PB’S RADON RENDER 10.0

MONTH 4: The tweaking has started and who knows when it will end...

Testing the new Ghost Hybride ASX 4.7+ Al e-bike for the October issue allowed me to do a bit of back-to-back testing with my Radon Render 10.0 longtermer. Jumping from one e-bike to another proved my hunch – that there’s something not quite right with the Render 10.0. Yes, it has a real turn of speed, and I can sling it around really easily, but I don’t feel as confident on this bike as I did on the Ghost, and that means I just can’t ride as hard or as fast as I want, and for me, that puts a cap on the fun.

So I’m on a mission to try and improve the Radon's handling. First step is to ditch the hard-compound tyres for something softer. Sure, the Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR II combo gets cool tan sidewalls, but it’s less obvious that they also have the harder 60a rubber compound. This makes them fast rolling and long lasting, but they also lack the cornering grip of the 3C Maxx Terra tyres on the Ghost. So I’ve fitted a 3C Maxx Terra Minion DHF up front married to a Maxxis Aggressor on the rear, also in the same compound.

First ride out and the Radon feels way more surefooted in the corners, and I can actually crank it over without the front end stepping out. In fact, the softer tyres also have a slower rebound, so they don’t ping around as much on hardpacked rocks or slippery roots. And even with the softer compound, I haven’t noticed any difference in straightline speed. That might seem like an odd thing to say about an e-bike, but once you’re above the speed limit of the motor, and you’re free-wheeling down a descent, faster-rolling tyres do help retain momentum.

In fact, swapping the tyres got me thinking that maybe I could go with the even softer Maxx Grip tyre on the front and swap back to the harder 60a on the rear. The tyres would probably balance each other out in terms of rolling resistance, but I’d have better front-end grip and a harder-wearing rear tyre. The back end would also step out a little easier, which is sometimes what you need to help muscle a 25kg e-bike round tighter corners.

Right now, though, the new rubber has improved the handling no end, but I’m not going to stop there. Next, I’m going to swap in a Rockshox Lyrik fork from another bike, because I have a feeling that the different damper in the Lyrik will balance better with the rear suspension than the Pike that’s currently on the Radon. I’ll let you know next month.