Rad Power Bikes Radster

The Radster Trail from Rad Power Bikes is a hybrid-style e-bike marketed for “all-terrain” riding.

Our test bike is the Canadian version of the Radster. We’ll clarify how the specification and performance are different in a following section.

This review covers the Radster Trail’s specifications and key pros and cons, how it performs in our standardized tests, and if it lives up to Rad Power’s marketing promise. To conclude, we provide our assessment of the overall value.

Seattle-based Rad Power Bikes was founded in 2007 and has become a popular e-bike brand in North America, the UK, and Europe, offering a range of e-bikes, such as commuters, cargo bikes, fat-tire bikes, and even an electric trike.

This is the second Rad Power bike we’ve had in the studio, the first was the RadRunner 3 Plus.

The Radster Trail is a step-through e-bike with 27.5″ wheels 3″ tires, an 80mm suspension fork, a 750W rear hub motor, and a 720Wh battery. Rad Power Bikes offers this bike in two builds. The only differences them are to the wheels, tires, and handlebars. The Radster Road has 29″ wheels, 2.2″ tires, and swept-back handlebars.

Buyers in the USA get a 750W motor with 100Nm of torque and a 28mph top speed. The US Radster can be set up for e-bike Class 1, 2, or 3. In Canada, the bike is limited to 500W and 32km/h (just under 20mph). This means Class 3 operation isn’t available in Canada. Since 2024, Canadians can only import e-bikes that comply with these regulations.

The Canadian Radster Trail’s reduced motor output affect its acceleration, hill-climbing ability, and range. Rad Power Bikes says it has the same 100Nm of torque as the US version, but it doesn’t feel like this bike has that much torque, as is reflected in our standardized tests.

Rad Power Bikes calls the Radster Trail a “Do anything, go anywhere recreational off-road bike,” yet it weighs almost 80lb and has a basic 80mm suspension fork, so this is undoubtedly an exaggeration. But what can it do?

The standout characteristic of the Radster Trail is its comfort. The step-through frame makes it easy to get on and off, and once seated, the riding position is comfortable and it’s easy to pedal.

The Radster Trail’s sturdy, stable feel inspires confidence. It’s also easy to maneuver the bike on the road and in open spaces. The comfortable ride is enhanced by the smooth throttle and pedal assist, which both provide plenty of power up to this Canadian version’s 500W motor limit.

The fork’s Boost spacing and Thru-axle also likely contribute to the bike’s sturdy ride feel.

The Radster Trail has Tektro HD-E350 hydraulic disc brakes with 2-piston calipers and 180mm rotors. Tektro’s HD-E350 have impressed on previous test bikes, and things are no different here.

Braking is powerful, consistent, and quiet. The Radster Trail needed just 16.5 feet to stop from 20mph, beating most bikes of a similar style and weight that we’ve tested. The semi-metallic brake pads supplied with the Radster Trail could be helping with this.

The Radster Trail’s frame looks great, with smooth welds and a beautiful paint finish. The components and specs are also up to date, with features like a Boost front axle, threaded bottom bracket, name-brand brakes, and turn signals.

It has a full-color display with good controls and a battery percentage readout, and stickers on the bike attest to its UL certifications. We also appreciate how much helpful documentation and information Rad Power Bikes provides for buyers.

The Radster Trail is a large, heavy bike that’s hard to lift and transport. Getting this bike onto a bike rack can be quite a challenge due to the weight of almost 80lb, the bulky size, and the fat tires.

The bulk and lack of rear suspension mean the Radster Trail is fine for light trails, but it’s not up to the demands of anything more aggressive, such as mountain bike trails, backcountry travel, or hunting.

The hydraulic suspension fork only has 80mm of travel. It has preload adjustment, but it feels very stiff. Despite that stiffness, it bottoms out very easily.

Again, the Radster Trail’s size and weight make it ill-suited to tight, twisty trails with tight or rough terrain, and there’s a lot of chain slap over bumps due to the Shimano Altus derailleur lacking a clutch; a basic requirement for riding off-road.

The Radster Trail’s weight forces the rider to use the motor’s assistance to get the bike moving, and that increases the risk of losing traction on wet or bumpy trails. The torque sensor helps a bit, but it’s not enough to make up for the effects of a heavy bike with a hub motor, and it’s not even close to the natural, sensitive assistance from a quality mid-drive motor.

Readers in the USA can skip this point as it only applies to Canadian buyers. It’s not possible to import the full-power Radster into Canada, so this bike’s motor is limited to 500W.

With the 500W motor, the Radster is underpowered, with disappointing acceleration, speed, and hill climbing. Rad Power Bikes says the bike has the same 100Nm of torque as the US version, but it doesn’t feel that way.

Finally, Canadian e-bikes are limited to just under 20mph, so it wasn’t possible to test the Radster Trail’s 28mph top-end performance.

The Radster Trail has solid battery range and performs well on both pavement and light off-road terrain.

In general, the bike is easy to ride. It feels balanced and relatively nimble, with responsive steering and a planted feel in turns despite its size, weight, and wide tires.

It’s not a bike I would want to ride on tight trails or aggressive terrain, but almost everywhere else, it’s easy to forget how massive the Radster Trail actually is.

It’s particularly easy to configure the Radster for the desired e-bike class by going into the advanced settings menu and selecting the e-bike class.

Finally, the overall quality level of the Radster Trail is impressive, with UL 2271 and 2849 certifications, IPX6 weatherproofing, and specifications like the Boost Thru-axle and torque sensor.

At 79.4lb, the Radster Trail is a heavy bike. Its weight and the bulk make it difficult to lift and transport and detract from its capacity for riding off-road, especially on tighter trails. The stiff, short-travel fork doesn’t handle bumps, rocks, or roots well, and there’s a lot of noisy chain slap over bumpy terrain.

Specs

Electric Bike Class: Class 1,2, or 3
Warranty: 2-year limited
UL Certification: UL 2271, UL 2849
IP Rating: IPX6
Total Weight: Claimed: 78lb – Actual: 79.4lb
Motor Brand: Rad Power Bikes
Motor Type: Rear Hub
Motor Nominal Output: 750W
Max Torque: 100Nm
Battery: 48V – 15Ah (720Wh)
Range Claimed: 65+ miles
Range Tested (PAS 3): 43.7 mi – 1,499 ft. – 13.4mph avg.
Range Tested (PAS 5): 30.2 mi – 1,113 ft. – 16.5mph avg.
Top Speed: 28mph
Throttle: Half-twist, right grip
Pedal Assist: 5 levels
Charger: 48V 2A output
Charge Time: 8 hours
Display: 4.5” Color LCD, landscape orientation
Frame: 6061 aluminum
Fork: SR Suntour hydraulic suspension fork, 80mm travel, Thru-axle 15×110 Boost
Brake Levers: Tektro hydraulic HD-E350
Brake Calipers: Tektro hydraulic HD-E350
Brake Rotors: 180mm Tektro
Chain: KMC
Crankset: 170mm, 50t
Derailleur: Shimano Altus 8-speed
Shifter: Shimano Altus M-315 trigger 8-speed
Freewheel: 11-34t 8-speed
Rims: 27.5” aluminum
Tires: Kenda Havok 27.5” x 3”
Fenders: Partial coverage front – full coverage rear – Alloy
Lights: 200-lumen LED headlight, Rear light with brake indicator, turn signals
Grips: Rubber lock on, ergonomic
Saddle: Padded sport saddle
Pedals: Alloy platforms
Stem: 40mm
Handlebar: BMX-style, riser, 710mm
Kickstand: Single-sided
Payload Capacity: 370lb
Rear Rack Capacity: 55lb

Frame and Geometry

The Radster Trail only comes in one frame layout (step-through) but is available in two colors, Fir Green and Copper Red, and two sizes. Rad Power says the Regular fits riders from 4’11” to 5’8”, and the Large is for riders sized 5’7” to 6’6”.

I’m 6’ tall, and there’s about an inch of seatpost range left when the bike’s set up for me, so it should fit riders up to around 6’4”, but those above that height are unlikely to fit.

The Radster Trail is rated to carry a payload of 370lb and riders up to 290lb. The included cargo rack is rated for 55lb, and there are mounting points on the head tube for an optional front rack. On the seat tube, there’s a set of bosses for a bottle cage.

The external cabling makes servicing easier, and it’s tidily organized in a plastic sleeve. The semi-integrated battery is easy to grab when removing it.

The suspension fork is hydraulic, which is nicer than the basic coil forks found on many budget bikes, but it’s very stiff and has only 80mm of travel, which isn’t enough for an off-road bike.

Overall, the frame looks and feels robust, and it doesn’t suffer from the same shimmy as some other fat-tire step-through bikes.

Measurements (Large Frame)

Seat Tube: 16.8″ (426mm)
Reach: 15.6″ (397mm)
Stack: 27” (685mm)
Stand Over Height: 24″ (610mm)
Virtual Top Tube Length: 23” (584mm)
Saddle Height Min: 31” (787mm)
Saddle Height Max: 41” (1041mm)
Wheelbase: 47.4″ (120.3cm)
Total length: 76” (1930mm)
Recommended Rider Height: 5’7” – 6’4” (Large frame)

Display and Control

The Radster’s display is a large 4.5” color LCD mounted in landscape format, with a clear layout that makes it easy to read.

The battery readout shows can be viewed as an estimation of miles remaining or battery percentage. In testing, the range estimate was conservative. In both range tests, the bike lasted longer than the estimated range, but it’s consistent and guarantees you’ll reach your destination.

Another nice touch is the icon on the display that shows when your phone is plugged into the USB-C charge port. The control pad on the left handlebar has five buttons, with symbols showing the buttons’ secondary functions.

The included key is only needed to remove the battery, not to operate the bike, but unlike a lot of e-bikes I’ve tested recently, the Radster Trail can be secured against unauthorized operation, using either the included NFC card or a custom pin code.

There’s no smartphone app for this bike, but all advanced options are easily accessed via the display.

The Radster Trail has integrated lights, including a headlight, a rear light with brake activation, and turn signals. The display shows when a turn signal is on and the turn signals auto-cancel after two minutes.

Rad Power Bikes makes it easy to configure this bike for the different e-bike classes, some of which require either a speed limit on the throttle or no throttle at all. These settings can disable the throttle completely, but most jurisdictions don’t allow the bike to have a throttle, even if it’s disabled.

Unlike some e-bikes, it’s not easy to remove the throttle from this bike, and doing so would require installing a new grip.

Alternatively, one could unplug the throttle, but again, this may not be sufficient for all legal jurisdictions. The throttle only supplies power up to 20mph, and it’s not linked to PAS level, so the bike might still be legally compliant in many places but strictly speaking, Class 3 operation doesn’t allow a throttle.

The e-bike controls consist of a power button, left and right turn signal buttons, a menu button, and PAS up and down buttons.

Motor

The Radster has a Rad Power Bikes-branded rear hub motor. This is a 48V motor with 100Nm of torque. In the US, the motor is rated at 750W. In Canada, the bike comes with a 500W motor. It’s relatively quiet for a rear hub motor.

Pedal assist is controlled by a torque sensor, which worked smoothly and resulted in assistance that’s well matched to pedal strokes.

The half-twist throttle also provides smooth power, and motor output using the throttle isn’t linked to the PAS level. On this bike, the throttle is limited to 32km/h (19.88mph).

Acceleration up to 20mph is smooth, but a bike this large and heavy definitely needs the extra 250W available on US versions. The 500W limit on the motor’s power definitely hurt the Radster Trail’s performance in the climbing and 0-20mph tests. Almost all 500W e-bikes we’ve tested have higher peak power, but this one has a maximum of 500W.

In the less-steep hill climb, the Radster trail averaged 16.5mph to complete the climb in 3:30, making it notably slower than most comparable bikes tested, and over a minute slower than the Fiido Titan.

On the steeper gradient, the results are worse, with the Radster needing 3:32 to get up the hill, while all comparable bikes did it in under 3 minutes.

The Radster took 11 seconds to get from 0 to 20mph using PAS 5. With the throttle, it took 16 seconds, almost twice as long as most competitors.

Battery and Charger

The Radster has a 48V, 15Ah battery. Given the 500W motor, that 720Wh is a good size. On the 750W US version, it’s slightly undersized.

The bike comes with a small 2A charger, which is below average for this price point, and means a full charge will take around 8 hours.

This bike returned good range in both the PAS 3 and PAS 5 tests. Using PAS 5, the Radster travelled 30.2 miles at an average of 16.5mph, gaining 1,113 feet of elevation, putting it in the middle of the pack.

In PAS 3, the Radster’s range of 43.7 miles and 1,499 feet of elevation at 13.4mph compares favorably with similar bikes from other brands, although the Himiway D5 did travel almost 20% farther.

The battery display has four bars, with each bar divided into four sections. The display proved to be accurate throughout testing. With 1/2 of the last battery bar remaining, the motor output is limited, and when the display reads empty, the battery is completely dead.

The Radster Trail maintains good power at all battery levels, until it hits the last half-bar. This steady performance and the reliable battery indicator help when estimating remaining range.

Again, the option to show battery percentage above the battery bar or see remaining range displayed in miles is appreciated.

The charge port is on the upper side of the battery, with a rubber cover to protect it from moisture and dirt. The same charge port is used for charging on or off the bike.

Drivetrain

The Radster Trail’s drivetrain will be familiar to anyone that’s seen our recent reviews. It’s an 8-speed Shimano Altus groupset with an Altus M-315 trigger shifter on the right handlebar. The 50t chainring has a double-sided aluminum chain guard and there’s an 11-34t cassette at the rear.

As expected with Shimano Altus, it works wells, there’s a good range of gears for the 20mph limit, and it shifts fine.

However, as this bike weighs over 79lb, it’s not easy to get moving, so you need the motor’s assistance. The good news is that the throttle works smoothly and the torque sensor pairs well with the gearing for most terrains. The only time this combination doesn’t work well is on bumpy or slippery off-road surfaces, where it’s hard to apply the motor’s power without losing traction at the rear wheel.

Brakes

The Radster has Tektro HD-E350 2-piston hydraulic brakes with 180mm rotors and semi-metallic brake pads. Semi-metallic pads can be louder in wet weather than the more common resin pads, but they’re never as noisy as the cheap brake pads and rotors found on many budget e-bikes.

During my time with the Radster, the brakes made little noise and worked well, out-performing comparable bikes we’ve tested.

Wheels, Tires, Fenders

This bike has 27.5” aluminum rims with 3” wide Kenda Havok tires. The tires performed well on and off-road, with good traction and handling on light trails and gravel. Rad Power Bikes says the tires have puncture protection, but there’s nothing on the sidewalls to confirm that.

The trade-off for the off-road performance of knobby treads like these is increased noise and rolling resistance on paved surfaces. However, these tires aren’t too noisy on the road, and the motor’s assistance neutralized the increased rolling resistance.

Accessories

The Radster Trail comes with a good set of accessories. Up front there’s a 200-lumen headlight. The rear light unit contains an awareness light, a brake light, and turn signals.

In keeping with this bike’s off-road style, it has a half-coverage fender at the front. The fender at the rear is almost full coverage. Again, it’s decent for an off-road bike, but the Road version of this bike has longer fenders front and rear.

The included rear cargo rack can carry 55lb, and there’s provision on the head tube to mount a front rack, and there’s a set of bottle cage mounts on the seat tube. The single-sided kickstand worked without issue during testing.

The Radster Trail comes with two NFC cards for locking the bike without a conventional key. Given how many e-bikes lack any way to prevent unauthorised operation, this is a nice feature.

Lighting Test

This is the first BikeRide review with standardized testing of the lights. Each following review will use the same setup to provide objective measurements and subjective assessments of the front and rear lights. Our reference lights are a Cateye AMP1100 1,100-lumen front light and a Lezyne KTV Pro+ 150-lumen rear light.

Visually, the Radster Trail’s 200-lumen headlight is very bright compared to the one on the ENGWE L20 2.0. It also compares well to our Cateye reference unit. It has a narrower beam, but it projects well past 100 feet.

The Radster’s headlight does a good job of illuminating the road ahead, but offers very little peripheral lighting, certainly much less than the Cateye, which has a very wide beam. Still, the Radster’s headlight provides plenty of light for riding at night.

The Radster Trail’s 150-lumen rear light appears to be slightly less bright than the Lezyne. It does seem to have quite a wide pattern, though. The Radster’s rear light appears very clearly to other road users from 100 feet away, and the brake light is noticeably brighter than the awareness light.

Touchpoints

The Radster Trail has comfortable lock-on rubber grips with an ergonomic flair. The right grip has an integrated twist throttle.

The saddle is a padded sport-style model. It’s not as plush as a lot of other saddles, and the firm padding became uncomfortable on longer rides. However, the shape and size of the paddle doesn’t impede pedaling.

Finally, the Radster Trail has plastic platform pedals. They’re fine for general use, but the small, rounded pegs lack grip in the wet.

Conclusion

The Radster Trail is an attractive and comfortable bike that’s easy to ride and suitable for light trails. It can also carry a useful amount of cargo.

The basic suspension fork and hefty size and weight contradict Rad Power’s claim this bike is ready for true off-roading. Even those who relish the challenge of piloting the Radster Trail along bumpy trails will find the chain slap annoying.

Unfortunately, this bike’s biggest problems are its hard 500W motor limit and elusive torque. Even though range is good, the Radster is too slow for this category of e-bike, especially when climbing hills.

Overall, the Radster Trail is a comfortable ride with good specs and accessories that does a great job of masking its bulk around town and on smooth trails. While the Canadian version of this bike lacks acceleration and hill-climbing abilities, the extra power and speed available from the US Radster Trail will probably make up for that.

Score Breakdown

• Build quality: 95
• Performance / Innovation: 85
• Design: 85
• Ride quality: 90
• Price / Value: 75

Overall: 86

Whether you want to commute in the city or hit some mild trails on the weekends, the Radster Trail has you covered.

I’m blown away [by] the new Radster Trail… This is an exciting new model that is as versatile as it is powerful. From the frame to the motor to the wheel and tire choice…

I was wary of Rad Power Bikes for many years—it’s hard for a gear tester to set things aside like a bike arcing on you, or multiple lawsuits. However, it is clear that very many lessons have been learned over the past few years.

Thanks to a powerful motor and a responsive torque sensor, the Radster felt great to ride. These upgrades boosted the bike’s performance, with excellent speed and range test results and one of the best hill test results we’ve seen from a Rad Power bike.

… every dollar is well-earned. From the 750W hub motor to the 720Wh Safe Shield battery to the 8-speed drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes, this is a well-designed commuter.