HEY, KINGSONG. WHAT'S NEXT?

[Lutalo]

7 minutes ago, Jean Dublin said:

Haha, good post, but my first reaction was like, "what's next?", because brands are releasing upgraded/new units so quick now that it's crazy haha.
A new EUC like the 18L is not the newest anymore because of the 18XL  

Yep. Absolutely true. I love that and I say keep it coming 

[yar]

1) Soft 3" tire is a must in the next generation (in fact even thicker than that if the total weight can be kept reasonable). A thick tire allows the rider to use lower air pressure, achieving a good shock absorption and still having low risk of hitting the rim. Years from now, our backs will be thankful for this. Wider tires also look attractively and, what is less obvious, the rider on them has to lean a bit more in turns which looks cool too. I would say, benefits all around, but only as long as the weight is managed, see the next item.

2) Lighter materials. Not everyone needs it, but I personally have to carry the wheel quite often and 18L is already slightly in the uncomfortable range. 18S 840 and 16S were OK.

3) Eliminate the already somewhat reduced high pitch whistle sound. Let us enjoy calm rides, listening to the nature.

4) Built-in or compact detachable stand. It would be a huge benefit. Ideally, such that the wheel would not drop from a slight push.

[Lutalo]

2 hours ago, yar said:

Soft 3" tire is a must in the next generation

Meh! Unless you intend to do a lot of off-roading, a 2.5"X18" tire, in everyday paved riding already provides the same benefits as a 3" tire while feeling more maneuverable. I see no real advantage to wider tires in everyday riding. I see no reason for KS to make supplying 3" tires a priority.  Unless. Unnnnless. KS develops a specialized wheel like the "ruggedized" version @Nicmentioned earlier in the thread. 

As it stands, I have found the 2.5" wheel to be ideal for me, perhaps for most people who, like me, live and ride in ultra-bustling and super-hustling urban environments.

2 hours ago, yar said:

 Wider tires also look attractively 

I respect this opinion, but I don't necessarily share it. 

2 hours ago, yar said:

What is less obvious, the rider on them has to lean a bit more in turns which looks cool too. I would say, benefits all around

Although needing more effort to turn is a natural property of wider tires because they like to stand up, it's definitely not something I consider a benefit. I suppose we could call it instead, the cost of "looking cool." 

2 hours ago, yar said:

Lighter materials. 

Hear, hear. 

2 hours ago, yar said:

Eliminate the already somewhat reduced high pitch whistle sound. Let us enjoy calm rides, listening to the nature.

This would be nice too. 👍

2 hours ago, yar said:

Built-in or compact detachable stand

Absolutely! Right away please KS. 🤞

[yar]

On 11/16/2018 at 3:32 AM, Lutalo said:

Unless you intend to do a lot of off-roading, a 2.5"X18" tire, in everyday paved riding already provides the same benefits as a 3" tire while feeling more maneuverable. I see no real advantage to wider tires in everyday riding. I see no reason for KS to make supplying 3" tires a priority.  Unless. Unnnnless. KS develops a specialized wheel like the "ruggedized" version @Nicmentioned earlier in the thread. 

Ruggedized, that's a separate thing, but for me personally the point of a wider tire is shock absorption rather than traction. Gotway MSuperX with 3" tire is alright in terms of manoeuvrability. You can already feel its self-righting force, but it is still pretty weak. Ninebot demonstrated that even 4" wide Z10 is capable of tight turns (at low speeds, at least), but they ruined the benefits by choosing a rigid tubeless tire.

[Lutalo]

3 hours ago, yar said:

personally the point of a wider tire is shock absorption rather than traction. 

It's ultimately a matter of preference. There are people who love to ride 9Bs in urban environments; wouldn't be my first choice, but it's what they like. Those individuals are prepared to make whatever necessary riding adaptations in order to make use of that wheel.

However, KS generally seems to market the KS 18L/XL as a versatile device, that is portable,  and extraordinarily useful in a variety of situations; especially as a commuter tool, and which requires very little adaption (assuming that you are an experienced rider). It seems general consensus that the 2.5" tire fits the neutral, multi-purpose bill for an 18" wheel better than other wheels.

If you start tampering with the wheel and tire sizes beyond the point of general improvement,  you start "specializing" the wheel's purpose because relatively small alterations (tire size, air pressure,  etc.) can quite substantially change the dynamics of the wheel. 

IMHO the presumed benefit of greater shock absorption on smoother pavement comes at a cost to other important properties that simply do not justify the change. Overall, the change to ride dynamics portended by a 3" tire width will not improve the wheel for its intended purpose.

However, I do recognize that a 3" tire just might improve the 18XL for a specialized purpose hopefully, without too much of a penalty in the area of daily commuting. By all means KS should offer a 3"+ tire for the riders that weight the benefits of this configuration more heavy than the costs. 

Improvement for a specialized purpose is not an overall improvement to the ride dynamics of the wheel. Rather,  it's more of a compromise to extract better performance in a specialized environment.

While I don't see the point of making a 3" tire the standard wheel for the KS-18L/XL, I feel that it should be offered as an option, for those customers who might want them. It would show customers that KS is paying attention, and is interested in offering it's customers what they want, rather than dictating their needs. 

 

[Heyzeus]

A more powerful 14" wheel, like the mcm5:

A 1500w 14" inch wheel with the same 840wh battery(or more if possible) that is in the KS14s would be amazing.

having that extra power in a smaller package would be great for those of us who use the wheel for short commutes but are in hilly areas. 

I use my mcm4 to get around campus and my commute roundtrip is like 5 miles, but I can start going up a hill at 80% battery and my wheellog app will show a voltage drop that makes my battery look like it only has in the mid 20% while i'm going up the hill.

Now it evens out and will go back to say 60-70% once i'm on a flat area again but, that huge voltage drop is concerning to me, like I wouldn't try and take that hill if I only had 40% battery left.

It may be due to only having the 340wh mcm4 but having a higher margin for error with king songs reliability and safety record would be a much more preferable alternative to my mcm4.  I kind of wish I could add another 340wh battery to my mcm4 but wouldn't know where to start with going about that.

[Lutalo]

@HeyzeusPhD I am actually surprised that they haven't done this already. Kingsong is on the conservative side as a company. Perhaps they just don't feel that the current battery configuration will allow them to reliably power a more powerful motor. 

However,  now that they are using the 84 volt setups they may feel more confident about a powerful 14"