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Actual KS18L range for heavy rider


Jerome

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After seeing Ian's (SpeedyFeet.com) range test of the KS18L I was somewhat alarmed. He documented a large disparity between the King Song's app range and Map My Ride. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach that my "App" claimed 30 mile ride with 38% battery left was a total fallacy. My riding weight is 240 lbs at 6' 4+". That type of performance would have been spectacular for one KW battery. I checked my work commute distance by gps, motorcycle trip meter and Goggle Maps. They all had within .1 of mile at ~ 8.2 miles each way for a total of 16.4 miles. The KS app had the distance at 20 miles.

Upon getting an accepting a offer for a group ride, I decided I would use that opportunity to discover my true range. The route was  29.2 miles (it was expended by 4.5 miles) per Goggle Maps. Since it was all bicycle trial (famous and measured) I "assumed" the number to be very accurate. I rode 3 miles (actual) to a train. The app said 3.8 miles. I took a 18 minute train ride to the meetup point. The ride from that point was 25 miles per my fellow rider's Darkbot app. I couldn't precisely map a approximately 4.5 portion where we did a big loop around Valley Forge National Park, but 4.5 per Darkbot seemed about right. The KS app had 30+ miles. I had planned on taking the train back to Philly, but decided to ride back to determine what the KS18:'s maximum range was with me on it. I also wanted to see the effect of Speed dropping as the battery emptied. 

I made it home with 7% battery crawling at 4-5 mph. The total distance was 32.9 miles. The KS app had me at 41 miles+. The good news is I a never notice a speed reduction until after 20%. There were some,  I am sure, but I didn't need to go more than 18-22 mph on crowded bile trails. Between 20% and 10% it would do Ninebot E+ speeds 10-13 mph max. Below 10% it got real ugly lol. I would like to do 100 miles in a day, but I need a little more battery even with a fast charger. I heard a KS18XL might be coming out, but I can't justify buying it. A conversion/update kit, however, would be welcomed.

The above it is just the experience of a 240 lb rider on a mostly flat route. YMMV. Enjoy your KS18L!

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I too can verify the KingSong app is terrible at providing accurate distance information.  I GPS tracked a ride today and came in at 26.6 miles, the KS app reported 31 miles.  They need to fix this.  However at the end of the 26.6 miles I still had 43/44% battery remaining .  I weigh about 60 pounds less than you and this was totally flat terrain.

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2 minutes ago, Duf said:

I too can verify the KingSong app is terrible at providing accurate distance information.  I GPS tracked a ride today and came in at 26.6 miles, the KS app reported 31 miles.  They need to fix this.  However at the end of the 26.6 miles I still had 43/44% battery remaining .  I weigh about 60 pounds less than you and this was totally flat terrain.

Cool Duf. I did some seriously steep roller-coaster hills, so I am quite happy with the results for my size. YES KS needs to fix their apps! For the price of these wheels we shouldn't have to resort to 3rd party apps. I follow you religiously. I started with the Ninebot E+ and it took a while to master. I took, however, a path more moderate than your dogged get back on the bucking bronco approach.:efef2e0fff::P Keep those videos coming!B)

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Yeah the main thing holding me back is range-ites. I may go Msuper 84v 1600wh. Oh and the teriff might be a deal breaker for awhile. But the Chinese economy has been on a two year slide so I’m hopeful it will all get worked out soon. There’s serious ridin to be done! 

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There is one guy, and he did a test last week, on KS18L. 95 kg with gear, level terrain (interlocking concrete paver blocks), 15-20 km/h speed, 23-26 С air temperature, weak winds. The total distance from fully charged to switch off, was 90.1 km. I would say that is a great range.

EDIT: Here is a link to the video. Luckily, there are the numbers on the screen.

 

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1 hour ago, eufp said:

There is one guy, and he did a test last week, on KS18L. 95 kg with gear, level terrain (interlocking concrete paver blocks), 15-20 km/h speed, 23-26 С air temperature, weak winds. The total distance from fully charged to switch off, was 90.1 km. I would say that is a great range.

My experiences are completely different. I've made over 1500 km on my KS18L and never reached even 70 km on a single charge. I am 80 kg plus another 10 kg of gear in my backpack - still less than 95 kg in total. When limiting speed to about 20 km I can get about 65 km on a single charge in similar conditions. Riding faster and more aggresively I can go past 55 km. In every case I drain the battery to almost 0%. Less than 12Wh per kilometer? For me it's hard to believe, but will have to try to finally bust it... or confirm :P

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5 hours ago, eufp said:

There is one guy, and he did a test last week, on KS18L. 95 kg with gear, level terrain (interlocking concrete paver blocks), 15-20 km/h speed, 23-26 С air temperature, weak winds. The total distance from fully charged to switch off, was 90.1 km. I would say that is a great range.

EDIT: Here is a link to the video. Luckily, there are the numbers on the screen.

 

That type of speed is of no use to me. I use the KS18L as a commuting to work vehicle. I almost never ride at 15-20 kph speeds unless in a crowd of pedestrians. Practical range for most people is range to 20% battery at speeds averaging 25 - 30 kph or more. 

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So you can find a good place, set your parameters (speed, terrain), and do the same test as the guy in a video did. It is so individual, that no test would be tailored enough so that you get a good estimation.

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6 hours ago, Seba said:

My experiences are completely different. I've made over 1500 km on my KS18L and never reached even 70 km on a single charge. I am 80 kg plus another 10 kg of gear in my backpack - still less than 95 kg in total. When limiting speed to about 20 km I can get about 65 km on a single charge in similar conditions. Riding faster and more aggresively I can go past 55 km. In every case I drain the battery to almost 0%. Less than 12Wh per kilometer? For me it's hard to believe, but will have to try to finally bust it... or confirm :P

I’m 95kg with backpack and gear, but a lot of variables are involved for example tyre pressure I could not believe but from 2.8bar to 1.4bar I jumped from 15kw/h to 25kw/h, then there is the current that can change a lot the consumption, see this post of mine where I did some stats

 

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6 hours ago, eufp said:

Anybody thought of installing a bicycle computer on a unicycle? This would give you rather precise measurement.

A few years ago some people did just that.  It had to be a wired one, the wireless type gets too much interference.  

 

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On 9/16/2018 at 3:29 PM, Jerome said:

I heard a KS18XL might be coming out, but I can't justify buying it. A conversion/update kit, however, would be welcomed

I hope that I am not prying, but I am curious as to why you can't justify buying an 18XL. A conversion kit would be great if it was more cost effective then just selling your 18L and going in on the XL. However,  a kit could easily cost more than just buying the wheel - and buying a new wheel is what I am sure KS prefers that you do. 

I am at 210 without gear. I am happy with the range I get because I don't really need to get more - but on the other hand there is really no such thing as too much range.  

Much about the new XL is rumor and speculation. What we don't know for sure is the extent of design change that will be required will they need to change the shell dimensions and shape, or how the ranged set-up might impact other performance metrics and dynamics. Are they planning to change the wheel width? For me there are still a lot of blanks left to fill. I do know that if I want something, I can and will justify buying it ???

 

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4 hours ago, Lutalo said:

Much about the new XL is rumor and speculation. What we don't know for sure is the extent of design change that will be required will they need to change the shell dimensions and shape, or how the ranged set-up might impact other performance metrics and dynamics. Are they planning to change the wheel width? For me there are still a lot of blanks left to fill. I do know that if I want something, I can and will justify buying it ???

As a King Song distributor (in New Zealand) I have direct communication with King Song, and answers to some of your questions;

I have been told that the only difference is the battery packs... The (shell and everything else) remains unchanged, though I expect there will be a slight weight increase too. Interestingly they have also changed the specifications slightly - the "max. load" used to be 120kg but with the additional Wh that has been increased to 150kg.

It should also be pointed out that this has been presented to distributors as a one off pre-order (with delivery before Christmas). Though I am sure it will become a regular option at some time in the future too.

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4 hours ago, Lutalo said:

I hope that I am not prying, but I am curious as to why you can't justify buying an 18XL. A conversion kit would be great if it was more cost effective then just selling your 18L and going in on the XL. However,  a kit could easily cost more than just buying the wheel - and buying a new wheel is what I am sure KS prefers that you do. 

I am at 210 without gear. I am happy with the range I get because I don't really need to get more - but on the other hand there is really no such thing as too much range.  

Much about the new XL is rumor and speculation. What we don't know for sure is the extent of design change that will be required will they need to change the shell dimensions and shape, or how the ranged set-up might impact other performance metrics and dynamics. Are they planning to change the wheel width? For me there are still a lot of blanks left to fill. I do know that if I want something, I can and will justify buying it ???

 

I don't really need more range. I don't want the hassle of selling my KS18L. A conversion kit would only be welcomed if the cost was low enough for me and didn't require too much labor or mess up the ride.. The KS18L is a transport vehicle to me, not a leisure object or hobby. It will do what I "need" right now, so their is no reason to upgrade. (assuming the XL is an upgrade) The KS18L fits my needs and personality more than any other wheel currently available. 

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20 minutes ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

As a King Song distributor (in New Zealand) I have direct communication with King Song, and answers to some of your questions;

I have been told that the only difference is the battery packs... The (shell and everything else) remains unchanged, though I expect there will be a slight weight increase too. Interestingly they have also changed the specifications slightly - the "max. load" used to be 120kg but with the additional Wh that has been increased to 150kg.

It should also be pointed out that this has been presented to distributors as a one off pre-order (with delivery before Christmas). Though I am sure it will become a regular option at some time in the future too.

????????????

Well, I see why they sent you. More range similar dynamics with a small weight sacrifice. I want one. 

15 minutes ago, Jerome said:

The KS18L fits my needs and personality more than any other wheel currently available

Ditto. ??

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