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.
Update: Yecoo team reached out and notify that they have taken the feedback to heart, and is in the process of addressing some of the lowlights. For now, the battery has already been upgraded to an even larger 10s5p 36V 11Ah Samsung battery, with a plan to further upgrade to a 15Ah & 17.5Ah option. The grip tape design was also revised and looks to the better now.
Yecoo, a Chinese brand previously unheard of reached out to us to review one of their product Yecoo GT. I’ve never reviewed a budget 2 in 1 before and enthusiastically agreed to it. Who doesn’t like a good 2 in 1, could Yecoo GT hold a candle to the Evolves?
Yecoo GT Review
Right off the bat, my test show the marketed spec has been slighty inflated. So the chart and below is the tested specs of the Yecoo GT:
Top Speed: 21mph (35kmh)
Range: AT – 6miles (10km) 83mm – 10 miles (16km)
Weight: AT – 19.6lbs (8.9kg) 83mm – 16lbs (7.3kg)
Charge Time: 5hrs
Features: 2 belt motors, regenerative braking, handles up to 20% slope, swappable PU.
Price: 599USD with shipping included.
Build Quality
First thing first, let’s go through the superficial stuff.
Packaging
Everything is pretty rudimentarily packed. I love how the square foams are cut out and place around the wheels to keep the board in place in the box, I think it’s cute.
The package did come with a full set of 83mm wheels and it’s set of belt and pulley. I am happy that it is included.
Other than that, we have all the usual stuff, T-tool, remote, and chargers.
Update: The packaging has since then received a much needed improvement.
New looks and packaging for Yecoo GT
Deck
Yecoo GT’s deck is a pretty standard generic long board deck with handle cut out. Being generic doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s pretty comfortable.
It has a little nice concave to it and a tiny bit of flex to it.
Component Enclosures and ESC
Flipping the deck onto it’s back, we see the typical generic 2 enclosure set up. These are the plastic enclosure made famous by the original Meepo board. Inside them, houses the LingYi ESC and a 6s4p battery pack.
Knowing this pairing, some of you should already know what the performance would be like, but please read on!
The new battery enclosure for Yecoo GT is much bigger, due to bigger battery.
Wheels
The AT wheels are a set of 150mm silicon wheels. It’s not pneumatic tires. They are big, heavy, and they actually perform pretty well in rough terrain.
Being a 2 in 1, you can easily switch to the street set-up. The board comes with 83mm street wheels that are pretty meh in quality but of course it is up to you to switch to anything with a flywheel core.
Motor
The motor on the GT is a pair of 1000W 5065 outrunner motor.
Trucks
This is a pair of 250mm trucks that are used in many Chinese budget AT boards, they are okay.
What’s seems to puzzling to me is the use of barrel and cone bushing here. Granted that helps the board to turn more but it felt pretty weird riding tall with an AT set-up, yet the truck is so soft and unsteady. I have to tighten the trucks a bit for the ride to be steadier, that is to the detriment of maneuverability and increasing the turn radius; hard to get it right.
On the contrary, I find the truck set-up very comfortable on the street setup. Barrel and cone bushing gives a good amount of lean, wide truck, and low riding height make the board stable.
Remote
Pretty commonly used remote. It has 3 speed modes and 3 brake strength.
You can toggle between the speed mode by using the slides on the side of the remote. Brake mode can be toggled by pressing the power button while holding the throttle all the way back.
My suggestio, just stick with the lowest brake mode.
Capability
Range
While the marketing material rated the board as 6AH, I was dissapointed to learn that it was actually a 6s3p set-up. This means that Yecoo GT has a 144wh battery pack, which is the size of all base version Chinese budget board uses.
The AT wheels set-up got me 6.5miles (10.5km) before the battery ran out. The Street set-up with 83mm wheels got me 10miles(16km).
I would expect worse from a 144wh battery on a belt drive but I guess limiting the top speed and power does help to get more range out of the Yecoo GT.
*I weigh around 154lbs (70kg) and was riding in a mostly flat area in a warm climate.
Update: With the upgrade to 10s5p 36V 11Ah Samsung battery, the range and torque should see significant improvement.
Speed and Torque
I could only reach 21mph(35kmh) with the street set up. With the AT-setup, I manage to reach a little bit less than that and hit 20.8mph(33.5km).
While I would like to be able to go faster in the street set-up, I am not looking to push the speed limit in AT, as riding high off the ground with a loose truck feels pretty sketchy!
23% hill, can’t get up
With a 6s4p set up, I’m betting the torque is gonna take a hit, and it did. On the AT set-up, Yecoo GT is unable to climb through a 23% graded hill. It almost can, almost.
Riding Experience:
Acceleration
and Deceleration
Yecoo GT uses an older version of LingYi ESC and it has similar behavior. The smoothness of acceleration is pretty fair in street set up but in the AT set up the board seems to have trouble deliveing enough power to the motors, hence a slow throttle push will result in a ‘hesitant start’.
Braking curve is not the most intuitive with low brake strength initially and sudden ramping up of brake strength, when the throttle was pulled further back.
You can choose different brake strength in the setting by pulling the throttle back and pressing the power button, however, I don’t see the need to go beyond the lowest mode, as higher brake strength would just accentuate the problem.
Stability & Maneuverability
On the topic of stability and maneuverability, the nature of 2 in 1 presented Yecoo GT a dilemma.
Generally speaking, AT set-up would have a ‘tighter’ truck set-up to allow more stability, as you know, you will be riding quite high off the ground and in all kinds of terrain. This is why true AT trucks are often so difficult to turn. On the other hand, you will want a street set-up to have a loose truck, that allows you to have plenty of leans so you can have as much fun carving as possible.
In my opinion, Yecoo GT is set-up to be a pretty good longboard. I love wide trucks, and while 250mm trucks on 83mm wheels are a bit of overkill, that is the kind of overkill that I enjoy riding. The street setup is pretty maneuverable and very stable, thanks to the super wide truck. The barrel and cone bushing also allows the board to lean and turn easily.
Going from street setup to AT setup however, the story changed. For me, the AT set-up ride too high for my comfort level; plus a barrel and cone sacrifice stability for more turns and it just made the board unsteady.
Vibration & Terrain
Besides learning that I love wide trucks, the second thing I learned from Yecoo GT is that 6.5″ silicon tires are pretty good. It handles vibration and challenging terrain pretty well, almost as well as the standard pneumatic tires.
If you feel comfortable with the riding high off the ground and the inconsistent control behavior in AT set-up, Yecoo GT actually is pretty good in getting you through places.
Stones
Poor roads
Verdict
Everything about the Yecoo GT is pretty raw. From the packaging to the design to the control.
It is both too underpowered to be good AT board and too uncomfortable for a regular cruise ride. The big 6.5″ wheels are good enough to handle some really treacherous road, as long as you can stay on it.
As a street set-up, GT is a comfortable ride competing well with the most entry-level budget board. It is, however, not priced at the entry level. Yecoo does have another product, GTS, which address some of the shortcomings of GT by using 10s3p battery pack and double barrel bushings for a more stable ride. So perhaps look that way?
Anyways, you can use our discount code ‘ESKATEHQ’ to receive a free battery upgrade when buying a Yecoo GT.
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!
Wowgo 3 Review
This the specs of the Wowgo 3:
Top Speed: 24mph (39kmh)
Range: 14mil (22.5km)
Weight: 17.2lbs (7.8kg)
Charge Time: 3hrs
Features: 2 hub motors, regenerative braking, handles up to 30% slope, remote with telemetry, swappable PU.
Price: 599USD with shipping included.
Build
Quality
Packaging
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.
Deck
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.
Component
Enclosures and ESC
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.
Wheels
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.
Trucks
“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:
Slow mode: 0-12miles/h(0-20km/h)
Normal mode: 0-18miles/h(0-30km/h)
Fast mode: 0-24miles/h(0-39km/h)
Turbo mode: 0-24miles/h(0-39km/h)
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.
For those who are from a European country, you can choose to shop from a local dealer – Speedio. Speediois 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.
On 28th April 2019, MeepoBoard announced something that many Meepo fans have been waiting for – their version of the All-Terrain electric skateboard.
Meepo City Rider while not marketed as an all-terrain board, features a 6-inch airless tire that could, in theory, handle rough terrains; at least the rougher roads on a city street. This is probably what most of the Meepo fans were asking for, not an affordable Trampa but more of an affordable Lacroix.
So the 719 dollar question is, after long being the go-to option for anyone looking for a budget electric longboard, can Meepoboard recreate the magic for the AT segment?
Meepo City Rider Review
These are the specs of Meepo City Rider:
Top Speed: 22mph (35kmh)
Range: 15mil (25km)
Weight: 28.7lbs (13kg)
Charge Time: 4.7hrs
Features: 2 hub motors, regenerative braking, handles up to 30% slope, 6-inch airless wheels.
Price: 719USD with shipping included.
Build Quality
Packaging
Meepo’s unboxing experience is pretty standard. A box, plenty of foams to protect the products, and some mask shift A4 paper printed manual. It’s not quite the Apple unboxing experience but everything was quite neat.
Deck
The City Rider uses the same deck as the one found on AWD GT. It is a drop-through deck with the tiniest amount of micro-drop. The deck is pretty wide with good concave, and has a fair amount of flex.
Longtime readers probably know that I have a thing for drop-decks and haven’t yet found one that I don’t like. Of course, this deck is no exception. City Rider’s deck is wide enough to pair with the wide trucks. The flexibility is right where I want it too. Flexible enough to eat up vibration or terrain changes without turning the board into too much of a trampoline.
Component Enclosures and ESC
Meepo City Rider uses two enclosure set- ups, per usual. This time, however, it’s aluminum.
No fancy design, no USB port, just two steel box holding the component safe. Pretty industrial design, that suits the theme of the board.
Inside the enclosure houses a big pack of 10s4p battery and Hobbywing ESC! Rejoice!
Wheels
City Riders comes with 6″ airless rubber wheels. All 4 of them look the same, both hub wheels and normal wheels. Going in without doing any homework, I thought this was a 4 wheel-drive set up. Alas no, it is just dual wheel-drive.
More on how the wheels impact the riding experience later.
Trucks
Instead of using a double kingpin like most of its competitors, City Rider again uses Shredder trucks.
I will talk about its performance later but I would guess the truck is probably the reason why City Rider is marketed for city rides instead of all-terrain uses. It looks robust but I would never trust a steel rod to get air-time like Cédric Okp.
Capability
Range
Can 10s4p Samsung 35E 14AH (504WH) power a board with 6″ tires to the marketed 15mil(25km) range? Well turns out it can!
I think the range was helped by the fact that the top speed was limited to a modest 20mph(35kmh). There is no significant reduction in top speed until the very last few minutes – something I came to expect from every board in 2019.
*I weigh around 154lbs (70kg) and was riding in a mostly flat area in a warm climate.
Speed and Torque
According to Strava, I did manage to go over the marketed top speed and hit 24.6mph/39kmh when the battery is full. After that, the top speed was consistently 20mph/35kmh as per marketed specs.
I was doubtful of the 30% incline claim that Meepo made, so I took the effort to try it on the steepest incline I could find. I did a stop-n-go test on a 23% incline, and the dual 650W motors were almost able to overcome it. Without stopping, City Rider can climb through the 23% incline without much issue.
Riding Experience:
Acceleration and Deceleration
The City Rider uses customized Hobbywing ESC, enough said? Both the acceleration and braking are as smooth as they can be.
Braking is smooth and with enough strength; it still can’t stop the board completely down a 15% incline but it almost can, almost.
Of course, the board doesn’t take off from the starting line as fast as belt-drive AT set-up would be able to.
Stability & Maneuvrability & Vibration
Maneuverability is where City Rider absolutely shines. Even without using double kingpin trucks (which some people hate anyway), City Rider is very agile.
You can easily maneuver it around obstacles, potholes, and traffic cones very easily and comfortably. Or you can always just choose to ride over them, potholes I mean, not traffic cones.
I would say the board is more agile than some lower end street-wheel longboard that I’ve reviewed, and obviously much more so than a mountainboard like the Trampa.
It is so easy to carve in, I think Meepo should have named them City Carver instead, too bad, name taken.
Wide trucks and a modest 25mph/35kmh top speed means the board will never challenge your sense of balance. The story is different of course if you insist to bring the City Rider out of the City.
Riding on grass and stone trails, you get a sense of City Rider wasn’t designed for that. Rough trails tend to throw me off the deck due to the bounce of the deck, the regular trucks and of course, no foot bindings. After half an hour of playing around in the park trails, I decided that this is the case of “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
What is the comfort level when riding over rougher but flat terrain though?
While the 6-inch airless wheels perform amazingly to get you through ramps, cracks, and stuffs; the comfort level is not comparable to pneumatic tires.
Pneumatic tires absorb some of the bumps, the airless wheel is not soft and did none of that. Just think of it as a very big urethane wheel.
With that said City Rider is designed to handle the worst terrain found in a city setting and this set-up did exactly that, it is all you need in a city environment.
Remote
The City Rider comes with the typical Hobbywing remote, which needs no further explanation.
It is also compatible with the Night Ride remote type B, which despite its look, is actually very comfortable in hand and practical in use. NR remote doesn’t come in the box and requires separate purchase.
Customer Service
Meepo customer service is still the same old, same old. Some swear by it, some swear at it. Consistency is definitely an issue but they at their core has every intention to resolve every customer service issue.
You can reach them via email, via Facebook or if all else failed, leave a message here – that will definitely bring attention to Kieran and the team.
Verdict
As you can tell, I am a huge fan of the City Rider. I think it solves the problem it set out to solve perfectly, which is, to be the board that’s agile for a city environment and at the same time able to handle the worst road condition a city commute may face. The riding experience simply left nothing for me to nitpick.
However, as we often associate AT setup as rugged, plowing, and powerful; I feel like it is important for me to emphasize that City Rider is not that. It is a comfortable ride that handles poor terrain, has pretty good torque to drive the 6-inch wheel, but it is not a mountain board, don’t expect the performance of a $2000 Trampa build. It definitely can’t do trail riding, don’t even think about it.
All in all, priced at $719, it is safe to say that City Rider is currently the most affordable and the best deal for someone looking for a really big wheel.
(And it’s $599 for US buyer who are willing to wait for sea shipping.)
It was a day like any other day on March 30, 2019 when I got an email from Jeff Anning.
“Hi Sophia,” it started. “My name is Jeff Anning, I’m the founder of Evolve Skateboards based in Australia and we have been manufacturing and distributing Electric Skateboards since 2009. I’m emailing you to see if you would be interested in doing a review for us. We have some cool things ahead and now at a stage where we are looking for potential reviewers who may be interested in working with us. We do have our USA partner whom can assist with logistics etc and is more than happy assist with anything that may be required. If you have any questions please let me know, cheers for your time :)”
Of course, I leapt at the chance. Evolve Skateboards. I mean come on! They’re one of the few companies in the eskate world that cater specifically and directly to high end consumers. Their boards are fun to ride despite their well documented problems, and they’re secretive. Who wouldn’t want to get a first look at what they’re up to?
My Evolve Carbon GT circa June 2017
My first experience with Evolve was with their third generation board, the Carbon GT. At first, I thought it was the best thing ever. Then I started to experience the issues. Remote disconnects, battery sag up hills, almost no power to do anything meaningful once it drained past half battery. The problems were exacerbated here in San Francisco as it’s a very wirelessly dense and hilly city. After a while, I became unhappy with the performance and moved on to bigger and better things.
However, I always wondered what Evolve would do to fix these problems. Make no mistake, these weren’t isolated incidents I was having, the problems were very real. There’s no way they wouldn’t be working to fix this stuff.
Well, what have Evolve been up to all this time? Let’s find out.
Digging In
When I first opened up the box and caught my first glimpse of the Bamboo GTR, my immediate first impression was that it simply looked fantastic. An all new super flex deck, new thicc enclosure, new white (!) wheels, new matte finished trucks. The combination just looks great. I love classic looks, and this is most surely a classic look. The wide wheelbase coupled with the natural wood deck striped with griptape on either side is just super. You’d be hard pressed to find a better looking board.
The Hardware
I’m told by Evolve that the new GTR series shares no components with the 3rd generation GT series. Even if things look similar, every component has been at least re-engineered. A new manufacturing method for the trucks (forging and CNCing instead of casting), a new deck manufacturer with a different construction method, a new motor construction with a focus on reliability, and new wheels with new formula poured by AEND, the same factory that pours wheels for other leading wheel brands like ABEC.
New wheels. Let’s talk about the wheels for a second. First off, they’re really great. I mean really. I’ve tried all the ABEC wheels, all Evolve’s old wheels, and a whole bunch of other wheels. The rebound on the urethane is great, and it really grips the road and takes potholes well. I run Boas on my main DIY board, and honestly I like these 97s ever so slightly better. It’s high praise, I know, and the durability and long term coloration of these wheels are still to be determined, but so far so very good.
Speaking of so far so good, the deck is also a lot improved from the previous bamboo deck. There’s a lot more flex, a lot more distinctive concave, and personally I think the design is a lot better. It’s also a bit longer than the previous one at 38 inches, and features multiple sets of mounting holes so you can adjust your ride position. Of course, the enclosure that goes on the deck is equally flexy and solidly built, with improved waterproofing by way of rubber gaskets and improved sealing, and in my opinion the battery pack that goes inside is also much improved. But let’s talk about that later.
All this coupled with the new more precision made trucks makes for a fantastically comfortable ride. I had absolutely no problems rolling over any potholes that I otherwise would have to watch out and brace for, even though I’m on 97mm wheels. It’s so cliche and cheesy saying this, but I can tell they really focused on the ride first and foremost. So good!
Of course, no Evolve product is complete without the ability to swap to all terrain hardware. I did not get to test this feature in my review as they didn’t send me any AT hardware, but if it worked like it did in the previous generation, I’d expect it to work quite well. There are new tire colors, sizes, and rims, something for everybody. I’m also told that the new Evolve website will have a board builder feature where you can customize your perfect board and have that arrive at your doorstep instead of a stock configuration. I think this is really great and an unprecedented option in eskate.
But skate hardware is not everything when it comes to eskates right?
Right. The electronics are of the utmost importance and tell the other side of the ride story. Performance, control, and reliability of electronics all play a huge part in how an eskate handles and feels to ride. Previously, on the 3rd generation GTs, some of my most major complaints were somewhat jerky early braking curves at high speeds, weirdly jerky throttle application, remote disconnections, and inconsistent power.
Let’s start with the braking curve. I’m happy to report that compared to the previous generation, it’s much improved. The same Evolve motor control algorithm is present, and the customary motor whine is still there, so if you were hoping for that to go away, you will be disappointed. However, braking from high speeds no longer jerks on initial application but instead comes on smoothly and predictably. This was a painpoint for me as bombing hills at high speed is something I do regularly and it really used to be very nervewracking on the Carbon GT. Now I no longer worry when I’m on the GTR. As for throttle during acceleration, while it does feel smoother than the previous generation, it’s not so much of a difference that I’d say it’s gamechanging.
But braking and acceleration curves mean nothing if the dang thing isn’t reliable. So let’s talk about that.
The Remote
The R2 remote was somewhat controversial when it first launched. The design was wholly unique, and many people’s opinions were split. I personally even preferred the original remote and eschewed the R2 because of that.
However, I’ve come to realize that all I really had to do was stick with it. Now, on my second go at using the R2 remote daily, I’m finding that it really is a fairly good remote in terms of ergonomics and controls. I have smaller hands so it’s ever so slightly on the chunky side, but it’s not so bulky that I have a hard time using it. It’s now heftier due to a larger battery than the original R2 and even comes in several colors if you’re into that sort of thing. A battery saving features has now been built in as well where the screen automatically turning on/off depending on if you raise to look at it or not.
Now all that is well and good, but the major headlining feature for the GTR R2 remote, is the Bluetooth connection. There may be some confusion around this subject so let me explain. Evolve did not actually change the radio technology they use to transfer data. Bluetooth is a protocol, transmitted via the same radio frequency they used to use, 2.4GHz. Done correctly, 2.4GHz remotes are some of the most reliable remotes available.
Now, it’s no secret that old Evolve remotes have had connection issues. It’s also no secret that their remotes have had pairing issues. I’ve had many an instance where I’ve simply turned on my old Carbon GT as I regularly did and had it simply refuse to connect. I’ve also had many an instance where the remote would simply disconnect on me while riding. I know firsthand that these things happened with the old R2. And although I no longer have an old R2 remote, I also know exactly where I can reproduce disconnections on bad remotes in general. Now that I’ve been given this opportunity to put the GTR through its paces, I must also test the remote as thoroughly as I can.
Please note before you read the below that my board and remote was both running prototype firmware. There were some bugs in general that did not affect riding.
I really tried to get this remote to disconnect. San Francisco is a very wirelessly dense city with tons of interference, and I made sure to run through the thick of it. In my test, I rode through all the challenging areas of SF: The streets of Chinatown, the heart of the Financial District, directly under high voltage bus lines, up Twin Peaks and around the high powered radio towers. I ran errands on the board, commuted to work on the board, did 20+ mile nonstop rides across hilly and mountainous terrain on the board. Not a single drop while riding where the old R2 once had issues for me.
There is one caveat though. If I stand at a certain street corner near my house for a period of time, I can maybe make the remote disconnect. I can’t reproduce this reliably (in fact the two times it happened I was not attempting to reproduce it at all) and it’s only happened twice and only on this specific street corner, but I believe it bears mentioning. There were a few other firmware related issues with my review unit, chief amongst which was a bug where the remote wouldn’t re-establish connection with the board after the board times out and turns off then is turned back on again, so I’m more willing to chalk this issue up to a firmware bug. Evolve tells me these issues have already been fixed on the release firmware, but only time will tell if they really have been fixed. All I can say is that in my times testing it, I have not had a single issue where I most surely would have already on the old hardware.
The Battery
If the remotes were the foremost controversial thing about the 3rd generation GT boards, the battery packs that ran them were the secondmost.
Reports of battery sag and being kicked down to Eco mode going uphill have been abound for the last few years, and it’s been a major sticking point for the GT series boards. It’s also no secret that CEO of Evolve Jeff Anning has had very public strong opinions about Evolve’s then battery technology of choice: lithium polymer prismatic packs. In any case, this was something Evolve dearly needed to fix. And fix it they did.
Let’s get some facts out of the way. The new Evolve Powerflex packs are 10s4p Samsung 35e batteries. This means the cells are arranged in packs of four, wired in series. 35e cells are 3500mAh cells that can do 8A discharge. It’s somewhat surprising that Evolve has chosen to go this route, as the 35e drops voltage faster than another popular cell for eskate, the 30q. Here’s a comparison between the 35e and 30q:
And here’s a comparison between the 35e and VTC6, yet another popular cell for eskate:
As you can see, voltage drops quite drastically in both single cell performance comparisons, which means packs built out of 35e cells will experience more battery sag than packs built out of the other two cell types.
But does it matter?
When Evolve told me about their new battery technologies, they stressed that their first main focus was battery safety. Their second main focus was power at all battery levels. This means that regardless of the state of charge, you should experience similar torque. Taking off at 100% in GTR mode should feel the same as taking off at 10% in GTR.
I’ve tested this to the best of my ability and, well, they’re not lying. Torque is similar at all battery levels. Climbing hills at 10% felt the same as 100%, albeit slower, and I remained in GTR the entire way. The battery indicator did not fluctuate wildly either. This is honestly a fantastic improvement. With this, one of my major complaints about Evolve boards was solved completely.
Heading to the top of Twin Peaks, San Francisco is a route I ride regularly, and it’s no easy route. It’s a fairly steep climb all the way to the top if you start at Market St near the Castro or the Panhandle near Golden Gate Park, and it’s the route I take if I want to test performance of a board under high constant load. I took the Bamboo GTR up that route, and recorded the whole thing. Here’s the video. Note that the video starts when I was already halfway up:
I’d say that’s pretty impressive. The whole route up I only dropped 20% battery according to the remote, and maintained power the entire time.
Range is quite good too. On range tests over very hilly terrain (basically all of San Francisco), I was consistently hitting over the 20 mile mark riding briskly. As you can see in the ride tracked on the left even an 145lb person can do a 21 mile run and still get home with 7% battery all in GTR. This includes literally riding up a mountain. This is extremely good and quite impressive for a board in San Francisco. I have no doubt on flatter ground it’s entirely possible to hit the 30 mile range advertised even in GTR mode. Really good shit.
The Internals
One of the major improvements Evolve claims they’ve made to their battery system is that they’ve found a way to allow the entire pack to flex an insane amount.
I’m not talking about just a little bend, I’m talking about you can bend the entire pack into an almost tube shape. They also told me they’ve redesigned every single internal electrical component. So of course I opened it up, and here’s what I found.
The electronics enclosure is split into two parts: the ESC housing and the battery pack and BMS housing. You can remove one or the other quite easily simply by removing the screws from the top. Each enclosure has been dustproofed and waterproofed, though Evolve won’t say what the rating is.
Each enclosure has a plastic cover that’s screwed down, and there are o-rings and gaskets around every point of ingress. It’s very clean.
Opening up the battery enclosure, we find the underside of the flexible battery PCB. The entire assembly is pressfit into the enclosure tightly to prevent movement, so it takes quite some effort to pull out.
But pull it out I did, and here’s what it looks like.
You can clearly see how flexible this pack is. I’m actually very impressed with the design of this pack. The traces on the PCB can actually carry around 200A, even though the full pack is rated at 32A continuous and 52A burst. Evolve says that average continuous riding will hit 20A discharge and that in their side by side comparisons with the same pack made of 30q cells, the 35e performed better. I don’t claim to know what metrics they’re looking at for performance, but this is what I’ve been told.
Going over to the ESC enclosure, we remove its cover to find the newly redesigned ESC.
You can see the ceramic antenna for the remote embedded on the right side of the ESC, and two wires going to the USB breakout board. These power the two rear facing USB ports for accessories.
I think time will tell how well this enclosure system holds up. Evolve tells me they got to where they are now from breaking countless iterations, fixing, and breaking again so they’re very sure of the hardware, and honestly I believe them. Everything I see here is quite high quality and obviously built to last.
So after all that, I have a few observations.
The GTR is a brand new product inside and out. It may look similar to the 3rd generation GT boards, but honestly, it’s really not. As far as I can tell, almost everything is improved in a forward thinking way. Even the motors have been redesigned with stronger components, are now vented, and now feature a single hot swap connector for some mysterious purpose.
I think a lot of people will look at this board and go “well it looks similar to the old one, why upgrade? I can just send my current GT to a battery upgrade service and be done with it,” and of course, you can do that. But I think unless you’re also planning on swapping the ESC out for something like a FOCbox Unity, the new GTR would probably still be a better bet due to the numerous upgrades.
I really love the new 97s. I think they’re a great wheel with great rebound, and I love the white color scheme even though it gets dirty fairly quickly here in SF. They’re so good that I’m willing to jump in and get four sets. HMU Jeff Anning 😉
I think it’s a good move for Evolve to move to 18650s, even if they’re not admitting they were wrong in the past. It’s an even better move for the consumer as now they don’t have to deal with the headaches related to voltage sag and can just ride. We’ll call it a win-win yeah?
The new Bamboo GTR deck is just great. You gotta take it for a ride.
But Sof, would you recommend it?
I’ve been riding the new Bamboo GTR for the better part of two weeks. It’s less time than I would have liked, and certainly less time than I typically ride other boards before I give my opinion.
In addition, the release schedule of this review had to be very unexpectedly and very annoyingly bumped forward quite a bit because of certain circumstances regarding a certain YouTuber, but I think what it boils down to is this.
Riding an electric skateboard, as with any other leisure sport, is an activity that should be enjoyed. That’s the bottom line. If your only focus is speed and that’s what you enjoy, this is not the board for you. If you hate belt drives, this is not the board for you. But at the end of the day, there’s only one question that needs to be asked. Do you smile when you ride the GTR? I know I do.
Update On Remote Connection
Earlier in this piece, I mentioned that I was getting dropouts on the remote at certain places during my testing. Evolve chalked it up to issues the prototype unit had and assured me that the issues wouldn’t persist in the production unit. Of course, I didn’t simply believe them, so Evolve was kind enough to arrange for me to get on a production board and ride to my problem spots around San Francisco to test if things have really gotten better.
I’m happy to report that I had no issues whatsoever. Down Polk, down Market, up the entirety of California, around Chinatown, no disconnects occurred. Of course, this is not a comprehensive testing and consumer results remain to be seen, but in areas where I previously had issues with the prototype, I now had no issues with the production unit. I’m fairly satisfied for now.
![[Updated] Evolve Bamboo GTR First Look & In Depth Review – Evolve, Evolved](https://spcdn.shortpixel.ai/spio/ret_img,q_cdnize,to_auto,s_webp:avif/www.electricskateboardhq.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Evolve-Bamboo-GTR.jpg)
