Seems like a sensible option for the type of riding you described.
Honestly, with the supply chain issues the way it is, Rad ebike shouldn't be difficult to sell used if you determine that it's not for you.

I'll recommend the Rad rover. Building your own bike can be "fun" but it takes a fair amount of time, research, trial, and error that all dissapears with an off the shelf solution. Unless you are a tinkerer (or want more than one bike), its worth the $500.
I designed and built my own, for about $500 (+ $600 bike), but if I put a dollar value on my design, engineering, and shop time - well it would cost thousands of dollars. ;-)

Agreed.

I'd add redundancy.
on a hub motor, I have ridden home with a dead battery and with a broken chain. Can't do the broken chain bit on a mid drive. ;-)

you can I you invest in a quick link a whole 5.00

^^^^^^^ Agree on this; I've been riding for 40 years and have broken a chain once, and that was repaired in five minutes. Fortunately, several years ago when I became interested in e-bikes, the production models weren't attractive to me, so DIY was the only option (plus I had the needed tools with a couple of exceptions). Otherwise probably would have gone OEM, and maybe never looked back.

Wow, I've built my one Specialized hybrid bike into two different ebikes - one hub drive and one mid-drive - and neither one took a lot of time, research, trial or error. I'd add that by far the most difficult and time consuming part is positioning the wiring and using a lot of zip ties. That was followed by a few handlebar item adjustments to get the cockpit laid out just so.

The actual builds required... 1) order the kit, 2) take one day to install the kit, 3) try different places to zip tie the wires for half a day and 4) ride the bike to check the locations of everything on the handle bars.

It really has gotten that easy if you are building up a standard bike. If you're trying to convert a full-suspension MTB or super wide tired sand/snow bike or similar then yes, some pre-planning is necessary. But that part is kind of fun.

I will say it's much easier if you have a few specialized bike tools - the kind you'd have to do any work on any bike.

Good points by all. Thank you, fellows.

I've built my own mid-drive & hub-drive ebikes since 2008.
I used to think that converting old mt. bikes to ebikes would suit my purpose, but the old frame geometry & capacity may not be well-suited for extra weight of motor, controller & battery; finding locations to fit those items can also be difficult.
Nowadays, (as I get older) I prefer just get complete ebikes that are reliable, practical & suit my purposes, leaves me more time riding than tinkering with batteries, wirings & controllers.
Technology have trickled down enough that complete ebike packages under $2k have enough performance that are well capable & reliable that suit about 80-90% of people looking to "get in shape" and enjoy cycling.
No, they may not be suited for aggressive off-road at higher speeds; probably don't even have the optimum frame geometry to do high performance type on or off-road cycling.
But I suppose most people looking to "get back in shape" are not looking to do 2-3 hour rides average 25+ mph.

That's probably really all I need, also.

Something to inspire towards, eventually... maybe?

LMAO. Good one!
I'm sure all the people I see riding and ebike around town have a quick link and know how to use it. :lol:

I’m in a similar situation. 66, too much weight for my heart and body and too steep of hills to ride. 95% off road riding. I went for a bafang bbshd on a Rivendell Clem Smith bike. It is now essentially an electric motorcycle as the cadence sensing comes on with gobs of power at the lowest pedaling speed making the throttle a safer control on tricky steep trails. On steep open sections and pedaling I’m barely contributing to the climb. Without torque sensing and all that power I doubt I’m providing more than 15% of the effort. I am glad I installed it but for the $1800 for the bike and $1300 for the kit if I was looking for the equivalent ebike just going for a torque sensing midrive under $4000 would have made sense. You have to be careful making comparisons between an add on Bafang and a hub drive Rad bike because they are not the same thing. With your weight and steep hills it’ll require torque and power and that simply doesn’t come cheap. I don’t have any experience with geared hub drives and your weight on steep trails but research it to learn if the Rad can do it. The demands on a motor going up a steep grade compared flat ground is just like it is for the rider, unlike your muscles you won’t feel it if the motor is overtaxed. Again this is where comparing a bafang midrive to a hub drive is apples to tangerines comparison.

And now I’m looking for a decent hardtail to put the motor on as it’s just too rough w/o a front shock.

I don't know the details but a friend has about a four year old Rad. I don't know the model or much else. I do know he burned out the motor. He was using it on steep forest service roads in the Mt Baker/Sisters area to cut off hiking distances. He might have overtaxed the system.

K, rule of thumb for hubs on anything but a short uphill (maybe 20 seconds) is you need to be able to have a speed which is 50% of max or too much energy is transferred as heat.
Lee, old (90's or so) steel MTB's make good platforms, and can be coupled with a $250 or so Manitou Markhor (straight steerer); I have two of the Manitous and they perform well and aren't ponderous.