The Rhodes car you describe ("perfectly safe and functioning") does not exist. The brakes are bad and dangerous handling characteristics are innate to the design.
That you haven't crashed or broke it yet doesn't disprove the very real problems because you're on the extremely gentle end of what the Rhodes car is claimed to be suitable for. They have been sold before now with max cargo ratings of 1200lbs, and are still sold as suitable for 700lbs. The wheels have tacoed at 450lbs on cargo models.
I'm glad you've found some fun in occasional light use of one, but that doesn't change the fact it's a poorly engineered product with a massive price tag.
It's an equivalent situation to my nephew's bike. "sunrun" six speed gears, plastic V-Brakes, by all accounts worth about £75 in a supermarket. His parents got it for him off the hire-purchase catalogue for somewhere nearer to £500 after it's paid off. He never rode it, so it never even got a flat tyre in three years. It hasn't broken yet, so it must be worth the money? No.
Now yours was a $200 purchase. A new one that'll fit a family, a four seater, is $3,765. What's okay at $200 is nuts at almost four grand.
Originally Posted by
BlazingPedals
I'm not defending the Rhodes, because I think it's a POS, too. But I had a 'bent with 63 gears and can tell you that in that configuration it was faster than it is now with a standard 3x9 transmission. With a 'bent, and especially with a heavy machine like the RC, lots of gears are a Good Thing(tm), even if there are duplicates.
How long did it take to get used to a setup like that?