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What's the latest consensus/prognosis with the V8 wheel scrape?


Paddylaz

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So at the risk of being accused of laziness, I'm fully aware I could perhaps do my own research on this through the many, many posts on this issue. But I'd quite like to hear what the very latest is - if there IS any 'latest' information/consensus.

Speedyfeet are going to be getting some v8 stock in a few weeks time, and I'm wondering whether or not to take the plunge or switch ecosystems to KS.

So.....was their any remedy on Inmotion's side before the solo wheel merger? If not, does wheel scrape go away with time/when tire is <55psi? Does it in anyway affect performance other than the not-very-nice sound?

Cheers guys.

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I ordered mine in June. Delivered early July from eWheels fresh off the boat from the factory. It was meant to have a 1.95 tyre to prevent scrape so I was disappointed to see mine had the 2.125 Kenda fitted. I need not have worried. I've had zero scrape issues unless I run through some water and the tyre picks up some debris. I run between 40 and 50 psi. If anything is picked up by the tyre it is usually gone in a few rotations. I don't think there is a huge amount of clearance in the wheel well but I've had no issues at all. Maybe they changed the design. Maybe it was just a problem with poorly mounted tyres. Maybe it was a bad batch of Kendas that were out of shape. But it certainly hasn't affected me. The V8 is a super quiet wheel. I'd have been pissed if it had scraped.  

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9 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

I ordered mine in June. Delivered early July from eWheels fresh off the boat from the factory. It was meant to have a 1.95 tyre to prevent scrape so I was disappointed to see mine had the 2.125 Kenda fitted. I need not have worried. I've had zero scrape issues unless I run through some water and the tyre picks up some debris. I run between 40 and 50 psi. If anything is picked up by the tyre it is usually gone in a few rotations. I don't think there is a huge amount of clearance in the wheel well but I've had no issues at all. Maybe they changed the design. Maybe it was just a problem with poorly mounted tyres. Maybe it was a bad batch of Kendas that were out of shape. But it certainly hasn't affected me. The V8 is a super quiet wheel. I'd have been pissed if it had scraped.  

Yeah I just watched the speedy review. He encounters it himself but only after he's been through some mud. I'm not massively keen on going back up to a 16inch but I love the Inmotion ecosystem too much. Plus the other little refinements that simply aren't present on other wheels.

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I've not ridden any other wheel (make/model/size) but I am really happy with the V8. Personally I don't find it unstable at fast or slow speeds and it is very manouverable (although I have not ridden it in a very crowded place like Oxford Street during the lunch hour). I can do turns within just a few feet diameter on it while waiting for traffic to clear at junctions. You, and others, have a different point of reference having been on other wheels but I really don't think you can go wrong especially if you use the Tube and value the kill switch for all the little steps on what can be long walks between platforms and the street. Powering a wheel off and on all the time just to pick it up seems utterly archaic to me having owned an Inmotion and I am astounded that it hasn't been replicated on other wheels. I use a Pebble and Wheellog so the battery indicator is not of much concequence to me but if I didn't then I'd appreciate it's placement and visibility while riding.

Out of interest why are you looking to upgrade? You have the V5F+ right now don't you?

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27 minutes ago, WARPed1701D said:

I've not ridden any other wheel (make/model/size) but I am really happy with the V8. Personally I don't find it unstable at fast or slow speeds and it is very manouverable (although I have not ridden it in a very crowded place like Oxford Street during the lunch hour). I can do turns within just a few feet diameter on it while waiting for traffic to clear at junctions. You, and others, have a different point of reference having been on other wheels but I really don't think you can go wrong especially if you use the Tube and value the kill switch for all the little steps on what can be long walks between platforms and the street. Powering a wheel off and on all the time just to pick it up seems utterly archaic to me having owned an Inmotion and I am astounded that it hasn't been replicated on other wheels. I use a Pebble and Wheellog so the battery indicator is not of much concequence to me but if I didn't then I'd appreciate it's placement and visibility while riding.

Out of interest why are you looking to upgrade? You have the V5F+ right now don't you?

Yeah it's not just the kill switch, it's also even smaller things like the slickness of the app and the simplicity of the battery indicator. I'm not enamoured by lights on wheels, so I don't like the idea of having to look at the side of a KS for example to check the charge. 

Yeah I have the v5f+, which has worked flawlessly. Inmotion really haven't put a step wrong. Wonderful machine. It's just that 25kph is beginning to become irritating. Just a LITTLE more speed and it would be perfect. I was all set to reluctantly move to Kingsong for my next wheel as I thought I had missed the boat on the V8. But this new announcement of a final stock coming in for Speedyfeet has peaked my interest - other than Jason I think Ian (speedyfeet) is the only other person I feel 100% confident ordering from. So I'm tempted.

Will give it some thought.......

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27 minutes ago, Paddylaz said:

Yeah I have the v5f+, which has worked flawlessly. Inmotion really haven't put a step wrong. Wonderful machine. It's just that 25kph is beginning to become irritating. Just a LITTLE more speed and it would be perfect. I was all set to reluctantly move to Kingsong for my next wheel as I thought I had missed the boat on the V8. But this new announcement of a final stock coming in for Speedyfeet has peaked my interest - other than Jason I think Ian (speedyfeet) is the only other person I feel 100% confident ordering from. So I'm tempted.

Will give it some thought.......

I guessed you were after more speed considering the differences between the V5F+ and the V8 are really only speed, wheel size and, motor power.

I asked as I'm not sure how much extra you will feel the V8 provides in terms of speed. While it is rated at 30kph and limitation isn't meant to kick in until 40% battery I find that at 28kph the tilt back is starting to kick in and at 29kph it is beeping at me. 28kph is the max ridable speed of the V8 for me 165lb with clothes and pack, flat terrain, warm temps).

If you are actually able to achieve 25kph on the V5F without tilback/alarms then the 3kph actual increase may not satiate your desire. If the rideable top speed of the V5F is a actually more like 23kph then the extra 5kph would be noticable.

That said, I have experimented by bumping the max speed beyond  factory limits up to 32kph using Wheellog. Doing this 30kph is then achievable when the battery is full without tilt back however limiting kicks in at a higher battery percentage to bring this back down to 28kph. I've now turned this "beyond spec" increase off as I don't want to remove the safety margin from the wheel but this is an option if you choose to do so. I felt more comfortable doing it as an experiment as I have a Pebble and my speed is always available at a quick glance to prevent me losing perception and going too fast.

Of course the bump to an 800W engine is nice from a safety perspective.

The 16S brings with it a loss of features and extra weight, but there is much to be said for an additional 400W under the hood and 5kph over the V8. A tough decision.

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9 minutes ago, Herbas said:

In regards to V8 tires, I bought mine V8 in September and it had July (I think) QC sticker and it came with 1.95 inch tire. No scraping issues.

Interesting that you got the thinner tyre. Where did you get yours? Mine was via eWheels but I see you are in Lithuania. 

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5 hours ago, Paddylaz said:

Speedyfeet are going to be getting some v8 stock in a few weeks time, and I'm wondering whether or not to take the plunge or switch ecosystems to KS.

Hehe, you got the "preorder for 10% off" mail too! :efee612b4b:

Personally (and offtopic), I think KS > IM now. The Inmotions are no longer state of the art, and from some posts lately seem to have more problems than one thought. And a 16S (presumably your alternative) is just a faster and better wheel.

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23 hours ago, meepmeepmayer said:

Hehe, you got the "preorder for 10% off" mail too! :efee612b4b:

Personally (and offtopic), I think KS > IM now. The Inmotions are no longer state of the art, and from some posts lately seem to have more problems than one thought. And a 16S (presumably your alternative) is just a faster and better wheel.

Need that kill trigger though. Once you're used to it, there's no going back. And I just don't like the KS designs.....to me its like android to Inmotion's apple.

I think I'll sell my v5f+ and go for the V8. Should keep me content for a year or two.

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Ask Ian what tire he expects to have fitted. If it's the 1.95 you've nothing to worry about and you'll know that you will have no problems or the box. You can always fit a wider tire at a later date if you want it, but I'll be surprised if you get an issue with the 2.125 if that is what they are using again. The issue appears resolved. 

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2 hours ago, WARPed1701D said:

Ask Ian what tire he expects to have fitted. If it's the 1.95 you've nothing to worry about and you'll know that you will have no problems or the box. You can always fit a wider tire at a later date if you want it, but I'll be surprised if you get an issue with the 2.125 if that is what they are using again. The issue appears resolved. 

Yeah I mean I'll take the chance regardless. If it's the 2.125, so be it. There are some very reputable sellers in Europe but I play things safe: Ian or Jason only when it's this kinda money.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I pumped the tyre up on mine until it started to scrape. I run it at about 50psi, if i go over 54-55 it scrapes but as its nice and hard at 48-50 i don't need to got that high. 

It does pick up grit and general crap which you can hear rattling about occasionally but after a few yards it seems to drop out. When i was in Paris and it was raining a bit you could tell when a V8 was coming up behind you due to the grit/case scraping :) - doesn't affect how lovely and smooth it is to ride tho.

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It looked like mine was scraping on the edge of the case, so i guess you could take a file and open the clearance up a little. I think the clearance within the case is also limited judging by the sounds it makes whenever a small bit of grit/crud gets taken in there by the tyre. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
8 minutes ago, Kael said:

Why do so many people ride their V8s way above the manufacturer's recommended tyre pressure of 2.8bar? Sounds like joint issues waiting to happen.

Most (all?) of the tires that eucs use are from kids' bicycles. Hence the tire pressures are based upon a person's weight spread over two wheels. 

Also, I could be wrong about this, but you're more likely to get a puncture with a tire where the pressure is too low than too high. There's no reason why tire pressure would have any effect on orthopaedic issues, unless you were operating at real extremes, or were very old.

 

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Correct tire pressure is dependent on the weight of the rider and the size of the rim (at least with the current normal width of a tire for a specific rim size. The Ninebot Z series with the ultra-wide tire will add a new dimension to this). One size does not fit all.

@Jason McNeil from eWheels recently made a blog post about the right pressure to run at.It was discussed here:

That said, the 'correct' pressure may not be what is right for you. It drastically alters wheel ride dynamic. Mine dropped to the mid 20's the other day and I had to step off almost as soon as I had mounted! My V8 runs around 45psi +/- 5psi. But I'm not convinced my pressure gauge is accurate.

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  • 4 weeks later...

The scrape is only the extra rubber on the tires scraping against the thin plastic fins up in the Wheel well. It is nothing, and doesnt really change with tire pressure although I kept mine at about 52psi. It wont hurt the machine at all and like I said it goes away, until your tire digests some sand or a wayward tumbleweed. Some of the fins may break off too depending on branches that get thrown up there. 

Here is what the inside of your lovely V8 looks like below. The metal part at the topside of the photo is a heat sink. So there really is nothing that can or does get damaged that isnt okay to damage. You can see how those thin fins can amplify the sound, but rest assured, it is the equivalent of a baseball card in your spokes for about 100 miles. Then it goes away. Or you could search for a 2" x 16" exactly tireimage.thumb.jpeg.cecd71aa9a4558e98ed9aa520cff4449.jpeg

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8 hours ago, Stan Onymous said:

The scrape is only the extra rubber on the tires scraping against the thin plastic fins up in the Wheel well. It is nothing, and doesnt really change with tire pressure although I kept mine at about 52psi. It wont hurt the machine at all and like I said it goes away, until your tire digests some sand or a wayward tumbleweed. Some of the fins may break off too depending on branches that get thrown up there. 

Why not trimming the fins such that a bigger tyre fits with less or no scraping from the get-go?

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