3 ms·

I have one but it's quite heavy and designed more around cargo, trips to the grocery store etc. I have used to it commute into town to go to the office a few ti

I have one but it's quite heavy and designed more around cargo, trips to the grocery store etc. I have used to it commute into town to go to the office a few times and it works ok for it, but if I started doing that every day I'd probably buy something more 'commutery'. I have a rad power bikes 'expand 5'.

masklinn 3y ago
What is the commutery-ness issue? The tyres do look chonky which might be inefficient for long-ish distance, or is it a bit small for long rides? Or is the maintenance a bit much for a daily?
- sleepybrett 3y ago
  Yeah it's got wide tires (and they are pretty small in diameter as well) and it's a stepthrough with an awfully heavy frame. I might go with something like the radcity if I were going to commute daily. Currently that commute is only 6ish miles though and I'm still mostly WFH, so it's not as critical. Rad does consider it a commuter bike, I just consider it a tad non-optimal but not anything terrible. Great for neighborhood errands though. My neighborhood 'main drag' is great for a little shopping/eating but is about a mile and change away so it's certainly walkable but I wouldn't want to lug groceries a mile up a hill so the bike is perfect. Haven't touched my car all summer unless I was getting out of the city. It is a bit small. I think they rate it for people who are 5'10" max, which is my height to get full leg extension. While it does fold it is quite heavy so if you are thinking about a scenario where you drive the edge of the city and bike the rest of the way in just know that getting it in and out of a trunk is a bit of a wrestling match. Maintenance-wise, no big complaints in almost a year and a half. I had a flat tire and was able to find a replacement tube no problem at a local bike shop. I've had to replace the brake pads and frayed up the brake cable in the process so I replaced that too, did all the work myself cost me maybe ~$20 in parts. Considering swapping the brakes for some 'hybrid hydraulic brakes' aka cable pull hydraulics, those will run me a couple hundred bucks for the pair, the work seems easy enough if you've ever swung a wrench. Did some lubing of the chain... No battery issues, no controller issues. https://www.radpowerbikes.com/collections/electric-city-commuter-bikes/products/radexpand-electric-folding-bike?variant=39442977783904 https://www.radpowerbikes.com/collections/electric-city-comm...

masklinn 3y ago

What is the commutery-ness issue? The tyres do look chonky which might be inefficient for long-ish distance, or is it a bit small for long rides? Or is the maintenance a bit much for a daily?

sleepybrett 3y ago
Yeah it's got wide tires (and they are pretty small in diameter as well) and it's a stepthrough with an awfully heavy frame. I might go with something like the radcity if I were going to commute daily. Currently that commute is only 6ish miles though and I'm still mostly WFH, so it's not as critical. Rad does consider it a commuter bike, I just consider it a tad non-optimal but not anything terrible. Great for neighborhood errands though. My neighborhood 'main drag' is great for a little shopping/eating but is about a mile and change away so it's certainly walkable but I wouldn't want to lug groceries a mile up a hill so the bike is perfect. Haven't touched my car all summer unless I was getting out of the city. It is a bit small. I think they rate it for people who are 5'10" max, which is my height to get full leg extension. While it does fold it is quite heavy so if you are thinking about a scenario where you drive the edge of the city and bike the rest of the way in just know that getting it in and out of a trunk is a bit of a wrestling match. Maintenance-wise, no big complaints in almost a year and a half. I had a flat tire and was able to find a replacement tube no problem at a local bike shop. I've had to replace the brake pads and frayed up the brake cable in the process so I replaced that too, did all the work myself cost me maybe ~$20 in parts. Considering swapping the brakes for some 'hybrid hydraulic brakes' aka cable pull hydraulics, those will run me a couple hundred bucks for the pair, the work seems easy enough if you've ever swung a wrench. Did some lubing of the chain... No battery issues, no controller issues. https://www.radpowerbikes.com/collections/electric-city-commuter-bikes/products/radexpand-electric-folding-bike?variant=39442977783904 https://www.radpowerbikes.com/collections/electric-city-comm...