I5 General Consensus

[RooMiniPro]

A few of you must have your I5s now and I was wondering what the general consensus is on this wheel?  A big question I have is if it's light enough and comfortable enough to carry around by hand for 30 minutes while going in and out of shops and such?   My Ninebot One is definitely not comfortable to carry for more than 5-7 minutes at a time.  I'm seeing very little discussion on it here but there must be at least some of you who have put some decent mileage on yours. The reason I ask it that I'm thinking about selling my Ninebot One E+ to get an I5.

[steve454]

25 minutes ago, RooMiniPro said:

A few of you must have your I5s now and I was wondering what the general consensus is on this wheel?  A big question I have is if it's light enough and comfortable enough to carry around by hand for 30 minutes while going in and out of shops and such?   My Ninebot One is definitely not comfortable to carry for more than 5-7 minutes at a time.  I'm seeing very little discussion on it here but there must be at least some of you who have put some decent mileage on yours. The reason I ask it that I'm thinking about selling my Ninebot One E+ to get an I5.

I can't carry my Ninebot One for more than one minute at a time.  Did you see Speedyfeet's video of the I5?  If you get one, get the one with the 20700"s.  To me it looks like a good EUC, but it is only a 14" tire.  It looks like a briefcase, a stealth wheel that one could take anywhere.  I think @Tilmann has one, but might be mistaken.

[RooMiniPro]

1 hour ago, steve454 said:

I can't carry my Ninebot One for more than one minute at a time.  Did you see Speedyfeet's video of the I5?  If you get one, get the one with the 20700"s.  To me it looks like a good EUC, but it is only a 14" tire.  It looks like a briefcase, a stealth wheel that one could take anywhere.  I think @Tilmann has one, but might be mistaken.

Yeah the Ninebot is a beast to carry and I do so with constant fear of the handle breaking (again).  I have seen Speedyfeet's video of the I5 but to be honest I could not sit through 59 minutes of that incredibly loud beeping and therefore I closed the video about half way through.  However, that beeper will be very easy to muffle and make nice and quiet.  If the wheel is safe to ride and is light enough to carry around a Mall for example, I would be very keen.  As you said, it is super stealth and won't draw much attention when passing by with it in my hand.  I am still quite excited about this wheel, but if it's too weak, to slow, too low-range, too incompetent on bumps compared to the Ninebot then it would not be worth it for me.  So I'm hoping to see some reviews here soon.

[houseofjob]

I'm sure there are some early i5 adopters, but think that turtle's pace of 20km/h / 12.4mph is keeping many away (I know it has me from pulling the trigger).

I'd rather wait to see if this 16" S5 (albeit doesn't seem due out this year) is a similar package, but with at least 25km/h or faster max speed.

[WARPed1701D]

 Didn't a video show this easily fitting in a back pack? You could carry it about all day if so.

[Tilmann]

15 hours ago, steve454 said:

I can't carry my Ninebot One for more than one minute at a time.  Did you see Speedyfeet's video of the I5?  If you get one, get the one with the 20700"s.  To me it looks like a good EUC, but it is only a 14" tire.  It looks like a briefcase, a stealth wheel that one could take anywhere.  I think @Tilmann has one, but might be mistaken.

Yepp, Tilmann got one! And is very happy with it, although I couldn't put many miles on it yet. It does not fit my Laptop backpack by a few centimeters in width and height, but I am sure, you find a slightly bigger one that fits.

I would recommend the i5 to anyone looking for a "last mile solution" or to run city errants, but certainly not as an "only ewheel" to an EUC enthusiast. Despite the modest 350W motor rating, it climbs like a mountain goat and shows no weakness on a 20° ramp (that's 37%) with my 80Kg on top.

While it masters unpaved roads, it's clearly out of its comfort zone.

@RooMiniPro: in real life, the beeping is much less annoying than speedyfeet's video suggests. Ian did not realize, that going down hill with a fully charged battery is not a good idea, as the only means for getting rid of the energy generated from braking is overcharging the battery. That's true for all EUCs and I much prefer IPS choice to warn the rider with beeping than silently killing the battery or just cutting off (as esaj experienced with his Firewheel).

With my car, the i5 easily fits in the compartment for the spare tire. So it is out of sight and does not even eat up trunk space.

Now you probably heard of the German passion for over-engineering, right? Considering the magnesium-alloy shell with the directly attached motor stator a real innovation, I proudly showed off the i5 to my trusted EUC workshop engineers. To my disappointment, they bashed it for the "open motor" which can collect dust from the outside and especially attracts any metal due to the strong motor magnets. Personally, I'm not too worried as I intend to use it mainly on paved roads and outside of metal grinding workshops. But time will tell and don't say I didn't warn you 

Another very personal observation: to me, the inward angled pedals and the perfectly flat sides are downright an invitation to one-legged riding. Its sooo easy. And I have no problems switching from the Msuper to the i5 and back.

I don't like hand carrying EUCs altogether, but if I had to, the i5 would be my weapon of choice.

[Tilmann]

Update: i5 sounds a continuous beep when battery voltage is too high! But: solving the problem is easy.

Today, I charged up my i5 to the max and rode just about 300m including a very small and shallow incline (<2m hight). Shortly after, I rode the same way back and while going down that small ramp, the i5 turned on the beeper to an alarming continuous sound while it continued to balance perfectly. Switching it off and on again didn't change much - it balanced and beeped. Hours later: still the same. Didn't want to risk anything and asked the experts @1RadWerkstatt. 

Their advice was simple and right on the money: it's most likely an overcharge condition. Cautiously ride it for a little while to drain the battery a bit. So I did. And: after just a few noisy rounds in the garage, the beeping stopped and everything is tippy toppy again (as The Donald would say).

Voltage was 66.52V when it beeped and dropped below 66V when it stopped.

Thanks again to the kind folks at 1RadWerkstatt - they really know what they're doing!

[WARPed1701D]

Is the I5 Charge Doctor compatible? Sounds like it would be a great use case for it although losing some range on the small battery as a result would be a big negative.

[houseofjob]

Port looks to be GX12-3, same as "Hoverboards" and the InMotion V8 (just port, not same voltage), so should be able to use the €28 Charge Doctor on hobbyist's site I think...

[Tilmann]

1 hour ago, houseofjob said:

Port looks to be GX12-3, same as "Hoverboards" and the InMotion V8 (just port, not same voltage)

I can confirm, that both IPS i5 and inmotion V8 use the same plug. Beware of mixing'em up - i5 needs 67V, V8 charger delivers 84V.

[RooMiniPro]

Seeing the I5 in the backpack: that's kind of my dream ride.  To me that's freedom.  Being able to ride around effortlessly, then throw my vehicle into my backpack and walk around the shops or go for a bite to eat with not a single stare or question would be so cool.  I wish I knew someone who had one so I could feel what it's like to lift and carry around.  My Ninebot feels way too heavy, bulky and uncomfortable to carry around for more than a brief moment.  If I had an I5 I would be tempted to build a matching, clip-on or magnetically attached bottom cover to hide the wheel and create a flat bottom so it looks like I'm carrying a briefcase and so that I can set it down on the ground and it would free-stand. 

 

[meepmeepmayer]

There was a recent video where a French guy had a msuper V3 in his backback, so it depends on what size backpack we're talking about

In seriousness, I know what you mean. Wondering if the coming S5 will be as compact as possible too.

[RooMiniPro]

I'm still amazed that no one else here has one of these yet (apart from resellers).

@Tilmann are you still enjoying yours?

[IPS Malta]

I got my i5 this week finally after trying it for the first time just before it was launched. I waited because I had to settle some personal things first but finally it's here
 

I rode my first 10km in Shenzhen (with under-inflated tire) and motor handled very well. Realized it was underinflated from some videos I took. inflated performs even better Today will have to carry for a while, while shopping

On 7/24/2017 at 6:39 PM, Tilmann said:

Yepp, Tilmann got one! And is very happy with it, although I couldn't put many miles on it yet. It does not fit my Laptop backpack by a few centimeters in width and height, but I am sure, you find a slightly bigger one that fits.

 

 

4

I happened to understand why I was so OK with this wheel now ... look at the following picture attached. My laptop back looks similar to my i5... if not for the wheel it will fit in. perfectly

 

On 7/24/2017 at 6:39 PM, Tilmann said:

Now you probably heard of the German passion for over-engineering, right? Considering the magnesium-alloy shell with the directly attached motor stator a real innovation, I proudly showed off the i5 to my trusted EUC workshop engineers. To my disappointment, they bashed it for the "open motor" which can collect dust from the outside and especially attracts any metal due to the strong motor magnets. Personally, I'm not too worried as I intend to use it mainly on paved roads and outside of metal grinding workshops. But time will tell and don't say I didn't warn you 

 

As with the motor, I was also concerned about it, but IPS told me that's ok. It's like compressor fan in an AC outside. They also put a video on an IPS half dipped in water with motor working, so that shouldn't have any issues although, you shouldn't dip it in the water... not meant to and it's written in the manual to what I remember. They have no issues so far. for sure it will meet dust but from what I can figure out, there's space between magnets and the coil so probably even small metal dust won't harm the i5... maybe I will check for maintenance at a later stage after I get some KMs on it. There's plenty of metal cutting shops in the area, so we will see

On 8/6/2017 at 2:56 AM, RooMiniPro said:

Seeing the I5 in the backpack: that's kind of my dream ride.  To me that's freedom.  Being able to ride around effortlessly, then throw my vehicle into my backpack and walk around the shops or go for a bite to eat with not a single stare or question would be so cool.  I wish I knew someone who had one so I could feel what it's like to lift and carry around.  My Ninebot feels way too heavy, bulky and uncomfortable to carry around for more than a brief moment.  If I had an I5 I would be tempted to build a matching, clip-on or magnetically attached bottom cover to hide the wheel and create a flat bottom so it looks like I'm carrying a briefcase and so that I can set it down on the ground and it would free-stand.

1

The i5 design is already designed to be free standing (see attachments). A cover will help to protect you from getting dirty with the tire. What I like though on it that it's slim enough that when you're carrying it, your hand is straight down and not at an angle. It helps in carrying it for longer periods. My LHOTZ kills me after only a few minutes (not to say seconds)

[RooMiniPro]

I would love one of these EUCs.  I just want to see some reviews first.  There's hardly any user reviews out yet.

[Tilmann]

On 15.9.2017 at 3:38 AM, RooMiniPro said:

@Tilmann are you still enjoying yours?

Oh yes, I do!! Sorry for the late response. Workload teamed up with lousy weather to prevent me from riding as much as I would like to. 

The little i5 is holding up fine and is still as much fun as on the first day. I still think it's ideal for inner city environments, especially when riding is interrupted by shopping sprees or restaurant visits where it's tiny form factor makes all the difference. 

One thing I noticed when casually riding down curb stones: wheel clearance is very limited, so the back side of the shell hits hard when descending from a curb too slowly. No harm done, it just doesn't sound right .

And I am still amazed by its hill climbing abilities despite the modest motor specs. I went around town in Budapest quite a bit and it mastered even the steepest inclines with ease. Being spoiled by the 18 inch Msuper, I clearly notice that cobblestones are not the favorite turf of the i5, but it carries you across anyway .

With the wheels I am privileged to choose from, the Msuper gets the most miles from planned tours and the i5 is the second most used one for all those quick little hops from A to B.

[Snurre]

I fully agree with @Tilmann's impressions. My only complaint is the power button: it is not recessed enough and its placement on the side causes unwanted power-ons. This wheel lends itself very well to stuff in a bag or suitcase but you have to safe-guard that it does not turn on inside!

One time I held the wheel close to an empty plastic bag when I accidentally hit the power button. The whole bag was sucked into the wheel and small confetti-size plastic pieces were spread out over my entire office before the wheel came to a stop (for obvious safety reasons you cannot turn the wheel off while spinning). Makes a nice paper shredder, though.