Gotway ACMv2 will not power on anymore

[Marty Backe]

4 hours ago, Lutalo said:

Maybe, but it seems prudent for early adopters in the pre-purchase research phase of to consider responsibly produced and credible failure rate data as part of their choice matrix.

I do not buy the whole "all the wheels can fail so it doesn't matter which one you buy" attitude. When it's my $1500 to $2000 on deck my goal is to mitigate 'early adopter risk' to the greatest degree possible. When objectively measured failure rates are not equal, 'likely to fail' becomes a very important metric in my decision matrix. 

I believe you when you say that you don't hate Kingsong; however, you do seem to frequently point out that they are not perfect wheels. Although I agree with that assessment, I am not convinced of its value in pointing out each time someone mentions that a Gotway has failed.

Kingsong is not perfect and the historic data available to potential buyers shows that Gotway has been even less perfect. It is intelligent for a potential buyer to take this information into consideration when making a risky purchase on an expensive hobby. 

I truly hope and believe that Gotway has in fact made the QC turnaround that its advocates proclaim. When that claim is supported with objective data; and not the subjective individual assessments and tainted proclamations of its fans, I will also be a believer. Until then, it is what it is.

I believe that I've always recommended non-Gotway wheels for the risk averse individual. If quality above performance is your primarily criterion, please do not buy Gotway.

And frankly, if ~$2000 is a burdensome sum of money to spend, I don't think I could recommend with good conscience any EUC purchase. The products are still immature relative to the quality to be expected from a similarly priced bicycle, TV, etc.

It's my opinion that EUC ownership is best undertaken by people with excess disposable income. And that's probably why the medium age of riders is 45 (I'm pulling that figure from my butt, however, this is generally not a young person's game). Older people tend to have a lot more disposable income to 'play' with.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Marty Backe

[Lutalo]

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

And frankly, if ~$2000 is a burdensome sum of money to spend, I don't think I could recommend with good conscience any EUC purchase

Since 'burdensome' has a relative interpretation I will comment only on my understanding. For me it implies overwhelmingly difficult and essentially unaffordable. A potential buyer falling into the 'burdensome' category is the last person to need a recommendation either way because they simply cannot afford to buy the wheel.  

I agree that this is not a hobby for children; hence the reason children are not buying the wheels. Adults, have a number of ways to assess the level of 'burden' they can bear. For most a wheel, even if bearable, will be a considerable purchase.

Wheels would be lower volume than they are presently, and even more expensive if manufacturers were selling only to those cash rich enough to consider $1500-$2000 a meaningless sum on an experimental hobby. Most buyers will consider an EUC a considerable sum, and will have to grind teeth a bit to make it happen. 

I my view, the current market demographic is primarily comprised of buyers who must grind teeth to varying acceptable degrees to purchase an EUC.

It's quite easy to identify the exceptions, because they have Youtube channels where they make videos comparing the performance dynamics of the 20 wheels that they own ??.

I usually recommend potential buyers research the wheels and make the most sensible purchase. That means using all objective information available to subjectively make the purchase they feel gives them the most bang (quality) for the buck. 

 

[Marty Backe]

26 minutes ago, Lutalo said:

Since 'burdensome' has a relative interpretation I will comment only on my understanding. For me it implies overwhelmingly difficult and essentially unaffordable. A potential buyer falling into the 'burdensome' category is the last person to need a recommendation either way because they simply cannot afford to buy the wheel.  

I agree that this is not a hobby for children; hence the reason children are not buying the wheels. Adults, have a number of ways to assess the level of 'burden' they can bear. For most a wheel, even if bearable, will be a considerable purchase.

Wheels would be lower volume than they are presently, and even more expensive if manufacturers were selling only to those cash rich enough to consider $1500-$2000 a meaningless sum on an experimental hobby. Most buyers will consider an EUC a considerable sum, and will have to grind teeth a bit to make it happen. 

I my view, the current market demographic is primarily comprised of buyers who must grind teeth to varying acceptable degrees to purchase an EUC.

It's quite easy to identify the exceptions, because they have Youtube channels where they make videos comparing the performance dynamics of the 20 wheels that they own ??.

I usually recommend potential buyers research the wheels and make the most sensible purchase. That means using all objective information available to subjectively make the purchase they feel gives them the most bang (quality) for the buck. 

 

I know lots of EUC riders that have many wheels, and they make zero videos.

[Lutalo]

24 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

I know lots of EUC riders that have many wheels, and they make zero videos.

Touché. ?

[Mono]

On 8/15/2018 at 4:14 PM, Lutalo said:

I my view, the current market demographic is primarily comprised of buyers who must grind teeth to varying acceptable degrees to purchase an EUC.

How have you come to this conclusion?

On 8/15/2018 at 4:14 PM, Lutalo said:

It's quite easy to identify the exceptions, because they have Youtube channels where they make videos comparing the performance dynamics of the 20 wheels that they own ??.

LOL

On 8/15/2018 at 4:44 PM, Marty Backe said:

I know lots of EUC riders that have many wheels, and they make zero videos.

Most likely true, but to my understanding @Lutalo was talking about ratios, not absolute numbers.

[Lutalo]

2 hours ago, Mono said:

How have you come to this conclusion?

Given the relatively short history of Electric Unicycles, my view is based on some analogous market assumptions based on an assessment of a similar product within the hobbyist electric mobility market: Electric Bicycles. Although I have seen EB's priced as much $5k for very advanced models, EUCs and EBs have similar price points ($1.5k-$2k) within a similar capability range.

The market for electric mobility in general is expanding rapidly. The largest market by a substantial margin is Asia where almost 33 million EBs sold in 2016, up from 300k in 2000. Europe is also a market of substantial significance. Western Europe has been selling over a million units per year since 2012, and 1.6 million in 2016. Less significant, but growing markets are North America (150k), South and Central America (90k), Africa and southern Asia (70k), and Eastern Europe (40k).  

The target market and profile of buyers in each market may vary based on the particular political, economic, social, technological, educational, and legal/regulatory (PESTEL) landscape that impacts the product consumers and the companies doing or wanting to do business in the region. Thus, in markets where the populace tends to have less disposable income, EUCs and EBs could actually represent more exclusive status purchases. In markets where more people tend to have some disposable income, combined with a friendly or clueless political and regulatory attitude toward electric mobility, products will be more widely available and less of a status purchase. With 35 million global units sold and growing  we are not talking about an exclusive product sold primarily to rich hobbyists as evidence of economic status, we are talking about middle class income buyers who will consider the product an affordable perhaps, but significant sum.

While the EB market is not specifically the EUC market, it represents an analogous product, market, and market potential. What I am saying about the EUC market is not fact, it is what I believe to be a reasonable opinion based on data available to me at the time the assessment was made.
 

2 hours ago, Mono said:

Most likely true, but to my understanding @Lutalo was talking about ratios, not absolute numbers.

I think that @Marty Backe was aware that I was basically joking when I made this comment; as there is no possible way I would have stood behind a comment making generalizations about buyers that could not at least be reasonably supported with data. hence the emoticons. I took his followup comment to be a joking response in kind. 

If he wasn't joking then I apparently need to "G"-up so I can also join the millionaire EWheel club where everyone around me can afford to buy EUCs, like I buy sticks of gum ?

[Mono]

16 minutes ago, Lutalo said:

With 35 million global units sold and growing  we are not talking about an exclusive product sold primarily to rich hobbyists as evidence of economic status, we are talking about middle class income buyers who will consider the product an affordable perhaps, but significant sum.

While the EB market is not specifically the EUC market, it represents an analogous product, market, and market potential. What I am saying about the EUC market is not fact, it is what I believe to be a reasonable opinion based on data available to me at the time the assessment was made.

I understand, that's where we are. I was just curious. I also don't see good reasons to believe that EUCs would appeal to potential customers only or even mainly as a luxury good.

Edited August 19, 2018 by Mono

[Lutalo]

4 hours ago, Mono said:

I understand, that's where we are. I was just curious. I also don't see good reasons to believe that EUCs would appeal to potential customers only or even mainly as a luxury good.

I agree, while they may be classified as luxury items as far as the market is concerned, they are far too useful to be conceptualized in this limiting manner by users or even potential buyers. 

I have two sons that seriously commute with wheels.

My oldest is a student at the University of Maryland and commutes daily to campus from home. He is a serious wheel commuter and often uses his 18L for the 20 mile roundtrip.

My younger son is a student at University of Virginia, he lives on campus and uses his KS18AY to commute around the 1500 acres of university grounds. It works because he can avoid waiting for shuttles and most destinations are within 5 minutes with his wheel; actually faster than the shuttle in many cases.

While the power and range of the 18L is ideal for my oldest son who travels across the city to get to campus, my younger son has no real need for the range and power of an 18L and is content with his 18AY; a fairly powerful wheel in its own right. 

Point is; I agree with you that wheels can be serious commuter tools; especially as last mile commuter aids if you live in a big city like me you may have ready access to many forms of public transportation - subway, bus, taxi, Uber, lyft, etc. I often use my wheel as a last mile aid; very helpful tool.

[Bryant]

I have a Super  Ride S1000 Electric Unicycle. I put it away for 12 months.  When I plug in the brick to the charging port the brick indicator just stays green even leaving it to charge overnight.   The control display stays blank (shows no information) the whole time.   What do I test and/or check for before I replace all kinds of parts.