Rockwheel GT16 and visit at Urban360

[Roue Libre]

Hi folks,

I was passing by Paris yesterday, and it was a great opportunity to pass by Urban 360 (https://store.urban360.com/) where they have many wheels in stock, and even available for testing ! I was so excited to test the GT16, but that was the only wheel I couldn't test. Because the motherboard of the GT 16 they have in stock just burned after 100km  ! I have been talking with one of the guys working there. He basically told me

• That version is not supposed to be a prototype, it's the production version
• If you want to change the tire, it's a hell: you have to deteriorate the shell to access it (aaargh )
• The support of the pedal was originally having a piece of rubber that detached after few time, causing the pedal to brutally fall down of 4degrees (dangerous ) he replaced the bad rubber piece by a plastic stuff, but it looked like DIY
• The pedal surface is in rubber, so you need to add your own grip
• Isolation against humidity should probably be fine
• In general, this wheel is dangerous and Rockwheel should rework it at engineering level

My personal observations were

• The wheel is really tiny, doesn't feel hard to carry by hand
• The pedal is quite narrow, even for my feet that are not so big (40/41EU size)
• The rubber part of the pedal is kind of big enough, but the metal part underneath is really small, not sure it gives enough stability
• When folding up the pedal, there seem to be no magnet like for Ninebot or Gotways, so the pedals might just not keep folded after a while
• The on/off button is located just under the handle, which is handy to pick the wheel up and turning it off with one hand (Gotway should do the same IMO)
• I thought there would be a kind of "shock absorption" mechanism under the pedals, but it seems the pedals are screwed with the shell, no possible vertical motion of the pedal

So I decided to give up on GT16 for now. Maybe I would buy a later, upgraded version if they ever upgrade it.

Off topic: I took this opportunity to test the ACM 16 and MSuper v3 in a row. I was disappointed by the MSuper, it doesn't feel easy to sharp-turn at all. The ACM is sooo much more handy to take sharp turns. I definitely prefer the ACM and I will probably buy it instead of the Rockwheel.

That's it guys. If you buy the GT16, be very careful.

[da_toni]

@Roue Libre

thanks for your detailed experience report.

Can you explicit tell us which version it was with the burnt mainboard?

67V 680Wh

Or

84V 858Wh

 

I ordered the 84V 858Wh version at Aliexpress from Rockwheel Store (Yi Chen) today for my girlfriend.

This store is an official authorised Rockwheel seller. (including after sale support, which means it can provide spareparts cheaper than others... ?)

But I already had good experience with this seller. It is interesting that this shop is only providing the 84V... 

Maybe this could be one reason that he is only providing the higher voltage version...

 

We are looking forward to get this beautiful looking racing machine and we will report you from our (hopefully) nice experience. ???

[Mrd777]

I had a message chat with (yi chen) , and he told me that the gt will not be ready for a month. I'm sure a 'month' means more like several months...Seems like Rockwheel will come out with a lager battery too.

[Roue Libre]

@da_toni I didn't ask what version, I didn't think the burning motherboard issue would be related
@Mrd777 I hope they will use that time to produce a more robust version of the GT. The concept is great (small and powerful) but needs extra engineering.

[meepmeepmayer]

Great info! Sad results

Let's hope we don't hear too many incident reports with the new wheel. Looks like RW it isn't better than Gotway in terms of engineering (just some standard parts slapped together, but no overall analysis of the entire system and making sure everything is safe and properly sized). Disappointing... (or maybe it's a fluke/monday model and the other wheels are good? Time will tell)

And if you buy the ACM, also be careful. Personally, I only think Inmotion and Kingsong consider safety reasonably well at the moment.

[Berus]

This confirms my thoughts : if an experienced manufacturer as gotway still have problems with 84v models, It is probable that a manufacturer with less experience have... more problems.

p.s. the 60v gt16 production is stopped