Our design team goes through pretty impressive lengths to make sure you’re getting the best ride possible. Sometimes that’s developing a new, sleek frame. Other times, that means redesigning a key accessory to make it better than ever. Occasionally, they’ll even reinvent the wheel. Literally.
Where the rubber hits the road, we're leading the way in innovation. That means that newer models will utilize tires that our team of engineers designed in-house. They're so original that other companies simply haven't developed anything that comes close yet, whether that's the specific size or a custom, all-purpose tread.
Custom tires mean better rides!
The fact that we're customizing our tires is great news for our riders. All of our exhaustive research, in-depth experimentation, and countless test rides in the Rad lab are paying off with an amazing ride feel.
Take the all-new RadWagon 4. This haul-it-all electric cargo bike has been redesigned from the ground up to give riders a lower center of gravity -- a quality that provides for more confident handling, especially when you're hauling heavy cargo. To achieve this, our engineers realized the bike would need a 22x3" tire to simultaneously lower the standover height and absorb bumps to cushion the ride.
"When we looked to source this tire, it didn't exist. We had to design our own tread pattern," Rad Power Bikes Industrial Designer Joe Gray explained. "We didn't let that fact keep us from making the right decision for our riders. User experience is so important to us that we owe it to our riders to evolve beyond your run of the mill tires."
We'll be selling replacement tires for the RadWagon 4 shortly after the bike ships this fall, but don't worry. The tires they come with are designed to last you a good, long time. They won't have to be, pardon the pun, retired anytime soon.
Times change. So do tires.
Bike tires have come a long way in the past 150 years. In the early days, they were made of round slabs of wood reinforced with iron bands. They were called “boneshakers,” and if you can imagine trying to ride your bike with something like that, we’re pretty sure you can understand why.
Luckily, they didn’t last long and rubber became the standard for tire material. It maintained a strong grip and was able to tackle slippery roads a lot better than iron and wood.
In the grand scheme of things, the changes we're making with our new models are nothing new.
Just as materials have evolved, so have the shape and function of tires. Today, you can find them in all different styles and sizes, each designed for a different style of riding. All of our models, for instance, come with tires that feature a unique tread pattern expertly matched to complement your ebike.
Our all-terrain electric bikes come with fat tires, which improve traction when you're riding over surfaces that are soft enough for a tire to leave an impression. These rugged tires also give you added control over your ride. With more rubber on the ground, you can expect enhanced traction over rough terrain and even weight distribution that prevents you from sinking into sandy beaches or soft snow.
You can compare these to our electric city bikes, which come with smoother, skinnier tires that are designed to perform well on pavement. This is because slick tires have a wide contact patch of rubber where the flat portion of the tire meets the road surface. On pavement, more rubber touching the ground means a better grip. As a bonus, the sleeker, thinner design provides less rolling resistance between the wheel and the ground, which in turn adds to longevity -- something that's particularly important for daily commuters.
In that spirit of keeping ahead, we're also matching the new RadMission with tires that are skinnier than any other model in our lineup. They don't just provide less rolling resistance, they also match the reliable feel of a traditional commuter bike. It's a change that opens up the world of electric bikes to more people than ever before.
In recent years, we've started seeing more companies experimenting with all-purpose tires that can handle both city and rugged rides. That's exactly what we're going for with our latest designs. We can't wait for you to try them out yourself.
