Rad Power Bikes RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through Review 2024

The redesigned 48V, 14Ah (672Wh) battery is now partially sunk into the downtube of the frame which, in our opinion, makes for a much nicer looking e-bike. But this battery isn’t designed to just look better — Rad claims it performs better, too.

To test the RadRover’s battery life, we put the bike through a series of two range tests. One on PAS 5, the highest assist setting, and the other on PAS 2, the second lowest assist setting. The bike lasted 26.74 miles before running out of juice in PAS 5 and 50.99 miles on PAS 2 — respectable results for a bike with an energy-hungry 750W motor.

This is actually the second time we’ve run the RadRover 6 Plus’ new motor and battery through a series of range tests. Back in September, we reviewed the high-step version of the RadRover 6 Plus where we conducted range tests using slightly different PAS settings. Namely, we conducted the low-power range test in PAS 1 instead of PAS 2.

If we import that result into this review we get a little clearer picture of the new RadRover’s battery life and performance.

The most interesting note about these range results is that the PAS 2 range test is actually further than PAS 1. Conventional wisdom says that PAS 1, the lowest power setting, should yield the furthest range, but that’s not the case with the RadRover 6 Plus.

Instead, PAS 2 actually went a few tenths of a mile further than PAS 1 with a much quicker 14.2 mph average speed (compared to the 10.7 mph average of PAS 1). This tells us PAS 2 is likely the RadRover 6 Plus’s most efficient pedal assist setting for long distance riding.

As for the claim that the new Rover 6 Plus’ battery is more efficient than the battery on the RadRover 5, we’re not seeing a lot of real-world evidence that backs that up from our tests. Compared to the range test data we collected while reviewing the RadRover 5, the new and the old version of the bike have almost identical battery range.

To test how capable the RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through is on hills, we put the bike to the test on the Electric Bike Report test hill, Hell Hole.

Hell Hole is a third of a mile long steep section of bike path with an average grade of 12 percent, with several sections pitching steeper than that. We did two timed tests up the hill, one using just the throttle and the other using PAS 5.

In the throttle only test, the RadRover 6 Plus cleared the top of the hill in 2:08.00 with an average speed of 8.5 mph. Compared to other e-bikes we’ve tested on Hell Hole that’s not the most stellar time on paper, but I do give the Rover credit for clearing the hill at all. Hell Hole is steep enough and long enough to strain most e-bikes to their limit, and the RadRover 6 Plus never gave indication that it was going to fail the test.

Using PAS 5 the Rover greatly improved its time, making the top in 1:24.00 with an average speed of 12.9 mph. That’s much closer to our current average time up the hill of 1:20.00.

Rad claims the redesigned motor on the RadRover 6 Plus should climb 40 percent quicker than the previous motor on the RadRover 5, but compared to the hill climb tests we performed on the old bike, we aren’t finding real-world results to back that up. In fact, the old RadRover 5 recorded quicker times up Hell Hole by a margin of a few seconds.

But before you write off the new RadRover 6 Plus as a slower climber than the old bike, there is a variable that changed in our testing that we can’t control for: The weight of our test riders.

I conducted the hill test on the RadRover 6 Plus, while my former colleague Pierce Kettering performed the tests on the RadRover 5. I’m about 20 lbs heavier than Pierce; enough difference to likely slow the bike down a little bit. How much slower? That’s tough to say.

Regardless of test rider weight, I doubt the RadRover 6 Plus would be 40 percent quicker up Hell Hole than the previous bike. That doesn’t negate the fact that I’m impressed with its performance up our test hill. One thing I’ve learned over the course of testing e-bikes is that climbing speed alone doesn’t capture how well a bike goes uphill. Rather, it’s a mashup of speed, how much (or little) the bike asks of the rider and how well the electrical components handle the strain. And those final two factors are where the RadRover 6 really shined.

Rad gave the new RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through a set of hydraulic disk brakes that yielded a huge improvement in braking performance over the old RadRover 5.

The RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through we reviewed came with a set of NUTT hydraulic disk brakes with 180mm rotors front and rear. NUTT is a brake manufacturer we’ve only recently become familiar with, but it has yielded some impressive performances in our tests — and the set on RadRover 6 Plus is no exception.

In our braking test, where we take the average of five full-power stops from 20 mph, the RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through came to a stop at an average of 12-feet-7-inches. That’s several feet better than the current 16-foot-3-inch average of all the bikes we’ve reviewed so far.

This is the third Rad e-bike we’ve reviewed over the past few months equipped with NUTT brakes, and all of them have performed exceptionally well.

Handling wise, the new RadRover 6 Plus is a very balanced e-bike with an updated geometry that bears a likeness to modern mountain bikes. It corners nicely and seems to handle uneven off-road terrain a little more confidently than the RadRover 5. I’m a big fan of how this bike rides.

One of the biggest differences we see on the new RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through is the new user experience when actually riding the bike. Instead of just having one display, Rad gave the bike two — one in the center of the handlebars and one on the left-hand side near the grip.

The center display is your primary, displaying all the important ride metrics like speed, time and distance. The left-hand display tells you battery life and which PAS level you’re in while also functioning as a control pad for PAS selection and to turn the bike on and off.

The dual display setup is a really unique idea from Rad that we’ve found actually works pretty well. The screen feels less crowded and is easier to navigate. One thing that could be improved is the brightness of the left-hand display, which is a bit tough to read in direct sunlight.

On the topic of nitpicking the cockpit, the management of the cables, hoses and wires coming from the handlebars could also be improved. Several cables that could use shortening are simply double backed onto themselves and zip-tied together, creating clumps of cables. We’d love to see this tidied up, though it is a relatively minor gripe on a bike that otherwise performs great.

The ride quality of the RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through is pretty impressive. It’s enjoyably predictable and the step-through frame is very easy to get on and off of. The 60mm suspension fork was plenty for every scenario we tested the bike in, and those 4-inch tires add lots of cushion on rougher roads.

We’ve gotten to spend time now on several of Rad’s freshly redesigned e-bikes, and each time I find new things I like about them.

The RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through, and really all of Rad’s new bikes, just feel very nicely refined. Grown up is the word that comes to my mind most often — over the past year Rad’s bikes seems to have reached a level of maturity that’s really becoming of a company that’s positioned itself as a leader in the D2C affordable e-bike space.

The RadRover, as their flagship model, really is the centerpiece of Rad’s maturing lineup. I’m impressed with the bike’s overall design, its looks, its utility and, most of all, I’m incredibly impressed with its ride performance and ride quality. It’s a bike with great range, great braking performance and a very respectable hill climbing capability.

I do want to challenge Rad to clean up the cable management, brighten the display and build a step-through version of this bike that fits taller people, but those are relatively minor gripes with a bike that has otherwise lived up to the hype.

The RadRover 6 Plus Step-Through is sold online and shipped directly to your door. Some assembly is required, which you can tackle yourself, but the Electric Bike Report team definitely suggests having your bike built (or at least tuned and safety checked) by a professional bike mechanic. For an additional fee, Rad will even ship your bike to a local shop for assembly so you can pick it up fully built and ready to ride.

‘Happy Riding, make sure to let us know if you have any questions down in our comments section or if you think we left anything out in this review of the RadRover 6 Plus ST E-Bike.