525rider Posted May 29, 2015 Share Posted May 29, 2015 Hi all, a newbie here.So about a week ago I saw the first electric unicycle in the news and since then I've been searching, honestly, I am more confused now then I was at the beginning.I am about 100 kg 6'3" 61years but in pretty good shape (skate and ride dirtbike) I am looking for one that would be good for commuting, little off road and all around fun, but obviously no tricks, decent power and speed and maybe 30km range budget around $1000. So far I narrowed it down to : Ninebot E+, F wheel D5 and Firewheel 526. I've read all reviews I was able to find but it looks like some of them don't say what model or year. Some of them are from riders on quite different level. Reliability and after sales support and parts is also important .I will greatly appreciate any help.Thanks Frank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I am 59 years old, 95Kg and have been well and truly hooked by the unicycling bug.I have started on a cheap Chinese import which I have since given away, then progressed to IPS132 16" wheel which is great for hill climbing and with a 260Wh battery good for about 20km but a little slow at 16 kph before pedal tilt and possibly another 2kph on top before failure.I now have some Gotways, an 18" wheel M18 high torque version with an 850Wh battery two 10" wheel M10v2 with 340Wh batteries and a 14 " wheel MCMV2S with a 640Wh battery.I would say with your weight and range requirements you will need at least a 640Wh battery and if you want easy rough surface riding the 18 " wheel will be best for you but if you could up your budget just a little I would always recommend the biggest battery possible as no euc is nice to ride when the battery is low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmethvin Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I have the Firewheel F260 and it broke after 2 days. The company has been supportive and sent repair parts, but I put them in myself. I absolutely love the ride of this wheel but the build quality is not good at all. I'd take it off your list unless you want a second hobby of electric unicycle repair.Like @Gimlet I seem to be starting a collection. When the Firewheel is broken I ride my 14-inch which is the first one I bought. This is my "beater wheel" and I also bring it out when people want to try learning. I actually think a 14-inch is a little easier to learn on, they can be pretty inexpensive, and the only problem I've had with this one is a flat tire. You might want to consider a cheap wheel to start, it won't meet your max speed but honestly very few will other than the Gotways.Since your profile says you're in Seattle, don't forget about your hometown company of Inventist. I learned about electric unicycles when I was on a trip to Seattle last year and a guy rolled up with a Solowheel while I was waiting for the bus. At the very least it's worth dropping by and giving them a try, solowheelseattle.com says you can set up an appointment for a test drive. The original Solowheel is pretty sedate, but the new Extreme seems like it might be worth a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Trouble is the Solowheel is way out of his $1000 price range dmethvin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Ingram Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Ninebot, I'm 100kg at the age of 43. Does everything i need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
525rider Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 I really like the Firewheel, the design and the specs, but I hear too many problems with them, do they still persist or have they fixed some?Ninebots have pretty good reviews on Amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
525rider Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Who sells Firewheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmethvin Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 @525rider I don't think they have fixed all the Firewheel problems. I've only been riding on my new circuit board and battery for two days, they definitely did some redesign on the board but i don't know about the battery. The other problems with waterproofing would require better battery covers, gaskets, or maybe even changes to the case design. I don't think any of that has been done, my Firewheel is only two months old. For my Firewheel, vee73 gave me the email of a rep in China and I used PayPal to make the payment. The F260 was $763 with shipping to Maryland. @Gimlet, I know Solowheel is probably too expensive but if I didn't have a wheel and there was a showroom near me offering free test rides I would definitely drop by! Who knows, maybe they have a hometown discount or something since there's no shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 isn't the IPS132 a 14'' model?^1 I find it a little difficult to navigate the IGS model identifiers, as there often seem to be different identifiers for the same models in use. ^1 http://www.ipselectricunicycle.com/bbx/222147-222147.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 @dmethvin and @Nikolaus Hansen nice to see you guys use this new tagging function. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 @Nikolaus no the IPS132 is a 16" wheel with a 260Wh battery and a claimed 800W motor with a 1300W peak output.It climbs really well even with my weight on it but suffers from a slightly low 16 kph pedal tilt speed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 interesting, the specifications seem to fit my ideas pretty well, can you link me to a picture/description? Is it shown at http://www.ipselectricunicycle.com/bbx/222147-222147.html under a different name? EDIT: Is it that IPS changed names, and the successor of the 132 (i.e. 16" 260Wh model) is the 122? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I'm no expert on IPS I got mine from Jason McNeil at Wheelgo.http://www.wheelgo.com/shop/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Thanks, that helps, it looks exactly like the 131 on the IPS page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 I think the batteries might be different. Ask Jason McNeil, he's a member here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 @Nikolaus Hansen, the 121/122 is quite a different animal—in fact, we just received a consignment of these last week. If you have lots of hills, then the 121 is a good candidate, during testing on a 30m sloop at 20° yesterday, it proved to be about 40% better at climbing than the 132. Aesthetically, it looks more ungainly & weighs 1.5kg more (12kg vs. 13.5kg). Speed is roughly the same, about 18kph until the audible notification & another ~2kph until the pedal tilt-back angle prevents you from pushing it any more. Riding on a relatively flat course, the range on the 121 has been GPS verified to about 17miles, as opposed to 13 miles on the 132. It seems that as the motor windings have been setup for torque, you need to be slightly more careful with acceleration than the 132, as the motor can cut-out if it is pushed hard while accelerating—still much better than any of the Airwheels, but less than the 132. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Another point I forgot to mention, is the build quality of the 121 is second to none: take a look at the control-board housing that is is used to protect it from contamination, no other manufacturer has done anything like this. Also it's the first, & as far as I'm aware, only Wheel with 12 MOSFETs (these provide the motor with power). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mono Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 @Jason McNeil, thanks for the detailed infos! FYI, some of my confusion came from the different identifiers for apparently the same wheel: 131 herehttp://www.ipselectricunicycle.com/bbx/222147-222147.htmlis called 132 herehttp://www.wheelgo.com/shop/Because 132 is a different wheel herehttp://www.ipselectricunicycle.com/bbx/222147-222147.htmlit's not so easy to follow what you guys are referring to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 Difference between the 131 & 132 is the type of Sony cells used in both units. The 132 have slightly more powerful cells, the V3s, with better lifespan characteristics, while the 131 have a higher initial rated capacity, the NC1s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
525rider Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 @525rider I don't think they have fixed all the Firewheel problems. I've only been riding on my new circuit board and battery for two days, they definitely did some redesign on the board but i don't know about the battery. The other problems with waterproofing would require better battery covers, gaskets, or maybe even changes to the case design. I don't think any of that has been done, my Firewheel is only two months old. For my Firewheel, vee73 gave me the email of a rep in China and I used PayPal to make the payment. The F260 was $763 with shipping to Maryland. @Gimlet, I know Solowheel is probably too expensive but if I didn't have a wheel and there was a showroom near me offering free test rides I would definitely drop by! Who knows, maybe they have a hometown discount or something since there's no shipping.Thanks, the test ride is free only if you guy the wheel, otherwise it costs $100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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