literally never bought one before; i'd like to know what kind of accessories i might need or what a good price is for a bike i'm only going to use to go grocery shopping, etc. Looking at this one from this site someone here once recommended
literally never bought one before; i'd like to know what kind of accessories i might need or what a good price is for a bike i'm only going to use to go grocery shopping, etc. Looking at this one from this site someone here once recommended
if you're looking to use it to haul grocery, the Rad Runner would be perfect, it's designed as a utility bike with the sturdy back rack that could also carry a passenger. I bought one when the lock downs started, and I attached a large pannier to the back rack and It's amazing how much groceries I can carry along with a back pack.
Note: If you do go for a Rad bike, don't bother buying their accessories, they are just rebranded Chinese OEM products that you can find on Aliexpress at half the price. Their "Rad mirror" is like $35 CAD, but you can find the exact same one for around $15 on ali. The Rad Runner comes with a crappy LED display, and the LCD display on their site cost like $150 (CAD), found the OEM on ali and msged the seller with info about my ebike and he sent it to me for $90CAD, works perfectly.
Yep, ebikes are really heavy, luckily I only have to carry it up a just few steps. Haven't had any maintenance issues except for a punctured tire, but replacement tubes for these fat tire bikes are now common and could be found on amazon, again buying from RAD would be a lot more expensive.
that's similar to the one i was thinking of getting
the rad is like $300 more expensive at least and doesn't come with any help with assembly (should be pretty straightforward but there can be issues), or ongoing maintenance like the REI one.
But the rad also has like at least double the power of the REI, a much larger battery, and a throttle (could be a positive or negative depending on your preference), plus that beefy built in cargo rack. It also has bigger tires (3.3" wide instead of 1.95) which can be good for comfort and some terrain types, but means higher rolling resistance, harder to fit in certain types of bike rack, etc. (for example some common wall mounted bike racks where you hook the front tire and hang the bike by it won't take over 2.25", same with the buses in my area). The rad runner also has smaller wheels and may stand out more as it looks less like a regular bike. It all depends what you want, really. Rad is a more established name in ebikes specifically but the REI one is a lot closer to a regular bike (would likely be a lot more usable if the electronics died and you wanted to keep using it in the mean time before repairs, etc) and it comes with that REI maintenance.