Beta test Program

[Jurgen]

Anybody 'buying' into the Uniwheel beta test program?

[Blackwheel Jack]

Do you know what's expected of the testers?

What level of experience qualifies?

[esaj]

12 minutes ago, Blackwheel Jack said:

Do you know what's expected of the testers?

Indestructible bones and/or good life insurance and complete liability waiving of the company...  Just kidding, I have no idea.

[Keith]

On their website: http://uniwheel.co.uk it just says: 

"We are accepting experienced riders to our beta program. Send us an email for more details INFO@UNIWHEEL.CO.UK."

i'd love to as I really like everything about the machine - but I don't consider riding a KingSong 14C for a month is likely to qualify ?.

[Kroy]

"1) to participate in our beta testing you will have to buy a Uniwheel at a 25% discount of RRP 
2) beta testing will take around 8 to 10 weeks
3) we will ask you to send us weekly feedback via online form
4) at the end of of the test you will receive a new wheel if all feedback has been received on time
5) you will not be allowed to share feedback with any third party, write reviews or participate in online forums before the beta testing period is over"

All sounds fair enough but even 25% off still leaves it an expensive wheel!
I offered to test because I have over 18 months experience with my wheel but I don't want to spend so much money on another wheel I don't need!

[Jag_Rip]

14 hours ago, Kroy said:

participate in online forums

Thats a no-go, unless its limited to "not talking about uniwheel"

And buying something to beta-test, while I understand they try to keep their investment as low as possible, leaves kind of an aftertaste of snowball or pyramid franchises. A Betatester usually signs some contract with an NDA and then is provided with the tools needed to fulfill his contract. Then gets something in return for his efforts.

[dmethvin]

Beta testing hardware is difficult because it's pretty expensive for the manufacturer to send you a wheel for free. If that was the deal, wouldn't everyone want to be a beta tester? They have tried to give a pretty decent deal there, you get 25% off the beta wheel and then a new production wheel at the end. Presumably you would have provided feedback about the design, parts, or firmware that would make that second wheel better. And hey, you have two wheels for less than the cost of one.

My problem is with the specs, they're not very good for £990 . Top speed of 22kph, 132Wh battery? That kills the deal for me. If it were at least 30kph and 260Wh I'd consider being a tester if I was in the UK. The swappable bumpers and battery covers are a nice touch, but unless the battery itself is easily swappable it would be hard for any serious wheeler to justify that price for such low performance.

[Keith]

29 minutes ago, dmethvin said:

My problem is with the specs, they're not very good for £990 . Top speed of 22kph, 132Wh battery? but unless the battery itself is easily swappable it would be hard for any serious wheeler to justify that price for such low performance.

Dmethvin, this is the danger of looking at headline "mines bigger than yours" specifications. Those specs do not (IMHO) equate to "low performance". I don't speak for or have any links to Uniwheel but If you read beyond those headline specs they make really good sense if I've correctly understood what I've read:

Firstly: the wheels DO HAVE EASILY SWAPPABLE BATTERIES.

Secondly the batteries are LiFePo4 not lithium ion, these should have much greater cycle life and are much less volatile I.e do not catch fire or suffer such big degradation if overcharged or over discharged. The downside is lower energy density. However that capacity should decay way, way slower than Li Ion will. So after a year or two it will probably take you way further than a similarly aged 260Wh Lithium Ion would.  Add to that a 'safe' mode makes them viable for air transport. Good choice IMHO!

Thirdly , the motor is quoted as 1500W, now whether that's sustained or peak power is not clear. Bottom line is the wheel looks like it has very good power, is restricted to 22kph in software only and it is possible, I understand, for it to be higher (a suggested 'Sports mode'.) 

My personal view on all this is that most of us desperately need not to feel like criminals every time we venture out on our wheels. Getting wheels accepted as legal in pedestrian areas (not roads) is going to need them limited to a safe speed not higher than 20-22kph, having lights, having very good safety features (for riders and others) and especially having safe batteries and chargers. I think I can see where Uniwheel are coming from in their specs ?.

However, having said all the above, price does make me uncomfortable, £850 supplied with 2 off 132Wh batteries is where I'd love to see it pitched.

[OliverH]

With a greater battery I would like to join the beta test program. Over here I would drain the battery in half an hour (slopes and my weight). So this would be an extreme/ heavy duty review and not a review for people in scope. The price would be OK and I've some nice test tracks over here to see how an unicycle act or should act. But I need much more battery capacity.

[dmethvin]

5 hours ago, Keith said:

Firstly: the wheels DO HAVE EASILY SWAPPABLE BATTERIES.

Secondly the batteries are LiFePo4 not lithium ion, these should have much greater cycle life and are much less volatile I.e do not catch fire or suffer such big degradation if overcharged or over discharged. The downside is lower energy density. However that capacity should decay way, way slower than Li Ion will. So after a year or two it will probably take you way further than a similarly aged 260Wh Lithium Ion would.  Add to that a 'safe' mode makes them viable for air transport. Good choice IMHO!

Thirdly , the motor is quoted as 1500W, now whether that's sustained or peak power is not clear. Bottom line is the wheel looks like it has very good power, is restricted to 22kph in software only and it is possible, I understand, for it to be higher (a suggested 'Sports mode'.) 

My personal view on all this is that most of us desperately need not to feel like criminals every time we venture out on our wheels. Getting wheels accepted as legal in pedestrian areas (not roads) is going to need them limited to a safe speed not higher than 20-22kph, having lights, having very good safety features (for riders and others) and especially having safe batteries and chargers. I think I can see where Uniwheel are coming from in their specs ?.

However, having said all the above, price does make me uncomfortable, £850 supplied with 2 off 132Wh batteries is where I'd love to see it pitched.

For £990 ($1500 on this side of the pond) I definitely would want to get more than 132Wh of battery, at least one extra pack. And really, even if the batteries are swappable I'd want the ability to have two of them in the unit at once because carrying the spare and swapping it out after less than an hour of riding is going to be a pain. The longer life of the LiFePo4 seems less of an advantage with swappable batteries, if the pack loses power after a couple of years I can easily put in a new one. I'm not sure the rest of the unit will be in good shape after two years!

I don't think anyone on this forum has ever had confidence in the motor power numbers, but if Uniwheel is saying it only goes 22kph I'm going to believe them on that. I understand your point about pedestrians but it's about the operator. My car can go a lot faster than I drive it. There have been times when no pedestrians are around that I have wanted to travel faster than the max on my wheel, for example to cross a busy road before traffic got there.

[playdad]

Yeah, it's really expensive for just 132WH. And it's being beta tested so you have to expect to face problems on it! That's what beta test means.

[SlowMo]

Ninebot sends Beta Firmware every time without even testing their firmware and they got the results they wanted through so many warranty claims which forces them to go on hiding from the claims.

IPS sold its initial production of untested Zero to the general public in China to beta test and got so many repairs and return claims.

At least Uniwheel is honest in saying the product is offered for "beta testing" and will be supportive in case of any product malfunctions.

[Gimlet]

I signed up for it a week ago but I think that between me, my two sons and the steep hills around Bath they may think we'd  be too hard on their wheels, especially as we have the KingSong 800w and mcmv2s+ to compare it with.

Not heard back from them yet.

[playdad]

5 hours ago, SlowMo said:

Ninebot sends Beta Firmware every time without even testing their firmware and they got the results they wanted through so many warranty claims which forces them to go on hiding from the claims.

IPS sold its initial production of untested Zero to the general public in China to beta test and got so many repairs and return claims.

 

That's a given for China. Human lives are expendable.

[dmethvin]

4 hours ago, Gimlet said:

I signed up for it a week ago but I think that between me, my two sons and the steep hills around Bath they may think we'd  be too hard on their wheels, especially as we have the KingSong 800w and mcmv2s+ to compare it with.

Not heard back from them yet.

I can see that discussion at Uniwheel headquarters: "Send one to Gimlet? No way! We asked for beta testers, not torture testers!"  

[Yev]

3 hours ago, Gimlet said:

I signed up for it a week ago but I think that between me, my two sons and the steep hills around Bath they may think we'd  be too hard on their wheels, especially as we have the KingSong 800w and mcmv2s+ to compare it with.

Not heard back from them yet.

Hiya, sorry no one came back to you yet.

Could you please resend your request to info@uniwheel.co.uk? Or PM me your email address here and I will send you all the details. 

 

[Jurgen]

I signed up, but having to buy the EUC at 75% is way over the top I believe. Their margin is around 75%, not at 25%.

It looks like a mix of crowdfunding with beta testing, which would be accetable at the right price.

But at the current price, with such a small battery, this is a no-go for me.

[Jurgen]

Is actually nobody from the UK on the forum participating in the beta test program?

[Gimlet]

I am in discussions with them and it seems that at the end of the test you get a new wheel in exchange for the test unit not in addition to it. So you end up with one wheel for 75% of retail not two as stated earlier in the thread.

I'm still a little nervous of the capabilities of it to get me back up the hills home from town unless supplied with a second battery to be honest but I like the concept and if it is capable of the rou d trip of about 6 miles I would be very happy with it.

[mhpr262]

LiFePo batteries are indeed known to have a much longer lifespan and more charging cycles than conventional LI-Ion batteries. 5000-6000 cycles or more before the capacity is at 80% compared to new is not unheard of.They also do not suffer when they get deep-discharged and they are known to thrive in high temeperatures - you basically don't get full performance when the pack is at less than 40°C. Source: Years of flying and racing powerful brushless RC models.

[DangerousDick]

On 29/12/2015 at 9:54 PM, Jurgen said:

Is actually nobody from the UK on the forum participating in the beta test program?

Can't say

[SlowMo]

24 minutes ago, mhpr262 said:

LiFePo batteries are indeed known to have a much longer lifespan and more charging cycles than conventional LI-Ion batteries. 5000-6000 cycles or more before the capacity is at 80% compared to new is not unheard of.They also do not suffer when they get deep-discharged and they are known to thrive in high temeperatures - you basically don't get full performance when the pack is at less than 40°C. Source: Years of flying and racing powerful brushless RC models.

Maybe you meant LiFePO4.

[GenericArt]

Wow, I've been shopping around for unicycles for a while now and hands down this is by far my favorite looking one. Have to agree with everyone on the battery side of things though even if it is a better battery. Props to the design team, very slick and sexy looking. Hope you guys do well in selling the product!

[Jurgen]

if you order now, you'll receive one within around 2 months

[Nevin@Tec-toyz.com]

Well being the they state 1500W motor, I think it's a good guess that it peak power because It doesn't make sense that a 1500W motor can only go 22km/h. Plus with a true 1500W motor, the 260Wh would not be able to handle the quick Voltage drop a motor of that size would need to operate properly. And even if it could, I likely doubt it you could get 10 miles on one charge due to the amount of energy needed to power a true 1500W motor. If a 500Wh motor can put out enough power to go 30km/h and a 800Wh motor can go 40km/h. Then a 1500Wh should get you to at least 50km/h and that's being modest. I don't think most people would try going that fast anyways, only the daring! ?