KS16S - my 2nd wheel

[mike_bike_kite]

I figured I'd learn to ride on my first wheel with the intention of getting a better and more expensive wheel later on. Turns out I learnt quite quickly and was soon going for fairly long rides so I started to look for a 2nd wheel a little sooner than I expected. My main choices were the V10F, the Tesla V2 and the KS16S. They were all 16" wheels, about at the limits of what I wanted to pay and at a size that I'd feel comfortable lifting up and down stairs etc. There are faster wheels out there (MSX, Nikola, 18L, 18XL etc) but personally I don't think I'd feel comfortable on city roads at those speeds. There are wheels with more range but these are always heavier wheels. There's also the current trend to 3" wide tyres but these wheels all tend to be physically larger so it becomes more difficult getting them up and down stairs, onto public transport or into shops etc. The V10F was a little larger than the other wheels and also more expnsive so that moved it to the bottom of my list - I'd also read about heavier riders bending the pedals and I'm 96Kg. I liked the performance on the Tesla but figured I'd never use it - some people also found the case a little fragile. That left me with the KS16S, it was a well design wheel, very rugged and had lights both front and rear. It also seemed to get great reviews from everyone who rode it. 

The wheel arrived within a day or two which made a change from the 2 months I had to wait for my V5f from China. It looked great as I pulled it out the box with a nice clean functional design. It actually didn't look any bigger than my v5f - maybe a smidgen wider, a tiny bit taller and about 6Kg heavier. It felt a little bit like my V5f had been on steroids. My only real issue with the wheel was that it wouldn't balance and unfortunately this is kind of important with an EUC. I tried every combination with the 2 buttons on the wheel, holding it on it's side, lights on/off etc, I even looked in the manual. It turns out you need to run the KS app to unlock the wheel. Maybe this is a security thing, maybe it was just a test of a new owners patience. Kingsong desperately need a simpler app which doesn't request every permission from your phone. I actually found the registration process painful - I'm shown a 4 digit number in tiny writing and coloured to blend in perfectly with the multi coloured background. All this security might make sense if the wheel was locked but it was a brand new wheel. The whole procedure just seemed pointless. 

The wheel certainly felt more weighty when pushing it around the house. In all honesty I preferred the handle on my V5f but I do like the way the KS16S handle disappears into the case completely. I'm fairly tall at 6'3" and the handle seemed just a little too short for me (I'm 6'3") but it's probably fine for most folk. The wheel looked great all in black and it could easily pass for luggage for when you wheel it into a shop but unfortunately the wheel lights up like a Christmas tree even when you're rolling it. Luckily there's an option in the app to turn the side lights off. The wheel cut off switch seems to work perfectly when lifting the wheel by the handle though the handle itself once didn't lock into the wheel on both sides - I guess I'll just have to ensure it locks when I push it down. 

It was dark when the wheel arrived so I just rode up and down my hallway. I changed the ride mode to the middle setting as it felt less sloppy than the learner setting. The lights were a bit odd when riding as well. the front light can be turned on or off but the rear light only seems to come on when the lights are in automatic mode. It looks like I'll be sticking something over the detector so I can have my rear light when riding. I couldn't test it much further because my wife was getting a little peeved that I was riding it around the house. Couldn't wait for the next day and a proper ride.

Next day I pumped up the tyre to 45psi and checked the battery had fully charged overnight. I set off down the quiet road beside my house. There were no wobbles, no hesitation just a strong acceleration until I hit the speed limiter at roughly 15mph. I then remembered that I hadn't reset the speed limit on the wheel. Actually this wasn't a bad thing as I could do a fairly even comparison with the V5f. Needless to say the 16S won hands down as it was far more stable on the road, very planted and far more powerful. It even accelerated fairly quickly going up steep hills. The 14" wheel I had before felt a little bit twitchy but the 16" wheel feels like it's on rails. I was expecting it to be difficult to transfer from one wheel to the other but after 2 minutes I felt very comfortable on the new wheel. I tried doing some tight manoeuvres on my local tennis court and it seemed no different to my 14" wheel. I upped the speed limit to 20mph and that extra speed available meant I didn't feel out of place on the suburban roads that I use. I'm still a bit undecided on the pedals though, they might suit your average Asian but they feel a little small for a full fat European. I'll have to decide whether to just accept them or order some larger pedals. I rode about 8 miles today and the battery went down by 30%. It's not a true test of range but it does suggest it will allow me to get close to 30 miles on one charge. I'll be very happy with that range. 

So is the wheel perfect? It did bother me that the wheel hadn't had a major revision in 3 years but nearly all reviews seemed to heap praise on the wheel. It just seemed to do everything well. Sure, I didn't take it off road, but I live in London and don't really want to go down muddy trails. For completeness though I did try some muddy paths on my local park and, while the wheel handled it great, I didn't. The wheel proved to be far easier to clean than my jeans. These are the things I felt could be improved: The motor isn't silent but it's not particularly annoying - I'd prefer a silent motor but it might also be fun to have the wheel make the sound of a Tatooine pod racer etc. The app should ask if you want to grant permissions and be able to run with minimal permissions. The pedals could also be bigger and magnetic. A slightly taller and more solid handle would be nice. It would be good if all the lights turned off when the wheel was being trollied. It would be much better if the rear light comes on automatically when the front light is turned on. A 3" tyre or 2.5" might be interesting but it depends on how it affects the form factor of the wheel. Using more modern batteries would be good if it could further reduce the weight of the wheel or extend it's range. It would be interesting if KS could put a coloured display in the top of the device that the user could display speed or battery or distance or alarms etc. KS should also produce an inexpensive protective cover for their wheels like Inmotion does for their wheels.

Overall I'm very happy with my wheel.
 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

Thanks for that @mike_bike_kite (can I call you Mike for short?). That was a good read!

Now, you need to get really familiar with your 16S over the next week or so, then upgrade to the new FW that is about to be released and tell us all if it takes it to the next level!

[mike_bike_kite]

2 hours ago, The Fat Unicyclist said:

Thanks for that @mike_bike_kite (can I call you Mike for short?). That was a good read!

Now, you need to get really familiar with your 16S over the next week or so, then upgrade to the new FW that is about to be released and tell us all if it takes it to the next level!

Mike is obviously just my first name. The bike and kite part came when both I and the world wide web were quite young. It seemed quite a cool name at the time and covered all my hobbies at the time. 30 years on and I wonder if I should of picked something more mundane. 

I'm looking forward to the new firmware but it would be nice to know what it offers. Silent running? Different speed throttling? Always turn on the rear light when the front light is turned on? Brake lighting? I've also read enough on here to know it might be worth waiting a week or two to see what others think first  

[atdlzpae]

The main difference between KS16S and MSX is stability. You can handle way bigger potholes on an 18' wheel. And also MSX handles way better on muddy roads.

Slime your tire! I can't count how many times I had to replace the tube, and opening up KS16S is a chore.

On KS18XL the new firmware makes the wheel more silent and less dynamic (I'm just repeating what others said).

Edited January 11, 2020 by atdlzpae

[EvoKnvl]

On 1/8/2020 at 1:31 PM, mike_bike_kite said:

My only real issue with the wheel was that it wouldn't balance and unfortunately this is kind of important with an EUC. I tried every combination with the 2 buttons on the wheel, holding it on it's side, lights on/off etc, I even looked in the manual. It turns out you need to run the KS app to unlock the wheel. Maybe this is a security thing, maybe it was just a test of a new owners patience. Kingsong desperately need a simpler app which doesn't request every permission from your phone. I actually found the registration process painful - I'm shown a 4 digit number in tiny writing and coloured to blend in perfectly with the multi coloured background. All this security might make sense if the wheel was locked but it was a brand new wheel. The whole procedure just seemed pointless. 

Congrats on your new wheel!  The lock feature is designed for when the EUC is being shipped or transported.  That way, if someone the power button does get pressed while in it's box, it doesn't go crazy with the wheel spinning up.  I agree they could be more clear on how to unlock it (maybe a big Read me First paper in the box) but I do think there is a good reason to have it locked like that.

[mike_bike_kite]

6 hours ago, atdlzpae said:

Slime your tire! I can't count how many times I had to replace the tube, and opening up KS16S is a chore.

On KS18XL the new firmware makes the wheel more silent and less dynamic (I'm just repeating what others said).

How many punctures have you had in 1300km???? The roads in London are supposed to be paved in gold - do they use nails and tacks in Poland?

Does the same firmware that gets released to all KS wheels? I guess they could have different parameters for wheel size, voltage, battery size, how parallel the batteries are etc. Doing that would seem logical to me but I'm fairly sure they don't as there were all those problems with the 16X firmware but not on other wheels. Do they just change the sound so it's higher than humans can hear? do dogs chase owners with the new firmware? I only ask because I work in software and weirdly I find it quite interesting..

 

[atdlzpae]

@mike_bike_kite The punctures I've had were not because of nails or anything sharp, but because of hard edges.
The tire on MSX is like a balloon - you can deform it like 4cm before you hit the rim. KS16S is like a bicycle - way less distance between tire and rim.
And so two times I hit the rim too hard (bending it) and damaged a tube in the process.

The rest of my tire changes were my unsuccessful attempts to patch the tube. Overall it was about 10. After third time I stopped putting the glass on, because it's the most difficult part to take off.
And so:
- Never patch a tube - always buy a new one
- Ride carefully - KS16S is not MSX and it's really easy to bend a rim
- Since you're heavy, aim for higher pressures
- Slime!

Edited January 11, 2020 by atdlzpae

[Daley1]

Got about 1500 ks on the ks 16 and never had a puncture.It go,s offroad,on road and a bit of trick stuff.Bought Slime early in the journey but to lazy to put it in.Only complaint is the lift sensor stopped working about 2 months in but the new handles have been good.Firmware never been upgraded and if it aint broke ,dont fix it until its been tested by the multitudes and there is a positive benefit.A great all round sturdy wheel!Have fun with your new wheel!

[The Fat Unicyclist]

Firmware version 2.00 for the 16S has just been released. Here is a quick video that I have made showing the difference in the motor noise...

 

[mike_bike_kite]

I took mine for a ride this morning and it's definitely much quieter. I seem to have brake lights as well now which is great. I am also a little mystified what all the light settings are now - I used to have front and rear on permanently by taping over the light sensor. Does anyone know what the new settings are? I also haven't quite mastered the horizontal calibration thing yet = - it just seems to lose bluetooth connection when I try the calibration.

[mrelwood]

4 hours ago, mike_bike_kite said:

I also haven't quite mastered the horizontal calibration thing yet = - it just seems to lose bluetooth connection when I try the calibration.

That means the calibration process has started. When it does:

1) Set the wheel to level as closely as you can, in both left-right and front-back directions. Bubble level tools and apps are useful.

2) Make sure the wheel is and stays exactly put, and press the power button. The wheel gives a few fast beeps, a break, and a long beep.

After that it’s done and you can power on the wheel normally.

[Daley1]

Hey gr8 Video @The Fat Unicyclist that shows the difference in noise.I,m not sure that i,m changing because of a slight drop in noise .It s certainly not silent.!Once my speeds up i cant hear the whine anyway and the tunes through the bluetooth speakers drown it out.More interested in the performance aspect of the upgrade.If there is one?I await the next instalment with bated breath.

[Scootie]

Great review

[Chriull]

9 hours ago, Daley1 said:

It s certainly not silent.!

Yes. But the high pitched whine is gone!

On 1/13/2020 at 12:25 PM, mike_bike_kite said:

I used to have front and rear on permanently by taping over the light sensor. Does anyone know what the new settings are? I

 

[The Fat Unicyclist]

18 hours ago, Daley1 said:

Hey gr8 Video @The Fat Unicyclist that shows the difference in noise.I,m not sure that i,m changing because of a slight drop in noise .It s certainly not silent.!Once my speeds up i cant hear the whine anyway and the tunes through the bluetooth speakers drown it out.More interested in the performance aspect of the upgrade.If there is one?I await the next instalment with bated breath.

Thanks @Daley1 - Looking back it's actually a pretty rough video - but then I only had about an hour to record and edit it. The camera was only about a meter away from the wheel, so the motor noise is exaggerated.

I plan to do the 18XL this weekend (after working out the correct microphone distance) and I might redo the 16S while I am at it...

[Dzlchef]

I purchased a 16S as my second wheel and love it, and been in most conditions including hard rain, mountain bike trails, and used as my daily commuter (35km) for months before I updated.  I suggest slime for the wheel and I now have 4k km without issue and nearly half my tire tread left.  It's basically my grocery store wheel now because of the easy trolly handle but still very fun!  Enjoy!!!