New GotWay Nikola 17''

[gr8ps]

I don’t like speedyfeets position on the whole MOSFET issue. He didn’t even mention the issue in his video and based on his comments he will only worry about it if it effects him personally. I think it’s an irresponsible stance to have if you are going to make a review people are relying on for purchasing decisions. 

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, gr8ps said:

I don’t like speedyfeets position on the whole MOSFET issue. He didn’t even mention the issue in his video and based on his comments he will only worry about it if it effects him personally. I think it’s an irresponsible stance to have if you are going to make a review people are relying on for purchasing decisions. 

Keep in mind, Ian is a bit biased since he's in the business of selling wheels, including the Nikola. Generally he's fair, but he doesn't go out of his way to identify some problems. Anyone who watches his video should do so with open eyes and realize that he can't possibly be fully objective.

[meepmeepmayer]

No point in mentioning something that he will have to take care of for his Nikolas anyways. That would just put potential buyers off long after the problem is over. So I understand if he rather downplays the issue in a public video and the comments.

But ideally he must check or replace all boards, not sure what exactly he plans to do there. I think the situation is still developing (aka dealers must slowly massage a reluctant Gotway into just sending them new boards). Ian also knows if something happens later, he will have to deal with it anyways.

So I wouldn't condemn him just quite yet But you're right, the potential for ignoring the problem is there. "Our Nikola worked fine so far" is NO good reply to a potentially widespread and dangerous manufacturing error.

[US69]

10 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

Keep in mind, Ian is a bit biased since he's in the business of selling wheels, including the Nikola. Generally he's fair, but he doesn't go out of his way to identify some problems. Anyone who watches his video should do so with open eyes and realize that he can't possibly be fully objective.

Good Point!

Speedyfeet is doing great for the community.....but for sure he is biased and still a salesman selling EUC,  there is no question about it!!!

BUT: This goes for all brands he is selling....he also NEVER mentioned the 18L/Xl freeze issue at the time it was actual....and i can only say that is more than fair!

We all have to think about that ONE or two failures of a certain wheel dont represent this EUC at all!

What is the best sign of a „bad wheel“ with real quality issues?

i guess that is when the store is not selling it anymore!!!

[gr8ps]

2 hours ago, US69 said:

We all have to think about that ONE or two failures of a certain wheel dont represent this EUC at all!

 

I’m gonna have to disagree on that. Based on what I’ve read, this is a process issue and as a result, the issue will be systemic across most Nikolas. 

[Patton250]

I just put 10 miles on my new Nikola. Of course I dropped it once so one side is scratched up. Lol

So it’s very different from my KS18XL or KS16S. To me the Nikola is not faster/quicker with more torque then my KS18XL. Even on full power. I feel they are about the same. The KS18XL headlight is definitely more powerful and doesn’t switch to different lumens like the Nikola.   I don’t particularly like that. I hope you guys can tell me how to set the lumen on the Nikola to the highest level and have it stay there. I think the Nikola turns much better then then the KS’s. I really don’t know how to describe it but I like the turning better on the Nikola. The speakers are loud on the Nikola but no base just like Marty said in his video so the KS wins on sound. My Nikola bounces some.  Almost like the tire is not balanced. It’s pressurized to 45PSI. Anyone else have that problem?  It makes me not want to go past 20MPH.  I have lots of app questions.  Where would be the best place to ask them? 

Its my first Gotway so I’m looking forward to getting to know it better. Very fun to ride. Thanks guys. 

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, Patton250 said:

I just put 10 miles on my new Nikola. Of course I dropped it once so one side is scratched up. Lol

So it’s very different from my KS18XL or KS16S. To me the Nikola is not faster/quicker with more torque then my KS18XL. Even on full power. I feel they are about the same. The KS18XL headlight is definitely more powerful and doesn’t switch to different lumens like the Nikola.   I don’t particularly like that. I hope you guys can tell me how to set the lumen on the Nikola to the highest level and have it stay there. I think the Nikola turns much better then then the KS’s. I really don’t know how to describe it but I like the turning better on the Nikola. The speakers are loud on the Nikola but no base just like Marty said in his video so the KS wins on sound. My Nikola bounces some.  Almost like the tire is not balanced. It’s pressurized to 45PSI. Anyone else have that problem?  It makes me not want to go past 20MPH.  I have lots of app questions.  Where would be the best place to ask them? 

Its my first Gotway so I’m looking forward to getting to know it better. Very fun to ride. Thanks guys. 

Congrat's on having the Nikola in hand and riding it. If you're getting a lot of bounce then I would reduce the tire pressure. Really depends on your weight. What's your riding weight?

It's very easy to experiment with tire pressure. Keep reducing the pressure until you find what works for you.

You may as well ask the app questions here. I only have experience with the Android app and for that I use WheelLog 98-percent of the time.

[gon2fast]

On 6/24/2019 at 1:02 PM, Rudy Sijnke said:

Anyone knows if the 2100wh is a fact? I asked GW, but little to no response... Anyone can confirm if this is true or not? 

yes, it is a fact. Maybe a special edition so limited run...

[Lucas Alexander Oliver]

5 hours ago, Patton250 said:

I just put 10 miles on my new Nikola. Of course I dropped it once so one side is scratched up. Lol

So it’s very different from my KS18XL or KS16S. To me the Nikola is not faster/quicker with more torque then my KS18XL. Even on full power. I feel they are about the same. The KS18XL headlight is definitely more powerful and doesn’t switch to different lumens like the Nikola.   I don’t particularly like that. I hope you guys can tell me how to set the lumen on the Nikola to the highest level and have it stay there. I think the Nikola turns much better then then the KS’s. I really don’t know how to describe it but I like the turning better on the Nikola. The speakers are loud on the Nikola but no base just like Marty said in his video so the KS wins on sound. My Nikola bounces some.  Almost like the tire is not balanced. It’s pressurized to 45PSI. Anyone else have that problem?  It makes me not want to go past 20MPH.  I have lots of app questions.  Where would be the best place to ask them? 

Its my first Gotway so I’m looking forward to getting to know it better. Very fun to ride. Thanks guys. 

So @Patton250.... congratulations on owning the best urban transportation device known to date imho...  I understand your misgivings within the first few miles.     I actually was very nervous when I had only 20 or so miles. I thought I’d made a 2000$ mistake.  I couldn’t z my feet right and the tire felt squirrley and bumpy... I also couldn’t go above 20 mph whiteout serious wobbles .  But I kept at it and adjusted my tire pressure down to about 35 instead of 45. 45 is almost unridable for me. I weigh 190 so 35 psi is perfect for me.  I now have 275 miles In 9 days and my top speed is 35.1.. I’ll include picture below. And I really couldn’t tell I was going that fast. It was sooooo smooth and balanced.   I really can’t say enough good things about the comfort ability of this wheel and the performance it still can give you.  I’ve only heard the 80% beeps once and it was when the DarknessBot app showed 35.1mph ..  I go up a very long steep incline on my ride home from work 5 days a week it’s about a mile and a half steady incline af at least 25-28% grade and I bomb up it every night steady increasing speed. Hills don’t bother my nikola at all.  I feel like it could race up overheat hill.   But hey. This is only my 300 mile observation. I’m going to start my own channel and feel soon.   I’m editing footage now so wait and I’ll show you how bad ass the GotWay nikola reallt is. 😁😁👍👍🚀

[Lucas Alexander Oliver]

On 6/27/2019 at 4:00 PM, gr8ps said:

I’m gonna have to disagree on that. Based on what I’ve read, this is a process issue and as a result, the issue will be systemic across most Nikolas. 

It’s deff not All nikolas bro mine is bad ass and has no issues smoking whatever you got 🚀🚀👍👍👌😂😂🔥😍

[Patton250]

3 hours ago, Lucas Alexander Oliver said:

So @Patton250.... congratulations on owning the best urban transportation device known to date imho...  I understand your misgivings within the first few miles.     I actually was very nervous when I had only 20 or so miles. I thought I’d made a 2000$ mistake.  I couldn’t z my feet right and the tire felt squirrley and bumpy... I also couldn’t go above 20 mph whiteout serious wobbles .  But I kept at it and adjusted my tire pressure down to about 35 instead of 45. 45 is almost unridable for me. I weigh 190 so 35 psi is perfect for me.  I now have 275 miles In 9 days and my top speed is 35.1.. I’ll include picture below. And I really couldn’t tell I was going that fast. It was sooooo smooth and balanced.   I really can’t say enough good things about the comfort ability of this wheel and the performance it still can give you.  I’ve only heard the 80% beeps once and it was when the DarknessBot app showed 35.1mph ..  I go up a very long steep incline on my ride home from work 5 days a week it’s about a mile and a half steady incline af at least 25-28% grade and I bomb up it every night steady increasing speed. Hills don’t bother my nikola at all.  I feel like it could race up overheat hill.   But hey. This is only my 300 mile observation. I’m going to start my own channel and feel soon.   I’m editing footage now so wait and I’ll show you how bad ass the GotWay nikola reallt is. 😁😁👍👍🚀

 

7 hours ago, Marty Backe said:

Congrat's on having the Nikola in hand and riding it. If you're getting a lot of bounce then I would reduce the tire pressure. Really depends on your weight. What's your riding weight?

It's very easy to experiment with tire pressure. Keep reducing the pressure until you find what works for you.

You may as well ask the app questions here. I only have experience with the Android app and for that I use WheelLog 98-percent of the time.

I weigh 160ish. I’m 5’6”. Thanks Marty. 

 

PS- love your equipment recommendations on your YT channel. Very helpful. 

3 hours ago, Lucas Alexander Oliver said:

So @Patton250.... congratulations on owning the best urban transportation device known to date imho...  I understand your misgivings within the first few miles.     I actually was very nervous when I had only 20 or so miles. I thought I’d made a 2000$ mistake.  I couldn’t z my feet right and the tire felt squirrley and bumpy... I also couldn’t go above 20 mph whiteout serious wobbles .  But I kept at it and adjusted my tire pressure down to about 35 instead of 45. 45 is almost unridable for me. I weigh 190 so 35 psi is perfect for me.  I now have 275 miles In 9 days and my top speed is 35.1.. I’ll include picture below. And I really couldn’t tell I was going that fast. It was sooooo smooth and balanced.   I really can’t say enough good things about the comfort ability of this wheel and the performance it still can give you.  I’ve only heard the 80% beeps once and it was when the DarknessBot app showed 35.1mph ..  I go up a very long steep incline on my ride home from work 5 days a week it’s about a mile and a half steady incline af at least 25-28% grade and I bomb up it every night steady increasing speed. Hills don’t bother my nikola at all.  I feel like it could race up overheat hill.   But hey. This is only my 300 mile observation. I’m going to start my own channel and feel soon.   I’m editing footage now so wait and I’ll show you how bad ass the GotWay nikola reallt is. 😁😁👍👍🚀

Wow 35MPH!!!!! Outstanding man. Cool stuff. I will try reducing the tire pressure to 40 and then 35 if necessary. Great advice. I want to get rid of the bounce. I let my son try it and he noticed the bounce too. He weighs about 135 and is 5’8”. And info on the headlight? Does your change brightness as you ride? Now the app. I use an iPhone X+ and have darkness bot and the GW app. Is there a better app recommendation? On the darkness bot app can you change to MPH instead of KPH? Thanks man. I fully charged it last night and I’ll give it a go later. Also over the holiday weekend. 

[Dzlchef]

2 hours ago, Patton250 said:

 

I weigh 160ish. I’m 5’6”. Thanks Marty. 

 

PS- love your equipment recommendations on your YT channel. Very helpful. 

Wow 35MPH!!!!! Outstanding man. Cool stuff. I will try reducing the tire pressure to 40 and then 35 if necessary. Great advice. I want to get rid of the bounce. I let my son try it and he noticed the bounce too. He weighs about 135 and is 5’8”. And info on the headlight? Does your change brightness as you ride? Now the app. I use an iPhone X+ and have darkness bot and the GW app. Is there a better app recommendation? On the darkness bot app can you change to MPH instead of KPH? Thanks man. I fully charged it last night and I’ll give it a go later. Also over the holiday weekend. 

I suggest trying tire pressure closer to 30psi for your weight.  It will soften your ride a ton! 

I’m also on the Nikola band wagon fully as it’s my favorite wheel ever!  I used the GW app to disable the alarms but otherwise haven’t used it again. I tend to use Wheelog on my Android phone daily for speed/temp warnings, etc. 

There are two things that bothered me about the Nikola and I’ve solved the first and hopefully the second later this week.  The first was the thickness of the top pad which pushed my legs out a bit and had me riding on the outside of my pedals.  I cut out new pads from a sheet of motorcycle tank padding called Techspec Xline.  The stuff is amazing and now I have a thin grippy cushion of control that helps improve ride feel and performance.  I added shin pads as well and now feel very planted on the wheel, and it had the side benefit of eliminating the creek experienced when leaning heavily to one side.  The second is the lackluster sound from the speakers. Yes, it’s very loud but sounds awful. I have new speakers coming that have a much wider sonic range and better power handling. Hopefully I like the new ones better and I’ll be sure to add details of my mod when complete. 

Now, go out and enjoy your Nikola! 

 

[mrelwood]

7 hours ago, Lucas Alexander Oliver said:

It’s deff not All nikolas bro mine is bad ass and has no issues smoking whatever you got 🚀🚀👍👍👌😂😂🔥😍

You don’t seem to understand the issue. As far as we know, every 84V Nikola has been assembled by glueing the heat transfer pad on the Mosfets. The board on your Nikola may have less or more glue than others. Either way, the cooling of the Mosfets is not able to function as intended. Because of this your Nikola may fail catastrophically at any time you stress the wheel. It doesn’t give you any warnings.

You have been lucky so far, which is great. But you have no idea how close to burning the control board you have been. Nobody does, until the issue is properly fixed on your Nikola.

[Marty Backe]

1 hour ago, Dzlchef said:

I suggest trying tire pressure closer to 30psi for your weight.  It will soften your ride a ton! 

I’m also on the Nikola band wagon fully as it’s my favorite wheel ever!  I used the GW app to disable the alarms but otherwise haven’t used it again. I tend to use Wheelog on my Android phone daily for speed/temp warnings, etc. 

There are two things that bothered me about the Nikola and I’ve solved the first and hopefully the second later this week.  The first was the thickness of the top pad which pushed my legs out a bit and had me riding on the outside of my pedals.  I cut out new pads from a sheet of motorcycle tank padding called Techspec Xline.  The stuff is amazing and now I have a thin grippy cushion of control that helps improve ride feel and performance.  I added shin pads as well and now feel very planted on the wheel, and it had the side benefit of eliminating the creek experienced when leaning heavily to one side.  The second is the lackluster sound from the speakers. Yes, it’s very loud but sounds awful. I have new speakers coming that have a much wider sonic range and better power handling. Hopefully I like the new ones better and I’ll be sure to add details of my mod when complete. 

Now, go out and enjoy your Nikola! 

 

FYI, WheelLog can do everything the Gotway app can, including configuration of the alarms. The single thing that it can't do is pedal calibration.

Your speaker mod should be interesting. I assume that you aren't replacing the existing speakers since that would require a rather specific configuration. I'll be interested to see what you come up with. Speakers are nice and all, but I never use them enough to care that much about how good they sound.

[Marty Backe]

4 hours ago, Patton250 said:

 

I weigh 160ish. I’m 5’6”. Thanks Marty. 

 

PS- love your equipment recommendations on your YT channel. Very helpful. 

Wow 35MPH!!!!! Outstanding man. Cool stuff. I will try reducing the tire pressure to 40 and then 35 if necessary. Great advice. I want to get rid of the bounce. I let my son try it and he noticed the bounce too. He weighs about 135 and is 5’8”. And info on the headlight? Does your change brightness as you ride? Now the app. I use an iPhone X+ and have darkness bot and the GW app. Is there a better app recommendation? On the darkness bot app can you change to MPH instead of KPH? Thanks man. I fully charged it last night and I’ll give it a go later. Also over the holiday weekend. 

Thanks 

@Dzlchef has given great advice regarding the tire pressure.

I'm afraid we're stuck with the light situation. I haven't done any serious night riding with the Nikola (I only had a week before it died). That being said, most people who ride and night supplement the lights with much better wrist and/or helmet mounted lights. I myself use a 1000-lumen wrist mounted light when I'm on a night ride.

[Patton250]

1 hour ago, Dzlchef said:

I suggest trying tire pressure closer to 30psi for your weight.  It will soften your ride a ton! 

I’m also on the Nikola band wagon fully as it’s my favorite wheel ever!  I used the GW app to disable the alarms but otherwise haven’t used it again. I tend to use Wheelog on my Android phone daily for speed/temp warnings, etc. 

There are two things that bothered me about the Nikola and I’ve solved the first and hopefully the second later this week.  The first was the thickness of the top pad which pushed my legs out a bit and had me riding on the outside of my pedals.  I cut out new pads from a sheet of motorcycle tank padding called Techspec Xline.  The stuff is amazing and now I have a thin grippy cushion of control that helps improve ride feel and performance.  I added shin pads as well and now feel very planted on the wheel, and it had the side benefit of eliminating the creek experienced when leaning heavily to one side.  The second is the lackluster sound from the speakers. Yes, it’s very loud but sounds awful. I have new speakers coming that have a much wider sonic range and better power handling. Hopefully I like the new ones better and I’ll be sure to add details of my mod when complete. 

Now, go out and enjoy your Nikola! 

 

Wow so 30PSI?  Ok I’ll give it a go. I’ll get back to you. Thanks man. 

[gr8ps]

8 hours ago, Lucas Alexander Oliver said:

It’s deff not All nikolas bro mine is bad ass and has no issues smoking whatever you got 🚀🚀👍👍👌😂😂🔥😍

Ok bro. 

[Jon Stern]

12 hours ago, Lucas Alexander Oliver said:

It’s deff not All nikolas bro mine is bad ass and has no issues smoking whatever you got 🚀🚀👍👍👌😂😂🔥😍

Even if your MOSFETS are not getting hot enough to fail immediately, heat prematurely ages semiconductors. Your MOSFETS might already be middle aged!

Edited July 1, 2019 by Jon Stern

[walsus]

1 hour ago, mrelwood said:

You don’t seem to understand the issue. As far as we know, every 84V Nikola has been assembled by glueing the heat transfer pad on the Mosfets. The board on your Nikola may have less or more glue than others. Either way, the cooling of the Mosfets is not able to function as intended. Because of this your Nikola may fail catastrophically at any time you stress the wheel. It doesn’t give you any warnings.

You have been lucky so far, which is great. But you have no idea how close to burning the control board you have been. Nobody does, until the issue is properly fixed on your Nikola.

 

1 minute ago, Jon Stern said:

Even if your MOSFETS are getting hot enough to fail immediately, heat prematurely ages semiconductors. Your MOSFETS might already be middle aged!

It's awesome that everyone is trying to make him understand but I think this he's just in denial and needs some time to process the facts. There's a serious problem with your new and very expensive EUC, that would bother anyone.

[Patton250]

46 minutes ago, walsus said:

 

It's awesome that everyone is trying to make him understand but I think this he's just in denial and needs some time to process the facts. There's a serious problem with your new and very expensive EUC, that would bother anyone.

 You guys have managed to scare the crap out of me about it. I’m too old to face plant.  My Nikola came with a replacement new board and I’m still nervous about it until Marty tests his and he won’t get his until Tuesday. 

[Marty Backe]

8 minutes ago, Patton250 said:

 You guys have managed to scare the crap out of me about it. I’m too old to face plant.  My Nikola came with a replacement new board and I’m still nervous about it until Marty tests his and he won’t get his until Tuesday. 

If you have the replacement board I really would not be concerned. Are you doing much hill climbing?

[Patton250]

20 minutes ago, Marty Backe said:

If you have the replacement board I really would not be concerned. Are you doing much hill climbing?

 No but we did this past week though. We had a nice vacation in the mountains of Georgia and boy was it fun riding our wheels.  Remember though it is already 80,000,000,000° here in Florida so these things could overheat just sitting outside not running. LOL 

 The guys above are saying that these things could slowly fail over time even if you are not going up hills. Please understand my friend I know nothing about these things. I sure do respect what you have to say though. So if you say the new board will be good I will rest easy with that. 

[Marty Backe]

10 minutes ago, Patton250 said:

 No but we did this past week though. We had a nice vacation in the mountains of Georgia and boy was it fun riding our wheels.  Remember though it is already 80,000,000,000° here in Florida so these things could overheat just sitting outside not running. LOL 

 The guys above are saying that these things could slowly fail over time even if you are not going up hills. Please understand my friend I know nothing about these things. I sure do respect what you have to say though. So if you say the new board will be good I will rest easy with that. 

They are referring to the original board. I truly am not worried about the new one. I've been dealing with control boards for a few years now. So that's my considered opinion.

You can run your wheel all day long at a board temperature of 60-degrees Celsius (140-degrees Fahrenheit). And I have run my wheels for extended periods at 75-degrees Celsius (167-degrees Fahrenheit).

So I think you're good 

[Electroman]

16 hours ago, Patton250 said:

I just put 10 miles on my new Nikola. Of course I dropped it once so one side is scratched up. Lol

So it’s very different from my KS18XL or KS16S. To me the Nikola is not faster/quicker with more torque then my KS18XL. Even on full power. I feel they are about the same. The KS18XL headlight is definitely more powerful and doesn’t switch to different lumens like the Nikola.   I don’t particularly like that. I hope you guys can tell me how to set the lumen on the Nikola to the highest level and have it stay there. I think the Nikola turns much better then then the KS’s. I really don’t know how to describe it but I like the turning better on the Nikola. The speakers are loud on the Nikola but no base just like Marty said in his video so the KS wins on sound. My Nikola bounces some.  Almost like the tire is not balanced. It’s pressurized to 45PSI. Anyone else have that problem?  It makes me not want to go past 20MPH.  I have lots of app questions.  Where would be the best place to ask them? 

Its my first Gotway so I’m looking forward to getting to know it better. Very fun to ride. Thanks guys. 

Thanks for info, did not know about the Nikola light.

But bouncing, do you mean like unbalanced, like something wrong with the rim, tire seated wrong, severally unbalanced or something to that effect? Sorry my English is cause for some mishaps at times, but if I bend my knees too much, like trying to sit down to ride seated or just extreme knee bend for any reason, especially if standing the wrong way on pedals at the same time I sure do notice some unbalanced behavior of my MSX but that's more of a wobble imho so perhaps not what you mean at all and I just simply got it wrong, curious nevertheless.

That is strange to me, yes of course I am aware we all ride differently with totally different views on what is doable, acceptable or even safe? But still I notice on the MSX right off the bat that the wheel is incredibly easy to take up to max speed and I feel it can handle more. Hard to imagine the Nikola despite being  a 16/17" wheel and hence sightly smaller wheel diameter, curious, not planning on buying one but should I run into some super deal you just don't know?

No idea what pressure I run, white there are advantages of lower it a bit I just need every fraction of performance I can take out of it, ride mostly asphalt so my compromise is using my knees more and run the tire very hard.

[Patton250]

1 hour ago, Electroman said:

Thanks for info, did not know about the Nikola light.

But bouncing, do you mean like unbalanced, like something wrong with the rim, tire seated wrong, severally unbalanced or something to that effect? Sorry my English is cause for some mishaps at times, but if I bend my knees too much, like trying to sit down to ride seated or just extreme knee bend for any reason, especially if standing the wrong way on pedals at the same time I sure do notice some unbalanced behavior of my MSX but that's more of a wobble imho so perhaps not what you mean at all and I just simply got it wrong, curious nevertheless.

That is strange to me, yes of course I am aware we all ride differently with totally different views on what is doable, acceptable or even safe? But still I notice on the MSX right off the bat that the wheel is incredibly easy to take up to max speed and I feel it can handle more. Hard to imagine the Nikola despite being  a 16/17" wheel and hence sightly smaller wheel diameter, curious, not planning on buying one but should I run into some super deal you just don't know?

No idea what pressure I run, white there are advantages of lower it a bit I just need every fraction of performance I can take out of it, ride mostly asphalt so my compromise is using my knees more and run the tire very hard.

 The bounce I mean is minimal and it’s up and down 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock. 

 I too have experienced wobble on other wheels but not this one. It is very smooth. Much smoother than my other wheels. Not that they’re bad mind you it’s just the Nikola is superior so far in my opinion.  I had to hit the road for work travel but Wednesday when I get home I will reduce the tire pressure to 30 psi like  recommended above and try it then. I will report back how it feels.