In case you don’t know, 21st June is the annual Go Skateboarding Day – a holiday created in 2004 by the International Association of Skateboard Companies to promote skateboarding.
If you live at some place where skateboarding is popular, look for an event at a skate shop near you. There would probably be massive group rides, so be sure to be a part of it!
For those who had celebrate the day in the past, how was your experience? Do share!
“It’s National go skate day. Go out and skate!”
Since the launch of X1 Pro on March 2019, Exway has been teasing about the belt-drive module that allows X1 Pro owner to convert their board from hub-drive to belt. Finally, on 15th June 2019, the model is officially available for pre-order in Exway store. Orders are set to be delivered on 26th June 2019.
It’s good to see Exway getting back on track after the infamous firmware issue that causes the board to lock-up when the battery hit near zero. Exway handled that snafu pretty well, showing their ability to do good customer service. But I digress, now, about the Riot module.
For those who are looking to buy the drive train module, it will set you back $399.
For those who haven’t own an X1 Pro, the Exway X1 Pro Riot model is now on sale at $1099. Alternatively, new buyers can get the Exway X1 Pro with both belt and hub drive train for $1399.
Below are the final specs of the Riot module:
Torque: 5.2 Nm*2;
Max Power: 1500W*2
Reduction Gear Ratio: 2.57
Belt: Continental Branded (Germany)
Motor: 5255-160kV but with 4235 stator that brings stronger torque;
Want to know how it performs? Sophia from our team reviewed the Pro X1 and Riot model back in March 2019. You can read it here. Basically, it has tremendous torque.
Shredlights released a new, updated light – SL200.
After going through the advertising material, this is actually a pretty impressive update!
And they manage to keep the same price?
Well I know it’s not cheap to begin with, but that’s still pretty cool.
Pre-order available now, there is a D1 pre-order sale.
Shipping in 4 weeks time.
Those who are interested, use our affiliated discount code “ESKATEHQ” during checkout to receive 10% off.
For more detail, visit Shredlights here.
Eskateday in conjunction with MeepoBoard is trying to make 16th June a day of celebration for esk8r. What Eskateday hoping to achieve is to have eskate community come together, by giving you another reason to organize and join group rides.
California, USA
1) United states, California, Santa Monica, Santa Monica Pier Playground off of Ocean Front Walk
2)Intersection of Beachcomber & Trinidad – Morro Bay, California
Ohio, USA
Washington Park, Cincinnati, OH 45202
Philadelphia, USA
Reading Terminal and Arch St. Straight down Arch, then JFK then to Schuylkill trail down to South St. Shoot down South St to the new Wawa.
Ontario, Canada
Canada, Ontario, Barrie, 55 Ross st
Moscow, Russia
Near Vorob’evi Gori Metro Station, intersection Kosigina street and 4th Vorob’evskiy proezd. 55.706216, 37.560292
Click here for the updated list
To reward the community’s effort in organizing the group rides, the organizers of the 3 biggest three group rides get a free Meepo Board each (Meepo V3, Classic, or Campus 2.)
I think more people should try to go for it, as the competition doesn’t look too hot right now.
Of course, for those of us who don’t want to trouble ourselves with registering and organizing rides, there will be a random prize given out.
All you need to do is to snap a photo of yourself in a group not less than 3, with your eskates and with a thumbs up sign. You just need to post that on social media with hashtag #Eskateday to enter.
There will be a number of prizes given away throughout the day.
Have fun!
For more information, check out https://www.eskateday.com/
Foreword and Introductions
It seems like every budget brand is beginning to move up the price ladder by offering something around the mid-tier $599 marks.
Wowgo 3 is not a reiteration of the Wowgo 2s but a separate lineup on its own. Just by going through the marketing material, one would notice that every part of the board have been upgraded from the Wowgo 2s; be it the battery, the deck, the wheels, or the ESC. Of course, the most notable upgrade must have been the trucks, they are Paris trucks now!
This the specs of the Wowgo 3:
Nothing much to comment on; everything was unsophisticatedly but neatly packed.
The board came with a wall hanger, 2 spare PU sleeves, a T-tool, a generic tail-lights, and the obligatory extra foam pads for deck swaps.
One might remember that I was a huge critic of Wowgo 2s’s flat deck.
Not to worry, Wowgo 3 deck is a huge improvement. The bamboo + fiber glass deck provide very good flex. The deck is no longer flat, with some subtle concave to help your feet feel comfortable on it.
I especially love the minimalistic design on the grip tape. Overall, I really like this deck.
Flipping the deck onto it’s back, we see the typical 2 enclosure set up. No more generic parts, looks like everyone is moving into developing their own proprietary parts now! Good.
The enclosure is made out of plastics, not aluminium. Wowgo said it is a strong plastic and it certainly felt like it. Will it break with abuse? That I can’t tell.
The wheels on Wowgo 3 are significantly better than the one they used for the previous generation. They are 90mm and rated at 78A, I feel they are grippy and comfortable.
The PU sleeve on the hub motor is swappable.
There will be more on how the wheels impact the riding experience later.
“Put a Paris truck on it and you will thank me later.” is a very popular advise in the eskate community during the rise of Chinese budget board. I guess the team behind Wowgo heard that too and decide to act on it.
Wowgo 3 uses genuine Paris truck for the front truck, and it indeed helps to transcend the riding experience to another level. This is to me, one of the most important upgrades from the Wowgo 2s, as you might recall, I hate the generic truck from the Wowgo 2s – I find the 2s difficult to turn with that pair of generic trucks.
Capability
Range
Wowgo 3 uses one of the best cells in Samsung 30Q to build its 10s2P battery pack(216wh). Referring to the math of 10wh=1km range, the marketed range of 14mil (22.5km) is pretty reasonable.
Putting that into the test, a fully charged Wowgo 3 takes me 15.5miles (25km) before finally stops.
The board still retained a top speed of 18.5mph(30kmh) up to the very last miles of the ride, that’s pretty good!
*I weigh around 154lbs (70kg) and was riding in a mostly flat area in a warm climate.
Speed and Torque
Unlike the other boards of this price segment, Wowgo 3 has no intention to duke it out in the top speed department. It keeps the very modest top speed of 24mph(39kmh) of the Wowgo 2s.
Of course, it hit that top speed effortlessly.
Riding Experience:
Acceleration and Deceleration
Wowgo 3 uses a customized version of the Hobbywing ESC. As expected, Hobbywing ESC delivers a butter smooth acceleration and deceleration.
What’s worth mentioning here is the addition of the fourth mode, Turbo mode. Unlike the Turbo mode found in Backfire G2T, this Turbo mode does not have a time limit and doesn’t require cooldown. This basically means a fourth speed mode that provides a more aggressive acceleration, and indeed it does! The board picks up speed pretty effortlessly, bringing you to top speed fairly quickly. Not as fast as a belt driven board, or a VESC but pretty fast.
Braking on the Wowgo 3 is smooth and comfortable. It is stronger than the Wowgo 2s and any board on the last gen Hobbywing ESC, I would prefer it to be a tad bit stronger.
Stability & Maneuverability
It seems to me that all $599 board has their own focus and specialty. Wowgo 3 focus is on relaxing ride and maximum fun in carving. Flexible deck and Paris trucks both are ingredient that Wowgo choose to create this favor. Paris truck is known to give fluid and have a comfortable carve, while not sacrificing the stability. Flexible deck makes riding around comfortable, and carving fun.
For a not so aggressive top speed of 24mph(39kmh), stability is no concern at all. At no point do I feel wobbly or at risk of being bounced off of the flexible deck.
The use of soft 78A 90mm wheels further improves the smooth buttery feeling of the ride. I myself find 90mm the best in general use for hub boards. While, 80-83mm are too small for bumps and cracks and vibrations, 96-107mm rides too tall and scarifies too much torque.
Vibration
So with the 90mm soft wheels (78A) and the flexible deck, Wowgo 3 does pretty well in absorbing vibrations from poorly paved road. Of course, it is still no match against belt-driven boards that has 4 true wheels or big wheels of 96mm+ size but amongst all hub-drives that are with 90mm wheels, this is among the best in reducing vibration.
For me, Wowgo 3 scores an A- in vibration handling.
Remote
Wowgo 3 uses a very elegantly designed remote. The shape and the soft-rubber finish give it a very premium feel. The design is really ergometric and feels nice in hand.
It has a screen that shows top speed, odometer, and battery percentage.
It only has one button that controls everything:
Single press changes the speed modes.
Double press changes the forward/reverse.
Long press to turn on and off.
Holding it to go into pair modes.
Speed modes:
Customer Service
There isn’t much that I can say about Wowgo’s customer service.
Wowgo is now one of the most established electric skateboard brands from China, and their post-sale service is considered reliable.
Unfortunately, all the post-sale service is still based in China but the company seems to be doing pretty well performing their post-sales duty. Sure, there is still some occasional complaints heard from time to time, those are usually drowned amongst the cheers of satisfied customers.
So, not amazing but good.
Verdict
Wowgo 3 has a clear design focus. The same design focus that makes the Boosted popular to be a very comfortable ride for the last mile solution.
It doesn’t try to push the envelope in top speed, torque, range, or wheel size. The result might not be exciting, even boring for some but I believe this is a deliberate design choice that Wowgo made, so that the Wowgo 3 can be the most comfortable ride you can find, at any price.
I think they succeed in their vision. Wowgo 3 is, as mentioned in the title, is butter. The control is buttery smooth. Carving all around is buttery smooth. Everything just felt so smooth.
As always, we have secured a small discount code for our fellow readers:
Click to receive $5 off Wowgo 3
For those who are from a European country, you can choose to shop from a local dealer – Speedio.
Speedio is an Electric Skateboard re-seller based in the Czech Republic. While you do pay a little premium, they offer a 2-year warranty, local support, and fast 2-5 days shipping.
