drader

I second getting cheap soccer shinguards while you learn. Also helps with squeezing the wheel. All the rough areas of the battery and chassis will take their toll on your legs. Get a yoga mat and cut it up and stick it on the wheel to make everything comfy. You should have wrist-guards, the long ones, as you will fall forward. Pay attention to where you place your foot on the pedals so you aren't being random. Tire pressure is very important - too hard and the thing is squirrly and uncomfortable, too soft and the turning is very slow and you risk rim damage. Get yourself a quality tire gauge, start around 30 psi. I also agree with the T4, the suspension will work well for the wife. It's also cheaper than your Falcon.

OP you have a couple things working against you - your tire is a 2.5" width, essentially bicycle tire. It can only absorb so much. The newer wheels use a 3" tire, but they are usually motor-scooter tires, so that 3" is actually fatter than the bicycle measurement. And if you get knobs that adds even more cushion. The second thing is suspension. Something like a Patton/Lynx/ Sherman with inline dampers would add a ton of comfort. I recently went back and rode my old Nikola and I immediately had knee pain after a short ride. You could still get into a Begode T4 cheap, and eventually swap the scissor arms and shock for aftermarket. The T4 tire diameter is nearly identical to the tire on your 18XL! About 18.3", that is a LOT of pneumatic goodness.

UPDATE: We have a happy ending. I found a message from Begode that we need to update our firmware by Aug 10th, due to an issue where the cut-out switch can burn the board. This time I found they had only ONE version available, 5107, and it doesn't have any forward tilt or weird settings baked in. It also doesn't make constant grinding noises, everything works well. The wheel has more zip off the line, and powering up-hill has significantly more power. I just don't have to lean as hard, and now I need to re-adjust my pads since it feels so different. I also noticed a slight "cogging" as if the magnets are stronger and I am feeling it more. The wheel isn't as smooth, but it is more fun... feels like a sports car with a sensitive throttle. Highly recommend 5107! More info from Begode here: https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1gTcojoYFqm_cSnmJd4ecF0acnogubnQoYPnMuNgMBDI/mobilebasic

I bought a Master V4, and everything worked great on firmware 5101. Version 5104 said it had more torque, so I updated it. While it did have more torque it also had weird grinding/vibrating all the time. I couldn't believe how bad it was... do they test these things? Then I noticed they didn't have my original firmware available! So I found a 5105 which promised bug fixes. It was the same, except was tilted forward about 20 degrees, and had weird tilting characteristics. I realized whatever the setting were on the test rig, those get baked into your wheel settings, and the wheel thinks that is the new zero. You have to re-calibrate. Then I found another version 5104, but with a slightly different upload date. I flashed to that and it was better, but still had the grinding. I read that EUC World can flash firmware now, and they keep ALL the versions. I am now back to 5102 which seems to work well. I will never try this again, I can't believe what bozos these guys are. I work in software... this is just offensive how incompetent they are with uploading broken, untested crap, and not allowing people to revert.

I don't know anyone running 1/2 sag on an MTB either... because big drops are expected. But we are talking about EUCs and not everyone is doing jumps. In my experience I just found I vastly preferred 1/2 sag on my T4 for cruising around, mostly on dirt. Rebound travel is often underutilized in suspension systems (this is the ability for the wheel to fill a pothole). But keep in mind I designed my own linkage and am using a Marzocchi Bomber - I did this to eke out a little more travel, so I have more to spare than normal.

I recommend moving that shock pin to the upper hole. The new shock and linkage is pretty good! The shock feels way better built, doesn't lose air, and the linkage is a lot closer to 2:1 in that upper hole. If you are having trouble getting used to the high pedals just keep the suspension soft for now, so it is lower.

I was looking to upgrade my beloved T4, and had narrowed it down to the Patton, Extreme and V14. I ended up with a Master V4 because I didn't really want to spend $3k, and the sales lately have been insane. The fourth gen Master is the best version that has ever been made, and I kinda doubt they need to evolve it any more. But I'd bet the Extreme V1.5 is still better thought out... it is literally generational evolution from the Master chassis. I'm new to the 18" rim and so far I'm not loving the experience. Relative to the T4 the Master is way harder to motivate, 20 lbs too heavy, very cumbersome, the V-pedals are killing my feet, the pedals are as high as a step-stool, and the suspension travel a little short. Some of this took me by surprise, but I need to tune it to my tastes and spend a month getting used to it. I think once I get comfortable I will love it; on paper it has everything a person could want, and the build quality is miles from the first version.

This is just an educated guess, so I might get some stuff wrong (and this is more based on the Patton than the Linx): I believe the two sides are the same, so you actually have TWO of those springs, so the spring rating would be (2 X 62) = 124 and (2 X 66) = 132 and (2 X 70) = 140. These are pounds per inch. If you weigh 200lb you will compress those options: 1.6" , 1.5" and 1.4". Ok, what is ideal? In the MTB world they tend to aim for 1/3rd sag. IMO if you want to float like a caddy and not do drops aim for 1/2 sag. Also IMO - 85mm is not enough to have your cake and eat it too, I'm guessing we'd need more like 180-200mm travel to really be able to drop off a picnic table and not bottom, while also feeling plush. At 85mm you have 3.3" travel. Honestly the options are not a huge range... I would err on the 70 option, and if you weigh more than 200 DEFINITELY the 70 option.

What heavy-loaded negatives? I take the time to try to help you and this is what you comment on? ANY suspension that doesn't have droop will ride like shit... that is not a negative, it is accurate. True story - the VW Alltrack was a car that came from marketing to compete with subaru. They jacked the car up on the standard Golf platform, to the point that there was very little droop. And it rode.. weird. Ok for a soccer-mom, but no where near as nice as a basic Golf, that has more equal compression and rebound. The car rides way better when you lower it back down. I guess I also criticized the actual travel probably not being 85mm. I've just seen a pattern on "other" brands: when the shock bolts up it takes up a bit of space that otherwise looks like travel. Happy to hear Inmotion is accurate here. I am not actually negative on the V14, in fact I want to buy one. I do scrutinize all these early EUC suspension systems, because the first few iterations proved they had no idea what they were doing. The V14 looks like they finally got it right, except for spring rate, which is to be expected. I appreciate: the 2:1ish motion ratio, pneumatic shock, progressive spring, smooth/simple slider system, and 85mm of true travel. Should be less maintenance, and easier maintenance than the Patton.

Let’s try to guesstimate that spring.. but this is based on many assumptions. You weigh 210lb geared up and the weight of the EUC minus the wheel portion is 55lb, so we’ll say 265lb total. The V14 has 85mm travel, but we’ll call it 3” since they probably lie. You would either want 1/3 sag (like MTB, cars) or if you want it plush 1/2 sag; we’ll solve for a linear system first. So that would be a 265lb/inch spring for 1” sag, or 175lb/in for 1.5” sag. By looking at the linkage the motion ratio is probably near 2:1 (that is generally the MTB target) so multiplying by the values above we get: 530lb/in for standard 1/3 sag setup, or 350 for super-plush. Wild guess is that stock spring is around 750lb/in. And there is probably pre-load, so not surprised you don’t make it sag (it will feel like shit!) If you want to take measurements of actual total suspension travel, and actual shock shaft compression we can figure out the real motion ratio and you’ll get a lot more accurate.

mrelewood, you are absolutely WRONG on this, and laughably so. Every brand cell and chemistry used in our EUCs has been studied to death and an easy source for info is reading about Teslas (the car). You can accurately predict the life of your car's battery based on charging habits (hint: tesla taxis die soonest). While you are correct that EUCs use some of the dumbest management systems and cells will "eventually" go out of balance that doesn't mean you have to balance your cells every single time you charge. And charging from 60% to 80% doesn't use up one charge life, as if it was a stamp on your diner card.

Zalagator, as a fellow 250lb guy, who recently went down this road - maybe I can help. I have a T4, so not sure the numbers are all exact. You are 250lb + the weight of the wheel without the motor/tire... let's say 60lb, so 310 total. Stock linkage has a motion ratio of 3.4 (on my T4) so that's 3.4 X 310 = 1054. This would sag 1" at rest. The shock stroke is only going to move 21-25mm. It's all pretty dumb, unless you are a light guy. I highly recommend an aftermarket linkage. If you go Kuba/Torque you can use an air shock and put far less air in it (motion ratio about 1.4), but unfortunately you can't use a coil shock. No room, not made for it. The Kuba and Rockshox Monarch feels GREAT. I'd say it is a necessity at your weight. If you want to do coil (and trust me, you do) then you will want the EMA arms. Not sure about his motion ratio, he wouldn't tell me, lol. Maybe 1.5-2.0 or so, but you'd be guessing about the spring. I made my own solution; testing now... it feels incredible. Need to revise some stuff to be able to sell them, and cutting this stuff is not cheap in the US, (plus I have a day job) so not sure I will ever sell them, but damn I am blown away by how good it feels. This from somebody who must have monotubes and/or Ohlins on every car.

Induction charging for phones is very inefficient and very slow. Might as well just put a solar panel on your wheel and park it in the sun for a month - this is probably faster.

A few youtubers have gotten about 10,000 miles and then the main bearings need to be replaced, and that motivates them to buy something new. You can almost double the life of the battery by charging slow and not to 100%.

Bicycle tire sizing has always been a dumb way to categorize, so I vote we move to motorcycle/scooter sizing, which accurately describes the rim: 12" or 14" in this case. The T4/Patton tire has an overall diameter of 18.15", which is almost identical to the MSX and 18XL, and steers much closer to those "18 inch" wheels than it does to a T2. The 12-3.0 tire is also much higher quality than a bicycle 16X3, and is quite a bit bigger in diameter. For my money adding pneumatic goodness absolutely transforms a wheel, while suspension is pretty gimmicky, at least if you are a size XL human. The T4, Patton and V12 are "special" in that they allow a tire as large as a 12 - 3.0. I'd love to try a 12 - 3.5 next.