FilippoMRS Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Hello everyone! I recently started to get interested in EUC and finally decided to buy my first one! I live in the Netherlands and got a new job that will involve taking the train, and there is that first and last mile to cover that leaves to a lot of possible interpretations. I've originally looked into electric longboards, coming from a skating background, but this led me to discovered EUCs which I figured would be more adapt to the not very smooth paths and the common light rain Netherlands is characteristic for. Plus, it really looks like loads of fun! Given the purpose I'm buying it for, that Netherlands is absolutely flat and that I'm an absolute beginner, I thought it would be wise to go for a basic model, holding my budget in the 500 euro range, reserving myself the possibility of upgrading it in a second stage if I would start to use it for random recreational rides (which could totally be the case). My choice fell on the famous and well tested Ninebot One, specifically on the e+ model, which seems the one with better specs in the <500 euro league, apparently even better than his most recent siblings. Unfortunately, I stepped today into a promotion on Gearbest for the Inmotion V5f listed at 370 euro which, even considered import taxes, would still make it fall under the 500 euro thresholds. I've read awesome thing about this wheel and I'm particularly excited for the additional 5km/h max speed and the trolley handle when compared to the e+. I said unfortunately because, even removing from the equation the shipping risks involved in buying from websites like Gearbest (which I, however, never had a bad experience with), I stepped into this link (below) which reports an announcement from Inmotion where they declare that products purchased from non-official resellers will not be covered by warranty and will not have access to a set of basic functions, which kind of fully spoil the deal, but still leaves me the appetite for it. https://www.electricunicycles.eu/heads_up_inmotion_bans_all_devices_purchased_from_unofficial_sources-c__233 Have anyone had experience with this? Does this really make it pointless to buy from unofficial resellers? Are malfunctioning common and is the warranty therefore a thing you absolutely need? What about the other features precluded? If that's definitively a thing, what would you recommend as an alternative solution for my requirements? Thanks in advance! Filippo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Perhaps @jojo33 is the best person to answer this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LanghamP Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 I've bought five wheels so far, one from official sources, three from unofficial (grey) sources with no warranty, and the final wheel was a WTF accident. My thoughts on buying official versus grey is as follows. Option 1: If you just have one wheel AND you have alternative forms of transportation AND you know warranty service will have a quick turnaround (you're close by the official service center), THEN buy official. Option 2: If the service center is far away, then buy unofficial because the shipping and time to turn around is greater than the cost difference between an official wheel vs unofficial wheel. For example, my KS16s was 900 dollars with two chargers whereas officially it was, at the time, $1400-$1500. Option 3: If your wheel requires unlocking, then you have no choice but to buy official OR buy a different wheel. Option 4: buy two grey wheels so even when one wheel is down the other can still get you around. The cost difference between official vs grey allows you to almost buy the 2nd wheel. Option 5: buy an official wheel while expecting to do all work on it yourself (the retailer sends you the parts). I think for a lot if not most people this is the best choice. Wheels aren't complicated (yes they are sophisticated technology), and there's just really the motherboard, the rim, the trolley, the casing, and the battery; all these parts you can get into and replace them even if you, like me, don't quite understand all the magic going on underneath the hood. Honestly, for me I've almost had to go grey because the retail price + the cost of shipping + too lazy to open my wheels is high enough that grey is easily my best choice. However, if I lived near a service center I would hands-down choose the retail even if the cost difference was $500-$600. I like my V5F+ a lot, and use it quite often despite the 12 mph top speed (10 practical). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 2 hours ago, Keith said: Perhaps @jojo33 is the best person to answer this? Yes I can @FilippoMRS Hello I invite you to read the first part about shipment There are no customs fees because the shipment by train pass europa border and all items are declared. A chinese agent based in Poland pays customs fees before transferring packages to UPS. That's why delivery is free and take a lot of time with Gearbest.(15 days by train and 20 working days to dispatch items ) Inmotion V5F is selling now at 348 euros with coupon 7Z2KW936RJ https://www.gearbest.com/scooters-wheels/pp_009603248598.html?wid=1433363&&lkid=15807423 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 Always take the insurance offered by Gearbest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted September 26, 2018 Share Posted September 26, 2018 3 hours ago, FilippoMRS said: from non-official resellers will not be covered by warranty With Gearbest there seems to be something new, it's the first time they sell the INMOTION brand, iwas very surprised when i saw InMotion. But, Ninebot product come from an official store (XIAO MI Store), about Inmotion i don't know, but you can ask Gearbest before order. About warranty, based on my experience with Ninebot, Ninebot don't cover imported products selling by Gearbest, but for warranty & return it's here https://www.gearbest.com/about/warranty-and-return.html One year free repair= they replace the unit by a new, they never repair a ninebot product, i think it's the same for Inmotion or they refund you if they don't have stock Return= with the Gearbest team agreement (only), you return the packet to Spain or another Gearbest warehouse, paypal refund you 30 euros, and if the product must change for a new, they refund you shipping fees fr the return. But, if you need open a ticket, please, do it quick, in 2 languages (native and english) because Gearbest have a lot of employees who speak several languages (it's more easy) and wait they answer to you, this can take many days, because Gearbest is selling really a lot of products, and sure, a lot of return to manage. Always they reply to a ticket, but, i have tested it, it may take one week before get a reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotmotion2016 Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 Hello FlippoMRS, ( ben je nog uit het flippo tijdperk? ) I'm dutch too, live near Amsterdam - Hilversum - and ride EUC for over 2 1/2 years now. There is a small club off riders in holland, and we do group rides every now and then. We have a groups app for rides and for just things about the EUC in general. But most interresting to tell is that there will be 1 or a few second hand wheel for sale here in holland. So for less than this E500,- you can buy a wheel to try and start riding the EUC. There is a rider with 2 V5F's, and is most likely to sell one at least. Not new ofcourse, but good enough to learn. When you are interested give me a PM on this site, and can give more details about riding and buy a wheel. It is most likely that once's you learnt to ride an EUC on a cheep/simpel wheel, that you want more speed and distance. There are also people that can give you a hand in the beginning proces to learn to ride the wheel. In this forum under local groups meet up there is a Dutch page for people in Holland that have interest in the EUC. On the 3rd page you find the EUC Netherlands page, there you can see some group rides we did also - on the 4th page. Hope to see/hear something - the more riders in holland the better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FilippoMRS Posted September 27, 2018 Author Share Posted September 27, 2018 Thanks everyone for your answers, really of much help! I've dug into the Inmotion app restrictions and found that members from this forum coded an android app called WheelLog which nicely connects to most of the common wheels and can potentially substitute the original ones' functionalities. Besides cheering to the developers community that worked on this awesome idea, this could partially solve the problem i raised with my posting. Has anyone had experience with this app and especially with control settings on the V5F? 11 hours ago, LanghamP said: I've bought five wheels so far, one from official sources, three from unofficial (grey) sources with no warranty, and the final wheel was a WTF accident. My thoughts on buying official versus grey is as follows. Option 1: If you just have one wheel AND you have alternative forms of transportation AND you know warranty service will have a quick turnaround (you're close by the official service center), THEN buy official. Option 2: If the service center is far away, then buy unofficial because the shipping and time to turn around is greater than the cost difference between an official wheel vs unofficial wheel. For example, my KS16s was 900 dollars with two chargers whereas officially it was, at the time, $1400-$1500. Option 3: If your wheel requires unlocking, then you have no choice but to buy official OR buy a different wheel. Option 4: buy two grey wheels so even when one wheel is down the other can still get you around. The cost difference between official vs grey allows you to almost buy the 2nd wheel. Option 5: buy an official wheel while expecting to do all work on it yourself (the retailer sends you the parts). I think for a lot if not most people this is the best choice. Wheels aren't complicated (yes they are sophisticated technology), and there's just really the motherboard, the rim, the trolley, the casing, and the battery; all these parts you can get into and replace them even if you, like me, don't quite understand all the magic going on underneath the hood. Honestly, for me I've almost had to go grey because the retail price + the cost of shipping + too lazy to open my wheels is high enough that grey is easily my best choice. However, if I lived near a service center I would hands-down choose the retail even if the cost difference was $500-$600. I like my V5F+ a lot, and use it quite often despite the 12 mph top speed (10 practical). I don't really have any service centre close by and I'm quite inexperienced with electronics, but I wouldn't mind figuring out how to repair it myself, with the hope that I won't step into particularly tricky issues. When without warranty, or when a warranty expires, can I still buy spare parts from a random retailer and ask him to ship them to me? Are the spare parts prices in this case reasonable? 10 hours ago, jojo33 said: Inmotion V5F is selling now at 348 euros with coupon 7Z2KW936RJ https://www.gearbest.com/scooters-wheels/pp_009603248598.html?wid=1433363&&lkid=15807423 This plus the shipment method makes it even more of an awesome deal! I will enquire directly gearbest and inmotion to figure if they're policy applied to this case as well, even if I'm quite sure it does. Also, the "One year free repair warranty" says that it must be agreed with the original manufacturer who, in case it's confirmed that gearbest is not considered and official retailer of, will not agree on providing. Anyways this can still be a great deal, thanks for the coupon code and the tips! 7 hours ago, gotmotion2016 said: Hello FlippoMRS, ( ben je nog uit het flippo tijdperk? ) I'm dutch too, live near Amsterdam - Hilversum - and ride EUC for over 2 1/2 years now. There is a small club off riders in holland, and we do group rides every now and then. We have a groups app for rides and for just things about the EUC in general. But most interresting to tell is that there will be 1 or a few second hand wheel for sale here in holland. So for less than this E500,- you can buy a wheel to try and start riding the EUC. There is a rider with 2 V5F's, and is most likely to sell one at least. Not new ofcourse, but good enough to learn. When you are interested give me a PM on this site, and can give more details about riding and buy a wheel. It is most likely that once's you learnt to ride an EUC on a cheep/simpel wheel, that you want more speed and distance. There are also people that can give you a hand in the beginning proces to learn to ride the wheel. In this forum under local groups meet up there is a Dutch page for people in Holland that have interest in the EUC. On the 3rd page you find the EUC Netherlands page, there you can see some group rides we did also - on the 4th page. Hope to see/hear something - the more riders in holland the better Hi gotmotion 2016! I am Italian myself but live in Amsterdam since more than 2 years now! Great to know there is a community around here, would be great to go for a group ride! I went on the local group page you suggested and read that EUCs are actually illegal in the Nederlands (though most of the time tolerated). Do you think I would have any problem riding it in my daily commute? The problem is that I will pass through some quite rush hours crowded spots as Amsterdam Zuid station and Delft centraal station. Regarding the second hand wheel, I think it is a good idea! Usually I'm a bit resilient in buying second hand electronics, but I'd be interested in evaluating it as I know already that soon after I'll buy my beginner one I'll want to upgrade to some extra specs :-) I tried to send you a pm but for some reason I'm not allowed to (maybe because I'm a brand new member). Please forward me more details on my email at filippo.imarisio@gmail.com Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 1 hour ago, FilippoMRS said: can I still buy spare parts from a random retailer and ask him to ship them to me? yes, spare parts are easy to find with many aliexpress resellers with good reputation, like Green & Fashion or official inmotion store on aliexpress 1 hour ago, FilippoMRS said: "One year free repair warranty" i said gearbest don't repair in reality, they replace for a new unit or refund 1 hour ago, FilippoMRS said: Inmotion app restrictions normally, if it's like ninebot products, it's activated in China before ship, it's for why , when you receive your device, the package is already open (local plug and activation) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jojo33 Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 @FilippoMRS Gearbest is not like an official reseller gearbest is more like à dropshipper , they buy products in official store and resell them I think Inmotion will answer you this v5f is only under warranty for chinese buyers Care shipment is not fast because lithium battery inside for a free shipping cost they send by train and it take 30 -45 working days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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