Oddelement Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 The title might be somewhat misleading and this post might be considered long. This post might be considered more about my journey to owning and riding an EUC for the very first time than a review of the Inmotion V5F+. My interest in EUC's came about after seeing the Segway/Ninebot Mini Pro on Amazon. I've been considering purchasing a Segway Mini Pro for a while and when Amazon Prime Day had the Segway Mini Pro's on sale, I thought for sure I was going to pull the trigger. Alas, I couldn't see the practicality of the Segway because of the limited range and the limited terrain it could go over. However, during researching and reading about the Segway/Ninebot products on the Internet, I came across a site which showed the Ninebot One E+. This is how I became interested in the EUC's. This is how I stumbled across this forum as well as @Jason McNeil's web store. I loved the versatility of the EUC's across many different terrain conditions and the range some of the EUC's offered. After some research, I was initially trying to decide between the King Song 14C and the Inmotion V5F+. I corresponded several times with Jason McNeil over email. I ruled out the KS 14C for several reasons. But then I threw another option into the mix - the Ninebot One E+. It seemed like the Ninebot One E+ was probably one of the most popular EUC's out there and based on the large sample of riders owning the Ninebot One E+, it seemed like it was also one of the most trouble free units. In the end, Ninebot's range held me back and I finally decided on the V5F+. I thought the V5F+ was the better "value" based on: - Jason's reputation for providing superb support - bigger battery capacity for range (vs Ninebot One E+) - better batteries (LG MH1 vs LG MG1) for more consistent power delivery - trolley handle included - Jason sealing the deal by throwing a free cover J Even better, I ordered the unit on Friday morning and received the wheel on Saturday morning. It helped Jason has a new fulfillment center in California within 30 miles from where I live. It was only 30 minutes after I got back from playing tennis on a Saturday morning that Fedex came by with my new wheel. I promptly tore into the box and pulled a very very very nice looking wheel (black). I was saddened with the thought that as my first wheel, I was going to mar this very very very nice looking wheel in just a few minutes. I put the cover on, plugged the charger, briefly read through the starter's guide, downloaded the app for my phone, paired the phone to the wheel (I had to reboot my phone to get the phone to pair with the wheel), unplugged the charger before it was fully charged (was around 87% according the app), then took the wheel outside. My kid followed me outside as I prepared to hop on any EUC for the very first time. - 0.5 seconds - how long I stayed on the wheel on my very first attempt - 25 seconds - the longest I stayed on the wheel within the first 15 minutes - 2 minutes - the longest I stayed on the wheel with the first hour I spent on the wheel I realized that the veteran riders made riding one of these things look very easy. It was definitely harder than I thought it was going to be. My biggest challenge at the time was modulating the speed or trying to stay at a constant speed without experiencing tilt back. Even more difficult was trying to slow down and turn while trying not to stall out. That was a little more than 2 weeks ago. Now I have close to 125 miles on the V5F+. Keep in mind that this is my first and only wheel so far and I can’t compare to any other people, but I have several observations: - The V5F+ is hypersensitive to tire pressure. Tire pressure can have a huge effect on control and range. I didn’t take the pressure reading on the tire when I first received the wheel, but after over a 100 miles, I felt the tire was flatter than when I first received the wheel. Seemed like the range was going down a bit. I decided to pump the tires. Initial reading showed the tire was around 35 PSI. I pumped the tire up to 45 PSI. At 45 PSI, I could hardly balance myself on the wheel even after now having 100 miles under the belt. Felt like I was on skates for the very first time. Reducing the pressure down to 40 PSI made things more controllable, but I had to drop it to around 37-38 PSI to be more comfortable on the wheel. In hindsight, I think if I had lowered the pressure on the wheel when I first got the wheel, it might have made learning to ride the wheel a lot easier. BTW, I weigh around 180 pounds. - The higher pedal height probably contributed to making things a bit harder as my first wheel to learn to ride. However, learning to ride on a wheel with a higher pedal height has now paid off with additional control afforded when taking sharp turns. - The first week, I was averaging around 20 miles between charges (down to 15%). But I was practicing a lot of stop and goes and powering through a lot of turns. On normal riding on mostly flat surfaces, I’m averaging about 24-25 miles per charge (again down to 15%). Just to note, most of my rides have been during the night and I had my lights on. Not sure how much effect having the light on has on range, but I imagine I might be able to squeeze another mile or two at a minimum without using the lights. - I haven’t put the trolley handle on yet. I haven’t had any falls since my first week, but I’m still using a jump rope tied to the handle as my safety leash until I get a few more miles under me. However, with the wheel being so light, it doesn’t make carrying the wheel by the handle a chore. I use 25 pound weights to help strengthen my forearms and wrist for tennis. At 27 pounds, the V5F+ feels like I’m carrying one of my 25 pound dumbbells. - During the 1st week of riding, I had set the maximum speed to 20 km/hr. Below 40% and into 30% charge, tilt back starts to kick in around 15-16 km/hr. During the 2nd week of riding, I set the maximum speed to 25 km. Below 40% and into 30% charge, tilt back starts to kick in around 19-20 km/hr. Not sure why tilt back kicks in at 15-16 km/hr when the max speed is set to 20 km/hr, but as a beginner, I prefer to error on the side of safety and I found comfort in the behavior. Also, tilt back on the V5F+ is very gentle. Maybe because I’m not pushing the wheel to the edge of its performance limits yet. However, again, I find this comforting as a beginner. - The light is pretty bright, but I wish the light pointed down just slightly more to help illuminate the road ahead. - The cover for the V5F+ is of good quality and has protected the wheel very well while I am learning to ride. However, the 2 end hooks to attach the cover to the wheel needs to be made with either metal hooks or thick and rigid rubber (get your minds out of the gutter guys). The weak plastic end hooks don’t go with the quality of the cover itself. Broke a hook within the first 15 minutes of me learning to ride. I think someone else on this forum had mentioned the weak hooks as well. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the buying experience from @Jason McNeil and the quality of the Inmotion V5F+. I know I mentioned I purchased on the V5F+ based on value, but my top priorities for choosing a wheel included regards for: - safety - reliability - power/range I took a little chance on the Inmotion V5F+ because it doesn’t seem as popular as Gotway, King Song, and the Ninebot and the sample size of the V5F+ owners are somewhat limited. However, from what I’ve read on this forum, it seemed like the few V5F+ owners that are on the board, haven’t experienced any major issues with the wheel. I, myself, haven’t experienced any improper behavior from the V5F+ so far at 125 miles (other than when the wheel folded under me on my first day of learning to ride. I pushed off too much and leaned forward too much which resulted in the wheel folding and me going into a head and shoulder tucked Ninja roll) and I’m getting 20+ miles between charges in real world riding. I will report any issues as I put more miles. In the meanwhile, I’ll be happy to answer any questions and glad to be a new member! J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunka Hunka Burning Love Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Welcome to the forums and the wonderful, wacky world of EUCs! Excellent job learning to ride and review of the V5F+. It sounds like a solid choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgez Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 39 minutes ago, Oddelement said: I took a little chance on the Inmotion V5F+ because it doesn’t seem as popular as Gotway, King Song, and the Ninebot and the sample size of the V5F+ owners are somewhat limited. However, from what I’ve read on this forum, it seemed like the few V5F+ owners that are on the board, haven’t experienced any major issues with the wheel. I, myself, haven’t experienced any improper behavior from the V5F+ so far at 125 miles (other than when the wheel folded under me on my first day of learning to ride. I pushed off too much and leaned forward too much which resulted in the wheel folding and me going into a head and shoulder tucked Ninja roll) and I’m getting 20+ miles between charges in real world riding. I will report any issues as I put more miles. In the meanwhile, I’ll be happy to answer any questions and glad to be a new member! J Same here....I took a chance myself on the Inmotion V5F (not the + model) when I decided to buy an EUC two months ago - and I haven't regretted my decision so far. Before I bought I came across this forum and read as much as I could about the Inmotions, Kingsongs, Gotways and other EUC's. The more I read the more I came across reports from riders of KingsSongs and Gotways about pretty strange behaviour of their wheels (including injuries from falling off the wheel because of sudden power-cut-off) and I was somewhat surprised that I found almost none from Inmotion riders. That made me think and I spent some time comparing the specs of the different wheels. Admittedly, speed and range of the KingSongs and Gotways are apparently top notch but the almost 25 km/h top speed of the inmotion v5f and a range of about 15-20 km per charge are enough for my needs. With my inmotion V5F I also got the foldable handle which comes in very handy. I just wanted a hassle-free, reliable and somewhat good looking wheel. All of my requirements (and more) where met by inmotion. I'm still glad I've gone with Inmotion and I use it almost daily, commuting to and from work. Living in a hilly area the inmotion hasn't let me down so far no matter how steep the incline. The more I ride the more I feel comfortable with the wheel. Would I buy it again? Now that I know how smooth the ride and how reliable the wheel is - sure Thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.