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GotWay MSuper - first thoughts.


John Chew

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Posted

OK - I have RIDDEN my GotWay MSuper (YAY!). And I'm just going to stick down some initial thoughts in a relatively haphazard and confused manner.

 

It's BIG. It really is. My first wheel was an Airwheel X3 (14 inch). Then I bought the Rockwheel 16 (16 inch) and that was a bigger beast. My IPS 111 (also 16 inch) was similar to the Rockwheel. I had thought "another 2 inches in wheel size, it's going to be about the same step up again as the Airwheel to the Rockwheel".

 

Not a bit of it.

 

It would, perhaps, be a little excessive to describe it as a one-wheeled M1A1 Abrams battle-tank, but there might be a TINY element of comparison ... *cough cough* Soviet T-34 *cough cough*.

 

I found that the size meant I had to be more "deliberate" in mounting it. It just felt a bigger, heavier thing to get moving - and was less "fllickable into motion" than my IPS.

 

That said, once I was on it, it felt ASTONISHINGLY stable. Utterly "rock solid" under the feet in a way that my IPS isn't. As it happens I tried both "comfort" mode and "madden" mode ... and I'll be honest with you, I really could hardly tell the difference. I haven't tried "soft" mode - maybe I should and will some time - but I found I rather liked what it was doing anyway, and just "settled" on the "middle of the range" comfort mode.

 

It handles potholes and rough surfaces REALLY well. There's a place on my "standard 2.6 mile circuit" (my "first ride" was twice round that old, favourite route) where the path runs beside a load of trees, and the tree roots have caused the path to "buckle and crack" - which has then been rather crudely repaired. The result is about 50 yards where the path is REALLY quite appalling. When I rode my Airwheel around this circuit, this was a section that I felt genuinely concerned about. It was scary, and I have come off the Airwheel a couple of times there. On my IPS it's less scary, but I still find myself consciously thinking "Hmm - that rough bit ahead! Care needed!"

 

On the MSuper I approached it with "IPS type" thoughts in my head the first time around - and found the MSuper just wafted over the roughness with surprising ease. The second circuit I just "rode along that bit of path". OK, I obviously avoided the BIGGEST bumps - but that rough bit of path really isn't an issue on the GotWay. Fabulous.

 

Speed. Ladies and gentlemen - my name is NOT Austin Marhold. I am not a "fast rider" at heart. That said, part of my 2.6 mile circuit is along a cycle lane - and when I've ridden that part of the circuit on my IPS I've been very conscious that I was not really at what I felt was "proper cycle lane speed". I would ride that cycle lane section and keep glancing behind, concerned that I might be holding up someone dressed in lycra.

 

On the MSuper I leant forwards, took the beast up to "double bleep" speed (whatever that is) or even, briefly, "triple bleep" ... and felt I was using the cycle lane at a speed it SHOULD be used, rather than a speed at which I would be a hindrance to cyclists.

 

This is the CLASSIC situation where I argue for a decent speed range with EUs, and I feel the MSuper has emphasised that point. I can (and did) ride it at "ambling child" speed on pavements - keeping constant distance behind a woman walking with her little girl of, oh, about 8 or 9. BUT, come the cycle lane, it can be flicked up to a PROPER CYCLE LANE SPEED, and properly use THAT resource too. EXACTLY what I believe a "good" wheel should be able to do.

 

Noise. It IS noisier than my IPS - and that's a shame. I like "whisper quiet" EUs, and the GotWay isn't whisper quiet. Don't get me wrong - it's nothing LIKE "Rockwheel noisy". It's just not "IPS quiet" either. BIT of a shame - but heck, I'll cope.

 

Comfort. I suspect it was the unfamiliarity, but I found myself "gripping" the GotWay harder between the legs than I would with my IPS. This resulted in a little bit of a "feeling" (I won't say discomfort, but a definite "sense of firm contact") in the inner calves. I suspect that will disappear once it's not a "novelty" and I relax a bit more on it.

 

The width does seem, though, to make it a little more prone to "feeling side slopes" than my IPS. There's a place on my 2.6 mile circuit where I ride along a pavement with a ... oh ... about fifteen degree slope to the left. I was left with the definite feeling of the MSuper "leaning left with the slope", and me having to "hold it upright" with pressure of the left, inner calf. Yes, the same happens with the IPS, but noticeably less - to me at any rate.

 

Overall, yes. I like it. I think I need to ride it more and really get used to it - but it seems like a "good piece of kit". In fact I would have ridden it further today, except that the light was fading rapidly (and I haven't fitted lights to it yet), and it was RUDDY cold (so my hands were freezing, even in woolly gloves). I shall keep you informed of future feelings!

 

  • 10 months later...
Posted

Like the OP (from many months ago) I didn't notice a difference between Madden and Comfort mode. But I always use Madden. I've never tried Soft mode since I don't think it would be something I would like.

Posted
7 hours ago, Colestien said:

As my Mother said about my vegetables .... How would you know you don't like it if you don't try it :rolleyes:

I base it on the fact that I quickly changed the Riding mode of my 9B1 from 3 to 2 to 1 and finally to 0 while I was still the first week of training. 

As far as vegetables if they stink then I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like the taste.  :)

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