#Rad electric bike 2018 full
#Rad electric bike 2018 plus

Another important advantage is that e-bikes can allow people to keep cycling as they age.īack to bike itself. While many people think that using an e-bike is a form of exercise cheating, numerous studies have shown they provide substantial health benefits-improving cardiac health, lowering sugar levels, strengthening muscles, bones, and joints, and preventing serious diseases. Despite my initial enthusiasm, I experienced more than a bit of sticker shock when I visited a local bike retailer in the San Jose-Trek’s top-end e-bike model cost $5,199. For me, the main appeal of an e-bike was the ability to take advantage of the health benefits of biking without having to worry about traveling long distances or riding up steep hills. Though electric bikes have been on the market for about 10 years, several entrants, mostly startups, have entered the market in the past few years. Health benefits of e-bikes are not “fake”

After a short demo ride facilitated by the extremely helpful staff, my love affair with the Rad Power Bike began. There are only 12 of these stores, in a handful of cities. If you’re unfamiliar, b8ta stores are interesting venues where vendors, particularly startups, can show off and demo their products in a friendly, casual, atmosphere without the high expense of cracking into a traditional retailer like Best Buy or Target. It’s currently up on Kickstarter.Flash forward to about 60 days ago when I happened to stop by a recently-opened b8ta store in Santana Row, directly across the street from my San Jose home. Still, it’s small, it’s portable, it’s clever, and it’s a thousand bucks or so, far cheaper than most conversion kits. This is more a helpful hand than turning your bike into a rugged offroader. The Rubbee can only do so much in terms of power even a good electrical motor needs to scale up at some point to get more oomph.

#Rad electric bike 2018 full

It’s not a full electric conversion, mind you. And if you’re worried about hauling a battery around, it’s got a nice leather handle built right in. The throttle and charger are connected using the same plug. If you’re worried about the Rubbee covering your back reflector, it comes standard with a red LED in the back, so it’ll follow you no matter what. For example, the Rubbee is built to stick with your wheel no matter what using a “fixation” system, but you can also fix the wheel if you want to shut it off without uninstalling it, simply by placing a pin. There’s a lot of clever ideas on display. You bolt the Rubbee to your seat post, place the polyurethane wheel on your back wheel, fire it up, and off you go. The Rubbee is essentially a conversion kit reduced down to its essence a motor, a battery, and a wheel to propel your bike. OK, so the name is kinda disturbing, but the engineering is on point.

Though, these days you can find some of the best electric bikes at affordable prices.

#Rad electric bike 2018 plus

Plus you wind up with a bike that looks like the victim of a tragic Radio Shack explosion. The problem, though, is that they’re still relatively expensive, and using conversion kits generally requires some technological knowhow. They’re also cheap compared to other transportation options. Electric bicycles are seemingly the best of both worlds: If your battery runs out, you just start pedaling.