Disappointed with overall 18XL longevity

[tudordewolf]

I purchased an 18XL from ewheels less than a year ago, and have put just under 2000 miles on it in that time. Compared to the Msuper I had before, it initially felt like a more solidly designed and higher quality wheel, buts it's revealed a number of weaknesses. The pedals were hard to move right off the bat, and I eventually discovered a small stone jammed into one, seemingly out of the box. Now they're substantially looser; the retention mechanism grinds away at the pedal hangers. Gotway's magnet-based solution never gave me any issues in 4+ years of riding.

Now the handle has broken on one side, also leaving me without an easy way to pick up the wheel. The trolley handle eventually broke on the Msuper, too, but it still had the solid handle molded into the case.

I live on the second floor and commute to work, so the handle should be able to lift the wheel and also be extended & collapsed twice a day. It lasted less than a year.

 

I had to replace the motor rim and discovered what a process that is on this wheel - unplugging the motor wires and bending/forcing them through a hole that forces them to bend at sharp angles. I wouldn't be confident doing this process more than once, I don't see how they expect the users to get multiple tire changes done over the course of the wheels life. My previous wheel went through 4 tires over the course of its life.

Overall, it doesn't feel like a wheel intended to last more than a year, which is disappointing from a $2000+ product.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by tudordewolf

[Scubadragonsan]

I have some issues with KS18XL also. It's trolley handle that triggers the wheel from spinning when being picked up is hard to adjust. The sensor doesn't seem to be well-made. I mentioned this in KingSong website and the response was "buy a new one." If there is a problem with design, buying a new one would not solve the problem. Yes, I had debris stuck in the pedals too. But overall, my 4 KingSong wheels seems to perform well. As wheels are getting heavier and faster, KingSong seems to have fallen behind Inmotion and Gotway. My next will won't be the KS22, but maybe the InMotion V13 or Veteran Sherman S. 

Edited February 2, 2023 by Scubadragonsan

[tudordewolf]

2 minutes ago, Scubadragonsan said:

I have some issues with KS18XL also. It's trolley handle that triggers the wheel from spinning when being picked up is hard to adjust. The sensor doesn't seem to be well-made. I mentioned this in KingSong website and the response was "buy a new one." If there is a problem with design, buying a new one would not solve the problem. But overall, my 4 KingSong wheels seems to perform well. As wheels are getting heavier and faster, KingSong seems to have fallen behind Inmotion and Gotway. My next will won't be the KS22, but maybe the InMotion V13 or Veteran Sherman S. 

 

I disabled the anti-spin within the first week and never looked back. It was completely useless in the only situation I'd actually benefit from it, which is briefly dismounting to lift the wheel over a curb, but there's too much lag to both disabling the spin and re-enabling it, so my experience was: Pick wheel up and it begins overspeeding, set it back down with a screech, then attempt to re-mount it and faceplant at a standatill as the cutoff finally engages. It literally made the wheel perform the wrong behavior 100% of the time.

As for wheels getting bigger & heavier, I have no interest in something I can't pick up like a suitcase. 75lb+wheels with 3kwh batteries defeat the point for me of having an electric unicycle, which is to be more compact and portable than any other mode of transportation. I know there's enthusiasts that will always want a bigger, faster wheel, but to me, the ideal wheel should be somewhere in the 1-2kwh range and ideally under 50lb.