Begode Extreme Review: Off-Road Thrills & Durability Insights

[Vince.Fab]

700km review

Weird number to make a post at right? Well, my Extreme has suffered a catastrophic structural failure.  Let's talk about it and the events that lead up to it.  

 

So I bought a Begode Extreme from EucDeals for $2300 and received it on September 21st.    The reasoning behind not going through Ewheels was that I wanted 50e batteries and a slightly lower un front cost.  The wheel did not have any issues to start with and functioned fine.   

 

I am a heavier rider (about 260lb geared up) and this wheel's main use was for trail riding.  After about 100 miles the stock shock started leaking oil and even with 300psi, did not offer enough bottom out support.  It was then that I designed and machined my own progressive suspension links.  This new setup worked flawlessly over the stock setup and I proceeded to jump, drop and trail ride very aggressively.  

 

Next my pedals started to bend and the pedal rods were also bending.  No problem, bought some Titanium 6al4v rod and made a custom set that was stronger.  I liked the stock pads and rode with them until the internal plastic inside cracked and they started rubbing the tire.  Replaced with Clark pads from my Rst.  

 

After that, I decided to switch to a Shinko 241 tire which imo was leaps and bounds over the stock knobby.  The 241 was also 1/4 wider which did stress clearances with the battery boxes and pads, no problem, made spacers.  The next ride I took with the 241 was testing some big drops/jump line and resulted in the tire sidewall being cut by the battery box lower mounts.  No problem, bought a couple more Shinko 241s and ground a radius in the mounts to prevent further cutting.  Also designed and prototyped a billet lower profile mount for the future. 

 

Then I smashed my finger pretty good when using the rear light/speaker as a handle, seriously thought it was broken for a min.  No problem, designed and machined a set of extended rear grab mounts.  

 

On my second to last trail ride, I managed to hit a tall sharp rock which dented and cracked the rim by the valve stem.  Crack didn't look too bad and there wasn't a noticeable wobble so I kept riding on it.

 

Now on my last trail ride with the Extreme, about 3/4 of a mile in, the wheel starts to make questionable noises then the motor starts to just buck back and forth on its own.  This time, both motor mounts sheared right off of the sliders.   I powered off the wheel and rolled it back to the car so that I could make sure the motor cable wasn't damaged.   That night I disassembled the wheel and was utterly disappointed at the lack of strength designed into the stock motor mount.   

 

The motor mounts on the Master, T4 and EX30 are very different and are much stronger.  On the Extreme, to gain the extra travel and maximize ground clearance, the mounts were machined to clear the pedal hanger mounts.  The thickest part is about 0.250" and the middle thinnest part is about 0.075".  To think that this wheel can do 50mph but relies on very small amount of aluminum (just ripped apart) is just plain unsafe.  The fact that the motor mount, the ONLY things that actually connect the motor to the suspension, are the thinnest parts of aluminum on the entire damn thing just blows my mind.   

 

I did contact EucDeals the night it happened and within two days they had communicated with Begode and cleared a warranty replacement of the sliders.  Customer service was on point and they already have an order in for the parts and will be shipped free.  Only bad thing, im looking at a 4-5 week wait time, so that's the rest of the riding season for the year done.   The engineers at Begode concluded that from the photos, that my motor bolts has loosened and caused the mounts to break off.  Keep in mind that when I dissembled it after the failure, they were in fact still tight.  

 

I love this wheel but the motor mounts are a fool me once type of thing.  Its the most powerful, fastest and most capable wheel I've ever been on.  My third Begode but after this incident, likely my last.   

 

**edit - maybe I spoke too soon about last Begode.  If the new 20" 168v can bump the TQ up by 30% over the Extreme and if the mounts are fixed ide reconsider**

 

https://youtu.be/Nj5y2I1a6FA?si=229hTWH_WRXawfiF

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/GotVhbn65JU?si=FxYOI6noc4uwjMj2

 

 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Vince.Fab

[chopsywa]

Your machining is a thing of beauty.

 

[Julianjc84]

Absolutely l agree, They chopped away the lower stanchion support, to raise the pedal and increase suspension travel...

To design a upgrade part will be tricky and interesting to know what begode or you/3rd party design.

I agree a replacement part will just fail again the same And ways be in the back of my mind.

Like to see what it looks like with the pedal hanger removed.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Julianjc84

[jugon666]

4 hours ago, Vince.Fab said:

700km review

Weird number to make a post at right? Well, my Extreme has suffered a catastrophic structural failure.  Let's talk about it and the events that lead up to it.  

 

So I bought a Begode Extreme from EucDeals for $2300 and received it on September 21st.    The reasoning behind not going through Ewheels was that I wanted 50e batteries and a slightly lower un front cost.  The wheel did not have any issues to start with and functioned fine.   

 

I am a heavier rider (about 260lb geared up) and this wheel's main use was for trail riding.  After about 100 miles the stock shock started leaking oil and even with 300psi, did not offer enough bottom out support.  It was then that I designed and machined my own progressive suspension links.  This new setup worked flawlessly over the stock setup and I proceeded to jump, drop and trail ride very aggressively.  

 

Next my pedals started to bend and the pedal rods were also bending.  No problem, bought some Titanium 6al4v rod and made a custom set that was stronger.  I liked the stock pads and rode with them until the internal plastic inside cracked and they started rubbing the tire.  Replaced with Clark pads from my Rst.  

 

After that, I decided to switch to a Shinko 241 tire which imo was leaps and bounds over the stock knobby.  The 241 was also 1/4 wider which did stress clearances with the battery boxes and pads, no problem, made spacers.  The next ride I took with the 241 was testing some big drops/jump line and resulted in the tire sidewall being cut by the battery box lower mounts.  No problem, bought a couple more Shinko 241s and ground a radius in the mounts to prevent further cutting.  Also designed and prototyped a billet lower profile mount for the future. 

 

Then I smashed my finger pretty good when using the rear light/speaker as a handle, seriously thought it was broken for a min.  No problem, designed and machined a set of extended rear grab mounts.  

 

On my second to last trail ride, I managed to hit a tall sharp rock which dented and cracked the rim by the valve stem.  Crack didn't look too bad and there wasn't a noticeable wobble so I kept riding on it.

 

Now on my last trail ride with the Extreme, about 3/4 of a mile in, the wheel starts to make questionable noises then the motor starts to just buck back and forth on its own.  This time, both motor mounts sheared right off of the sliders.   I powered off the wheel and rolled it back to the car so that I could make sure the motor cable wasn't damaged.   That night I disassembled the wheel and was utterly disappointed at the lack of strength designed into the stock motor mount.   

 

The motor mounts on the Master, T4 and EX30 are very different and are much stronger.  On the Extreme, to gain the extra travel and maximize ground clearance, the mounts were machined to clear the pedal hanger mounts.  The thickest part is about 0.250" and the middle thinnest part is about 0.075".  To think that this wheel can do 50mph but relies on very small amount of aluminum (just ripped apart) is just plain unsafe.  The fact that the motor mount, the ONLY things that actually connect the motor to the suspension, are the thinnest parts of aluminum on the entire damn thing just blows my mind.   

 

I did contact EucDeals the night it happened and within two days they had communicated with Begode and cleared a warranty replacement of the sliders.  Customer service was on point and they already have an order in for the parts and will be shipped free.  Only bad thing, im looking at a 4-5 week wait time, so that's the rest of the riding season for the year done.   The engineers at Begode concluded that from the photos, that my motor bolts has loosened and caused the mounts to break off.  Keep in mind that when I dissembled it after the failure, they were in fact still tight.  

 

I love this wheel but the motor mounts are a fool me once type of thing.  Its the most powerful, fastest and most capable wheel I've ever been on.  My third Begode but after this incident, likely my last.   

 

https://youtu.be/Nj5y2I1a6FA?si=229hTWH_WRXawfiF

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/GotVhbn65JU?si=FxYOI6noc4uwjMj2

 

 

 

I suppose some people have tried begodes XD

[EMA]

so this is the lower part of the pillar where the motor is attached ?

do the Extreme has a rubber ring between pillars and pedal hangers like the other wheels ?

Edited November 10, 2023 by EMA

[Julianjc84]

2 hours ago, EMA said:

so this is the lower part of the pillar where the motor is attached ?

do the Extreme has a rubber ring between pillars and pedal hangers like the other wheels ?

I don't have a extreme but from images I have seen this.

[FarkyJ]

uff those mounts look really bad for this kind of power...they really need to fix this...its dangerous...

[timmytool]

The only viable diy option I see requires the motor spacers "space" as extra structural material, making tyre changes significantly harder. But thats better then the motor mounts being a consumable.

The other option is begode make a wider controller box so the stanchion tubes are XXmm further apart giving more room for structure and more room for wider knobbies......

Edited November 11, 2023 by timmytool
Not wider stanchions but more space between them.

[ORDO NOVUS]

First of all

1)What calculation you have done, before and after applying your custom links? Are you sure that there are no dead points where load exceeds common sense and metal strength ?

2) Do you realize that 16 inch wheel is not made for peopple of your weight? more than that for jumps of heavy riders

3) If you plan to use wheel in really extreme cases, you and only you are responsible for your life and verify and prepare wheel for such cases.

 

from what i see, you have done zero calculations and just raped this wheel, using custom unverified links blaming manufacturer.

 

everyone can do 4 simple pieces to enforce upper screw niche, so if you dont use custom untested stuff and your weight is okay 70-90 kg, probability of such thing is pretty low.

[Vince.Fab]

44 minutes ago, ORDO NOVUS said:

First of all

1)What calculation you have done, before and after applying your custom links? Are you sure that there are no dead points where load exceeds common sense and metal strength ?

2) Do you realize that 16 inch wheel is not made for peopple of your weight? more than that for jumps of heavy riders

3) If you plan to use wheel in really extreme cases, you and only you are responsible for your life and verify and prepare wheel for such cases.

 

from what i see, you have done zero calculations and just raped this wheel, using custom unverified links blaming manufacturer.

 

everyone can do 4 simple pieces to enforce upper screw niche, so if you dont use custom untested stuff and your weight is okay 70-90 kg, probability of such thing is pretty low.

Suspension did not cause this failure.  As far as loading is concerned, I'm not bending shock pins like some other people so that's not a problem.  This wheel is being advertised as being able to hold a 290lb person. 

Anyone with common sense will see that a slider assembly with such thin motor mounts is a design problem.   I have attached photos of the master and ex30, look at the difference. 

I'm a Master Fabricator and Machinist by trade and have worked with metal professionally for 25 years.  I know what I'm doing.  

 

Not sure what you are talking about with "reinforcing" upper screws.  Bolting on additional pieces will not change the strength of what broke, the bolts didn't shear or break.  There isn't even any room on the lower mount to add anything.   Please do some research before coming in here and just trying to shift the blame.   Your post did make me laugh though, so at least there's that.  

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by Vince.Fab

[ORDO NOVUS]

32 minutes ago, Vince.Fab said:

Suspension did not cause this failure.  As far as loading is concerned, I'm not bending shock pins like some other people so that's not a problem.  This wheel is being advertised as being able to hold a 290lb person. 

Anyone with common sense will see that a slider assembly with such thin motor mounts is a design problem.   I have attached photos of the master and ex30, look at the difference. 

I'm a Master Fabricator and Machinist by trade and have worked with metal professionally for 25 years.  I know what I'm doing.  

 

Not sure what you are talking about with "reinforcing" upper screws.  Bolting on additional pieces will not change the strength of what broke, the bolts didn't shear or break.  There isn't even any room on the lower mount to add anything.   Please do some research before coming in here and just trying to shift the blame.   Your post did make me laugh though, so at least there's that.  

 

advertised  to ride through park with ice-cream, having 290lbs or jumping till the rim bends with same weight? feel the difference.

 

Not so long ago, Radium and Coca-cola with cocaine was advertised too, why dont you try everything that is advertised?

 

"Bolting on additional pieces will not change the strength of what broke" - it will distribute load more uniformly, restricting from bending

 

"I'm a Master Fabricator and Machinist by trade and have worked with metal professionally for 25 years." - cool story bro, you didnt respond - how did u checked whether load is uniform in all points of suspension travel in your custom stuff. what equipment did u use to check this?

Edited November 11, 2023 by ORDO NOVUS

[Vince.Fab]

6 hours ago, timmytool said:

The only viable diy option I see requires the motor spacers "space" as extra structural material, making tyre changes significantly harder. But thats better then the motor mounts being a consumable.

The other option is begode make a wider controller box so the stanchion tubes are XXmm further apart giving more room for structure and more room for wider knobbies......

You are on the right track.  The third option is to separate the motor mount, make it out of a stronger material, and bolt it onto the bottom of the slider just like the top bridge is bolted on.    Making the controller box wider is probably the best bet and I've been designing my own wider billet replacement.  Even 1/4 wider overall would make a huge difference and allow for thicker mounts, more tire clearance and still use the removeable spacers so that the wheel is easily removable.  

[Vince.Fab]

14 minutes ago, ORDO NOVUS said:

advertised  to ride through park with ice-cream, having 290lbs or jumping till the rim bends with same weight? feel the difference.

 

Not so long ago, Radium and Coca-cola with cocaine was advertised too, why dont you try everything that is advertised?

 

"Bolting on additional pieces will not change the strength of what broke" - it will distribute load more uniformly, restricting from bending

 

"I'm a Master Fabricator and Machinist by trade and have worked with metal professionally for 25 years." - cool story bro, you didnt respond - how did u checked whether load is uniform in all points of suspension travel in your custom stuff. what equipment did u use to check this?

I don't think you understand the failure.  There is no way that the suspension can put any type of load on the motor mounts unless it means you are bottoming out the travel excessively or binding the coil, both of those happen with the stock suspension.  There is no room to add anything that would "help distribute the load", and if you owned an Extreme, you would see that.  

Also the rim bend and cracked from hitting a rock, ide call that user error and will own up to that.  Do i think it should have cracked, no, but there are also already a few other riders that have cracked their rims as well.   

[Vince.Fab]

On 11/10/2023 at 3:37 AM, EMA said:

so this is the lower part of the pillar where the motor is attached ?

do the Extreme has a rubber ring between pillars and pedal hangers like the other wheels ?

Yup, lower part of the slider where the motor attaches.  The Extreme does have lower bumpers that stop hard topping out.

[ORDO NOVUS]

1 minute ago, Vince.Fab said:

I don't think you understand the failure.  There is no way that the suspension can put any type of load on the motor mounts unless it means you are bottoming out the travel excessively or binding the coil, both of those happen with the stock suspension.  There is no room to add anything that would "help distribute the load", and if you owned an Extreme, you would see that.  

Also the rim bend and cracked from hitting a rock, ide call that user error and will own up to that.  Do i think it should have cracked, no, but there are also already a few other riders that have cracked their rims as well.   

First of all, your spacers could increase  transversal indie-out load, that is confirmed by bending of right piece of metal FROM inside - to the outer side

then look at the picture - there is enough  place to insert additional part while using screws with low profile head, and this will make force distribution more uniform

[ORDO NOVUS]

TL;DR

step 1) Put extra spacers to install tire that is wider than normal, that spacers disrupt geometry and normal suspension work

step 2) Do some trails, drops, jumps having 120kg and break the wheel doing this

step 3) Blame begode and say that you are 25 years metal super pro

Success!

[onkeldanuel]

33 minutes ago, ORDO NOVUS said:

step 1) Put extra spacers to install tire that is wider than normal, that spacers disrupt geometry and normal suspension work

Moment, were there extra spacers installed into this wheel to widen up the clearance between batteryboxes to put shinko 241 in? Or i misunderstand?

[ORDO NOVUS]

1 hour ago, onkeldanuel said:

Moment, were there extra spacers installed into this wheel to widen up the clearance between batteryboxes to put shinko 241 in? Or i misunderstand?

 

After that, I decided to switch to a Shinko 241 tire which imo was leaps and bounds over the stock knobby.  The 241 was also 1/4 wider which did stress clearances with the battery boxes and pads, no problem, made spacers.  The next ride I took with the 241 was testing some big drops/jump line and resulted in the tire sidewall being cut by the battery box lower mounts.  No problem, bought a couple more Shinko 241s and ground a radius in the mounts to prevent further cutting.  Also designed and prototyped a billet lower profile mount for the future. 

 

here is his quote, but i guess that after i pointed on this thing, we will never now the real truth.

[onkeldanuel]

19 minutes ago, ORDO NOVUS said:

 

After that, I decided to switch to a Shinko 241 tire which imo was leaps and bounds over the stock knobby.  The 241 was also 1/4 wider which did stress clearances with the battery boxes and pads, no problem, made spacers.  The next ride I took with the 241 was testing some big drops/jump line and resulted in the tire sidewall being cut by the battery box lower mounts.  No problem, bought a couple more Shinko 241s and ground a radius in the mounts to prevent further cutting.  Also designed and prototyped a billet lower profile mount for the future. 

 

here is his quote, but i guess that after i pointed on this thing, we will never now the real truth.

But the spacers are only for the batterieboxes i thought (but that wont help tho because it would still rub on the sliderassembly or lower batteryholders if thats the case) and not for the whole Slider/Motormounts-assembly to move outwards , no? 

But if so it would be no miracle that the Motormounts sheared off / broke all together...

Still doubt that , then like on your picture above all would be misaligned 

Edited November 11, 2023 by onkeldanuel

[Robse]

On 11/10/2023 at 4:49 AM, Vince.Fab said:

700km review

Weird number to make a post at right? Well, my Extreme has suffered a catastrophic structural failure.  Let's talk about it and the events that lead up to it.  

 

So I bought a Begode Extreme from EucDeals for $2300 and received it on September 21st.    The reasoning behind not going through Ewheels was that I wanted 50e batteries and a slightly lower un front cost.  The wheel did not have any issues to start with and functioned fine.   

 

I am a heavier rider (about 260lb geared up) and this wheel's main use was for trail riding.  After about 100 miles the stock shock started leaking oil and even with 300psi, did not offer enough bottom out support.  It was then that I designed and machined my own progressive suspension links.  This new setup worked flawlessly over the stock setup and I proceeded to jump, drop and trail ride very aggressively.  

 

Next my pedals started to bend and the pedal rods were also bending.  No problem, bought some Titanium 6al4v rod and made a custom set that was stronger.  I liked the stock pads and rode with them until the internal plastic inside cracked and they started rubbing the tire.  Replaced with Clark pads from my Rst.  

 

After that, I decided to switch to a Shinko 241 tire which imo was leaps and bounds over the stock knobby.  The 241 was also 1/4 wider which did stress clearances with the battery boxes and pads, no problem, made spacers.  The next ride I took with the 241 was testing some big drops/jump line and resulted in the tire sidewall being cut by the battery box lower mounts.  No problem, bought a couple more Shinko 241s and ground a radius in the mounts to prevent further cutting.  Also designed and prototyped a billet lower profile mount for the future. 

 

Then I smashed my finger pretty good when using the rear light/speaker as a handle, seriously thought it was broken for a min.  No problem, designed and machined a set of extended rear grab mounts.  

 

On my second to last trail ride, I managed to hit a tall sharp rock which dented and cracked the rim by the valve stem.  Crack didn't look too bad and there wasn't a noticeable wobble so I kept riding on it.

 

Now on my last trail ride with the Extreme, about 3/4 of a mile in, the wheel starts to make questionable noises then the motor starts to just buck back and forth on its own.  This time, both motor mounts sheared right off of the sliders.   I powered off the wheel and rolled it back to the car so that I could make sure the motor cable wasn't damaged.   That night I disassembled the wheel and was utterly disappointed at the lack of strength designed into the stock motor mount.   

 

The motor mounts on the Master, T4 and EX30 are very different and are much stronger.  On the Extreme, to gain the extra travel and maximize ground clearance, the mounts were machined to clear the pedal hanger mounts.  The thickest part is about 0.250" and the middle thinnest part is about 0.075".  To think that this wheel can do 50mph but relies on very small amount of aluminum (just ripped apart) is just plain unsafe.  The fact that the motor mount, the ONLY things that actually connect the motor to the suspension, are the thinnest parts of aluminum on the entire damn thing just blows my mind.   

 

I did contact EucDeals the night it happened and within two days they had communicated with Begode and cleared a warranty replacement of the sliders.  Customer service was on point and they already have an order in for the parts and will be shipped free.  Only bad thing, im looking at a 4-5 week wait time, so that's the rest of the riding season for the year done.   The engineers at Begode concluded that from the photos, that my motor bolts has loosened and caused the mounts to break off.  Keep in mind that when I dissembled it after the failure, they were in fact still tight.  

 

I love this wheel but the motor mounts are a fool me once type of thing.  Its the most powerful, fastest and most capable wheel I've ever been on.  My third Begode but after this incident, likely my last.   

 

https://youtu.be/Nj5y2I1a6FA?si=229hTWH_WRXawfiF

 

https://youtube.com/shorts/GotVhbn65JU?si=FxYOI6noc4uwjMj2

 

 

I love your carefree happy way of facing challenges "no problem" over and over, right up until….

[ORDO NOVUS]

1 hour ago, onkeldanuel said:

But the spacers are only for the batterieboxes i thought (but that wont help tho because it would still rub on the sliderassembly or lower batteryholders if thats the case) and not for the whole Slider/Motormounts-assembly to move outwards , no? 

But if so it would be no miracle that the Motormounts sheared off / broke all together...

Still doubt that , then like on your picture above all would be misaligned 

i ve got screen with screw places from unboxing of toronto guys and now compare it with the stuff of topicstarter, looks like overtightening or some other stuff that is done wrong

[Vince.Fab]

Just to clarify, the spacers are only for the batteries and have no effect on the frame, suspension, or sliders.  The 241 is about 1/4 wider than the stock tire.   The stock pads go to the back of the battery boxes and I have attached a photo of the clearance without a spacers.  I wanted the stock clearances between my battery boxes and pads to the new tire so I choose to install them.

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by Vince.Fab

[Vince.Fab]

40 minutes ago, ORDO NOVUS said:

i ve got screen with screw places from unboxing of toronto guys and now compare it with the stuff of topicstarter, looks like overtightening or some other stuff that is done wrong

The difference between the two is that one is brand new, the other has had three tire changes and was being rode when both axle mounts broke.  

The axle mount gets bolted to the wheel with the stock spacer in between, flat to flat.  If I had overtorqed the bolts, can you explain to the rest of us how this would cause the upper section of the mount to break.  This failure is not like the Patton, completely different mount design btw.  I would like to add that all the axle bolts are still straight and look fine. 

 

[Vince.Fab]

1 hour ago, Robse said:

I love your carefree happy way of facing challenges "no problem" over and over, right up until….

Just like racing a car, push it till something breaks, build it stronger then find the next weakest link!

 

 

[ORDO NOVUS]

3 hours ago, Vince.Fab said:

Just to clarify, the spacers are only for the batteries and have no effect on the frame, suspension, or sliders.  The 241 is about 1/4 wider than the stock tire.   The stock pads go to the back of the battery boxes and I have attached a photo of the clearance without a spacers.  I wanted the stock clearances between my battery boxes and pads to the new tire so I choose to install them.

 

ok, so you add spacers only at the bottom of all for battery boxes? or only at the top of the boxes?

 

also "Mr. 25 years metal master", you see that deeep dents under screws before third tire installation and you have no idea to add/make good washers to put them under that screws? not a single doubt - just tighten them up ?