit into a Sedan as well that sort of portability In a trike is very uncommon and makes This just so practical and useful so While I’m very happy with the features That rad has thought through when Bringing the strike together they’ve Also given it a very competitive spec
Package as well let’s dive further into The details on the full spec sheet of What you get with the rad trike [Music] So the radtrike is a Class 2 e-trike Capable of speeds up to 14 miles per Hour through either the pedal assist or Through the throttle we actually love The fact that rad decided to cap it at 14 miles per hour trikes in generally Need to be ridden more slowly than E-bike counterparts so I’d like that Attention to detail and safety there now Powering the rat trike is a 750 watt Front hub motor this actually is a very Powerful motor and by powerful I don’t Need in terms of speed but just its Ability to accelerate the rider up to The cruising speeds of the different Pedal assist levels is really really Nice now it comes paired with a 480 watt Hour battery my initial impression was I Thought that would be actually a little Bit of a smaller battery that might not Give great range but I was proven wrong In our range tests which we’ll be Showing you here in just a couple of Minutes now stopping the trike is a 180 Millimeter mechanical disc brake here in The front and then you actually have Kind of an old school throwback here rad Has given you a back pedal coaster break So just like the bikes and trikes we Rode when we were kids when you go
Reverse on the pedals it’ll actually Engage the brake that locks up this rear Wheel here as well through the Drivetrain system now the reason I am Gesturing towards the right wheel and Not saying Wheels is because it actually Only stops this right rear wheel the Left wheel is actually a Freewheel which Helps mitigate a single axle problem That exists with trikes the Freewheel Allows it to just spin freely and try to Match the speed being applied to the Right wheel so as you’re pedaling around It just makes it a little bit better for Taking turns and just overall pretty Good design now Along with the braking system we of Course have Um we’re riding on 18-inch Kenda contact Tires these tires have held up pretty Well we haven’t had any Flats in our Numerous miles of testing they roll Pretty well and you’re actually able to Pedal the bike around decently on flat Ground thanks to the smoother dread Pattern you also get a fairly bright Front LED headlight and rear tail light As well some Fender the trike comes with Fenders over each wheel that do have Some reflectors on it for added Visibility and safety and of course just Keeping water off of you as it splashes Up and kicks up from the tire Now moving up towards the cockpit here
It’s actually fairly comfortable as well This is a high-rise handlebar which Again is nice because as you’re Seated On the trike it has a generous 20 degree Sweep that comes back towards you Allowing you to sit upright and be able To see clearly on the path in front of You but it’s a very uncluttered cockpit Overall it only has the one brake lever Of course since you only have the one Mechanical disc brake up front and then You have just this one controller over On the left hand side for increasing or Decreasing your pedal assist speed with A 10 uh thin bar LED readout for your Battery now there is no uh Center Matching screen that comes with this Typically like on the rad City or the Rad Rover you can add that after Checkout if you do want to have a Display showcasing your miles per hour Or you can also get a phone mount and There’s lots of different apps you can Choose from for displaying your speed by Mounting that in the handlebar right Here over on the right hand side is of Course the half twist grip throttle and Then it’s just a softer overall rubber On these grips I actually like these Grips quite a bit now that covers all The things that come standard but There’s also more ways to equip the rad Trike that make it more useful and more Utilities as you can see with the test
Model that we have here we have a large Front basket and rear basket as well Both of which have different bags now I Actually found these to be really useful I really like the option to be able to Take different forms of cargo with you Particularly this rear basket is one That I highly recommend because it’s Nice to be able to load up some extra Weight that kind of helps keep those Wheels planted especially as you’re Taking corners or turns again operate Tracks more slowly but if you do have More weight you can take the current the Turns with a little bit more confidence Overall for the around that 2500 price Point it’s a pretty good and competitive Uh spec package but now let’s go ahead And move on to talk about how it all Handles and feels out on the roads [Music] Now given that this is a trike and not a Bike it has its own way of handling so We actually created a new test where we Wanted to see at what speeds you could Comfortably take a corner here on the Rad trike now we did this three Different times we did it at five miles Per hour before starting a turn 10 miles Per hour and then the max pedal assist Speed of 14 miles per hour here on the Trike now this was a pretty unanimous Group decision where we all felt that at Five miles per hour where things are
Slower is where the trike handles best You can take the turn with confidence And not have to worry about chipping up Onto two wheels or anything like that at 10 miles per hour we found that we were Able to do it it did however make us Slightly nervous just felt a little less Secure going at that speed then at 14 Miles per hour again we were able to Navigate it but that just requires a More advanced style of handling and I Don’t know that I would recommend people Go up to 14 miles per hour when they Need to navigate a turn now overall I do Think that the rad trike handles fairly Well as long as you kind of keep it Within its limits and rad actually set The trike up for Success so that it Could be operated safely now with trike Design one thing that you have to Account for and solve is what is known As the rear uh or the single axle Problem these two tires here in the back If they share one single axle that Causes both tires to rotate at the same Amount of speed that can actually cause It to be a little bit tip prone as you Go to take a turn the outside wheel Needs to actually travel at a faster Rate of speed than the inside wheel Since it has more ground to cover now How rad has been able to solve for that Is by setting up a free wheel here on The left hand side again the drivetrain
Only ties into that right wheel meaning The left wheel can turn as quickly as it Needs to when going right and go even a Little bit slower when going left as the Right wheel then takes the outside Overall it was pretty good engineering On Rad’s part and again it’s a safe Handling strike as long as you keep it Within its parameters another thing that Rad has done to help people Safely travel around on drugs they even Have a little instruction manual for Educating people on how to best operate It again it is a trike and not a bike so It’s important that you familiarize Yourself with it first before riding Around [Music] Now e-bikes and e-triks have a lot of Fun proposition of course thanks to the Help of the motor being able to take you At uh good cruising speeds but it’s also Really important to make sure there’s a Counterbalance in place and the ability To break is just as important so we put The rad Trek through a brake test now What we did is we brought the trike up To its Max 14 miles per hour assisted Speed and then came to a stop as quickly And safely as we could now again the rad Track features a mechanical disc brake On the front tire with 180 millimeter Rotor and then of course there is the Back pedal coaster brake here as well we
Do we utilize both of these in our Braking and got pretty good brake Results we stopped an average of 10 feet In 5 inches which of course is one of The lowest brake tests we’ve ever Recorded not fully a fair fight with the Other ones we’ve done as those we Brought up to 20 miles per hour but the Fact that you can stop this within 10 Feet from its top pedal assisted speed Is pretty great to see and overall Pretty happy with the braking Capabilities here on the rad trike [Music] Now when we get bikes into review we Always put them on our circuit test to Get a better understanding of the speed Profile so even with the rat trike here We took it out to the EBR circuit the EBR circuit is a one mile Loop Consisting of four right hand turns and A small 30 foot climb this gives us Again the opportunity to see what speeds This trike is capable of but we also get An opportunity to get a real good sense For the motor and its overall engagement So from the graphic that you’re looking At on your screen right here you’re Going to see that I started out at about 8.8 miles per hour without the help of The motor Through every consecutive lap thereafter It helped me out just a little bit on The Hills but you’re not seeing dramatic
Jumps until pas4 or pas5 when it really Started to add on top of what I am able To bring to the table with my own legs Now it’s important to understand though That with this particular test I’m Always giving it a 70 effort and so I Can kind of travel a little bit faster Than this bike is set up before it’s Really set up and designed to help People who have those stability issues Or you know do need a little bit of help Going longer distances at a more gradual And mild pace and rad did actually Program this to give it pretty good Speeds so from this second graphic that You’re now looking at you’re going to See that rad set it up so that pas1 Would go about 2.7 miles per hour then Up to five and then smaller incremental Increases from there up to the top 14 Mile per hour speed so a couple of Thoughts I have overall number one the Front hub motor does a really good job Of engaging it kicks on fairly quickly Within half a pedal stroke or so and it Does have a very smooth acceleration That I don’t think people will find Jarring there’s a bit of a different Sensation for me because it’s a front Hub motor and most of the Hub Motors we Test are in the rear but again that Front wheel does a good job of being Able to pull you along Second I really really do love how pas1
Has been programmed to me to match a Walking speed at 2.7 miles per hour I Love the thought of grandparents being Able to get out there and to go with Their kids and grandkids on walks just Be able to go longer distances and not Have to worry about any Mobility Limitations it’s just a really nice Feature to see that they had that Attention to detail and think through How people would might want to use it Not only that but I can remember even The last neighborhood I lived with every Morning I’d wake up and see my one of my Neighbors trying to walk her three dogs From a golf cart now that’s not an Option for everybody and it’s also a Bigger more cumbersome vehicle so Something a little bit more smaller and Compact like the rad trike here for Getting around and just going about your Everyday life at a good gradual Pace I Think is an awesome option [Music] Now any product that you’ve ever bought With a battery you probably wonder how Long it can last on a single charge and That is something that we take the time To test here at EBR so we have a range Test work that we actually run two Different times we do it once at the Maximum pedal assist speed and once at The lowest pedal assist speed that feels Like it gives us a little bit more
Constant motor help which in this case We chose pedal assist 2 for our purposes Now what this does is it gives you kind Of that floor and ceiling value and you Know that um just about how far you can Go so in the case of the rad trike with Its 480 watt hour battery that pairs the 750 watt motor I was actually really Impressed with the efficiency on display Here on the high end we got 59 miles on Pedal assist 2 and on the maximum pedal Assist pedal assist five we got 25 miles Those are both phenomenal results again With that smaller 480 watt hour Batteries I had a little bit lower Expectations but it does benefit from a Couple of uh choices by Rad number one Capping the speed of 14 miles per hour Means that the battery just doesn’t need To send out as much power to the motor And of course just the program Programming overall will allow it to Really Aid someone who is pedaling as Opposed to fully taking over which is Really nice to see again those are Really impressive results and it Actually led to the longest amount of Time we ever had to spend in the saddle On any one range test for the pas2 test We had our test Riders out there for 10 And a half hours thank you boys for the Commitment to the team and getting us That result again that just goes back to Reinforce that you’ll be able to ride
The rad trike for days and days at a Time go out and do a lot of different Things before you ever have to worry About charging again no matter the Assist setting that you’re writing at [Music] For our final test we wanted to see how Well the rat trike could climb Hills so We went back out to our beloved test Hill of hell hole now hell hole is a Third of a mile long with a 12 average Grade it’s a very Steep and extreme Example of a hill that might come across But we chose it specifically because we Frankly didn’t expect all e-bikes or E-trikes to make it to the top we wanted To find out what the motors are capable Of when stretched to their absolute Limit again this is a 750 watt front hub Motor and we were very pleasantly Surprised with the results we got on our Throttle only test we were able to reach To the uh the top of the hill in a time Of a minute and 56 seconds at a nine and A half mile per hour average pace and Then in the max pedal assist test we did A time of 133 with an 11.3 mile per hour Pace now a few thoughts and takeaways I Have from this test number one our Hill Tester Justin was blown away with how Well it with how well it did for him he Had actually just strained his hip Flexor the week before that so he was a Little bit Limited but he remarked how
It absolutely just was able to climb That Hill wonderfully for him and as you Can see it’s something that you can Reach the top with throttle only Power So if you do not want to Aid in the Pedaling it can get to the top of even Very steep hills rad did a lot on this Motor and really dialed it in they’ve Programmed it to allow for more torque At lower speeds again are you flying or Blazing to the top of hills on this no You’re not but you’re actually getting a Very smooth power delivery from the Motor that will get you to the top so Overall very happy with the performance On the hill test [Music] The biggest takeaway here at the end of The rad trike review would be this rad Set out to make of a trike that is fun Useful practical and most importantly is A good option for people requiring three Wheels instead of two and I think it is Largely mission accomplished it is a Trike that climbs Hills really well it Can afford you battery life where you Will go days at a time without having to Worry about charging and there’s a lot Of safety just kind of built in from the Ground up when they engineered this bike It’s got a pretty good handling overall I would say with a low center of gravity Again with trikes it’s really important That you understand how to handle them
First so always take things slow but as Long as you’re keeping the trike to Within its Paces it’s going to be a good Time Now I really like also the the attention To detail where you’re able to pick your Speed at the different pedal assist Settings at pas1 matching a walking Paste is really awesome to me I like the Thought of people who would otherwise Maybe miss out on going for longer walks Being able to go and do that the only Thing I maybe want to see changed in the Future would be making the throttle Speed tie in with the pedal assist speed It doesn’t matter if you have Pas one Two or three the throttle will at all Times Propel you to the max 14 miles per Hour I would have liked to see that tie In so that you could add the option of Throttling just to that three to five Miles per hour Um I think there’s also an argument to Be made for potentially lowering the Speed too if you’re someone who doesn’t Even want to travel 14 miles per hour Maybe cap yourself some lower at 10 Miles per hour that’d be a good Adjustment as well in the future now While those are would be nice additions To look forward to down the road I still Think that what you’re getting overall Is a good safe and fun package and I’m Really impressed with what rad was able
To accomplish here on the rad trike now If you found this review helpful please Give this video a like if you haven’t Yet subscribe to the electric bike Report Channel and don’t forget to Enable the Bell notifications and then We will of course leave two different Links down in the description below one For current pricing on the rad trike and Another one for a detailed written Review where you can check out more of The data we collected while taking a Look at the rat drag again I’m Griffin Hills with electric bike report we’ll See on the next review Thank you
