Originally Posted by base2

If you are looking for an e-bike, consider an e-bike from a conventional manufacturer. So often people choose cheap up front & don't realize how expensive "cheap" is.

I do this for a living.

We charge $45 to fix flats on hub drive e-bikes. $200 labor for cassette/freewheel replacement on e-bikes that do not have a plug between the hub & the control bits. The reason is soldering leads costs a lot of shop time. From a shop perspective, it's hard to work on bikes that have no engineering or are engineered to be disposable.

Hub drive bikes are heavier because they need huge batteries that can dump lots of current rather than a smaller mid-drive that uses the multiplication abilities of a drivetrain.

Those huge batteries of a hub-drive bike also make the bike so heavy that any rack for transporting on a car will be oversized & expensive. A mid-drive bike can be used on a rack rated for 40-60 pounds. Saving potentially hundreds of dollars.

Bikes with throttles tend to have finnicky controls susceptible to water ingress &/or discontinued/unavailable replacement parts. Mid-drive bikes with out a throttle tend to use conventional bike components so suitable replacements are readily available.

Support from Bosch, Bros, etc, is readily available. Any bike shop selling the major brands have diagnostic, repair, & warrenty services. Rad, well...Rad doesn't even service their own & either can't or won't support their own product in our experience. I can't say I blame them. Often times it takes 2 mechanics to lift one into a repair stand or to remove/install the rear wheel in a competent manner.

I'm not poo-pooing any thing by Rad. We service the bike parts of a lot of their bikes every week. In fact, Rad is one of the better cheap e-bike companies. Their bikes make our shop a lot of money. Just giving some points to think on.