Jump to content

Which EU fits best?


vemalilu

Recommended Posts

There are too many differend e-unicycles on the market - its hard to descide!

I am looking for a unicycle that has:

1. at least 320 WH Battery,
2. min. a 16" Tire
3. can go at least 22 km/h.
4. Costs max. € 750

Which one can do this?

Thanks a lot in advance

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as I know, only 16" or above (mind. a 16" Tire = minimum 16"?) that can go at least 22km/h are Gotway 18" MSuper, Ninebot One E+ and Firewheel. Kingsong maybe did have some 18" too? Out of those, Ninebot One E+ drops out due to price and having a 320Wh battery, 18" MSuper is way more than 700€, and I think Firewheel with 528Wh battery costs over 1000€ at cheapest. The batteries are one of the, if not THE most expensive part of the wheel, so the larger you go, the more it costs...

So there isn't one with those specs and at that price, as far as I know. I'm not sure if you could get even a 14" GotWay with 680Wh battery at that price... At least in Europe, probably directly from China or Hong Kong, but then there's shipping + customs + taxes...

I'd say that either you have to lower your expectations or raise your budget. Could be wrong though. Or maybe buy used, if someone is willing to sell at that price.

Edit: Rockwheel also has 16" model (don't know if the geared one is the only option, or if there's a gearless version too) that can go way over 22km/h, but it might not have a battery over 500Wh, also no idea on the price.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks a lot. Maybe I demand too much. I have changed my requirements now - a 320 WH battery will also do. Speed is necessary.
Now i'm riding a € 280,- no-Name X3-clone

There are soooooo many differend brands, see here:

 

http://www.ewheels.org/catalog/single-wheels
http://electricunicycle.wikia.com/wiki/Brands

 

Do you think this could fit: http://www.electricunicycleonline.com/ips-f400-electric-unicycle-self-balancing-400wh-scooter-1000w-motor-40km-range-white.html  ?

Here I could get a ninebot on e+ for ~€750,-: http://www.electricunicycleonline.com/ninebot-one-e-electric-unicycle-16-inch-320wh.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Like I said, for 22km/h or higher top speed, pretty much the only options I know are 16" Rockwheel (~30km/h?), 16" Ninebot One E+ (24km/h?), 16" Firewheel (28+km/h), 18" Gotway MSuper (high torque = 28km/h, mid = 34km/h, high speed = 40km/h, Gotway doesn't make 16" models), and maybe KingSong 18" (?). You'll have to look for the prices yourself from different stores, but I have feeling that none of these can be got for much less than 1000€ (with shipping), at least in Europe...  IPS has 16" models, but those are limited to 20km/h (and don't know if they sell for 750€ or less either...). Check the reseller list here for some options: 

http://forum.electricunicycle.org/topic/458-where-to-buy-incomplete-reseller-list/

 

Edit: Sorry, missed your edits... I think those prices are without shipping, customs & taxes (I think that store's in China, at least if you live in the European Union, you'll then have to pay the customs & VAT on top of the unit+shipping price, but it could be cheaper than buying locally... or not).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

​Don't know much about the F-Wheel Dolphin One, but if the specs are correct, sounds like what you're looking for... Check from the seller how much the shipping is and from customs or something for what kind of customs rates & VAT you (may) need to pay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you are looking at new wheel I always look at build quality and reliability. Its also important to address the comfort  while riding and the wheel dynamics.

Gotways seem to have a good reputation, the software is good but the build quality and ergonomics are very poor - they are assembled in someones garage not on a production line, there is very little testing done on individual products, battery pack are hand assembled.

Firewheels they do not tend to have good anything, my opinion might be biased a bit (F132) Unfortunelty I had to take it on a plane back from China so I had to take to one with smallest battery pack. During riding it around China I have noticed that its pedals touch the ground way sooner than any other wheel leading to poor turing ability, I also found their software really soft - much softer than solowheel and I dont like it it feels like a boat. Lastly its yeasy to opver power it and it will start shaking saying "err err please resert firewheel err" really annoying. On return it caught fire as there was a short circuit on PCB, Fire wheel had literally on insulation between a heat sink and the wires so the PCB got loose and sorted to the heatsink. After we fixed it and modified the insulation its ok.

I personally recommend Ninebot - High quality plastic its safe and reliable, I really like the software it feels like skiing when you turn - guiding through powder on a nice blue run, the only drawback is that its a bit harder to ride for beginners, just make sure you have the latest software installed.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firewheels they do not tend to have good anything, my opinion might be biased a bit (F132) Unfortunelty I had to take it on a plane back from China so I had to take to one with smallest battery pack. During riding it around China I have noticed that its pedals touch the ground way sooner than any other wheel leading to poor turing ability, I also found their software really soft - much softer than solowheel and I dont like it it feels like a boat. Lastly its yeasy to opver power it and it will start shaking saying "err err please resert firewheel err" really annoying. On return it caught fire as there was a short circuit on PCB, Fire wheel had literally on insulation between a heat sink and the wires so the PCB got loose and sorted to the heatsink. After we fixed it and modified the insulation its ok.

From what I've read, that sounds like the "first ​generation" Firewheel that was sold around (I think) August-October last year (2014). The newer ("2nd generation") model has a button on the side to switch between "sport"-mode (hard) and "comfortable"-mode (soft). The comfortable-mode is (in my opinion) way too soft to be of any use, I always ride it in the sport-mode, where the pedals don't tilt at all when you lean forward or backward (until maybe just a little bit when the battery is almost out). It is harder to turn than my lighter 14", but I haven't hit the ground with the pedals (the earliest versions had a "stand" on the other pedal, so the wheel could be left leaning on it, but that apparently was removed, as it would hit the ground easy).

I haven't been able to overpower it, but then again, I'm light (57kg). The highest speed I've attained with it has been 31.5km/h (no shutdown, measured with bike computer, 1272mm tire circumference set on the computer, 1310mm real circumference with no weight on top), and it can take me up the steepest hills we've got here, although not at top speed (don't know how steep they actually are, but if I had to guess, I'd say between 25 and 30 degrees), or atleast I have never tried to accelerate that much in them, as it might lead to a faceplant. 

I've heard that even the current versions can cutout easily due to the BMS-issue, but mine is shunted (and I know your opinion on the shunt-mod, but I still rather keep it shunted). Also the mainboards have suffered lots of faults, but @dmethvin reported that he was sent a new revision of the board when his burned, and at least so far the modified board has worked. The one on mine burned once, about a week or two after the original owner had got it, and was replaced sometime December 2014 or January 2015 (so it's still the older revision). After that, the wheel has been ridden for about 300-400 battery cycles with no problem.

 

Edit: Here's a video of the two ride-modes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpTj5I5H8aI

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You should consider the IPS132/121 as well. www.wheelgo.com 

Pretty close to your requirements, in fact at £610, the IPS121 is also the cheapest of the lot. Really good quality Wheel, loads of torque.. Not quite 22kph, it can reach 20kph at full 15° pedal-tilt-back, or easily cruise at 18kph. 

Being in Europe, you also don't need to worry about sending it back to the PRC if run into issues.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Firewheels they do not tend to have good anything, my opinion might be biased a bit (F132) Unfortunelty I had to take it on a plane back from China so I had to take to one with smallest battery pack. During riding it around China I have noticed that its pedals touch the ground way sooner than any other wheel leading to poor turing ability, I also found their software really soft - much softer than solowheel and I dont like it it feels like a boat. Lastly its yeasy to opver power it and it will start shaking saying "err err please resert firewheel err" really annoying. On return it caught fire as there was a short circuit on PCB, Fire wheel had literally on insulation between a heat sink and the wires so the PCB got loose and sorted to the heatsink. After we fixed it and modified the insulation its ok.

Definitely sounds like you had the older controller, or it's in comfortable mode which is pretty loose. I haven't had a problem with ground clearance. The "easy to overpower" problem sounds like it may be a bad battery pack, mine gave that message after the control board shorted and they replaced the battery pack. If the problem started after you got the short circuit I would definitely suspect overstressing of the battery.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So that this doesn't become just praise for the Firewheel, there are still lots and lots of problems with it:

The production quality is very sub-par. Broken mainboards (well, maybe not anymore after the redesign?), BMS's that have the wires held in only by the shrink wrap (see vee76's pictures of the FW BMS, when he was doing the shunt, he touched one of the powerwires and it came off :D, hobby16 has reported of similar cases in France), the BMS also needs heavy re-design so the cut-out problem can be solved.

The enclosings of batteries and mainboard is supposed to be IP65-rated, but in reality, I don't think it can get any IP-rating, look at dmethvin's imgur-pictures (links are in the  Firewheel F260 Rebuild-topic), all the water, mud and whatever the tire might throw can freely enter the compartments. You need to open up the wheel and seal it yourself with silicone or something.

The battery display is next to useless, as it glares so much you can't read it on bright day light, and it clearly only measures the battery voltage, and then (linearly?) translates it into some percentage value. You can go for kilometers it showing 99%, then when it starts to show something else, it varies depending on acceleration/climbing/going straight at steady speed/decelerating/going downhill. I've ridden it for several kilometers with the battery display showing nothing but 0% (unless going down a long hill), before it actually tells you to stop.

On safety side, there's no tilt-back (at all, although now that I'm accustomed to it, I actually like not having it), the voice-audio -alarms are so quiet that you can't really hear them if there's any wind or other noise... if the BMS is not shunted, this wheel is a killer (and not in the good sense).

But other than that, I just love it!  :wub: ;)  :D :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It sounds like you're in love:P. "But love is blind, and lovers cannot see. The pretty follies that themselves commit"

Hehe, yeah, I guess you could say that. When it works, it's a great wheel (in my opinion), but not something for the faint-hearted or people looking for safe wheels...​ the high top speed can be really dangerous unless you're careful (not to mention all the other safety-issues).

 

Also, Firewheel is facing legal issues for infringing on the design of MonoWheel Electric. 

​Heard about that, I was wondering if I should order some spare parts (shell, mainboard) now, in case they'd be shutdown as a result.... ;)  Or buy a whole another FW for spare parts (probably without batteries, as if it's not used, the batteries will just die of old age).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...