By The Takeaway: The Rad Power Bikes RadWagon is a reliable e-cargo steed for thousands less than competitors.
- A powerful direct-drive hub motor and throttle give you a scooter-like ride when you want it
- Integrated lights and fenders get you right out of the box
- Single frame size fits most riders, but isn’t ideal for everyone
Price: $1,499
Weight: 73 lb. (claimed)
If you’re considering the Rad Power Bikes RadWagon against your traditional e-cargo options from Tern, Yuba, Xtracycle, Riese & Müller, and others, ask yourself whether you’d rather have a little more torque and refinement or $3,000. That’s the price differential between the RadWagon and its direct e-cargo competitors. After a couple months of riding the big, bright orange thing, I can report that I’d buy one and keep my $3,000.
That’s not to say that the RadWagon is a sketchy budget e-bike, although you’d be right to find the pricing incredulous. The 750-watt Shengyi direct-drive hub motor isn’t as torquey as comparable mid-drive systems, but the bike easily climbed the same hills where we test other (mid-driven) cargo bikes. You get mechanical disc brakes instead of hydraulic; the difference felt negligible. The rear cargo deck is long, providing space for massive panniers or a series of compatible Rad Power Bikes cargo decks and child seats (although they’re not always in stock).
Pros
- Comes with lights, fenders, and a kickstand
- Throttle gets you off the line more easily
Cons
- Less powerful up steep hills than e-cargo bikes with mid-drive motors
Not all cost-saving measures go unnoticed. The jumps between cogs of the 7-speed freewheel are vast compared to higher-end 10-speed drivetrains, which makes power delivery harder to control, especially on a cadence-sensing system (as compared to torque-based sensors on mid-drive systems). You find more exposed cables: Rather than being integrated into the battery, the entire motor controller is out in the open. The holes drilled through the planks on the rear cargo deck and running boards don’t all match up. And the frame comes in only one size; at 6-foot-2, I maxed out the seatpost, which doesn’t bode well for taller riders.
But the RadWagon is a utilitarian bike and I barely cared about most of these complaints while using it on a daily basis. For the purpose of loading up the panniers (and racks, if you mount them) and riding from point to point, the RadWagon is no less capable than any other ($4,000 to $6,800) e-cargo bike I’ve ridden.
5 Things We Love About the RadWagon
Big Display
The unit shows speed, distance, pedal-assist level, wattage, battery level, and an odometer.
Integrated Lights
Never worry about forgetting your lights—the headlight and taillight use power from the battery.
Throttle
Twist the grip-based throttle to get 750 watts on-demand.
Big Motor
The Shengyi direct-drive motor is quiet and provides a sustained 750 watts.
Cargo Deck
It might not be recommended, but you can put an adult on the rear cargo deck and running boards.
How Is This Bike So Cheap?
We had the same question, so we put it to Rad Power Bikes cofounder Mike Radenbaugh. The company launched the RadWagon at $1,800 in 2015 and has been working to get the price down ever since. The direct-to-consumer model cuts out markup from dealers (and puts the assembly burden on you), but the company also takes advantage of scale. “(The price) is based on a lot of standardization work and high volume, working with manufacturers,” Radenbaugh says. That explains why there’s only one frame size, and the Shengyi hub motor drive system costs significantly less than a name brand mid-drive system. Selling a lot more e-cargo bikes than niche e-cargo firms helps, too.
Wheel size: 26 in.
Tire clearance: 26x2.3 in.
Motor: Shengyi direct-drive, 750 watts
Battery: Rad Power Bikes (Samsung cells, 48V, 14Ah)
Drivetrain: 1x7
Crankset: ProWheel Pioneer, 42t
Rear derailleur: Shimano Altus
Freewheel: DNP 7-speed, 11-34T
Brakes: Tektro Aries mechanical disc, 180mm rotors (front and rear)
Rims: Weinmann Goliath
Tires: Kenda K-Rad, 2.3 in.
Pedal Assist or Throttle
Unlike most e-cargo bikes, the RadWagon gives you the option to use either one of five pedal-assist modes or a throttle on the right side of the handlebar. A 12-magnet cadence sensor on the drive side of the bottom bracket picks up your pedaling input and doles out e-assist accordingly. Power delivery isn’t as fluid as it is on torque-sensing systems, but the cadence-sensing design gives you full power from easy, fast pedaling. I think this behavior makes the RadWagon easier to ride than a mid-drive e-cargo bike because you don’t have to pedal very hard to get a full effort from the motor. That said, reviewers from other outlets found the system jarring compared to riding a pushbike, so you might not enjoy it as much if you prefer your e-assist to feel more like regular pedaling.
The range from the 48-volt battery largely depends on terrain. I averaged around 35 miles per charge, but my cumulative home-work-home-work-home-work route included more than 2,000 feet of climbing. I reckon you’d get more than 40 if your route is mostly flat. The battery indicator is annoying: Rather than just telling you how much charge remains in the battery, it estimates how much charge you might have if you continue using a certain level of assist. For instance, climbing a half-mile hill on medium assist, I went from three bars to one, and then the display unit told me the battery would soon be dead. Accordingly, I switched to the lowest pedal-assist level to make sure I wouldn’t have to pedal the 73-pound bike over the hill by myself. But when I crested the hill and began descending, I got my three bars back. In other words, don’t trust the battery indicator on undulating terrain.
Reliably Equipped
The RadWagon comes with a 1x7 Shimano Altus drivetrain. There’s an 11-34t freewheel instead of a cassette—there’s no room for a freehub body next to that big hub motor—and the 34t climbing gear is handy for steep hills. The Tektro mechanical disc brakes use 180mm rotors and stop the hefty bike with ease; I never felt myself wanting for hydraulics during testing. Handy cockpit details include an on/off switch for the throttle and a bell that’s integrated into the left brake lever. The e-bike-specific tires are 2.3-inch-wide Kenda K-Rad’s with a puncture-resistant liner and a reflective strip for visibility.
Included accessories include integrated front and rear lights, fenders, a double-legged kickstand, and a clear plastic cover for the rear wheels to keep cargo or children’s dangling feet from hitting the spokes. Minor gripe: The kickstand’s legs don’t have a rubber coating, so they’ll scratch up wooden floors.
Ride Impressions
The RadWagon is 79 inches long and weighs as much as a 10-year-old, but despite being an absolute beefcake, it handles surprisingly well. In the interest of real-world testing, we took it to an abandoned golf cart path and thrashed it up, down, and sideways around the twisty course. It felt akin to street-racing a minivan, but the practical hauler was adequately maneuverable. During actual commutes, it’s stable when loaded down yet zippy enough to shoot gaps in traffic.
The direct-drive motor is quieter than mid-drives (there’s only one moving part) and never felt underpowered. It’s not as capable up steep climbs as a Bosch, Yamaha, or Shimano system, but I could still climb a sustained 8 percent incline at 12 to 14 mph on the highest pedal-assist setting. A thermal limiter in the controller reduces power if the motor gets too hot, preventing you from cooking the motor on extended climbs. The throttle gives you full power on-demand but needs some pedaling input to keep the bike moving uphill. Everywhere else, pedaling isn’t strictly necessary.
The company lists 20 mph as the top speed, but selecting 28-inch wheels within the display unit’s settings boosts the e-assist limit to 24 mph. There’s also regenerative braking; when you descend past the 24mph e-assist ceiling, the bike doesn’t pick up speed as quickly as you’d expect because the motor is recycling kinetic energy to recharge the battery.
Radenbaugh says he’s not trying to build the absolute best e-cargo bike. Rather, he wants to be the Volkswagen of the market, bringing reliable transportation to the masses. Cost has always been a limiting factor for adopting the e-cargo life, and the RadWagon makes that lifestyle attainable for a lot more people. On top of all that, it’s an amusing bike to ride—to punch a throttle and zip about on a 73-pound hunk of orange aluminum is invigorating, certainly more so than sitting in traffic. For $1,500, you can feel it for yourself.
A former Division 1 runner, Dan grew up riding fixies and mountain bikes and now reviews everything from performance running shoes to road and cross bikes, to the latest tech for runners and cyclists at Bicycling and Runner’s World.
