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which wheel


sickswan

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Hey guys found out about these things a few weeks  back and I reckon I'm guna get one just for messing around on I'm in the uk an airwheel seem to be the ones that retailers like harrows stock the question is do I get a two wheel more stable one or single wheel one would like to maybe take it on country tracks and through the woods a little so thinking the twin wheel maybe more stable for that but not sure also any other makes that are out there that I may consider price isn't an issue but would like a fairly cheap one to start as I don't know how much I'd use it.. also what would you guys say is the all out best/fastest of all wheels? Looking forward to your replies luke

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Ok, my recommendation is stay away from the airwheel, I had an x8 and enjoyed it for a while, but it looks so out of date now. So I upgraded to a ninebot one E, screw weeks later a E+ was released and now I want that one. They ride similar but the ninebot had higher and bigger plates with are better for longer rides and faster turning. 

 

My wife has a duel wheel In motion V3 which is a nice piece of kit, worth the money, but no where as much fun to ride as a single wheel, if you buy a duel your most likely regret it and want a single wheel. 

 

My my vote is ninebot one. 

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Sweet dude cheers for that will check them out I'm concerned about the motor the reason airwheel pops up is an 800w motor aposed to a lot with a 400w motor I'm 6ft 4 and 100kg so the bigger the motor the better is my thinking what size is in the ninebots? Also wanting the fastest I can get ideally I have a need for speed haha

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@sickswan: The fastest currently is Gotway 18" MSuper "High Speed" -version (40km/h max), don't know if those can be get anymore (at one point, Kevin Lee told me that they aren't being manufactured anymore, only the "mid"-version), then comes "Mid"-version of the same wheel (34km/h max). 14" Gotways are also fast, over 30km/h (don't remember exactly, same 34km/h as mid-18"?).

Rockwheel 16" geared versions can do about 35km/h (I think), but suffer from low lifetime (apparently the gearing wears out fast), they have also high torque (usually it's a tradeoff between speed and torque).

FireWheels can do around 28-30km/h? Look also nice, but be warned, their quality is shoddy and will require you to open the case and do some caulking yourself, also you might go through a main board or two before you get a working one (although apparently the factory will send the repair parts free of charge due to warranty) ;).  

Highest quality are probably Solowheel, Ninebot One and IPS, but none of those are fast (usually 20km/h or less?). Gotway seems pretty high quality also.

You might also want to take the range of the wheel into account, <200Wh battery won't take you but maybe 10km or less with your weight on single charge. Gotways & Firewheels have the largest batteries available. Don't believe the ranges on manufacturer sites, they are usually very inflated. 779Wh Firewheel / 850Wh Gotway apparently can go over 80km though with most riders. As batteries are one of the high-cost -parts of the wheel, expect the price to go fast up with battery size.

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I just took my first ride with my 16" Firewheel today, from what I could tell based on a single ride, it's a LOT more stable than my 14" noname and generally the ride is much smoother. Don't know if it's harder to train with, as the bigger wheels are heavier. But if you don't plan on doing any tricks that require light-weight wheel or carrying it around with you lot, I'd go with bigger size, 16" or maybe 18". 18" might be a bit much to me, as I'm really light weight (57kg), and a 850Wh 18" Gotway weighs around 18kg :D

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Thanks for all the input as I've said I want a cheap wheel to try if I use it enough I will buy the best most expensive one possible that's how I work if I buy a 300 quid wheel and don't like it I can flog it for 150 if I buy an 800 quid wheel an don't use it I can flog for 4 or 5 hundred bigger loss here's one I've seen cheap it's ips is it any good??? Its am ips l130 from electric unicycle online for 300 dollars???

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What I did was to buy an used 14" 'noname' (generic brand) wheel for practicing. Today I also got an used 16" Firewheel F260 from the same guy (vee73 here in the forums). My Ninebot One E should also arrive (finally!) this week or the next, so I kind of took the same route as you (although I ordered the Ninebot before buying the used 14", but could have canceled the order if I found out riding wasn't my thing... but it really is!). Real IPS's seem to be real high quality wheels, @Jason McNeil is our resident "IPS-specialist" and can probably tell you more of those (and even sell you one ;)), but beware though, there are lots of fake IPS's (generic wheels sold as IPS) available in the Asian markets, and their quality can be pretty much anything (usually just plain bad).

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Good strategy @sickswan, that is what I did as well. Even the cheap 14-inch wheels can be useful and practical transportation. The one I got looks just like this one and is not very expensive at all. Be aware that the pedals don't stay up, but at least they are flat with no gap. If you decide to move to a 16-inch wheel later, you can sell that one off to someone.

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@esaj's assessment is spot on the money The A130 is a 12" Wheel, comparatively very small & is going to struggle on most terrain. We never bothered to evaluate this model, because as a general rule a 132Wh battery is pretty useless beyond 5-6 miles & doesn't provide much power. If bringing in from abroad, obviously the warranty may be problematic & the shipping costs will be >$100 + expect to pay 26% duty on the value of the product when it arrives in the UK. 

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On counterfeit Airwheels & IPS's, I've never directly seen any evidence of this. The local UK Airwheel distributor is charging >300% markups, so are using the 'counterfeit' story to deter people from making the quite rational choice & buying from alternative sources. 

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I bought a cheap EYU.CO directly from China via Dealxtreme. It wasn't a bad wheel and when I contacted the company they were fairly helpful but I still upgraded to an IPS132 from Jason at Wheelgo within a fortnight.

I now have two IPS132'S along with my Gotways. They are great for cross country because of their 16" wheels and high power 800w motor with 1300w peak power on tap but they are a little slow which is why I bought the Gotways.

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@sickswan: from the pictures and specs, it seems pretty typical "generic" wheels which are sold under many, many brand names. Good for practicing & as a first wheel, but you'll soon find the lack of speed & range to be very limiting. I found buying used better than buying some unknown brand overseas, because you can ask the previous owner about the wheel, and know already it works when you get it (asserting that you can trust the seller). And I'd have hated to bang up my better wheels the same way as the generic one, as it's bound to fall over (and sometimes, you with it ;)) a lot during practicing.

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@Kevin Lee is an international agent who sells Gotways from Hong Kong, you can contact him with a private message for questions and prices. Then in Europe there's at least Funnybike in France ( http://funnybike.fr/23-monoroues-gotway ) and Wheelz World in Switzerland ( http://www.wheelzworld.com/ ). The prices vary from the 14" MCM2 260Wh or 340WH (around 900€) to 18" MSuper 850Wh (around 1700€). There are other battery options, but that's pretty much the range (in these web stores). Don't forget that these don't usually contain shipping costs and depending on your country of origins trade agreements and where you order, you may have to pay customs duty and VAT.

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Hi Guys/gals

I have been following this forum and the progress of EUs since I saw the first one in Dublin in March- I spotted  a guy and followed him in my car to quiz him-- he sells airwheels here in Dubin but they are not cheap . I would like to ask the forum -as a slightly overweight 150 lbs 5 ft 2 woman aged 60 with a pacemaker, which model should I buy?? I anticipate travelling to work about 4 miles there and back with no severe slopes. I like the look  of the ninebot but think it's  prob too heavy for me but think some of the no-name EUs with wide batteries might impinge on my short legs and chunky calves. Thanks to anyone who might reply-

Pebbles

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I only have experience of an Airwheel X5 & IPS 132.

So, I'm not as experienced as others on this forum but going on your criteria, the IPS is a nice width, has good power, useful battery capacity, looks smart, is reliable & weighs 12kg.

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Hey @pebbles, the good news is that just about any basic wheel can go 4 miles on a charge, even my no-name 14-inch 132Wh one. If it's only about 2 miles to work you can always charge it there. I like to allow plenty of extra charge in case someone stops you and you spend some time showing off for them. Most wheels have pretty square padded areas and yes, your calves will be sore while you learn and you will want to use some guards. Once you get good they won't bother you though.

I think you are right about the size of the bigger wheels. It's easy for me to tuck the 14-inch wheel under my arm, it's about 10kg. Picking it up by the handle, it is much harder to carry for long distances. You can get a "draw bar" that fits many models, that might be an option if you had to carry it for longer distances. It's always better to ride it than drag it though. 

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