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Grabbed a new ninebot s2


electricpen

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I ordered a Kingsong 16s as my first wheel but upon seeing the responses in my thread over there I decided to pick up an s2 to learn on for a few reasons. One, I may not get my Kingsong for 2-4 weeks (or more??) thanks to delays in manufacturing/shipping and I'm impatient to start learning. If I'm being honest, impatience is the primary reason...

I also figured maybe I should learn on a slower wheel to start and to avoid putting all the newbie stress and crashes on my more expensive wheel. I think the two wheels are different enough so I could see situations where I might actually choose to use the s2 due to its lower size and weight. I know a lot of people say they outgrow their ninebots pretty fast but with a top speed of 14-15 mph, I feel like it is just fast enough to be useful where the 12.5 limit on the s1 is a little more limiting. Finally, at least in the US it still appears that you can fly with an s2 provided you check the shell and carry the batteries in your carry-on. I realize in EU they have essentially banned all self-balancing vehicles (thanks, cheap hoverboard batteries!).

Also I feel like s2 availability is going away pretty rapidly in the US and I got it for around $700 which seems to be a decent deal to me. I almost sprung for an MCM4 but it actually has smaller batteries for the similar price range and it looks like MCM4 pros are probably coming soonish and I'd prefer to wait where I feel like the s2 may be the last ninebot made that can go over 12.5 mph in the USA.

I have a decent amount of public transit where I live and actually weigh about what the average EUC company test model does (70 kg) so I think the ninebot should have enough power to handle my commute should I choose to not want to carry the kingsong up and down stairs some days (the elevators to the subway in SF are not always a good option since they often double as restrooms in some parts of town...)

Anyway happy to join the club, really looking forward to my journey with all of you.

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Welcome to the Ninebot club and EUC community! I have been riding a Ninebot One E+ (which has similar specs) for a year and a half and think the speed is perfect 80% of the time, when running short errands on suburban sidewalks and side streets. You can easily add a second battery and/or carry extras for greater distance to the S2, and with some easy mods, to the E+ as well. I have about 2K km on mine (original tyre), but will eventually acquire an 18" when/if a compelling new model is released.

I look forward to your comments on the Ninebot, and your comparisons of it to the KS16S when you have become comfortable riding both.

 

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I bought my lightly used Ninebot One E+ from another member here for exactly the same reason.  I had an Inmotion V8 on order but wanted to get started learning on something smaller, and frankly, more expendable.  The V8 came, and it's a great wheel.  But I still love my little Ninebot! So nimble and elegant and perfectly sufficient for just pooching around the neighborhood.  

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  • 2 weeks later...

I received the ninebot today but I cannot connect to it via app. So it just beeps nonstop and there doesn't appear to be anything I can do about it. I am using the 4.04 android app with a Google Pixel XL. Any advice? I registered an account with ninebot through the app and when I search for devices it does see the ninebot but when I select connect it just tries to connect forever and never finishes. I have tried closing the app a couple times and powering off the wheel a couple times but still doesn't work. Any ideas?

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Update for those with similar problems in the future: Ninebot US technical support basically told me to try from further away telling me that it sometimes doesn't work if the phone is too close to the wheel. I was quite close to the wheel to be fair. When I left the phone to connect to it since it was taking a while I left it on the floor about 2 inches from the wheel. They suggested a few feet and it connected right away. Of course its possible it would have just worked if I restarted it a couple more times too, hard to know but at least I got it working!. I haven't applied the @Hunka Hunka Burning Love carpet padding yet so I haven't taken it out for a spin. I honestly kind of want to wait until I'm a bit more confident in my riding skills before taking it out since it is very shiny and pretty. Maybe if I can keep it pristine I can pick up chicks with the cute design??

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Are these any good once you get where you aren't dropping it during learning. If me and Bob go out in public to pimp these things, I think the ninebot one s2 looks the least intimidating to somebody who has never seen one, and yes, girls probably find it the most attractive. Wanted these in sea foam, they call blue, because it looks like they match my trademark Costas.

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I bought those covers but they won't arrive until next week. I think they probably help with casual protection. The top ones theoretically might give you some grip to do jumps and such easier since the wheel is normally quite slick and hard to grip between your legs supposedly. I'll know more when I get them.

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@electricpen I just ordered some from aliexpress for $38. Lmk what you think when you gets yours. I'll not be putting mine on for awhile. Yes, casual riding. I've taken Bob to the new outdoor air mall, Tampa Bay Premium Outlets next door on the old part of the ranch and my goal is to be able to walk Bob on a leash while I'm on the wheel. It's really good socialization for Bob. He loves people and they love him. We are opposites. Training/exercising Bob was my main goal. These pics aren't Bob, but he might get this big, so socialization is huge.

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Haha, I used to walk my neighbor's fairly large (but not that large) dogs when I was in high school on rollerblades. Make sure Bob is well enough behaved so he doesn't constantly run after squirrels and imaginary cats. If he is the kind of dog that pulls you in different directions all the time you will need to be pretty nimble on the wheel to not just get yanked off it constantly. If you watch speedyfeet's videos, he often has his dog with him but he doesn't have him on a leash. Don't know if Bob is that well behaved yet or not but that would be ideal.

I'll make a post on what I think of those pads when I get to use them for sure though. I notice people have them on their S2's in videos but I haven't ever really seen anyone do any commentary on their functionality or effectiveness.

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@Tom Fagerland Bob is too smart, he'd rather ride me. @electricpen I saw somebody, thought it was speedyfeet's, in a short vid walking on a leash. I figure if Caesar Milan can walk them on inline skates, or whatever those funky skates he has are, if I can get good enough to feel like I can navigate that outlet mall, Bob should be manageable. I have a new secret weapon, started making white turkey breast jerky. I think the best animal protein available and Bob loves it. He gets turkey breast for breakfast every morning when we roll ou, but I won't be buying anymore store bought doggie snacks. Bob will eat jerky before he even looks at his usual treats. Bonus is if you're hungry, I'd hate to eat a store bought doggie treat, these are delicious. Be good to have on a group ride. Takes me about twenty minutes to prepare and set the timer on the dehydrator.

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@electricpen @Tom Fagerland Anatolian Shepherds and Kangal dogs, same thing as AKC classes them, are pretty interesting. They come from Turkey and are used by the sheepherders to protect them and their sheep herds from big cats and wolves. Anatolian Shepherds are being used in Africa to keep the cheetahs from killing the farmer's livestock, so in turn, the farmers try to kill or do kill endangered species, like cheetahs. I got Bob to scare off the coyotes. Coyotes kill calves right when they are being born. Very upsetting to me. Supposedly Bob will have a bite force around 765 pounds when full grown. Compared to a German shepherd or pit bull around 250 on a good day. Huge mouth and saw like teeth, just snap your bones like twigs. If you happen to find yourself somewhere these livestock guard dogs are, if you know where to exit, slowly back out, they don't like to fight but will take on anything. Best thing is, for a giant dog, some estimate the lifespan at 12-15 years. I'm hoping Bob and I will make at least twenty more.

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I really enjoyed the ninebot actually. If you want to push maximum speeds then yeah this isn't going to push your buttons but it is very maneuverable, easy to handle at low speeds, feels like it can make tighter turns and is just very responsive. I found that some things that I still don't do that consistently on my KS like mounting without a support, stopping cleanly, making slow small circles, etc are all easier and I can do them all consistently on the ninebot where the KS I didn't have that confidence. Something about the way it responds to my inputs is subtly different.

On the downsides, the battery goes quick, especially if you are pushing it up hills and testing its limits I guess. It also is harsher to go over bumps, gravel, and rocky ground. I would sometimes accidentally engage the handle-lift cutoff when trying to position the wheel straight next to my leg so I could mount it. Then I had to wait for it to power back up. Then I might accidentally set it off again. I eventually fixed this by pushing down on the handle as I was positioning it but I also wrapped it with bubble wrap which makes it hard to squeeze my fingers around it without pushing it away from the wheel and triggering the cutoff. I am considering removing all the padding but going to wait a couple days for that I guess.

Overall though, a very nice ride for a casual pace or in crowded, narrow, twisty areas. I think if you want to give a wheel to a girl to try this might be a good choice. It would probably be a bit easier for them to manipulate it without struggling with the weight of the bigger wheels.

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10 hours ago, Tom Fagerland said:

Why don't you just ride him...?

Best. post. ever. :ph34r:

 

6 hours ago, Hunka Hunka Burning Love said:

Maybe @houseofjob can comment as he did a review of the Ninebot S2 compared to the V5F+.  I don't know if he had the pads though.

No, sorry @Hunka Hunka Burning Love, no fancy pads when I had my S2. Super cheapo refrigerator foam cutouts from Home Depot velcro'd to the unit. Those Ninebot-designed S2 pads had just come out right after I sold my S2 methinks.

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@electricpen I'm glad you like it. The price point on the NinebotOneS2 and some nice reviews put it in my wheelhouse. I think my S2 might arrive next week ahead of the King Song's. Hope mine still say "hello, king song" because my name is King. @houseofjob Bob just turned 10 months, not near as big as those dogs. Bob is only 105 pounds as of the other day. Here's a picture of him today on his king size bed he lets me sleep in also.

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@novazeus Cute dog. I'm not sure what it would have been like to learn on the ninebot but after having learned on the Kingsong it felt great. It is more sensitive to small balance changes which is why it is so responsive to ride... but also why it might be a little harder to learn on because at the beginning you usually are making bigger, overcompensating balance moves because you are unfamiliar with it. The bigger wheels can absorb your flailing around better since it takes more to move them around. I know if I were you though I'd wrap that baby up and get started though. I just went with whatever came first.

I actually just came back from a long (7 mile) ride on the Kingsong just to check to see if it was just me getting better since I'm still learning pretty rapidly or if the ninebot really just does handle better. My initial impression was correct - the ninebot just handles nicer, for me at least. I'm going to commute into downtown with the ninebot tomorrow and see how it feels. I do use the trolly handle a lot but the ninebot is only 27 lbs so I could just pick it up. 

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So where you are wheeling is hilly? I'd be petrified. I'll definitely pad and strap them all. Never having ever touched one, I'm more curious about how I'll feel about front to back lean as opposed to side to side just because I'm use to that especially slow tracking through my swamps on my Ktm exc 525. Not easy to balance at all at slow speed and sometimes I'd just have to fall over with it because of it's height, sometimes you can't reach the ground. Tampa seems to be a perfect place for wheels but if people aren't friendly and good encouraging teachers, it will be like rc helicopters. Very difficult to fly and you can't pad them, just watch them disintegrate when they hit the ground. So there really wasn't many of us. And you had to build them. Take me 40 hours to build one. At least wheels come ready. I hope I like them quality wise and functionality wise. There is e real need for these things. My buddy in Ft Lauderdale is a ship captain, and I would think yachtys, the people that crew the boats, would love these when in port and when in away ports, if they can afford them. I've been thru the pain of sourcing parts from all over the world and I hope it becomes easier as more people buy into it. Very curious to see the public's reaction around here. Like I said, in my 63 years I've seen one in the wild, and I haven't exactly been living under a rock, I mean now I do. So even though I have 3 coming in, my skepticism is high, like what's the catch. Reading about cut out, or battery management, sorta had the same thing back in the day just pushing servos with li-ons and two dji inspire batteries going belly up, maybe reliability has plague them, idk. I was amazed wheels have been around as long as they have. According to that google map thing, there's one wheel rider near me and one in Orlando. That's about it. I'm not looking for any kinship here, just amazed the numbers are so low. People try it and give up, idk. @electricpen Bob says thanks. He's a sweetheart.

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12 hours ago, novazeus said:

So where you are wheeling is hilly? I'd be petrified. I'll definitely pad and strap them all. Never having ever touched one, I'm more curious about how I'll feel about front to back lean as opposed to side to side just because I'm use to that especially slow tracking through my swamps on my Ktm exc 525. Not easy to balance at all at slow speed and sometimes I'd just have to fall over with it because of it's height, sometimes you can't reach the ground. Tampa seems to be a perfect place for wheels but if people aren't friendly and good encouraging teachers, it will be like rc helicopters. Very difficult to fly and you can't pad them, just watch them disintegrate when they hit the ground. So there really wasn't many of us. And you had to build them. Take me 40 hours to build one. At least wheels come ready. I hope I like them quality wise and functionality wise. There is e real need for these things. My buddy in Ft Lauderdale is a ship captain, and I would think yachtys, the people that crew the boats, would love these when in port and when in away ports, if they can afford them. I've been thru the pain of sourcing parts from all over the world and I hope it becomes easier as more people buy into it. Very curious to see the public's reaction around here. Like I said, in my 63 years I've seen one in the wild, and I haven't exactly been living under a rock, I mean now I do. So even though I have 3 coming in, my skepticism is high, like what's the catch. Reading about cut out, or battery management, sorta had the same thing back in the day just pushing servos with li-ons and two dji inspire batteries going belly up, maybe reliability has plague them, idk. I was amazed wheels have been around as long as they have. According to that google map thing, there's one wheel rider near me and one in Orlando. That's about it. I'm not looking for any kinship here, just amazed the numbers are so low. People try it and give up, idk. @electricpen Bob says thanks. He's a sweetheart.

San Francisco has a lot of hills in the middle, less on the water. I have to go up and down the hilly area in the upper middle of the map in order to get downtown where everything is including my commute in the upper right area of the map.5991d7c1d9cff_SFelevation.thumb.jpg.635eda80d2d39d62c2daf5d31e892420.jpg

I actually did a practice commute this morning on the ninebot (school starts next week) and got there from home in 25 minutes. This is pretty decent time, not much different than a bike and faster than the bus. I actually rode about 7.5 miles over this hilly terrain and used 52% of the ninebot's battery. Its good enough to get around but if you are going to go all over and hit a bunch of shops and/or detours it probably will run out of juice if you can't stop to charge it somewhere.

I will be doing 9 miles this afternoon on the Kingsong for comparison. So far though it looks like both are viable options even on these hills. I will say though on the way back which is mostly uphill, I was getting tiltback quite a lot and on the steeper hills it didn't have the guts to go more than maybe half its normal top speed.

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@electricpen That's great. I'm excited. My nb1s2 is on the move from CA, sb here friday. Will be my first time toching one, I'm a total virgin. Just as an outsider looking in, the ks-16s platform, looks like it would be the best for all round urban traveler. How are the speakers? Is that a topo map from google earth? Gotta go to home depot for my greenhouse project so i guess i'll look and see what looks good for protection. I'll look and see what everybody did. really like the pizza box look.

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