September 5, 2020February 6, 2021 by Paxson Lim

Wowgo AT2 Review – One more shot, did it count?

Introductions

Designing a new product can be scary. After all, you can never know if something new might turn out to be a dud. But I guess we all know the proven formula to make a great electric skateboard:

7-inch pneumatic wheels with the ability to swap to street setup +
Dual Belt drive +
Double drop deck +
Double Kingpin Trucks

Give the board a pack of 10s4p batteries and throw in some hexagon-grip-tape design and you’ve got yourself a very, very effective formula. The same formula that Evolve has been cooking for almost a decade now.

It wasn’t until 2019 that we start seeing brands copy this formula. Personally, I’m surprised it took these companies so long, but there are only a few notable attempts: Backfire Ranger X1 and now X2 did it with hub motors; Ownboard Bamboo AT made an attempt that we like, and then there was the first Wowgo AT.

Wowgo AT 2 Review

We never reviewed the Wowgo AT and we know we don’t need to, because right from the get-go everyone who took a glimpse of that board knows it’s troubled. To say the least, it had a very problematic rear truck that made it a poor ride.

Long story short, they tried again with Version Two and made lots of changes this time. Now let’s run through the specs of Wowgo AT 2 real quick.

Size: 38-inch long board
Top Speed: 25mph/40km
Range: 22miles/35km
Battery Pack: 504Wh 10s4p Sanyo battery
Weight: 30lbs/13.5kg
Features:
- Flexy deck made out of fiberglass, bamboo, and maple wood.
- Double kingpin trucks.
- Dual 6368 1500W motors.
- Hobbywing ESC with smart turn on.
- Two wheel-configurations are available:
  - 175mm pneumatic wheels or
  - 120mm cloud wheels.
Price: 1099.99 USD

Unboxing

Wowgo AT 2 gave me a few of small but nice surprises.

During the unboxing, I was surprised that they included a wheel pump in the box, a funny nice gesture. A bigger surprise came when I found out that it has the smart turn-on feature previously never seen outside of Exway.

I’m also mildly impressed that Wowgo had stepped up on the polish of the board, again. From the hexagon absorptive grip-tape, they use to the overall feel and look of the enclosure, couldn’t find any blemishes. All Chinese brands had been upping the ante in the product polish, but for the past 1 year, Wowgo seems to go slightly further in this aspect than the rest (especially since Wowgo 3).

Let’s put it this way, everything about Wowgo AT 2 felt really premium, and the only thing that doesn’t feel premium about it … is unfortunately the quirky brand name.

Of course, good specs and polished finish are just the qualifiers when a board costs as much as $1099.99 especially when the consistency and ease of access to aftersales service can and is a valid concern, an issue that’s unfortunately plaguing most if not all of the Chinese brands.

In short, besides looking pretty, the riding experience has to be really good too!

Riding Experience

i. Acceleration & Breaking

Unsurprising, but equally worth mentioning, is the control. Wowgo uses a customized Hobbywing ESC where we expected smooth acceleration and smooth braking, and that’s exactly what we got.

Customized Hobbywing has a tendency to have weak brakes, but for the Wowgo AT 2, the brake is actually pretty strong. No complaints here.

ii. Vibration

Duh.

You obviously couldn’t find a much better board to combat road vibration than a board with pneumatic wheels, is belt-driven and has flex in the deck.

iii. Top Speed

The marketed top speed is 25mph (40km). We manage to hit that.

That’s not impressive. What’s impressive is that for a board that uses dual kingpin trucks, Wowgo AT 2 felt really stable cruising near top speed, in AT configuration.

This is not how I felt riding on other DKP trucks, like the similarly built and priced Ownboard Bamboo AT, for example, that board doesn’t felt stable in AT wheels despite having more aggressive drop deck and lower ride height.

Stability concern is such a none issue that switching to the 120mm Cloudwheels seems unnecessary. You get more safety with the AT wheels anyways.

iv. Range

And the marketed range is 22miles (35km).

We were able to hit that number. It’s a big pack of Sanyo GA 18500, 504Wh, in 10s4p configuration after-all.

On a side note: Evolve Bamboo GTR also uses a 504wh pack, 10s4p configuration, Samsung 35E cells. It’s marketed range is 19miles (30km) and we hit around 20-21miles on it too.

A closer look at the parts

i. Deck

Wowgo AT2 has a less aggressive drop-deck and hence a higher ride height, so it should, in theory, be even more twitchy. But that wasn’t the case; the truck is configured so well right out of the box, and thanks to the harder bushing it is actually the most stable dual kingpin we’ve ever tried.

The slightly concave double drop down deck is really comfortable to stand on, and road vibration is never better countered than with pneumatic wheels, flex deck, and absorptive grip tape.

iii. Trucks

As mentioned, the dual kingpin truck is very well configured, probably partly thanks to the harder bushing it is using? One of the most stable dual kingpin we’ve ever tried.

iii. Electronic components

The brain of the board is the Hobbywing ESC with a smart turn on. Meaning, the board turns on just by turning on the remote. This is a big deal.

I feel like a nerd for saying this but I love the components case. It’s plastic but it’s pretty and elegant looking. No more off the shelf parts this time.

iv. Remote

Single-button remote with telemetry reading. Comfortable on hand.
The connectivity range seems to be shorter on this one than other remote, bring it a few feet away from the board and it will vibrate and disconnect.

iv. Wheel

Two wheel-configurations are available – 175mm pneumatic wheels or 120mm cloud wheels.

By the way, this thing weighs in at almost 30lbs (13.5kg), in AT set-up, and switching to cloud wheels is just gonna slice a pound or two off it. In short, it’s heavy.

Let me repeat myself here, if you are picking between Cloudwheels set-up or pneumatic AT set-up, go pneumatic.

Verdict

The Wowgo team deserves a pat on their back for the AT2; it has respectable specs and it has a top-notch feel to back it up. For those who have strong feelings against Evolve, this is the board to get. For those who don’t have strong feelings against Evolve, this might still be a better choice after considering Hobbywing ESC gives you better overall control and smoothness, and the smart-turn-on feature is huge.

If you’re willing to put up with average after-sale service and the woefully unpredictable shipping time during this pandemic, you certainly won’t be disappointed by this one.

If you are interested in buying a Wowgo, be sure to check out our affiliate discount link here during check out.
It will help you get a small monetary discount and helps us out too. On top of that, you’ll be tagged as an Electric Skateboard HQ customer and probably be treated better. Cheers!

June 23, 2019June 24, 2019 by Drew Frayre

The MaxFind Max 2 – Dual Review

When you look at the MaxFind Max 2, you may be struck by its appearance. This board looks more like a piece of stolen alien technology or a prototype government aircraft than it looks like a skateboard. The all-black diamond-cut fiberglass deck is sleek, sexy and utterly smooth to the touch, and the grip tape is…not there.

Instead of traditional grip tape, MaxFind has elected to have their board’s riding surface comprised of a synthetic PVC material.

After riding it for a couple of weeks, I am confident in its ability to hold you to the board for light cruising. I would not take this board into a downhill race or attempt to do any slides with just this material for grip, but for fair-weather commuting, it should do the job while avoiding scuffing your favorite pair of sneaks.

While we are looking at the exterior of this board, get a look at THESE:

To keep up with the prototype aircraft aesthetic, it appears that MaxFind have elected to bolt two jet turbines to the back of their latest board. I have to admit that even I was a little intimidated by these formidable hub motors. It is worth noting that this particular model runs 90mm wheels, and it seems that a good 80mm of them is taken up by these enormous cheese-grater vents.

This all makes sense when you take size of the dual 1000w motors into effect. Motors like this need to be kept cool, and in order to keep cool they need to breathe, and breathe, they do! I was able to find a (long) bike path and run this board at full speed for nearly 2 minutes at 21mph without experiencing a reduction in speed. (MaxFind advertises this board’s max speed as 23mph, but I found the top speed to be a bit lower with my 190-pound frame on it.)

The big vents in the wheels should not be a problem for water intrusion however, as the board is IP65 waterproof. I was concerned about water getting into the hub motors when I first got the board, but was assured that the motors are fully encased inside the wheels. This seems to be the case, as I have not had an issue with moisture yet, despite riding this board on several wet days and this awesome bit of footy released by the manufacturer:

(Note: I do not condone trying to empty your home pool with this board.)

While looking at the beefy motors, your eye might also be drawn to the equally beefy trucks. I have to admit that these cast trucks look GOOD. The stealth black, sharp angles and geometry reminiscent of Caliber make for a seriously impressive truck, and I haven’t managed to snap or even really dent mine yet, so it looks like they can really take some abuse!

MaxFind could really benefit from some in-house skater expertise though. When my review unit arrived in the mail, the trucks were tight and unresponsive. After a quick switch up of the stock bushings (dead and reboundless), I had the MaxFind turning a bit better. I hesitate to make this setup more carvy, as the 90mm wheels are definitely a risk for wheelbite, one of my biggest skateboarding demons. Luckily, the unique shape of the MaxFind deck gives you some wheel-wells to help avoid this particular problem.

This is probably a good spot to talk about the ride. Right off the bat, I noticed that this board feels like it is geared HIGH. For those of you that do not drive manual cars, this means that the board has less torque at lower speeds, and achieves a higher top speed. I vastly prefer this type of ride to boards that have jerky low-speed acceleration *cough* WinBoard *cough* as it allows for a much smoother takeoff, and a higher cruising speed.

Once you fix the trucks, this board carves well, and rides really smooth on the huge 90mm wheels. I found myself really enjoying light carving, even at higher speeds, though the lack of concave on the deck was a little unsettling. I chalk this more to my downhill background than anything, I know that people have been beach cruising on pin-tails for a long time and carving without concave since before I was born.

Speaking of board feeling, this board feels LIGHT! At 13.6 pounds, this bad boy comes in even lighter than its Meepo and Boosted counterparts. I loved having this board as my commuting buddy for a couple weeks, as it was exceedingly easy to jump on a bus, train, or up a flight of stairs without too much hassle. I will often not bring an eskate or EUC into the city when I am meeting up with Muggle (non-riding) friends, as I know that I will be schlepping whatever I rode around with me all day. This was not the case with the MaxFind, as it was easy enough to pop under my arm and walk around with.

NOTE: Before closing out this interview, I am compelled to note that the reports of support for MaxFind’s customers have been…sketchy to say the least. We have had multiple reports to EskateHQ of customers who have reached out to MaxFind about issues with their boards, only to be met radio silence. I did not have an issue with my board over the 3 weeks that I tested it, but the lack of support is something that should be taken into effect when making a purchase decision.

May 7, 2018August 16, 2018 by Paxson Lim

Teamgee H6-Review

Foreword

Just as the winter ends, another wave of new electric skateboard began their marketing push. Teamgee H6 manages to stand out amongst the generic boards that are coming out from China with its pintail deck and stealth design.

Introduction of Teamgee

ShenZhen TeamGee Electronic Co., Ltd is a big established company in China. It has around 70 employees under its payroll, though only a dozen of core members work on the electric skateboard project.

Teamgee began its business as an OEM and ODM of various electronic components but it definitely didn’t limit itself there. For the past few years, Teamgee has established itself in the E-mobility world offering products such as the hoverboard, electrics-scooter and unicycle.

In 2016, they started to get into the electric skateboard business and have been selling fairly well in the Chinese market.

Teamgee electric skateboard project is the brainchild of the company owner, Mr. Sun, a 36-year-old gentleman with a receding hairline and a friendly vibe. Mr. Sun is not a skater but nonetheless an avid sports enthusiast. Like many of us, he found electric skateboard being much more fun as compared to the likes of the hoverboard. With the structure that Teamgee has, it is easy for them to get into the electric skateboard business so that was what they did.

Teamgee electric skateboards

Don’t let the emptiness in Teamgee web-store fool you into thinking that it has only the H6 to sell.
Teamgee has more than that, it has been selling a variety of eskate in the Chinese market and has even more of them in development, including an electric skateboard booster drive. The pintail H6 is the most recognizable by far and that was the reason why they chose to enter the international market with it.

The business owner, Mr. Sun has a particular insistence in the aesthetic design for his electric skateboard, wanting it to look and feel more like a regular longboard, hence the stealthy design. His passion towards creating an aesthetically pleasing electric skateboard is easy to see through the passionate way he spoke about board designs and the extent their team went through to make Teamgee board look the way it is.

We can all agree that the H6 looks pretty nice, can’t we?

But can it perform?

Teamgee H6 Review

Not aiming to be the most powerful, Teamgee H6 is at least decent in the specs department.

Top Speed: 18.5mph (30kmh)
Range: 10mil (16km)
Weight: 14lbs (6.3kg)
Charge Time: 2 hours
Features: Regenerative Braking, LED lights.
Price: 529 USD.

Build Quality

Right out of the box, Teamgee impressed with its looks and design.

The sleek design without any protruding component boxes also means the board has a very solid feel in hand.
The appearance of the board is definitely among the best in its price category. Though a little hot glue residual on the connecting wires serves to remind that this is, at the end of the day, a $500 board and not quite at the Boosted level in finishing.

Weight:

Not to let the sleek designs fool you to think that the board is light.
It is not heavy at 14lbs (6.3kg) but definitely not something you want to be carrying around for an extended time.

Deck:

Pintail deck aren’t often seen in electric skateboard market and the Teamgee H6 is definitely the first one in this price range.

The pintail deck was made from Canadian maple and not-surprisingly, it is stiff – considering all the electronic components were housed inside the deck, it would be foolish to expect otherwise.

The pintail deck has a slight concave to it.
Compares it to a flat deck, the concave definitely helps with the control and feel of the deck.

If you are on the taller side, say 5’9 (180cm), you might find the deck too narrow for comfort.
I am 5’7 (175cm) and the deck works well for me.

The graphic design on the deck was something that Teamgee put a lot of effort into. Even if the design doesn’t work for you, it is difficult to argue that the H6 stands out amongst your typical eskates.

Wheels:

Teamgee H6 chose to use 83mm 83A wheels.
The design of the board simply doesn’t allow any bigger wheels as with 83mm, wheel bites are already happening at full-lean in low speed.

(The team told me that in the future, they will have wheel-well on deck to prevent wheel bites.)

The hub motor urethane sleeves are replaceable so that is a plus.

Summary:

Beautifully designed, the Teamgee H6 is definitely one of the most aesthetically pleasing electric skateboards out there. Both the build quality and finishing while not perfect, are good.
Keep in mind, this is, after all, a mid-range board.

Riding Experience:

Acceleration and Deceleration

Straight out of the box, it definitely took me awhile to get familiar with the H6.

It has a perceptible delay in acceleration and braking. The team told me it was designed that way to cater to a less experienced crowd. Although I don’t see how that would help, my wife seems to like this configuration better than the other boards I have.. well (that puzzled me a lot, actually.). Shrugged…

The delay is even more noticeable when going from braking to acceleration. That means if you flip the throttle back and forth very fast, the board would not move at all. (Just something that I notice).

Thankfully, that was something that I get used to quickly.

Anyways, the H6 has 2 speed modes, high and low.

In the low-speed mode, acceleration and deceleration are one of the tamest I’ve experienced.
Combine it with a gentle top speed of 11mph(17kmh) in the low-speed mode, the H6 is well suited for beginners to comfortable cruise around in.
In the high-speed mode, however, the acceleration and braking are significantly stronger. Its still within the control of a seasoned eskater, but definitely not for the casuals.

Vibration & Stability

A stiff deck and a (relatively) small wheel mean that Teamgee H6 is not the best board to ride on bad roads. Riding the H6 on cobblestone, I can feel each of the vibration.
The 83mm wheels also put a limit on how big a bump you can roll over.

In my opinion, the board is configured to give the best cruising experience on low speed with its soft bushing that makes carving better.

While the board won’t challenge your balance in low-speed mode, it is a different story in high-speed mode. Bear in mind the pintail deck of the H6 is more narrow and the truck-based is shorter than your regular 38″ longboard deck, so going 20mph(32kmh) felt to me like riding on a rocket broomstick. On the other hand, an eskate veteran who was accustomed to highspeed riding will definitely have no problem with a measly 20mph.

Remote Control

For international buyers, Teamgee H6 comes with a new remote, which is cool.

Well, because the old remote is really bad in both look, feels and function.

This new remote is pretty good.

First of all, the soft rubber feels really good in the hand.
Secondly, it has a small screen that shows speed, and battery life.
It also has a LED light on the top, something that might be useful from time to time.

This remote use a dial in the middle, it has a pretty short throw limiting the fine control you can have with it.

There is also a cruise-control feature build into this remote. By pressing the dial twice, the H6 will lock the current speed and allow you to cruise along without holding on the dial. Simply move the dial again in either direction to disengage the cruise control.

It’s a nice feature and but kinda dangerous for those who are oblivious to it, as the board might speed-on unintendedly if you accidentally engage the cruise control.

Summary of Riding Experience

I never tried surfing but cruising and carving on this pintail deck definitely feels the way I think surfing would feel.

The H6 are designed for cruising and carving around big smooth roads and it really shines in that setting. Engage the board in cruise control and all that left to do is to enjoy the carves.

For other use, however, the board is just passable. There is more powerful and stabler board for high speed and there is lighter and agiler board for navigating city sidewalks.

Capability

Range

Obviously, the range of the board depends on your weight, your riding style, and the temperature.

The 3.5Ah battery is advertised to give 10miles(16km).

If you are blasting at its top speed all the time, the board will last you around 7.5miles(12km). On the other hand, just cruising around in the low-speed mode will still leave you with half of the battery after doing the advertised 10miles(16km).

Note: I am 165lb(75kg) and this was tested in a typical hot tropical weather.

Speed

Teamgee H6 has advertised top speed of 18.5mph(30kmh).

With speed tuck, I can get the board to accelerate up to 20mph(32kmh).

The low-speed mode has its top speed set at 11mph(17kmh). A comfortable speed to cruise around in.

Torque

I did the standard stop and go test on the hill and the board did admirably. It can brake into a full stop on the incline and continue up the hill without rolling backward.

Comparing it to other board in the similar price, it handles hills considerably better.

Passed with flying color.

Customer Service

Teamgee is a new company and the customer service is, well, unproven.

The effort is definitely there – they have set-up a US hotline to service US customers better.
For the rest of the world, the customer service will be via email.

I do foresee the company to struggle a bit in the near future before they get more seasoned in servicing international customer. If tip-top post-sale service is a must to you, do check back this post in a few months and I will update this section once the company proved itself.

Verdict

So, would I recommend Teamgee H6 to anyone? How does it stack up against boards of its tier?

While Teamgee H6 takes a backseat to Meepo-Wowgo-Ownboard in performance, it definitely is miles ahead in aesthetic and looks.

The surf like carving experience and the sleek design is something unique that only the H6 offers.

I, however, do not think the board suits well to a big tall person as they might find the deck too narrow and the stock bushing too soft.

To summarize, I would recommend the Teamgee H6 to someone who looks to cruise around in comfortable speed and in good roads.
Or to anyone who really needs to eskate under the radar.
Or to anyone who really likes that design.

Looks elsewhere if you are tall, big, need for speed, rides on bad roads or are looking for a very portable board.

Teamgee Official Site
Use “EskateHQ” affiliate code during check out to get 10% off.

Note: Post-sale service is a thing that I put into heavy consideration when recommending a board.
Though Teamgee seems to genuinely care about building a brand, I couldn’t just take their words for it.

I hope my reader can help me keep track of Teamgee post-sales service by CC-ing [email protected] when you are dealing with Teamgee’s customer service.
I will also do my best to make sure my reader gets taken care of.

I hope this helps. =)

May 26, 2017June 21, 2017 by Paxson Lim

The one reason that I chose Walnutt Spectra

Since I first seen a video of an electric skateboard on Facebook back in 2015, I was hooked.

Can you blame me? Eskates are much cooler than hoverboard, Segway, bicycle or a scooter. It’s the future of transportation, fitting perfectly with the urban commute.
Sadly, even though I had done lots of researches and wrote tons of reviews on electric skateboards, I had yet to come down from the fences to buy one (They are expensive to me!)

I felt that Eskates has not matured yet. The perfect board for the perfect price has not existed yet.
As a fellow Redditor said (and I Paraphrase): Boosted need to fix its battery, Evolve need to fix it’s remote, Mellow needs to be cheaper, Arc board should have hub motor and on top of that, every board should have a removable battery and be waterproof!

Luckily for us, competition in the eskates world seems only to intensify with time and a lot more choices have popped up. Since my preview of 2017 board at the start of this year, 2 more boards has been announced in Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Walnutt Spectra and Lou Board.

I decided to get either one of them, and I am losing sleep choosing between them.

But at last at the ending of their Kickstarter campaign, I made my decision and backed Walnutt Spectra Mini.

Walnutt Spectra Mini:

I first got to know Walnutt Spectra when I was writing a post about Eskates in CES 2017.
Walnutt then started IndieGoGo campaign in May and was scheduled to ship as early as August (wow?).

I was primarily ogling at Spectra Mini for its price and its size.
It has decent Stats too. 17 inch, 7.5lbs, 12.4 mph speed with 6.5 miles range. 14% hill climb.
(That will be 43cm, 3.4kg, 20kmh, 10km range).

It cost me 299USD plus 35USD shipping to Malaysia.

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You can find more individual electric skateboard stat chart here.

So, what does Spectra offers?

Spectra most unique feature would be its Posture Control: The board moves according to where you put your body weight on. Lean in to move forward, lean back to brake- which I was told to be a bad idea cause it is easier to lose my balance if I roll over a bump while leaning forward.

Nevermind, Spectra can connect to phone to use it as remote too.

At least when things go wrong, I have the option to jump off immediately. Spectra will brake itself. Can’t tell you how many time I have to chase after my penny board after an emergency exit.

The board also packs those standard features that nowadays most eskates have such as:
– Regenerative Breaking (Which electric skateboard nowadays don’t have it?)
– Speed Modes (duh)
– Application to go along with it.
– Water/weather resistant (I’ll believe it when some 3rd party tested it)
– LED indicator (I actually agree it is nice to be seen at night)

The features above tells me that Walnutt Spectra is not going to be inferior compares to other small eskates like the Blink Lite, Arc Board, Bolt and Lou Board. However what gets me interested is the fact that this board has a software in it, and its firmware can be updated.

So is this going to be the first smart electric skateboard on the market? (Or would the software be dumb and gets in the way instead?) I was sufficiently intrigued to put money in to find out myself.

However, there was Lou Board, on the other hand, campaigning in Kickstarter with the similar price (299$). Equally as good stats wise, with a removable battery (Spectra’s could not), with better water protection, it is very difficult to decide between them.

Ultimately, it was THIS that made me chose Spectra.

Portability. (In gif is Spectra Pro, Spectra Mini is 2.4 inches shorter!)

Portability.

I measured:
17 inch or 43cm means Spectra Mini can fit into most backpacks.
I knew by experience that the primary reason I didn’t bring my penny board everywhere I went was that it was still too big to be carried easily in a backpack or most grocery bags.

If “the best camera is the one that’s with you”, the best eskates for me is the one that I will actually carry around.

So before I take the plunge and get myself my dream board Linky, I will just have to settle with my little Walnutt Spectra Mini first.

I hope I have better luck using it than Caisey Neistat in his vlog.

Link to Walnutt Spectra IndieGoGo Campaign.
Link to Walnutt Official Webpage.
Link to Walnutt Facebook Page.

I have my worries about its ‘posture control’ and its small size. But this girl seems to be riding it smooth enough.