dmethvin Posted May 11, 2017 Share Posted May 11, 2017 I'd put this in the Fireweel section but it's so dead in there that nobody would see it! I figured it was a good time to do a long-term review. This month marks two years since I got my Firewheel. To be honest I'm surprised I am still riding this thing, didn't expect it to last for so long. I ended up getting the Firewheel mostly because of its ergonomics and reasonable price for the specs on a 260Wh wheel ($700 shipped from China). You can still see the models and specs at http://www.fire-wheel.com/ but I don't think anyone has had luck actually buying one for about a year. It's probably just a ghost site now, only up until their prepaid hosting runs out. Things didn't start too well with the Firewheel, I had it for 3 days and it stopped running. I opened it up and found that the control board had burnt out. Fortunately they sent a new board which took about a month. Then the battery was acting strange so they sent a new battery. That got it running fine. After a few months I took the original battery and hooked it up to get a total of 520Wh. Although there aren't a lot of Firewheels around today, some of the long-term reliability data should apply to other models. One piece of good news is that the Lithium-Ion cells in these battery packs seem to have a really good lifespan if you treat them right. I use a Charge Doctor and rarely give the battery a full charge. When I do want to get maximum range I do the full charge just before leaving so they're not being stored that way. They don't seem to have lost a lot of capacity although they're 2 years old. Even though it's been through a few really serious crashes, nothing is really broken on this wheel. It still has the original tire and inner tube, although it had another tire on it for a few months (see below). I've redone and resealed the inside but that was mainly for waterproofing while I was replacing the electronics and upgrading the battery. It hasn't given me trouble since the first breakdown. Here are some of things I've done to the wheel over the past few years: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted May 12, 2017 Share Posted May 12, 2017 So, what is the new wheel you are looking to get? You should keep the Firewheel, though. It sounds like a good design, I have always liked them from some of the positive posts from forum members. Firewheel was one of the first companies, if not the first, to offer a big battery ,ie the 778. That's still impressive, even two years later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmethvin Posted May 14, 2017 Author Share Posted May 14, 2017 @steve454 I can't decide on a new wheel! I can't even decide whether I want to stay with a 16 or drop down to a 14 for better agility and portability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dingfelder Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 That's a lot of distance traveled. Speaks well of the wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve454 Posted May 14, 2017 Share Posted May 14, 2017 The Firewheel design of the shell is very nice, the leg pads were ahead of their time. It's a classic wheel. So, do you want to sell it? For say, umm, about 700 dollars? If so, i would pay for the shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmethvin Posted May 16, 2017 Author Share Posted May 16, 2017 @steve454 I agree, it's got really nice ergonomics. The downside of the design is that the seams for the battery and control board compartments are inside the wheel which makes them prone to water and dirt getting in. I think that could have been fixed with just a few tweaks though. I'm not ready to part with this wheel quite yet. Shipping to Texas would be expensive though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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