Jason McNeil Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Today I met fellow eWheel enthusiast & GW14 MCM2 owner Mike Heller to test out each others Wheels. It wasn't a direct comparison, as the GW14 is a 340Wh model, but still allowed us to compare general handling & if the 800W motor felt more powerful under under acceleration & top speed. The GW14 feels noticeably lighter to carry, weighing around the 11kg mark (with the 340Wh battery pack).Pedals: On the KS, the pedal height is about 1 cm higher & has more support for the foot's surface. It's unquestionable of a higher, more solid standard than the GW. On the KS, when closing the pedal, the mechanism makes a loud [satisfying] slap sound; some people might want to place a piece of velcro or padding to subdue this noise. Shell clearance: as the pictures abundantly illustrate, the side covers on the KS have more than 6cm higher clearance, giving better ground clearance & reducing the chances of objects becoming lodged in the Wheel housing. Motor noise: others have noted this as well for the KS, there's high pitch whirling noise, it's not unpleasant or annoying in any way, to me it's has the ring of a miniature jet turbine—incidentially this doesn't seem to annoy dogs any more than other eWheelsPower in Acceleration: this is where the new KS package really comes into it's own, maybe it's because I've built up the confidence on the enclosed track, but I feel that there's no condition where it becomes spongy, soft, or weak (maybe in extreme low battery mode?). Compared to the GW (to me at least) it definitely feels much more gutsy & responsive. The final verdict on the comparative performance differences will be from owners like John, Kevin & Bryan who (or will) own both models to compare to.Audible alarms: on a clear stretch of unoccupied pavement, Mike & I let open the throttle, we noticed that the KS has about 2kph more speed before the first audible alarm is generated. Because of built-in tilt-back at max speed function, the KS rider has more confidence that they're not going to fall off the max-speed cliff.Comfort: all eWheel models feel slightly different to ride. In the KS's favour is that there's side padding on the side, Mike mentioned he initial felt some discomfort by the ankle area. For me, I'm finding that my leg is usually not in direct contact with the sides of the Wheel, & if I make a conscious effort to, it doesn't feel especially uncomfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Out of interest Jason, and just because I'm bored on the ferry, what is the width of the KS tyre? It looks wider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
techflyjy Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 i see you have couple of wires come out your KingSong, assume that is for your E-logging, testing attachment ? Is it easy to open up swap batteries ? Got way really need a better looking logo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted August 11, 2015 Author Share Posted August 11, 2015 @Gimlet, 6cm same as the GW? @techflyjy, yep the Frankenstein eLogger testing monster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 I think the tyre on the Gotway and most other 14" wheels is labeled 14" × 2.125"The KS one looks to be about 2.25" or 2.50" in your second picture, which of course would also increase the diameter by about 0.5" or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc415 Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Jason,as you've now tested the ks800, could you comment on whether the wheel will cut out should the rider keep accelerating even past the tilt back warning? granted this is a risky thing to do and its doing the very thing the wheel is trying to prevent you to do but I'm curious as to its behavior. do all wheels, when pushed past their safety mechanism of tilting back, cut out at some point?a friend of mine got a generic and did this exact thing and it cut out on him. he got scuffed up a bit and said it blindsided him as he thought it wouldn't cut out since it had that safety mechanism.if you haven't tested, that's fine. and if you do, please b careful cuz i can imagine the ks800 reaching a really high top speed.Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted August 12, 2015 Share Posted August 12, 2015 Got home just after 2am and had to catch up on all the general tasks that build up whilst your away but just had a try on the new KS and first impressions are great.Only spent half an hour on it after fiddling about trying to connect the app so I could set it to madden mode or what ever KS call it. As I couldn't get it to connect I used the Gotway app and set to madden I also used it to recalibrate the wheel to upright as it had a 2 or 3 degree forward lean.Whilst playing with the settings I tried cancelling first and second beep warnings which I know doesn't work on the KS but surprisingly I did get a confirmation double beep from the wheel.First trial was to take it down my driveway and up the hill outside. It pulled like a train although I didn't really push it too hard as I wasn't used to it. I brought it back up the driveway and just did a few high acceleration and braking runs then figure of eights and a few backward runs just to get the feel of it.The handling is very different, probably due to the fact that your feet are in closer to the centre line. Although I haven't measured it yet to check. I found I was using my leg to tilt the wheel more rathe than just pushing down on one or the other pedals to turn. The pedals do seem fairly short which I don't like, they would be much better an inch longer.I like the fact that I can actually get the edge of the toe section of my shoes into the recess just above the pedals as it allows me to grip the wheel much more easily for jumping.Anyway first impressions are great but it'll be the weekend before I get time for any serious riding and probably a week later before I get the parts to rebuild my mcmv2s for a proper comparison.It's not really fair at the moment as I put on about 4kg on holiday so I'm now over 95kg fully dressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted August 12, 2015 Author Share Posted August 12, 2015 I've been pushing the KS800 really hard in order to try find out which the limit point. Yesterday I did a high speed endurance testing at absolute max speed as long as the battery would hold out. Got just past 20.5miles in 1:15. There was still some juice left but the limp-home-mode kicked & I was pretty chilled to the bone. At the end of the evening, the pack voltage was 54.5v. I'm told by Tina that the tilt-back limp-home mode is set by a voltage threshold of 53v & get-off-now is set to 48v, so there's probably another 5-10miles left in her when I stopped.Bryan has a stretch of sustained hill climb where he lives, so this is the ideal testing ground of any cut-out limit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Eucist Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 where it becomes spongy, soft, or weakUm, was the Gotway on Madden Mode or the default Soft Mode? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GQS Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 Is the KS800 also a 14" wheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason McNeil Posted August 13, 2015 Author Share Posted August 13, 2015 Yep, another 14" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gimlet Posted August 13, 2015 Share Posted August 13, 2015 They are both fitted with 14" × 2.125" tyres but the different make of tyre on the KS gives it an extra 5mm in diameter when both are at 45psi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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