New Begode "Hero" Suspension Wheel

[PharmaCyclist]

Have my Hero and love it so far!  Curious to hear about the shock too, need to know if it's 35 or 50 mm travel.  Not planning on changing it right away or anything, stock shock feels great to me.  The shocks are cheap though so I'll probably buy one and swap it out as a little fun project at my first tire change.

[Eyss]

 

The hero arrives in Perth, Australia.

I've done about 100km on it so far. Its my first suspension and high torque wheel (apart from the mten3?), with my main wheel being a Sherman. 

Initial impressions is its very nice, torque motor is lots of fun.

The suspension does what its meant to, makes the wheel so comfortable to ride. I'm about 70kg and running 150 psi, but I think I'm going to try 160 as its a tad too soft and is bottoming out on larger curbs.

Stock power pads are useless. I tried putting some 3D printed ones on but the gap between the batteries makes it a bit hard because it moves with the suspension. Currently 3D printing a back plate that should hopefully solve that issue.

Range is about what you'd get on a MSP/RS I think. did 58km (GPS, avg speed 23kmph) on a run and had 13% left according to EUC world, but still had 2/5 bars on the screen, so not sure if that was EUC world's predictive battery. 

The tire gets a lot of hate but its not as horrible as everybody makes it out to be in my opinion. 

Hard to comment on weight, as I'm used to pushing a Sherman around. 

6 hours ago, PharmaCyclist said:

Have my Hero and love it so far!  Curious to hear about the shock too, need to know if it's 35 or 50 mm travel.  Not planning on changing it right away or anything, stock shock feels great to me.  The shocks are cheap though so I'll probably buy one and swap it out as a little fun project at my first tire change.

I have a DNM AO-38RC shock (190mm eye to eye  50mm travel) coming. I'll probably swap the tire and shock next weekend but I agreed, don't see a huge reason to and if I hadn't bought the stuff before getting the hero I wouldn't of. Maybe as I push it more I'll see why.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Eyss

[PharmaCyclist]

10 hours ago, Eyss said:

 

The hero arrives in Perth, Australia.

I've done about 100km on it so far. Its my first suspension and high torque wheel (apart from the mten3?), with my main wheel being a Sherman. 

Initial impressions is its very nice, torque motor is lots of fun.

The suspension does what its meant to, makes the wheel so comfortable to ride. I'm about 70kg and running 150 psi, but I think I'm going to try 160 as its a tad too soft and is bottoming out on larger curbs.

Stock power pads are useless. I tried putting some 3D printed ones on but the gap between the batteries makes it a bit hard because it moves with the suspension. Currently 3D printing a back plate that should hopefully solve that issue.

Range is about what you'd get on a MSP/RS I think. did 58km (GPS, avg speed 23kmph) on a run and had 13% left according to EUC world, but still had 2/5 bars on the screen, so not sure if that was EUC world's predictive battery. 

The tire gets a lot of hate but its not as horrible as everybody makes it out to be in my opinion. 

Hard to comment on weight, as I'm used to pushing a Sherman around. 

I have a DNM AO-38RC shock (190mm eye to eye  50mm travel) coming. I'll probably swap the tire and shock next weekend but I agreed, don't see a huge reason to and if I hadn't bought the stuff before getting the hero I wouldn't of. Maybe as I push it more I'll see why.

 

Thanks for the info man, much appreciated.  Definitely agree on the shock, a fancier one is just a neat cheap (if time consuming) upgrade, but really the stock shock feels great to me and I'm about 100 kg.  Going to take it on some actual trails later this week hopefully, but zipping around the neighborhood curves and rough grass etc is so much fun on it, so much power and so smooth.  

I also agree on the tire, I was just riding 5 min before reading this and had to smile at you having the same perspective as me... really not sure what the fuss about the tire sucking is, was of course thinking about this on my ride and just couldn't feel the issue.  I can carve just fine with it (feels like any other wheel to me, maybe slightly more dipping at the far lean of the carve) and it is amazing off road.  Maybe it's certain riding styles/weights that it bothers, who knows.  Overall I think the Hero is really a cool wheel.  I'm also hearing it's more torquey than the Kingsong S20 based on early comparisons on YouTube.. surprising.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by PharmaCyclist

[Eyss]

15 hours ago, PharmaCyclist said:

Thanks for the info man, much appreciated.  Definitely agree on the shock, a fancier one is just a neat cheap (if time consuming) upgrade, but really the stock shock feels great to me and I'm about 100 kg.  Going to take it on some actual trails later this week hopefully, but zipping around the neighborhood curves and rough grass etc is so much fun on it, so much power and so smooth.  

I also agree on the tire, I was just riding 5 min before reading this and had to smile at you having the same perspective as me... really not sure what the fuss about the tire sucking is, was of course thinking about this on my ride and just couldn't feel the issue.  I can carve just fine with it (feels like any other wheel to me, maybe slightly more dipping at the far lean of the carve) and it is amazing off road.  Maybe it's certain riding styles/weights that it bothers, who knows.  Overall I think the Hero is really a cool wheel.  I'm also hearing it's more torquey than the Kingsong S20 based on early comparisons on YouTube.. surprising.

 

Just to clarify I haven't really confirmed the shock fits. One guy on Facebook mentioned he put a 190 X 35 but from alien rides video I think a 50mm might fit. 

Unfortunately it's hard to measure the shock without disassembly. 

Somebody mentioned a few pages ago that the cst knobby isn't great at higher pressures and that's why a lot of people don't like it. I'm running about 30 psi

It's definitely a much softer tire than the Kenda so you won't get as much life out of it. My Sherman Kenda 262 still has plenty of tread after 7000km

 

Edit: pumped the tire up to 32 psi and it was a pretty bad ride. Basically what the reviewers were saying. I'll put it back to 28-29 and see how I go .

Also printed the basic back plates. They help secure the pads but the back plate is a little too flexible.

I have a different concept that I'll try next that only covers the gap between the batteries 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Eyss

[PharmaCyclist]

14 hours ago, Eyss said:

Just to clarify I haven't really confirmed the shock fits. One guy on Facebook mentioned he put a 190 X 35 but from alien rides video I think a 50mm might fit. 

Unfortunately it's hard to measure the shock without disassembly. 

Somebody mentioned a few pages ago that the cst knobby isn't great at higher pressures and that's why a lot of people don't like it. I'm running about 30 psi

It's definitely a much softer tire than the Kenda so you won't get as much life out of it. My Sherman Kenda 262 still has plenty of tread after 7000km

 

Edit: pumped the tire up to 32 psi and it was a pretty bad ride. Basically what the reviewers were saying. I'll put it back to 28-29 and see how I go .

Also printed the basic back plates. They help secure the pads but the back plate is a little too flexible.

I have a different concept that I'll try next that only covers the gap between the batteries 

Curious see what happens with your backplates, I may ask for the .stl when you're done 😊

 

On the shock, sounds good I will also see how it goes for you then possibly buy one.

 

I actually have my tire at 32 psi and I still think it feels great, maybe it's my extra weight at 100 kg flattening the profile a bit.

[Eyss]

Chucked a Kenda 262 and DNM AO-38 shock on yesterday. Took ~4 hours with my mate.

The Kenda tire is so much more nimble than the stock tire. although I have spent a long time on a Sherman with the Kenda 262 so I was already familiar with it. You can pump it up to high PSI's for stairs and curbs while still having good control (Which I found the stock tire wasn't good for).

I like the new suspension a bit more. I'm a noob still so need to read up on how to actually set it up correctly, but I find with the stock shock you need to have the pressure tuned for comfort and rebound so you might have it harder than you'd like but the dnm shock you can have it softer and use rebound to fine tune the ride. 

 

One issue is the shock I got is the DNM AO-38RC shock (190mm eye to eye 50mm travel) but the stock shock is 190mm eye to eye 40mm travel. I'm not quite sure what effects that will have on the body. 
I did do a lot of stairs and jumps at a pump track and now the trolley handle doesn't pop open so maybe the suspension compressed too much and broke the spring. need to open and have a look.

But if you're getting a shock I think you would want the DNM AOY-38RC shock which is 190mm x 35mm travel.

If you're looking for another shock, the dimensions of the stock shock are:

The air chamber part is 56mm wide by 78mm long, The part above that is 44mm wide and 14mm long.

 

I'm still tinkering with the backplate design. The bridge design between the battery cases works well, just need to fine tune it. 

[mrelwood]

7 hours ago, Eyss said:

But if you're getting a shock I think you would want the DNM AOY-38RC shock which is 190mm x 35mm travel.

I know nothing about bicycle shocks, but just by picturing it in my head… if the suspension mechanism is designed for a shock with 40mm of travel, isn’t there a risk that a 35mm shock would bottom out and break stuff? To me it sounds like the 50mm travel would be the better choice.

[Bizra6ot]

edit, I've been reading quickly cursory that the oem was in 50mm

With the 35mm one correctly tuned there is no risk of bottoming out or breaking but you'll lose 10mm of total travel, with the 50mm one no risk either assuming there is enough room

For a real improvement a good moderate budget mtb shock 190x40 could be the rockshox deluxe ultimate rct, or if you have money ohlins ttx2air

Edited February 20, 2022 by Bizra6ot

[Eyss]

1 hour ago, mrelwood said:

I know nothing about bicycle shocks, but just by picturing it in my head… if the suspension mechanism is designed for a shock with 40mm of travel, isn’t there a risk that a 35mm shock would bottom out and break stuff? To me it sounds like the 50mm travel would be the better choice.

I don't know much either but from opening the hero, the 50mm shock would let the suspension arm move more than what is designed and possibly hit other parts of the frame. 

My trolley handle started working today by itself after riding so I think dirt or something got into it. Not sure. 

I'm also happy with my hero back plates so I've uploaded it to thingiverse. Since I just signed up its locked for 24 hours, but should be available this time tomorrow: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5254739
I'm not really a 3d designer so its basic but does the job. 

[Planemo]

2 hours ago, mrelwood said:

I know nothing about bicycle shocks, but just by picturing it in my head… if the suspension mechanism is designed for a shock with 40mm of travel, isn’t there a risk that a 35mm shock would bottom out and break stuff? To me it sounds like the 50mm travel would be the better choice.

Yeah you really gotta be careful when deviating from the design length. Too short and you could smash the shock to pieces, too long and all sorts of nasty stuff could happen like binding linkages, tyre hitting shell etc. If it were me and I wanted to use a different length, I would remove the shock and cycle the setup be hand to see exactly what margin I have. You may have quite a bit but until you know...you dont know.

Even then, say a 50mm actually works, it doesnt mean that the rate designed  into the linkage between 40 and 50 will be correct, it could do all sorts of weird things like drastically reducing rate which could make the extra 10mm pointless and potentially dangerous if the curve drops off a cliff after 40mm.

[Eyss]

21 hours ago, Planemo said:

Yeah you really gotta be careful when deviating from the design length. Too short and you could smash the shock to pieces, too long and all sorts of nasty stuff could happen like binding linkages, tyre hitting shell etc. If it were me and I wanted to use a different length, I would remove the shock and cycle the setup be hand to see exactly what margin I have. You may have 

Well in the original kuji video of the hero, they are using a dnm shock so it would appear that the hero is designed for either 35 or 50.

Unfortunately the design of the aoy-38rc and ao-38rc look very similar

 

 

 

[Bizra6ot]

23 hours ago, Planemo said:

Yeah you really gotta be careful when deviating from the design length. Too short and you could smash the shock to pieces, too long and all sorts of nasty stuff could happen like binding linkages, tyre hitting shell etc. If it were me and I wanted to use a different length, I would remove the shock and cycle the setup be hand to see exactly what margin I have. You may have quite a bit but until you know...you dont know.

Even then, say a 50mm actually works, it doesnt mean that the rate designed  into the linkage between 40 and 50 will be correct, it could do all sorts of weird things like drastically reducing rate which could make the extra 10mm pointless and potentially dangerous if the curve drops off a cliff after 40mm.

This is true in MTB but only when you change the eye to eye distance which will change the geometry, if eye to eye is the same as the original and only the stroke is changed by a few millimeters assuming no suspension parts come in contact with the frame during full travel there will be no problem only a minimal loss or increase of travel

 

  

54 minutes ago, Eyss said:

Well in the original kuji video of the hero, they are using a dnm shock so it would appear that the hero is designed for either 35 or 50.

Unfortunately the design of the aoy-38rc and ao-38rc look very similar

 

 

 

Alienrides has also replaced the OEM with a DNM in its hero review

Edited February 21, 2022 by Bizra6ot

[Planemo]

2 hours ago, Bizra6ot said:

This is true in MTB but only when you change the eye to eye distance which will change the geometry,

MTB/EUC makes no difference. Linkages are linkages. And eye to eye length will often change depending on the travel of the shock. Some shocks may be designed to run say 65mm and have internal spacers to reduce it down. But far from all do this. In general, the longer the travel the longer the E2E will be.

2 hours ago, Bizra6ot said:

if eye to eye is the same as the original and only the stroke is changed by a few millimeters

People weren't talking a 'few millimetres'. They were talking about 35mm travel Vs a 50m travel.

I only made my post to make people aware of potential issues with changing travel, whether that comes from a change in E2E, the stroke itself or a combination of both.

People are free to do what they wish with that info.

 

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Bizra6ot said:

 

assuming no suspension parts come in contact with the frame during full travel there will be no problem only a minimal loss or increase of travel

 

  

 

 

[Eyss]

Any tips on measuring the shock? 

I tried remeasuring it and I'm getting 195mm eye to eye when extended and 155mm when compressed. So 40mm travel still? 

I kind of assumed it was 190 before but putting a pencil mark through the eyes points to 195mm. 

 

If it is 195x40 then 190x35 would be the better option?

 

 

Edit: for fun I tried finding the shock on Ali express. There's a lot but none that look like it

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Eyss

[EMA]

9 hours ago, Eyss said:

If it is 195x40 then 190x35 would be the better option?

absolutely not, maybe you can use longer travel 195x45 or 195x50 but it's not recommended

[Eyss]

5 hours ago, EMA said:

absolutely not, maybe you can use longer travel 195x45 or 195x50 but it's not recommended

Why's that?

Its just weird that in the original videos Kuji made had a DNM shock, so I'd say its made to have a 190mm shock. Its weird that they would use a different size shock. 

I might design and 3D print a rig to accurately measure the shock and leave it at that. the 190mm eye to eye with 50mm travel hasn't caused any issues yet and I've been trying to abuse it as much as possible (Stairs, pump tracks, curbs) 

 

Here's some photos of the shocks side by side:

 

extended:

 

Compressed (Note the DNM has a spring or something that automatically pushes the arm out again when you try to push it all the way in)

[Eyss]

Trying to measure the stock shock has been a mission. 

You've got to measure the middle of a hole and you're talking about millimeters of play. I designed and printed a simple rig to try and help get the exact centre but I don't fully trust this. 

My best guess measurement is the stock shock is 193mm eye to eye with 43mm travel. the shock does expand a bit so I had to take the compressed measurement while holding it down. 

 

Edit: Apparently my photos don't show. hopefully the one below works:

Edited March 8, 2022 by Eyss

[Eyss]

So I've now reached 1000km on the Hero through a mix of commuting, leisure rides, group rides and off-roading so I figured I'd give some thoughts

This is my 5th wheel, having a IPS Xima Lhotz (500km), Msuper V3s+ (4000km), Sherman (7500km) and Mten3 (100km) before.

I have purchased the Hero to be my 'fun ' wheel, doing off-roading, racing and in general pushing myself to be a better rider (Stairs, Jumps)

Problems: I haven't had any major issues. Everything still works as well as day 1 including the suspension.

Durability: It hasn't rained since I got the Hero so this 1000km was entirely dry. 

I accidently dropped it off a 1 meter ledge and stacked it hard on the trails. The case isn't on properly but I think I just need to take the case off and realign it. 

Suspension: I panicked when watching reviews and purchased a new shock before I even got my hero. So I rode 250km on the stock suspension and the rest on a DNM AO-38RC shock since I had it. I wouldn't say its a essential upgrade but nice to have. Bonus is its pretty easy to swap the shock out and when I get bored I'll play around with some more shocks. 

The suspension works very well in taking small and medium bumps out. You can completely forget how bad a path is and I found I was going a lot faster than I would on my Sherman because I just had complete confidence in the suspension.
it does not seem as good at neutralizing large bumps, but still a lot better than no suspension.

Range: I had huge range anxiety coming from a  Sherman, and the many comments about how 1800wh is too small. I was worried about doing 20km round trips. But I can comfortably get 70km range with my style of riding and its rare than I would do more than that. 

Tire: I didn't mind the stock tire, but once again I panicked and purchased a Kenda 262 and swapped it out at 250km. I'm not sure if its because I did 7000km on a Kenda 262 on my Sherman, or if the tire is actually better, but I much prefer the Kenda over the CST. Its a rounder profile so its a bit more nimble, and you can put more PSI in it without it feeling off.

I found with the CST you had to have a particular PSI in the tire otherwise it would behave awfully on the road. 

Pads: The stock pads were far too narrow for me and I hate them. Swapped them out at 50km. I'm also annoyed at the gap across the batteries as it makes it harder to fit custom pads on, but that was a simple fix to 3D print a bridge. 

I am using these jumps pads (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5112744) and they are amazing, and allow you to fully utilize the power of the hero.

Lights: Lights are good up to 25kph, otherwise you'll want additional lighting. I'm a bit annoyed that the RS has better lights.

Also, the automatic lights are gimmicky and pointless. Maybe having the sensor turn both lights off and on but doing one at a time is stupid. 

The daytime running light is very nice but I wish they were brighter. 

Motor: I'm really enjoying my first high torque wheel. I find myself doubting the wheel sometimes but as I do more trails I'm getting more confident in the motor. 

Pedals: I already run these pedals on my Sherman so I already knew I would like them. They're big, grippy and being able to adjust the tilt on them is great. 

Seat: For me at 180cm tall, I would like the seat to be higher but it is a nice seat. 

Weight: coming from a Sherman I didn't really notice the weight. There's 2 points you can lift the hero up like a Sherman so its fairly easy to lift and move about. 

Kickstand: I love the kickstand and want one for every one of my wheels now. I like taking photos of my wheels on my trips and the Hero has allowed me to get some stunning shots that I wouldn't be able to otherwise. 

Would I buy it again? Its a awesome wheel and it is exactly what I imagined it to be when I first saw the announcement video with Kuji riding it. 

But being overshadowed by the S20 and Master, Begode have stopped production of it. This in turn means spare parts might be hard to get and as a off-roading wheel, I imagine I will break parts and they'll need to be replaced. Some parts are interchangeable like the controller, motor, batteries but other parts that are unique I don't think I could find a replacement for i.e. the display, plastic case.

So as much as I love it, I wouldn't buy it again. 

What would I buy instead? Right now I'd get a RST. If I was waiting a while I would wait until the honey moon period is over on the S20, Master and V13 and see which one (if any) would suit me best. 

 

If I've missed anything just ask! 

[RagingGrandpa]

16 hours ago, Tawpie said:

KellyC and Shibby_time took a hero out on the jump line and trails, they had already changed the shock though so it's not stock. I'd summarize it as: great in the city, but lock out the suspension for the jumps (only possible because they changed the shock, and speaks more to the shock than the wheel as a whole). It has RS torque. It's kind of noisy too.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by RagingGrandpa

[FrenchUsa]

I was die hard for S20 and after few review of disappointment vs marketing back August 2021. I decided cancel my order and get Hero HS, and it is coming in next few days. I hear so much about Master replacing Hero, but to me that Hero is same level that S20 but faster lol

Now for some of you may not know, we have video of S20 catch in fire at NY demo. Happy, I pull my order out!

My story can be follow bellow 

USA channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/FrenchUsaEUC

French channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGeTYYYELvSqPF0Z0Is6eJQ

[Rawnei]

Hero Frame seems to be a bit fragile in the back 😓 https://www.facebook.com/groups/ElectricUnicycle/permalink/4965101573587766/

Hopefully just a bad example/batch.

[Freeforester]

Looks like a grade 2 Chinesium casting. QC - In this case, Questionable Casting?

[FrenchUsa]

I have feeling that Hero is going to be sold out since S20 fire.

 

 

[FrenchUsa]

Today got Hero HS, going to make video soon about it, I am just amazed by the wheel!

 

[Nick McCutcheon]

1 hour ago, FrenchUsa said:

Today got Hero HS, going to make video soon about it, I am just amazed by the wheel!

 

Awesome! Congrats on the new wheel. I'm curious, did it come stock with the silver pedals, or did you install them yourself?