Hot Rod Your Rad: How to Unlock Hidden Speed on Rad Power Bikes

As every Rad Rider knows, flying down local trails or bombing along back roads on one of these electric beasts delivers a unique sense of two-wheeled freedom. But what if your trusty Rad Power Bike could go even faster while retaining all its torque-y, hill-climbing goodness?

The expert tweaks ahead will show you how to safely tap into extra velocity potential from your battery-powered buddy that the manufacturer limits to 20mph…without voiding your warranty or breaking the bank!

Let’s get cracking open the digital throttle on these pedal-assist machines!

Why You Would Want More Rad Power Speed

First question: if Rad Power Bikes easily hit 20mph already, why mess with trying to goose a little more git-up-and-go out of them?

Here are 3 compelling reasons to unleash your Rad’s inner speed demon:

Keep Up With Fast Friends

Trying to stick like glue to faster cyclists on group rides means you either drop off the back on downhills or annoy everyone by making them slow down for you the rest of the time. Neither is ideal for keeping riding buddies happy!

Conquer Long Commutes Quicker

Shaving just a handful of minutes off a lengthy work commute each way adds up fast over years of riding. You get more time to relax, instead of being stuck en route extra time each day.

**Feel More Secure On Roads **

In urban areas with lots of car traffic moving 30-40 mph, being capped at 20 makes Rad riders feel like rolling roadblocks. Boosting velocity helps you blend safely into traffic flow without vehicles aggressively tailgating you.

Now let’s dig into the techniques and mods to help your Rad keep up!

4 Easy DIY Hacks to Make Rad Power Bikes Go Faster

Here are 4 straightforward ways to get a speed boost from Rad’s popular electric bikes without advanced mechanical skills or risking warranty coverage:

1. Adjust Tire Pressure For Less Resistance

One quick trick costs no money and takes 5 minutes – ensuring tires are pumped up properly. Rad’s stock tires should be between 40-65 PSI normally. Use a bicycle floor pump with gauge to hit this spec.

Under-inflated rubber has higher rolling resistance slowing you down. Over-inflated risks tread punctures or lack grip. Monthly pressure checks ensure optimal speed and handling.

2. Swap On Speed-Focused Road Tires

Another affordable and effective DIY velocity upgrade is installing narrower, lighter road bike tires optimized for low rolling resistance instead of Rad Power’s stock all-terrain treads.

Popular options like Schwalbe Kojak, Continental Grand Prix, or Michelin Power provide less friction for faster acceleration and easier maintaining of momentum once rolling. Just remount existing tubes inside new tire casing.

3. Increase Final Drive Gear Ratio

Swapping the rear cassette cog set and/or front chainring for lower ratio options with bigger teeth and fewer gear inches lets your wheel RPM and road speed spin up faster with each pedal revolution.

But note that the trade off is losing ability to climb super steep hills without standing pedaling effort. Evaluate local terrain before committing to changes here.

4 Adjust Speed Limiter In Display Settings

This hack requires downloading custom firmware from Github to unlock hidden top speed parameters in Rad’s digital console display to remove the 20mph factory setting cap. Just know that this also resets pedal assist ratios – requiring reprogramming to restore normal functioning.

If that sounds too complex, it may be wise sticking with the other easier methods above to coax a few more MPH momentum from your motor and battery while staying street legal!

Risks of Pushing Past 20 MPH

Before we get into more advanced velocity hacks, I need to cover an important safety topic…

Removing Rad Power Bikes’ factory speed limiter or otherwise boosting them past 20 mph carries big risks if you don’t upgrade brakes and handling for higher speeds.

Faster cyclists know that the force of impact in any crash increases exponentially with speed. So what might have been a harmless topple over or skinned knee at sub-20 pace can easily turn into broken collarbones or worse at 25 mph.

Please take the following precautions before unlocking your bike’s potential:

• Install compressionless brake levers and 180mm rotors
• Upgrade to wider pneumatic tires with grippy tread
• Use properly fitted safety gear like gloves and DOT-rated helmet
• Only disable speed cap on closed courses or private property

Advanced Mods and Upgrades for Maximum Rad Bike Speed

Okay, if you are an experienced cyclist committed to safely managing the increased velocities above 20mph…here are 4 advanced tweaks to slingshot your Rad to intergalactic levels of get-up-and-go!

I take no responsibility if you end up with a ticket or neck brace though!

Tweak Speed Settings In Custom Firmware

While riskier warranty-wise, installing custom firmware on your Rad Power Bike allows adjusting software parameters to hit speeds up to 28mph before cutoff. Lots of preloaded config files for various models available online to flash controller.

Requires opening up display panel but allows keeping pedal assist and other default settings intact after. I’ve used Open Source EBike Firmware successfully.

Install Higher Voltage Controller

Swapping in an aftermarket 48V or 60V controller paired with a matching voltage battery pulls more amps for punchier torque. This compounds effect of gearing changes for frightening velocity – but at cost of $500+ and significantly reduced range per charge.

Also requires modifying frame to fit larger battery container. Stick to name brand controllers (no Chinese no-brands) for safety/reliability.

Upgrade Motor From 500W to 750W

Similar to the controller swap, replacing Rad Power’s stock 500 watt Shengyi or Bafang motor with a more powerful 750W MAC unit also ups torque and top speed figures substantially if paired with right firmware – for another $400-700 in parts and labor.

Just ensure proper heat ventilation and brake upgrades to harness the extra power safely!

Shed Weight However Possible

Shaving every ounce possible by upgrading wheels, seat post, handlebars, etc to lightweight carbon fiber or Scandium alloys allows quicker acceleration and momentum from the motor not constantly lugging around hefty battery/frame weight.

Bonus if you’ve also been shedding body weight yourself! Less mass = more speed.

Weighing the Risk vs Reward

As outlined, hacking a Rad Power Bike to exceed 20mph requires accepting increased risk. The thrill of outrageous velocity must be carefully balanced against safety.

While the DIY tweaks can create a more versatile ebike, tampering with speed limiting software or hardware likely voids your warranty. Out of pocket component failure or crash damage repairs get expensive fast.

There’s no shame in keeping your Rad safely capped at 20mph. Focus instead on reliability, battery range, carrying capacity, and physical pedaling fitness over straight line race performance.

But if you must feed need for speed, respect the risk and take all precautions possible! An ounce of injury prevention is worth a pound of medical bills!

Go Have (Safe) Fun!

Wrenching on bikes and exploring ways to customize our rides is half the fun of being a cyclist! I hope these mods give you ideas and inspiration for tweaking your Rad Power Bike.

Maybe you feel fired up to tackle one of the easier weekend projects right away like a tire inflation adjustment for snappier acceleration.

Or perhaps the advanced ideas will percolate until you save up cash for that hot rod 750 watt motor you’ve always dreamed about bolting on someday.

Either way, enjoy the process of making your awesome ebike even more badass! Just promise me you’ll prioritize safety from start to finish. Deal?

Now quit reading and go ride like the wind! I expect a full report back on how much faster you get rolling with a little newfound ebike knowledge under your belt!

Godspeed and happy wrenching! May the torque be with you!