meepmeepmayer

Semi-related discussion split off to here:

What batch is your Master? If it's an earlier batch, I'd consider getting the board NOW while Begode can even still identify which of the zillion board variants you would need If it's the latest, which seems a little more stable, then I hope you'll be good without a board. Or at least in good company in your potential misery.

I'd consider buying a replacement board right away, as long as they still can be found, just to be safe. The EX20S really was a short-lived transition wheel. Unlikely the board will fail, but if it fails later and you can't get a replacement then, that would be an expensive paperweight indeed. It's up to you whether you accept the risk or waste a lot of money on a board you might likely never need (though maybe someone else would be happy to find a board for sale some day).

MOD edit: Split off from here. For a wheel like this, you need to order a mathcing replacement board along with it. Just in case. And it's hard to say if any new Begode wheel/production batch will be a longer term thing (like RS) or turn out to be a "wheel like this" (2 weeks later something is different). They should certainy offer some predictability to their dealers.

I believe they long stopped stocking the latest Begode wheels, Ian said as much, because of things like quality problems, a new model being announced 2 weeks after their first batch order (forcing them to reduce the price before the wheels have even arrived), etc., which are too financially unsound for Speedy Feet to deal with. Can't blame them! So that, at least, isn't new. But their lineup does indeed look sparse even for that! Maybe it's a general thing. People have less money? 3k and 4k wheels too much? (I believe the lack of competitive entry price wheels is hurting the market - how many risk 3000 or 4000 instead of 1500 or 2000? But I don't know, might make no difference.) Maybe there are simply personal reasons for Speedy Feet's lack of new videos, or maybe new videos don't make sense at this point. Maybe they just don't update the website because business comes from other places? I wouldn't read too much into it without specific information, but it is indeed notable. Wishing them all the best.

A V8F cannot do the 30 miles you want (unless you go like walking speed). The battery is just too small for that. If you can compromise on the range, it's a decent wheel. Depending on your speed, I'd expect something like 15-20 miles out of it. Low price points just don't seem to work very well (or not at all) with EUCs. Also, you have a EUC store! Is it good? Why not buy from them? Prices tend to be the same everywhere, unless this is an exception.

You can open a side panel, there should be a sticker on the battery packs that tells you the cell type used. I'd check before I worry. Regardless, I haven't heard of any Commander fires.

Of all the dumb things the manufacturers have done over the years, this is one thing they have always done right. On any brand wheel, the power and spin-kill buttons will be ignored whenever you're faster than like 2kph. Zero danger of that being a problem.

My old ass ACM is the only ride I have. What I want is a 3600Wh+ wheel (whenever I think about a compromise, I come to the conclusion less just isn't what I'll be happy with) with suspension that is not crazy heavy and not crazy expensive, and has enough build quality for 5+ years for the money it costs. Or the same with a smaller battery with a fair price. Remember when you could get a top wheel (RS) for like 2000? Honestly, I'm just undecisive about what I should do. For that kind of money, stuff needs to be a little more perfect than it is right now. Maybe this Inmotion wheel will do the trick.

I do like their ambition. I've given up on hoping for cheap (2000 or less) competitive performance wheels (RS-like), so they might as well go fo the cutting edge if you likely have to pay 3000 and up.

You're not wrong. But if the tire change is really quick (as in: <1 minute, toolless) then people can change their tires on a whim like they change their t-shirts. And that might lead to more frequent tire changes just for fun, and an entire new quality of what EUC-riding can be. You could literally take different tires with you on a ride (in their plastic, ring-shaped boxes) and use them as you like (ride to the mountain with a road tire, ride it up with an offroad tire, put on your spiked tire and continue on the glacier - like this). Fundamentally, that can be done. Some ready-made tire rims that click in place onto the motor, so you could have pumped-up-and-ready tires+rims exchanged in a few seconds. I don't expect IM will do something this good like this with this rumored wheel. So it's probably just going to be a neat feature for "easy" tire changes (we still have to wrestle the rubber on and off the rim, etc.), but nothing more. My point is: if it's done extremely well, it can be a miracle.

Anything new about this? It looks so official.

Is this still a thing? Anything new about the Commander Mini?

Fast swap motor would also imply quick and easy tire changes! This sound a little too good to be true, especially the 134V right after they came out with 126V hardware. Usually manufacturers decide on one. But who knows, maybe IM upped their game considerably behind the scenes? I'm cautiously (very cautiously, this is the EUC market) optimistic.

This is in the news again, because Mercedes bought an axial flux motor startup (not the one originally mentioned here) a bit ago, to explore using axial flux motors in their cars. https://www.thedrive.com/news/why-axial-flux-motors-are-a-big-deal-for-evs If you want to know what an "axial flux" motor is in practical terms (writing this because people are remarkably bad at explaining this everywhere I looked): Our regular "radial flux" EUC motors are a circular disk (the unmoving stator) that has a rotating ring (the rotor) around it. (Due to the motor covers connected to the rotor, it looks like the entire disk is rotating from the outside, but behind the rotating cover is mostly the non-rotating stator.) An "axial flux" motor would be a static disk with a rotating disk next to it, like a sandwich of disks, connected by an axle. (You can vary, for symmetry reasons or whatever: a central fixed disk with rotating disks on each side, a central rotating disk between two static disks, etc. - anyways, it's just some sandwich of disks.) The main advantage of axial flux motors seems to be their low weight, which is always good for EUCs. Their natural shape (large diameter but thin, vs. smaller diameter but wider) also fits the purpose. For EUCs, you would no longer need a motor cable going to the axle (because you have to go around the rotor ring), but you can go directly from the board on top to the static disk right below it. Pretty neat! (Though I'm sure Begode can achieve melting cables even when the cables are very short) Hopefully this tech will filter down to generic Chinese electric motors. See you in 10-15 years, hopefully.

Anything 20° over environment temperature is crap, in my opinion. I'm willing to go down to 10° over the surroundings, in the perfect world in my head. I concede that it may be more cost effective, and ultimately better for everyone, to use "smaller" electronics that get a bit hotter. But if they get hot enough to require a fan (or anything but an emergency fan during the most extreme of extreme circumstances) then I still think that sucks and is a bit embarrassing. Anyways, back to the topic of this thread: if there is a fan (avoid if possible), make it as quiet as humanly possible! Certainly not a whiner that is on during normal riding or whenever you do a quick stop.

No noisy fan = a no brainer! No excuse for wheels to get hot. There are heatsinks, and proper electronics are not supposed to get hot enough to need a fan in the first place.

Yea guys, charge somewhere the wheel could safely go up in flames! Maybe it's just the charger, maybe it's just a board limiter, but if the batteries themselves charge so slowly... that's not a good sign and cause for caution.

My beautiful (cheap, good, never any issues - pick all 3!) bike was stolen years ago, and the EUC may very well be why I never got a new one for the few times I'd ride a bike nowadays.

I don't think that's the V13 board, just a newer board with better electronics like on the V13.

I've never ridden a motorbike, just regular old bicycles. I never felt that I need more "stability" in curves. Do you mean stability against falling over sideways? One feels more in control? Is it more of a slow speed thing?

Awesome, this is precisely what I meant! Now I just need the Sherman-S to go with such a bag

Also, a saddle bag! For virtually everyone, there's a ton of unused space between the top of the EUC and the rider. Meanwhile, either you can't bring much stuff with you on a ride, or you need an annoying and hot (it's summer!) backpack. Give me a nice, light, stable rectangular cloth bag (like a laptop bag, something that keeps its shape and is cushioned a bit) into which I can put a big water bottle, the charger, maybe a small jacket, stuff like that. Just ~ 15cm/6in tall and about as big as the top area of your EUC, not wider; simply a slightly tapering extension of the wheel's body. You can even give it a metal frame and make it into a proper seat with a compartment under the seat part of the seat. Seats are too low anyways when they sit right on the EUC, so it's two birds with one stone - a higher seat and some storage space.

A proper back light! The manufacturers have slowly adapted passable front lights, even if they blind oncoming traffic or suck 50% in some other way in most cases. But back lights are still laughable. Tiny, flimsy, barely visible red lights as bright as a single match. These aren't back lights, those are sorry excuses for back lights. The primary point of lights (front and back) is to be easily seen and not run over by a car, somehow they don't get that yet. And the back light is the more important of the two. Give me a big area, bright backlight that is just as good and bright as the one on a motorcycle's (at least)!

What do the double front wheels do on the Yamaha? I guess it's nice so the (heavy!) bike won't fall over when still, but what are they good for when riding normally? I think it's surely technologically feasible on EUCs. Why not? At worst it will simply be crazy expensive and increase the weight The question is: but what is it good for? Mechanically, it's analog to having one wide tire that is very uninflated (so it always fills the space between motor rim and ground, regardless of the tilt). Not sure what that would do for EUCs. Interesting question though!