Rad Power RadWagon 5 Review

Rad Power completely redesigned the 5th-generation family hauler as a safer, more capable, and more comfortable cargo bike than ever. The most utilitarian of the Rad line arrives ready for you to customize. Whether you choose to outfit it with bags and buckets or racks and kids' seats, the bike remains remarkably stable. Rad clearly prioritized safety and ride quality, which results in a delightful bike that is heavier than most.

Ride Quality

The RadWagon 5 rides like a big American car from the 70's. With its long wheelbase and heavy wheels, it lumbers along with a calm, predictable feel. The bike is adequately powerful, but its mass is center stage, passing its stability to the rider and cargo. The bike feels confident and safe, only presenting itself as sporty to someone who's never ridden an e-bike. The words quick and agile just aren't in its lexicon, but that's part of its appeal. Hauling around your kids, pets, groceries, or other cargo isn't the time to feel quick and zippy.

This RadWagon 5 is a significant departure from the ride feel of the RadWagon 4, and there are numerous reasons for this. The bike now rolls on 20 x 3.3" tires instead of Rad's proprietary 22 x 3.0 tires, and they feel heavier, more stable, and offer a more planted feel. The battery has moved from the downtube to behind the seat tube, giving the bike a lower and more central center of gravity. The old rigid fork and quick-release front axle have been swapped for a suspension fork with a bolt-on thru-axle, giving the front end more comfort and stability. The handlebar and stem have been updated to a BMX-style bar and 4-bolt stem, giving the cockpit end a much more responsive, flex-free feel. The new battery adds some power with 720 Wh of capacity, and the new motor has more torque. The brakes have been upgraded from cable-actuated to oversized Tektro hydraulics. These are all welcome upgrades that give the bike stability and enhanced safety, but each upgrade carries a weight penalty. This RadWagon 5, without accessories, weighs in at 88.1 pounds, almost 12 pounds heavier than the RadWagon 4.

The new bike is almost three inches shorter than its predecessor, but you wouldn't know it; this bike feels massive. We often dismiss heavier bikes, focusing solely on their negative handling and portability, but there's also an upside. The stout and sturdy feel is confidence-inspiring when loaded and feels remarkably serene even at its enhanced top speed. Its handling is dull, with no wobble or wiggle and certainly no adrenaline; this bike is true to its purpose of safely hauling you and your precious cargo around. We didn't weigh the wheels on the previous bike, but the new wheels feel significantly heavier, and the tire casing is undoubtedly thicker. The new 3.3" tires provide a smooth, dampened feel and do a great job isolating the bike's occupants from cracks, bumps, and uneven pavement.

The smaller 20-inch wheels allow the frame to sit lower over the axles, giving the bike a convenient 21" step-through height. Rad claims the bike will fit riders from 4'11" to 6'3", and based on our testers' feedback, that seems reasonable. The new handlebar and stem setup has less height adjustability than the previous model, but the trade-off for better handling is a big win. Rad gave the bike a telescoping seatpost that allows for 11.5" of height adjustability. Like most other cargo bikes, the riding position is casual, relaxed, and upright. Having a motor means that setting the proper pedaling height is less important, and you can instead set the saddle height to have your feet rest flat on the ground.

The handlebar grips are girthy and high-quality, and the twist throttle is almost seamlessly integrated into the right grip. The saddle is on the firmer side but wide and supportive, with a handle underneath that allows you to pivot the bike when parking. Passengers can also use the handle if they're not using the Caboose or Deckhand available from Rad. They give the bike a maximum rider weight of 265 pounds, 120 pounds for the rack, but a maximum total payload of 375 pounds.

While the RadWagon 5 doesn't include cargo accessories, it's not a bare-bones offering. The bike arrives with full fenders and a rear wheel guard to keep straps and little feet out of the spokes. A 200-lumen headlight and a tail light with built-in turn signals are preinstalled and wired to the bike's large battery. Turn signals might sound gimmicky to some, but when riding a cargo bike, especially when fully loaded, taking your hand off the handlebars to signal can feel precarious, so these digital signals are quite handy. The kickstand has been updated, and it's top-notch, featuring super-wide and replaceable feet that can support the bike on soft surfaces. The kickstand deploys easily from either side of the bike and features a welcome quiet-close mechanism. This is the best kickstand we've tested, and it's an important part of the bike. All too often, they're too loud, difficult to deploy, rattly, or unstable when the bike is loaded.

Range

There's a lot to say about the new battery; Rad is taking the lead in offering a Safe Shield Battery featuring thermal-resistant technology. While we haven't personally experienced catastrophic failure with e-bike batteries, stories of people who have are not rare. Rad seeks to prevent those issues by encapsulating each cell with a heat-absorbing resin. We can't vouch for its effectiveness, but it's great to see Rad being proactive about safety.

The 720 Wh battery has more capacity than the previous model, but the bikes' increased weight and smaller wheels actually decreased the bike's range. We rode the RadWagon 5 for 24.96 miles using only the throttle in the bike's most powerful setting while climbing just under 1400 ft of elevation. The battery management system displays an expected range, but it wasn't incredibly accurate on hilly terrain because the bike couldn't foresee elevation changes. While the uphills take a heavy toll on the battery, the downhills do little to help recover the range. My ride began with a stated range of 69 miles, but that depleted quickly; toward the end of the ride, the range became more accurate, and the bike powered a few hundred meters beyond its zero range reading. Our range test ride lasted 91 minutes, yielding an average speed of 16.5 mph. Rad Power claims this bike has an “up to 60-mile range,” which is likely accurate. If we'd performed this test on level ground while adding some pedal power, that range seems plausible.

Given the bike's additional mass, we didn't find the range too surprising. Offering less range than the outgoing model is a little disappointing, but the trade-off for additional comfort and safety features is a safe bet on Rad's part. Realistically, the bike is probably sufficient for most people's commuting needs, but riding the bike with a dead battery is something to be avoided.

Power

Using a 750W geared hub motor, the RadWagon 5 isn't unique in the cargo bike class. What is unique is this hub's width; it's wider than most geared hub motors, which creates more space for magnets and gearing. Theoretically, this should also create a more reliable motor with better cooling. The 750-watt rating is the nominal wattage the motor is rated for; the actual power at the wheel, as measured by dyno testing, was 1031 watts and 35.6 Nm of torque.

The motor and controller offer exceptionally smooth power delivery, providing a calm ride and acceleration that never feels jumpy. You can now easily switch classes through the bike's display. After dropping the kids off at school, you can switch the bike into Class 3 mode, and zoom off to work at speeds up to 28 mph. There are still five pedal assist levels, and each one is noticeably different in its support.

The bike's twist throttle is smooth and pulls you from a stop with seemingly no effort. Acceleration isn't exactly brisk, but it's likely faster than you could propel the 88-lb bike with your legs alone. There is no twitchiness to the acceleration like you typically find with hub motors. The addition of a torque sensor means the bike no longer guesses how hard you're pedaling; it reads your input at the bottom bracket and responds with the appropriate level of support. We're huge fans of torque sensors, an while Rad's is good, it's not quite as seamless feeling as others we've tested. The throttle speed is uncoupled from the pedal assist setting, meaning you have full throttle power regardless of your power setting. This allows you to use the throttle as a backup for pedal assistance. Sometimes, you might want a little more oomph for a hill or passing power, and it's readily available no matter what pedal assist mode.

Cargo Carrying

The RadWagon 5 is about more than just its carrying capacity. The bike's new design added approximately 25 lbs to its total carrying capacity, but the new rack is rated at the same capacity as the outgoing model, 120 lbs. While this isn't class-leading, it's more than reasonable for most people to carry on a rack. The 28" long rack is 7" wide and made of tubular aluminum with several clever attachment points. Without adding any attachments, you can strap or tie any number of items to its crossbars. We purchased two “Deckpad” seats, a set of running boards to rest feet on, and the “Caboose,” which contains small passengers. The Deckpad seats install with a hand-tightened knob and resemble large baguettes. Despite being made for this bike, their fit wasn't ideal; we added a little foam beneath, and they tightened up to our liking.

The rear wheel covers stop straps, buckles, or little hands and feet from touching the wheel. As we mentioned in other reviews regarding cargo bikes, their utility is truly unlocked by outfitting them with accessories, and Rad has no shortage; they even offer a canopy to keep your kids out of the sun. From kids' seats to locking panniers to pet carriers to baskets and bags, Rad accessories can help you customize and maximize the bike's carrying capacity. Their specialty, and where this bike really excels, is in carrying kids. Thule Yepp kids' seats are available for kids up to 40 pounds. The caboose we tested is best suited for kids up to 7 and can be used with the Yepp seats. The Caboose does a good job keeping kids confined, and dual handrails allow little ones to hold the inner rail and not be pinched should the outer rail contact a foreign object. We've seen better implementations of this type of kid corral, some with foam padding on the inside, and notably, Rad's Caboose leaves space behind the seat that our kid testers didn't appreciate, as their bottoms could fall into the gap.

Bigger kids can utilize the “Deckhand” handlebars that bolt directly to the rack, giving them an active riding feel. The RadWagon is one of the best kid haulers you can buy; it provides a smoother ride than the Aventon Abound LR but has a lower weight limit.

User Interface

The RadWagon's user interface is a significant upgrade from the past model and one of the best we've tested. The large, centrally placed color screen has vivid graphics, low latency, and a well-thought-out user interface. The controls are now closer to the user's thumb and a bit easier to use, which comes in handy when using the turn signals. The rectangular 6-button controller is situated in such a way that all of the buttons are easily accessible. The top of the controller has the bike's power button; it's the only one that isn't easy to reach while riding, which makes sense. The face of the controller has four buttons: up/down control the bike's pedal assist modes, and left/right are the turn signals. One thing is clear about this bike: Rad adopted every safety feature available.

The 4" display sits in the center of the handlebar, clearly in your line of sight and bright enough to see even in full sun. There is a USB-C charging port on the display's underside. If you choose to mount a phone to the handlebars for navigation, plugging it in will keep the screen running. The UI and UX of this screen are exceptionally good; the speed is displayed in the center in large format, and the battery is depicted visually at the top of the screen in a long cylindrical battery. The state of charge is displayed on the battery, using a solid vs. empty block, similar to a tablet or phone, and also as a remaining range number below your current speed. Below your current speed are the pedal assist modes, with your current mode highlighted. Turn signal indicators flash to the left or right of your current speed. The top of the screen displays the current wattage and an odometer. Flipping to a secondary screen reveals trip distance, trip time, and class level.

The 720Wh UL Certified battery pack has been moved behind the seat tube and is now slightly lower than on the previous model. Although it's a bit harder to access for charging, the trade-off of having better weight distribution feels worthwhile. The charge port sits just below the rack's support bar, so it can be tricky to find the first few times. The battery is locked onto the frame and can be removed for charging away from the bike, a handy feature if you park outside or aren't near an outlet. Additionally, the battery can be switched off with the key, which prevents someone from powering the bike on, a useful feature when locking the bike up. A full charge took us approximately 7.5 hours using Rad's 48V 2A smart charger, and Rad does not currently offer a fast charger.

Assembly

The RadWagon 5 comes in a box with a removable top, eliminating the need to lift the bike out of the box. Sliding the cover off reveals the mostly assembled bicycle. The parts that need to be installed are the handlebars, front wheel, pedals, front fender, and display, none of which are complicated tasks. The most difficult part of assembly is simply wrestling the bike around. If you follow the directions, they show how to use the bike's kickstand to your advantage.

Rad provides detailed printed instructions and all the tools you need. The bike isn't lightweight or small, so it is useful to have a roomy area and a second set of hands to assemble it. Much of the assembly process involves removing protective packaging, reading warning labels, and adjusting for fit and comfort.

Should You Buy the Rad Power RadWagon 5?

The RadWagon 5 is a highly evolved machine with many comfort and utility features. The bike is great for hauling kids, useful for cargo, adept at errands, and incredibly user-friendly. It provides excellent ride quality, and while enjoyable, fun isn't one of the best descriptive words for it. It's clear that Rad's primary focus in redesigning this bike was safety, which gives it all the excitement of an old Volvo wagon. That said, it does its job well and feels like a reasonable value; it should at least make your shortlist.

What Other E-Bikes Should You Consider?

For less money, you can pick up the Lectric XPedition 2.0, which offers more cargo capacity but a less refined ride. The XPedition is available with two batteries for the price of the RadWagon, giving it substantially more range, but it lacks the RadWagon's stability. If you don't need quite this much bike, you might check out the shorter RadRunner Max.