New GotWay Nikola 17''

[Heyzeus]

Given the price of these, is Singapore / Taiwan or Hong Kong, S. Korea the predominant market over mainland China?

[houseofjob]

US is peanuts for the EUC market.

Paris, Moscow, and South Korea, ..... all have local brick & mortar EUC shops/showrooms; regularly send representatives over to Shenzhen to inspect new product, advise on revisions; and receive beta models for testing. They can only do this because their sales volumes dictate such leverage with the manufacturers.

Interestingly enough, every person I've talked with who is familiar with China says EUCs are not that prevalent/known there, but obviously, China is huge, and they Are the source (at least in S. China - Guangdong/HK).

And Paris really has to be the most unique and highly dense area for EUC adoption. Everywhere else, the ridership is scattered, and often more about country riding than urban.

[Vanzen]

5 hours ago, houseofjob said:

US is peanuts for the EUC market.

Paris, Moscow, and South Korea, ..... all have local brick & mortar EUC shops/showrooms; regularly send representatives over to Shenzhen to inspect new product, advise on revisions; and receive beta models for testing. They can only do this because their sales volumes dictate such leverage with the manufacturers.

Interestingly enough, every person I've talked with who is familiar with China says EUCs are not that prevalent/known there, but obviously, China is huge, and they Are the source (at least in S. China - Guangdong/HK).

And Paris really has to be the most unique and highly dense area for EUC adoption. Everywhere else, the ridership is scattered, and often more about country riding than urban.

Its Because riding EUC in Paris is just magic

[Smoother]

8 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

I'm under the impression all wheel chargers are of low quality, so it's not just a Gotway problem.

All I have is KS supplied chargers.  No failures yet.  From the photos is see on the forum, it looks like one or two manufactures supply all or most wheel sellers.  So to that end they ALL provide cheap chargers.  You were just unlucky to get two weak ones.  At least they worked out of the box, @stephen got a Z10 with a DOA charger, how frustrating is that?

[Smoother]

6 hours ago, houseofjob said:

Interestingly enough, every person I've talked with who is familiar with China says EUCs are not that prevalent/known there, but obviously, China is huge, and they Are the source (at least in S. China - Guangdong/HK).

It's interesting you say that; Every time I go to Cambridge (this spring) There are hundreds or thousands of Chinese tourists.  So I'm rolling along thinking some of them will point and say (in Chinese) hey there's a King Song, just like home".  But do they? Nah, nothing.  Not even a glint of recognition. But I guess you could drop a million EUCs on China and no one would notice, it is a little on the large side.

[stephen]

24 minutes ago, Smoother said:

@stephen got a Z10 with a DOA charger, how frustrating is that?

Yes i think i was just unlucky there, it's the first I've heard of charger not working out of the box  especially as i needed it before my batteries went into hibernation mode, but all fixed now and now i have 2 chargers 😊 my gotway chargers have been fine also 😊

Edited March 29, 2019 by stephen

[Mono]

23 minutes ago, stephen said:

Yes i think i was just unlucky there, it's the first I've heard of charger not working out of the box  especially as i needed it before my batteries went into hibernation mode, but all fixed now and now i have 2 chargers 😊 my gotway chargers have been fine also 😊

Broken chargers have been reported repeatedly in this forum and I own one or two as well. When a brand new wheel is not charging, which has been reported repeatedly as well, the best first guess is IMHO a broken charger.

Apart from broken ones, I also have some delivering erratic (low) voltage. I use one of them regularly as I usually don't charge to 100%.

Edited March 29, 2019 by Mono

[stephen]

3 hours ago, Mono said:

Broken chargers have been reported repeatedly in this forum and I own one or two as well. When a brand new wheel is not charging, which has been reported repeatedly as well,

I've not seen one about the Z10 

[Mono]

3 minutes ago, stephen said:

I've not seen one about the Z10 

Yours, I assume, someone has to be first 

[Gaz Bon]

Life goes on and yep shit happens and hopefully manufacturing gets better.

I live in a very very remote area for EUC sales

Yet I own 3 now 

Will I faulter from my passion ummm I think not 

Adapt and overcome (once a boy scout)

Run the risk of no return warranty I do well 2 out 3 wheels so far 

Stay safe folks 

Have a fun weekend

Lots love  from yr 1 Wheel friend

Gaz

[US69]

14 hours ago, Heyzeus said:

Whereas when the 16X was unveiled and people were giving commentary, one of the things mentioned was the shell being too low to the ground, and Jason's and @US69's feedback was that King song hears you and is already working on making that change along with adding a kill switch and potentially even changing the look of the shell to have a carbon fiber look if it seems good among other improvements.

Gotway prototype approach: here's our prototype manufacturing begins soon Hope you like it when it's out.

KingSong prototype approach: check out our prototype, what do you like about it, anything missing, can anything be improved upon it, we hope to start manufacturing it soon, please let us know.

King song seems to be much more open to feedback which is nice.

Actually Jason has explained that a bit:

The Owner of GW is an engeneer himself, so he Pretty much thinks he knows what he is doing. Also GW reveals his new Wheel a bit later than KS normally does, so not that much chances for Changes anymore.

But in General -in my view- it seams is a Problem of chinese characteristics/behavior. They dont listen that much and you can get the most effect only if they have an direct economic effect.

Aka: I order 200 wheels, when…..this and that is done.

For KS lately with a Special Person in the company it has become -a bit- better...otherwise it would probably be the same as on the other Brands.

 

[Electroman]

21 hours ago, Hatchet said:

I don't get Gotway on this at all. They charge a lot of money for these wheels and include complete garbage chargers, and those exposed speakers, wth? They can't break a $5 and put some screen or cover over the speakers?

Quality and build are where we are at now IMO. The standard 2k motor, 1600wh battery stuff is established as a somewhat accepted base, generally I mean.

Now we should be moving to better quality and build, the hard part is done. Good lord, you want 2-3k for a wheel and can't be arsed to make it decently waterproof or include a decent charger (since the wheel is useless with no battery charge). They aren't even making an effort from what I see.

 

Yeah, GW rider here due to such things as maximum power and ability to be in control myself, but the days of the "big battery pack cost more" argument is long gone imho, besides the bulk they buy is really cheap compared to buying a few individual cells as a private person in the west and even then I get my Sanyo for €3.77 in the EU.

KS show us what is possible, GW must step up their game and lower cost in the process imo. Something must change, hard to grasp, need some new ideas and pushing the boundaries, the new KS 16 is a great example of sweet looking thought through wheel imo. Gonna extend batt pack on my MSX and keep that for now, it's a real comfy solid wheel imho but next one is likely not to say GW on it I have to say, unless they try harder.

 

 

21 hours ago, Hatchet said:

Less rainbow lights and more build quality Gotway - and Kingsong. Now that KS is making wheels as powerful and battery as GW, the war will be won with quality, and IMO, KS is miles ahead, GW must step up their game man, geez!

 

Indeed, lead the race, trying to copy others will never be innovative.

 

 

Edited March 29, 2019 by Electroman

[Hatchet]

Personally, as a MSX owner and lover, (that's right, don't judge me!) that 16x is everything I want in a wheel other than a silent motor (MSX). I mean it is quite simply the best wheel I've ever seen. I LOVE the look and the specs are what I would order a custom wheel to be from the tire to the rest.

That will have to be a long-term goal though, which is good as any issues will be sorted. 

 

 

[Shinra]

The Gotway Nikola looks awesome!

With 25W speakers!

My next wheel!

[Thai-lad]

8 hours ago, Shinra said:

The Gotway Nikola looks awesome!

With 25W speakers!

My next wheel!

No, to my eye it looks like a silly traveling light show with boombox speakers that will trap mud, translucent panels that will scratch easily and likely crack, and a fat carrying handle that may need two hands to lift.  I'll pass on this one. 

While the new KS looks interesting, I'll wait to see if it has the same issue about locking up while trolleying or not...

[Jason McNeil]

A couple videos of the Nikola folding handle in action. Some thought has gone into how this works, same sort of spring-loaded mechanism as in the truck of a car.   

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by Jason McNeil

[Unventor]

1 minute ago, Jason McNeil said:

A couple videos of the Nikola folding handle design. Some thought has gone into how this works, has the same sort of spring-loaded mechanism as the truck of a car.   

h

Just imagine this accidently releasing during off road ride. So much for the male rider afterwards. It is Murphy's... bound to happen at some point. 

[Heyzeus]

I could see it flipping out in a tumble possibly and then getting ripped off.  Hopefully the force required to open it is enough to make that an unlikely scenario though.

I know some ninebot c/e models had that problem of the handle getting damaged during a crash though theirs were often in the half open position all the time

[meepmeepmayer]

Gotway designed this? I'm impressed. Looks nice. Wish they had put this much effort into a non-oversized shell.

@Unventor "It's the Nikola, but everyone calls it the Ball Buster..."

17 hours ago, Thai-lad said:

While the new KS looks interesting, I'll wait to see if it has the same issue about locking up while trolleying or not...

Didn't they fix that in firmware? In addition, the rumors say they use a real button on the 16X. So I think it's extremely unlikely they will have this issue again (maybe we'll get a nice new issue).

[Mono]

10 minutes ago, Unventor said:

Just imagine this accidently releasing during off road ride. So much for the male rider afterwards. It is Murphy's... bound to happen at some point. 

I think it is possible that the design simply rules out that this can possibly happen unless the mechanism breaks and the handle becomes loose.

[Adel]

@Jason McNeil, IMHO gotway needs to go back and redesign the Nikola form factor and get rid of the disproportionate round shape. It's just not going to be competitive with the KS16X.

I have already owned 3 different Gotway wheels and this is the first time I would consider A kingsong wheel over an equivalent Gotway one.

 

[Electroman]

23 minutes ago, Unventor said:

Just imagine this accidently releasing during off road ride. So much for the male rider afterwards. It is Murphy's... bound to happen at some point. 

Yeah, oups!

Might not necessarily be that much better for woman, ok I control myself enough said.

Either way that is not a pretty wheel according to my personal preferences, I also cannot understand why they would put time into a detail like the trolley Jason mentioned while totally disregard from extremely wide handle, does not look usable imo. Design is about flow to me, you don't have to be best in regards to every single detail either, but the total package as a whole must be thought through and the individual details work as a single unit together.

To me this still it's seams a bit schizophrenic, does not feel like natural progression, to say flat out copying taking short cuts to profit would be wrong of me to say cause it's like a accusation and might not be true at all, so let's not go there. But it sure is not successfully leading the way either, makes me a bit sad to see when KS seams to be on march. If next 18-19" KS would turn out to be a progression power/speed wise and possibly even consider providing me with that same control GW does I am likely to hop onboard the train.

16X is new, fresh, want one just cause..

 

[Rehab1]

The handle snaps closed with the forced of a mouse trap. 

 

[Heyzeus]

2 hours ago, Adel said:

@Jason McNeil, IMHO gotway needs to go back and redesign the Nikola form factor and get rid of the disproportionate round shape. It's just not going to be competitive with the KS16X.

I have already owned 3 different Gotway wheels and this is the first time I would consider A kingsong wheel over an equivalent Gotway one.

I wonder how well this forum's wheel preferences/wheel demand mirrors the wheel demand @Jason McNeil sees through his sales.

Ie: Are the wheels that are popular on here amongst members also the most popular on Jason's site as reflected by sales numbers or do we represent an echo chamber where what we like and want is often different than the average person buying a wheel.

If this thread is any indication, it really doesn't look like the Nikola will sell too well, initially at least, compared to the 16x, though if post launch impressions are really good who knows.

I know there are quite a few people on here who may not have otherwise tried it but got turned on to the MCM 5 through Marty's and others impressions of the wheel.

I know he probably can't disclose it but I would be curious as to what the initial order quantity is for the Nikola versus the KS-16x.  I would expect lower than the 16X but if Jason's sales numbers don't reflect this forums desires maybe they aren't so different.

/ramblings

Edited April 1, 2019 by Heyzeus

[Marty Backe]

29 minutes ago, Heyzeus said:

I wonder how well this forum's wheel preferences/wheel demand mirrors the wheel demand @Jason McNeil sees through his sales.

Ie: Are the wheels that are popular on here amongst members also the most popular on Jason's site as reflected by sales numbers or do we represent an echo chamber where what we like and want is often different than the average person buying a wheel.

If this thread is any indication, it really doesn't look like the Nikola will sell too well, initially at least, compared to the 16x, though if post launch impressions are really good who knows.

I know there are quite a few people on here who may not have otherwise tried it but got turned on to the MCM 5 through Marty's and others impressions of the wheel.

I know he probably can't disclose it but I would be curious as to what the initial order quantity is for the Nikola versus the KS-16x.  I would expect lower than the 16X but if Jason's sales numbers don't reflect this forums desires maybe they aren't so different.

/ramblings

The problem is that there has been extremely limited access to the Nikola. Personally, I like the looks, but I'm withholding judgement until I've actually ridden the thing.

@Kuji Rolls's test was great, but very limited. I want to ride until the battery is at 2%   I want to ride it up long (5000 elevation gain) mountain trails to see whether it overheats, etc. Things that you can't do when you only have the wheel for a few hours.

It could be killer wheel.

However, I do suspect that it's going to be competing more in the 18-inch wheel category than the 16-inch.  For new 16-inch wheels I think the 16X will be the slam dunk winner.

Edited April 1, 2019 by Marty Backe