Category: Electric Skateboard Reviews

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Ownboard W1S Review – Similar or better?

Ownboard W1S– Review

Foreword

In our quest to review all the noteworthy boards in the Chinese budget board segment, we have gone through Meepo, Wowgo, and the Verreal.

Today, we will be moving on to the Ownboard, one amongst the big-4 vendors in the Chinese budget board space.

Coming into the market a little bit later than Meepo and Wowgo, Ownboard is often a second consideration after its more famous doppelganger, the Wowgo 2s.

This must cause frustration for the Ownboard team, which has long been in the OEM business and is by far the more mature company of the two.

In our opinion, the Ownboard W1S, the star of today’s review, is actually a better product (at least marginally) than the very similarly priced Wowgo 2S.

Introduction to Ownboard

Ownboard was founded in 2013 as an OEM company for hoverboards and ‘Segways’.

In 2015, they started to get into the electric skateboard business and were the manufacturer for many budget brands in the Chinese market.

When the Chinese budget board craze hit the international market, Ownboard and it’s 68-man-strong company decided to create their own budget brand.

With the advantage of being a big manufacturer, they not only manage to keep up with all the iterations and upgrades offered by competitors but even eek out advantages for themselves by using superior parts.

They are also one of the few companies that are able to ship to US buyers from the states themselves, an important consideration when shopping for a Chinese manufactured board (for those from the US anyway).

Ownboard W1S Review

The Ownboard W1s has pretty standard specs for boards in its segment:

  • Top Speed: 25mph (40kmh)
  • Range: 12mil (18.5km)
  • Weight: 17.2lbs (7.8kg)
  • Charge Time: 3 Hours
  • Features: Regenerative Braking, Swappable PU Sleeves.
  • Price: around $432 USD (after delivery fee).

Build Quality

Deck

The Ownboard W1S deck is made of 6 plies of maple and 2 plies of bamboo.
This gives it a slightly better flex than its Wowgo counterpart which uses only maple for its 8 ply deck.

There is some camber to the deck, but no concave, unfortunately.

There is an option for EVA grip tape when buying an Ownboard, which is quite noteworthy. This is a setup with a 2mm-thick soft padding underneath the regular sandpaper grip tape.

It may be prone to be separated from the grip tape if you abuse it. Don’t worry, it is easy to try to stick it back on.

This foam padding helps to dampen vibrations from poor roads.
It makes a tiny difference.. like.. 1% difference, but I ain’t complaining as every little bit helps.

Component Enclosures and ESC

The Ownboard W1s uses the fairly ubiquitous dual steel enclosure.

Ownboard did add something extra though, a small screen on the side to show the battery percentage.

It is not by any means a game-changer but I really do appreciate knowing the exact percentage of the charge I have left.

Especially when I am charging the board!
No more going to the remote just to see how much the board has charged!

Wheels

No surprise here, Ownboard W1S uses 90mm 85a wheels.

90mm is pretty much the standard wheel size for the budget board industry at this point.

For the hub wheels, you get to choose between two variants. The one with swappable PU sleeve and the one without.

My review unit had the swappable PU hubs.
They work well for me, I didn’t notice any weird noises or loose screws on my hubs.

It is also worth mentioning that the Ownboard W1S comes with ceramic bearings, which freeroll significantly better than typical Chinese generic bearings.

Although bearing are not the most important thing in the world when you’re not kick-pushing, it’s still a really nice upgrade to have.

Trucks

For the trucks, the Ownboard W1S uses paris-truck clones. They are much turnier as compare to the Chinese generic truck found on the Wowgo/ Verreal models.

This is the same truck that the Yeeplay M2s uses, but with nicer bushings right out of the box.

Another nice touch on the W1S is that it uses harder 95A bushing on the back truck and softer 90A bushings on the front. This allows the board to turn easier while minimizing speed wobbles.

I like it.

However, a turnier truck often means less stability.

W1S does feel less stable if ridden at high speed, but I think the tradeoff is worth it.

Build Quality Summary

Coming from a seasoned manufacturer, the Ownboard W1S doesn’t disappoint in product polish and packaging.

Although you won’t mistake the Ownboard W1S for a premium board, it is beautiful enough to inspire confidence in its quality.

The board looks good, and it feels good.

Riding Experience:

Acceleration and Deceleration

There are 3 ride modes:

  1. Slow mode with a top speed of 12.5mph/20kmh
  2. Middle mode with a top speed of 18.5mph/ 30kmh
  3. Fast mode with a top speed of 23.5mph/ 38kmh

You can usually the feel of a board’s controller by looking at which Electronic Speed Controller (ESC) it uses.

There are two very widely used ESC in the Chinese eskate market.

  • The HobbyWing ESC – The one used by Ownboard, Wowgo and Verreal.
  • The ‘LingYi’ ESC – the one used by Meepo V2P and the Yeeplay.

And when two board share the same ESC, you can bet the acceleration and braking profile is gonna be the same.

W1S uses the HobbyWing ESC and this ESC is known to have the smoothest control.
Some say it offers controls that are even smoother than the Boosted.

This electronic speed controller gives the Ownboard W1S a very precise, low latency, and consistent control, which makes for a comfortable ride.

The precision and lack of lag are what makes the HobbyWing ESC special.
You can have the board accelerate as fast as you want or as gentle as you want by controlling the throttle. The board will react instantly and precisely.

This makes speed changes less scary when riding at top speed.

However, if you are an absolute beginner that have poor throttle control, you might be very intimidated by the zippiness of this control.
As your thumb is the only thing stopping your board from zipping off, nothing is going to stop you from pushing down too hard on the throttle and falling.

This is because, by the virtue of no lag and precise control, this ESC doesn’t introduce speed ramping to smooth out speed changes.

Even with that said, the majority of Eskaters end up preferring this type of controller in the long run, it just may take some getting used to in the very very beginning.

Braking on the Hobbywing ESC is also one of the smoothest I have tested, with the caveat of possibly being too weak for some, and it can’t brake to a stop when going down an incline.
Generally speaking, most skaters prefer this kind of smooth gentle braking but it’s a ‘bummer’ when you really need an emergency stop. I recommend all skaters learn to footbrake in order to not rely solely on electronic braking.

Stability & Maneuverability

At this point in time (end of 2018), I would recommend the Ownboard W1S over the Wowgo 2s just on the grounds of better maneuverability. This largely has to do with the truck and bushing choices.

Right out of the box, the Ownboard W1s carves like a dream with its turn-y trucks and soft bushing.
You can turn tighter and have a freer carve on the W1S as compared to the Wowgo 2s.

And as mentioned, Ownboard put extra thought into their design and put harder bushings on the back truck to reduce speed wobble.

On the flip side of the coin, however, the combination of turny trucks, with a narrow and flat deck means the W1S isn’t the most stable-feeling board.

If the plan is to go top speed all the way, I wouldn’t recommend the Ownboard W1S except to the most seasoned skaters. At least not without some minor upgrades.

Primarily, I would want a better deck, at least one with some concave to help my feet feel at ease.

With all that said, for the way W1S is right out of the box, I will give it an A- for maneuverability and B for stability.

Vibration

Big wheels, slight flex on the deck, and EVA grip tape padding help the Ownboard W1S perform fairly smoothly on even rough roads.

Marginally above average, I would say, slightly better than the Wowgo 2s.

Remote

The Ownboard W1s uses the standard Hobbywing remote that many many other Chinese eskate companies share. It has been tried and true as a great remote.

It’s ergonomic and fits nicely in the hand.

The dial is springy with a good amount of resistance for better control and it has a reasonable amount of travel.

The reverse switch at the side is a sliding switch so there is no way of accidentally triggering it as opposed to some other remotes which use a button.

It is a simple remote without many bells and whistles and of course, no disconnection issues so far.

Riding Experience

The Ownboard W1s gives a well-rounded riding experience right out of the box.

You can ride it like you stole it.

Great speed control. Check.
Great maneuverability. Check.
Great Stability. Well, I won’t say great but it’s fair.
Fair in reducing vibration from the road.

As per my complaint about its doppelganger the Wowgo 2s, some feel that the Ownboard W1S is pretty bland and lacking in ‘personality’.

But that’s just nitpicking.

Capability

The Ownboard W1s is on par in capability with the other Chinese budget boards.
This means it has good value for money if compared to boards from any other segments.

Range

There are three battery options for the Ownboard W1S.

  • 4.0AH, Samsung 20R(144wh) -12miles/ 19km range
  • 6.0AH Samsung 30Q(230wh) – 14miles/ 22.5km range
  • 8.5AH Sanyo (306wh) – 18.5miles/ 30km range

The board that I reviewed had the 6.0AH standard battery.

On a conservative ride in the top speed mode (with lots of stopping and going), I got around 13.5miles(22km) in one charge.
My test might skew towards the optimistic side bearing in mind that I weigh 165lbs (75kg) and was riding in a mostly flat area in a warm climate.

You probably should set your expectations at around 10miles(16km).

Voltage sag is not really significant in these high-quality Samsung 30Q batteries. The real slow down happens at the last bar or around the last mile(1.5km) where the board slows to a running speed before eventually stopping.

P.S, as a rule of thumb in estimating range, use the formula -> watt hour/10 = expected range in km.

Speed

I can hit the marketed top speeds of 25mph/ 40kmh on a full charge.

Once the battery hits 50%, the top speed will only drop marginally to 22mph/ 37kmh.

Again, I weigh 75kg or 165lbs.

Torque

The Ownboard W1s features dual 250W hub motors.

Without any surprise, this setup allows the W1s to handle most inclines.

It passed the standard stop and go test on a 15% incline.

Customer Service

Customer service is a big part of any Eskate purchase, even for a “budget” brand.

Ownboard’s customer service is generally good, but they do have their occasional slip-ups. Complaints about tracking numbers, faulty parts that took way too long to get delivered etc.

There is a dedicated staff member named Phoebe who handles customer service, and her response is generally quick and helpful.

So yeah, I am comfortable recommending Ownboard on the basis of strong customer service.

Verdict

If you are looking for a well-rounded eskate with comfortable control, the Ownboard W1s should be at the top of your list.

It almost just a deck swap away from being a perfect budget eboard.

Do some people prefer the Verreal F1, for its more agile ride and the stability of the dropped deck with good concave?
Certainly, but the Ownboard W1s have better ‘insulation’ from vibration and a nicer carvy feel.

Do some people prefer the Meepo V2’s better deck, trucks, and stronger yet harsher control? Certainly, but even more would swear by the smoothness of control that the W1S offers.

Some will prefer the caliber-clone truck on the Wowgo 2s that give less wobbles, but not me. I prefer a turny truck, the ceramic bearings upgrade is also a great plus.

In conclusion, as budget boards go, the Ownboard W1s sits pretty high on my list.

Use code ‘OWNBOARDHQ’ to get 5% off

Visit Ownboard @ https://www.ownboard.net/

Posted on by Drew Frayre

The SoloWheel Glide 3 Review: An E-Skater’s Thoughts After 200 Miles

Introduction

Hey eskate squad! It’s been a while since my last article, but fear not! The wait is over. Tons of you have been messaging me asking for updates to my One Wheel adventures. It HAS been a while since the 300 mile review, and I am happy to report that I have wracked up ~1,000 miles between my One Wheel Plus and XR, but today I would like to discuss something a little bit different. Allow me to introduce you to the SoloWheel Glide 3, and outline my love affair with this little one-wheeled beauty.

For those of you who are new to my content, my eskate journey has been interesting. I started off as a sponsored downhill skateboarder in 2011, purchased my first One Wheel in 2017, and since then I have ridden tons of different boards of all shapes and sizes. My love affair with single wheels has always persisted however, and whenever the going got rough, I would always reach for my trusty Plus to get me to work.

All of that changed when I received my Glide 3 review unit.

…well, not at first.

Out-of-the-box this wheel is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to ride unless you have prior experiences with unicycles. I assumed that my vast experience with skateboards and One Wheels would give me an advantage.

I was wrong.

Learning to Ride

I spent the first 5 hours of my Glide 3 ownership in the parking garage at my workplace, precariously rolling forwards 2-3 feet at a time. After 3 or so hours, I was able to ride through the garage with relatively few incidents, and after a total of 5 hours, I felt comfortable enough to take the wheel out on the open roads of Cambridge.

One of the first major differences I noticed between the Glide 3 and the One Wheel is that the Glide 3 does NOT stay still. If you are not constantly rolling forwards, you will lose your balance and have to step off. At red lights, where I used to roll back and forth on my OW, I now have to dismount, or ride as slowly as possible and wait for the light to change. That being said, dismounting and remounting can be quite hard until you have the practice. It was about 2 weeks before I wasn’t making a complete arse of myself when the lights turned green.

Pro-Tip: Set the neutral angle of your EUC in the app to tilt forwards slightly (not as much as in the picture above). I found that this helped with comfort when maintaining speed. No one wants to feel like their wheel is pushing them over backwards while riding.

Ride Quality

Once you are comfortable on them, EUCs ride like a dream. They are super maneuverable, very stable at speed, and offer a fairly comfortable riding position that allows you to use your knees to absorb any bumps or potholes that the roads might throw at you. When I was still in my first couple of weeks on the wheel, I experienced a very unsettling oscillation  when exceeding 10 mph, which was very reminiscent of ‘speed wobble” on a skateboard. This ended up not being a problem once I relaxed my body a little bit and built up the muscles needed to keep the unit stable (also much like dealing with speed wobble).

Once through the initial learning stages of riding, I found myself continually surprised by what this wheel could do. Curb-drops were no problem, the large, 16-inch tire eats up the bumps and vibrations of road riding, and off-roading was easy!

The 800W motor, combined with the low ride height and centered weight of the rider, makes for a truly confidence-inspiring riding experience. Even after 1,000 miles on One Wheels, I still always feel like I am walking a thin line between cruising at a high speed and nose-diving into a potentially serious injury. Conversely, you really have to work hard to get the Glide 3 to set off its warning alarm (GREAT feature. Take notes Future Motion) and even then, I have never felt in danger of getting dumped by the wheel.

The performance numbers on the Glide 3 are also amazing. With a cruising speed of 18.6 mph, and 24 miles of range on a single charge, all in a sleek and sexy 30-pound unit, there are few other personal electric vehicles (PEVs) that can even TRY to compete with the Glide 3. At the $900 price-point, there are none that even come close.

Power

Power delivery is smooth and consistent, inspiring confidence at all speeds, but there is something to be said for the significant voltage sag that occurs once the Glide 3 reaches ~60% of its battery capacity. On longer rides, I have found myself limited to a cruising speed of around 15 mph after about 5 miles have passed. While this doesn’t sound too bad, it can be quite annoying when you are on group ride and have to keep up with a large pack of Boosted boards cruising at 18.

Range

Currently it is pretty cold in Boston, so I had to do my 100%-0% range test in 40 degree temperatures. I have no doubt that this, along with my 185 pound body, impacted the battery life, but I was still able to squeeze 16.5 miles out of the Glide 3 before it kicked me off for dangerously low battery. InMotion advertises “30 miles of total freedom” but I think that this claim might be a bit of a stretch. Certainly a lighter rider, cruising at 15 mph in a more temperate climate might be able to stretch that range a bit better than I did, but 16.5 is still a far cry from 30.

Usability

This is where the Glide 3 really shines. I have never encountered an electric board that has integrated itself into my daily commute so well! For the sake of keeping this simple, I have divided this section into several different categories:

The Handle

Image result for glide 3 handle

Holy mother of eskate, this is the single best feature that I have ever encountered on a device that I have reviewed. The one thing that SUCKS about commuting on any sort of PEV is lugging that huge piece of technology up stairs, into trains and buses, and then into your place of work/home. I am by no means in bad shape, and I cannot STAND lugging my 30-pound One Wheel more than a couple of blocks. Boosted boards also have a large footprint and I cannot even imagine what it takes to get a Kaly build or LaCroix up a flight of stairs.

The Glide 3 features a telescoping handle, much like you would find on your airport luggage, that allows you to guide the wheel around with ease. The handle allows you to engage the internal motor on the Glide 3 which takes all of the strain out of pushing or pulling it to your destination. Simply tilt the handle in the direction that you would like to go, and the internal motor takes care of the rest.

The Looks

With the handle extended and the LEDs turned off, the Glide 3 has all of the appeal of a slick piece of rolling luggage. I have been allowed into bars and clubs that have denied me access because I had my One Wheel or skateboard in-tow simply because the Glide 3 looks like it BELONGS.

I thought I got a lot of interest when I carried the One Wheel around, but I was wrong. Since bringing the Glide 3 on my daily commute I have spoken with all sorts of people. “What is that thing?” is a refrain I have heard so many times at this point, that I have a whole pre-scripted explanation ready. I have even had older gentlemen in suits stop me in the elevator to ask about the elegantly designed Glide 3 on a daily basis.

One you put the handle down, and turn on the side LEDs and front headlight, you go from a sleek and sexy Batmobile to a rolling discotek. Where most eskates require several aftermarket installed lights to stay visible at night, but the Glide 3 has everything that you need to be seen from all angles at night pre-installed. There are also additional patterns you can set in the app!

(The lights also have the side effect of drawing college students and homeless people to you like moths to a flame, so be mindful of this when operating your Glide 3.)

The headlight itself is also quite serviceable up to about 7 feet in front of you. This is enough to spot most obstacles in your way at lowers speeds, but I would like a little more light when I am trucking along at 18 mph on the dark, notoriously crappy streets of Boston.

The Size

At 30 pounds, the Glide 3 is not the smallest wheel out there, but its slim profile and fold-able footpads make it shrink down to the size of a standard bicycle wheel in seconds. Even in a crowded rush-hour train, I can easily fit the Glide 3 between my feet. When I get into the office, I can hide it easily under my desk, and at the bar, it sits nicely under my chair.

(This is my preferred hiding spot for the SoloWheel in a crowded rush-hour train)

The Waterproofing

Unlike all but the most expensive eskates, the Glide 3 comes with an IP55 waterproof rating, meaning that it is rated to withstand jets of water. This, combined with the enclosed design that keeps spray from the wheel off of your backside, makes it an ideal commuter for wet or rainy days. Unlike my One Wheel, which seems to erratically shut off every once-in-a-while when riding in the wet, the Glide 3 has been nothing but perfect in the 200 miles that I have logged on it. In fact, I get tired of being wet long before the wheel does. It is now my go-to choice for bad weather, though I have not yet ridden it in the snow.

(At the tail end of my “Torrential downpour test.” Expect my Glide 3 snow-ride review to drop sometime in January…)

…

…

PSYCH, it snowed RIGHT  before this review went up, and boy did it snow a TON. Cars were stuck all over Boston when this unexpected 4 inches of wet and slippery snow hit us. Naturally, being the crazy person I am, I decided to take the Glide 3 up the 10% grade hill that I normally use to test hill climbing power at the height of the snow storm.

As you can see from the photo evidence, I was able to make it up most of the hill before sliding out at lower speed. The next day, I took the Glide 3 out in the settled (less wet) snow and it performed admirably. This is absolutely my new go-to choice for snowy weather and actually amazed me with its performance. Most cars would not have been able to make it up that hill during snow that heavy, but the Glide 3 made a fairly easy time of it.

Durability

You would think that with its gorgeous design and mainly plastic body that the Glide 3 would be a pretty fragile machine. You would be wrong. My review unit has been crashed, slid countless times, even been hit by a car, and so far has only sustained cosmetic scrapes. Not a single part of the wheel has broken or malfunctioned in over 200 miles. If having a scraped up shell bothers you, you can always buy a replacement one for $25. In fact, you can buy almost any replacement cosmetic parts that you need on the InMotion website.

If you don’t believe me, check out when InMotion went to the Braille house and absolutely beat the stuffing out of these machines.

This is one of my favorite pieces of eskate content out there, and a great testament to the abuse that these machines can take. (My contacts at InMotion told me that they only had to replace the plastic covers on the units used in the Braille video before they were 100% good-to-go again!)

The App

Everyone has a weakness right? Superman has kryptonite, Aussies have Vegemite and Metallica made St. Anger. Unfortunately, the Glide 3’s Achilles’ heel comes in the form of the InMotion app. This app is such a garbage-fire, that I have decided to air my grievances in the form of a bulleted list.

The InMotion app is guilty of the following:

  • Showing me the TOS and making me agree to it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I start the app.
  • Featuring a weirdly gamified social aspect that seems to reward proprietary currency when you complete items listed in the “Task Center” (fun!).
  • Having a VERY inaccurate range estimator that starts at 30 and appears to tick down at pre-set increments of battery capacity, with no regard for rider weight or prior power consumption. If I relied on this app function to plan my rides, I would have been stranded a LOT.
  • Resetting my top-speed limit to 14 mph within SECONDS of me setting it to 18 mph.
  • Having some very hard-to-understand English that could be fixed by a quick once-over by a native speaker

If InMotion can boil the app down to the important stuff: setting lights, top speed, ambient tilt, showing speed/range, then this is an easy fix, but as it stands now, the app is barely functional. I have heard from other EUC riders, that this is one of the better apps in the industry and I believe it, but it is worth mentioning that third party apps like DarknessBot are the accepted standard if you buy a EUC from a major manufacturer. 

Conclusion

I hope you guys are in the mood to see a lot more EUC content because I do not plan to stop riding my Glide 3 anytime soon. The great range, functionality, and durability offered by this product make it the perfect choice for my commute, and as the days get colder, we will really be able to see how it performs in adverse conditions. I love my Glide 3, and I am certain that other people will too. The only problem standing in the way of the massive popularity of these machines is the pretty large learning curve that goes into riding one. If you can get past the initial 3-5 hour investment, I think you will find this machine as one of the best options for mid-to-long commutes, and one of the easiest PEVs to use in your day-to-day life.

Fun Fact: The “hands-free” nature of the Glide 3 means that you can hold an umbrella while riding it! I used this advanced strategy to keep my body dry while flying to work in less-than-perfect conditions!

If you are interested in buying a Glide 3 or other InMotion products, I have wrangled a special coupon code “DFR10” that you can use at checkout on the myinmotion.com website for 10% off of your order!

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Wowgo 2S Review – The first Meepo rival

Wowgo 2s- Review

Foreword

Right after Meepo set the budget electric skateboard market on fire, one company jumped in almost immediately to offer an alternative. Enter Wowgo.

In the rough early days, Wowgo had been looked down upon as a mere imitator of Meepo, but the company endured and with time, established itself as not only a good alternative to Meepo, but to many, a superior option to the OG Meepo.

One product, in particular, was so good that it was hailed as the “Boosted-killer”, that’s the Wowgo 2s, the subject of today’s review.

Introduction to Wowgo

Wowgo came onto the scene right after the meteoric rise of MeepoBoard, a company which is also their geographical neighbor in ShenZhen.

Initially, there was a lot of animosity between the two company, as both were trying to capture the lucrative budget market.

This led to the Chinese electric skateboard arms race, with both companies having very short iteration cycles of upgrades, constantly fighting to be crowned the best budget electric skateboard.

Finally, after 3 iterations, Wowgo ultimately hit a home run with the Wowgo 2s, which even inspired a series of copycats of its own.
It was considered to be the best Chinese budget board for a very long time, some say it still is.

Wowgo 2s Review

Wowgo2s Specs

The Wowgo 2s has a pretty standard spec for boards in its segment:

  • Top Speed: 23.5mph (38kmh)
  • Range: 12mil (18.5km)
  • Weight: 16.7lbs (7.6kg)
  • Charge Time: 3 Hours
  • Features: Regenerative Braking, Swappable PU Sleeves (option available).
  • Price: around $419.99 USD (after delivery fee).

 

Build Quality

The Wowgo 2s came in a single box (not double boxed), but with a generous amount of padding put underneath the board.

Inside the box, everything was placed neatly and the foam padding was also cut out nicely. One of the better packaging jobs that I’ve seen from the Chinese budget brands.

The other things in the box were the tail lights, name cards, wall hanger, charger, remote, skate tool and extra foam pad for deck swaps – pretty standard for a Chinese budget brand.

Deck

The Wowgo 2s use an 8-ply maple deck that is flat with no concave.

There is some camber to the deck and with that a little bit of flex.

Personally, I prefer a deck with more flex and concave.
I guess that’s why Wowgo makes it so easy to deck swap!

The best part of the Wowgo deck is the ‘two-texture’ grip tape. The grip tape on the back-end of the board is rougher, thicker and it not only feels nice to step on but also helps to cushion against vibrations coming from the rigid back hub wheels.

(The old deck of the Wowgo 2 had a single layer of bamboo with 7 layers of maple, which gave more flex but was prone to breaking. I personally wish they would have kept the old deck cause god knows the new deck could use a little bit more flex)

Component Enclosures and ESC

The Wowgo 2s started the trend of using metal enclosures after seeing many plastic enclosures break.

The “two-enclosure” set up allows the deck to have more flex without damaging the components. Something I wish the Wowgo 2s deck took more advantage of by offering a flexier deck.

Inside the enclosure, the Wowgo 2s is using the HobbyWing Electronic Speed Controller that has become much more common now.

Fun Fact: The Wowgo 2s is the board that made the HobbyWing Electronic Speed Controller famous, which is now found with Ownboard, Verreal, Backfire G2s and Harvoo boards.

Oh, and that laser engraving the logo at the bottom of the deck? Nice touch!

Wheels

The Wowgo 2s uses 90mm wheels, which is the norm now.
90mm wheels will get you over most bumps and allow for riding on less-than-perfect roads.

You get to choose if you want the swappable PU on the hub motor or non-swappable.

My review unit had the non-swappable Pu sleeves and, to many, they are actually preferable as swappable PU sleeves can be more trouble than they are worth – considering vendors who use PU replaceable hubs often face issues like weird noises or screws popping off.

The 250w hub motors that the Wowgo 2s uses in the non-swappable PU version are the most common generic hubs we see from the Chinese market. Unlike most brands that started to put some graphic make up on their hubs, Wowgo has elected to keep its hubs plain.

They are known to work well so I have no complaints there.

The wheels come with generic Chinese bearings, not the best quality, but that is not the most important thing when you are not kick-pushing.

Trucks

The Wowgo 2s uses a popular generic truck, which is  a common choice among Chinese budget boards.

Nothing exciting about this pair of trucks really. They turn okay and are fairly stable.
At least they are not known to break.

The soft green stock bushing that come with the Wowgo 2s are pretty good.
Bushing upgrade will always improve the ride quality but I wouldn’t say the 2s is in dire need of them.

Build Quality

The Wowgo 2s is one of the more polished boards in the budget market.

From the unboxing experience to the polish of the board, the Wowgo 2s gets good marks.
I would expect as much from a brand that has been in the space since the beginning of the budget board craze.

Riding Experience:

Acceleration and Deceleration

There are 3 ride modes:

  1. Slow mode with a top speed of 12.5mph/20kmh
  2. Middle mode with a top speed of 18.5mph/ 30kmh
  3. Fast mode with a top speed of 23.5mph/ 38kmh

There are two very widely used Electronic Speed Controllers available in the Chinese eskate market.
The one used by Wowgo, Ownboard, and Verreal is the HobbyWing ESC.
The one used by Meepo V2P and the Yeeplay is the ‘LingYi’ ESC.

Wowgo 2s made the HobbyWing ESC famous, and with good reason.

HobbyWing’s ESC is known to be one of the smoothest available. Some say even smoother than the Boosted ESC.

This electric speed controller gives the Wowgo 2s very precise, low latency, and consistent control, which makes for a comfortable ride.

The precision and lack of lag are what makes HobbyWing ESC special.
You can have the board accelerate as fast as you want or as gentle as you want by controlling the throttle. The board will react instantly and precisely.

This also allows more confident speed change when riding near the top speed.

However, if you are an absolute beginner that has poor throttle control, you might be very intimidated by this type of zippy control when starting out. As your thumb is the only thing stopping your board from zipping off, nothing is going to stop you from pushing down too hard on the throttle and falling.
This is because, by the virtue of no lag and precise control, this ESC doesn’t introduce speed ramping to smooth out speed change.

Don’t worry, the majority of Eskaters end up preferring this type of control in the long run, it just takes some getting used to.

Braking on the Hobbywing ESC is one of the smoothest on the market, with the caveat of possibly being too weak for some as it can’t brake to a stop when going down an incline.
Generally speaking, most skaters prefer this kind of smooth gentle braking but it’s a ‘bummer’ when you really need an emergency stop. I recommend all skaters learn to footbrake in order to not rely solely on electronic braking.

Stability & Maneuverability

The trucks were way too tight straight out of the box, making this a board that can just go straight!

It took quite a while for me to get to a configuration where the trucks were loose enough to give me a comfortable carve without being wobbly.

Otherwise, the generic trucks perform as expected, stable, not the most turny.

It gave a fairly stable ride at top speed.

A truck upgrade would probably improve the riding experience significantly, especially making carving and turning more enjoyable.

I personally prefer the Paris-truck clone use by the doppelganger Ownboard W1S. The Paris-truck clone is more turny and more fun to carve around, relatively less stable of course.

I would love a broader deck with some concave too. I think that would definitely improve both the stability and carving experience.

Vibration

With a less-flexy deck and a hub motor set up, the Wowgo 2s is only doing the minimum to combat vibration.

It’s not the worse, it’s just average.

Consider a wheel change, softer risers, and shoes with thicker soles if you are going to ride over rougher terrain.

Remote

The Wowgo 2S uses the standard Hobbywing remote that many many other Chinese eskate companies share. It has been tried and true as a great remote.

It’s ergonomic and fits nicely in the hand.

The dial is springy with a good amount of resistance for better control and it has a reasonable amount of travel.

It is a simple remote without many bells and whistles and of course, no disconnection issues so far.

Riding Experience

The riding experience on the Wowgo 2s is pretty well-rounded.

On the flip side, the “cup-half-empty” way to describe riding the Wowgo 2s is that the experience is pretty bland.

The speed control is safe and comfortable, the trucks allow non-aggressive carving, even the design is safe albeit without too much personality.

That is precisely the reason why the Wowgo 2S has been so well loved.
It is comfortable and feels safe in a well-rounded way.

Capability

The Wowgo 2s is on par in its capability with the other Chinese budget boards.
This means it has good value for money if compared to boards from any other segments.

 

Range

There are three battery options for the Wowgo 2s.

  • 4.0AH, Powerful Samsung (144wh) -12miles/ 19km range
  • 6.4AH Panasonic (230wh) – 14miles/ 22.5km range
  • 8.5AH Sanyo (306wh) – 18.5miles/ 30km range

The board that I reviewed had the 4.0AH standard battery.

I did around 11miles (18km) before the battery ran dry, but your mileage might differ based on weight.
For reference, I weigh 165lbs (75kg) and although I tried to ride at top speed whenever I could, most of the time I could only maintain a 14mph or so speed (22kmh).

(A heavy rider who rides at top speed can only expect about 7.5miles (12.5km) on a single charge.)

As the marketed range correlates with the battery size, (watt hour/10 = expected range in km)
I have no doubt that the marketed ranges on the other battery options are reasonable and not exaggerated.

Speed

Marketed top speed is 23.5mph/ 38kmh.

Again, I weigh 75kg or 165lbs and I can hit 24.5mph (40kmh).

On the last two bars of the battery, sag will set in and top speed will drop to around 18.5mph (30km).

Torque

The Wowgo 2s features dual 250W hub motors.

This is a very ubiquitous hub motor setup that can be seen in many many Chinese electric skateboards which climb everyday inclines pretty well.

Borrow an old photo from the archive. This is what a 15% incline looks like.

It passed the standard stop and go test on a 15% incline.

Customer Service

Customer service is a big part of any Eskate purchase, even for a “budget” brand.

Wowgo has been here for a while and has established a fairly good reputation so far.
All the budget brands from China, at this point in time, do have slips-up and complaints from time to time.

While not perfect, Wowgo customer service is generally good. Some slip-ups on repair, warranty and communications have been reported, but those are few and far between.

It is among the budget brands that I have confidence in.

Verdict

Retrospectively, the hype of Wowgo 2s during its arrival to the market is certainly justified.
Very smooth control, decent longboard parts makes it a very good choice for newcomers.
Seasoned eskater will either enjoy it as much or find it a very good base to tinker around with.

So, is the Wowgo 2s still the best affordable electric skateboard right now?

Well, maybe.

Although the initial advantage Wowgo 2s held has evaporated as competitors began to imitate its formula, Wowgo 2S certainly still is among the list of best budget boards to choose from.

That list includes boards like the Meepo V2, Ownboard W1s and Verreal F1, which are very similar to each other while also providing their own different special favors.

Click here to get $5 off

Visit Wowgo @ https://wowgoboard.com/

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.

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Yeeplay M2S Review – Anything different?

Yeeplay M2S– Review

Foreword

It’s the end of 2018 and there are plenty budget board options coming from the Chinese Market.
Outside of the familiar four (Meepo, Ownboard, Wowgo, Verreal), countless others Chinese brand had popped up, trying to capture a slice of this market segment.

Many of those companies are questionable, but some have been around reasonably long – Yeeplay is one of them.

Yeeplay M2s the board we are reviewing today is the second generations of Yeeplay boards. Let’s see how it stacks up against the other Chinese budget board.

Introduction to Yeeplay

Shenzhen Yeeplay technology co., LTD is a very young company, founded on August 2017.

It was founded by a team of three. Mr. Yang, Rex, and Alan.

Mr. Yang was in the business of sports equipment when budget electric skateboard craze hit.

Already a skateboard enthusiast, Mr. Yang found 2 like-minded peers in Rex and Alan to create a eskate brand of their own – Yeeplay.

In case you are wondering, Yeeplay got its name from the Mandarin abbreviation for “Playing Together”. Basically, with Yeeplay the team hope to create something that could bring joy to everyone.

On the time of this writing, October 2018, Yeeplay has grown from a team of 3 to a team of 20.

Yeeplay M2s Review

Yeeplay M2s Specs

The Yeeplay M2s has a pretty standard spec for boards in this segment:

  • Top Speed: 25mph (40kmh)
  • Range: 12mil (18.5km)
  • Weight: 16.7lbs (7.6kg)
  • Charge Time: 3 Hours
  • Features: Swappable PU Sleeves, Regenerative Braking.
  • Price: around 430 USD (after delivery fee).

Build Quality

Yeeplay M2s came in a single box (not double boxed). To prevent damage in delivery (they are always handled roughly), Yeeplay slap on extra cardboard paddings underneath the box.
That did help, but also makes the package a bit unsightly, and a hassle to open up.

Inside the box, the board was pretty well packaged.
Although the PU of the wheels is swappable, the purchase doesn’t come with an extra set of it.
What’s included in the box are the tail lights, skate tool, name cards, wall hanger, charger, remote and extra foam pad for deck swapping – all are pretty standard for Chinese budget board.

Deck

Yeeplay M2s’ has a very oriental graphic design on the grip tape.
It will definitely leave a strong impression, even if you are not into that.

Underneath that grip tape is a 38.2in x 9.4in (97cm x 24cm) eight ply maple deck.

Comparing to the other Chinese budget board, the Yeeplay M2s has a wider deck, which I really prefer as I find it comfortable to ride on.

There is also a progressive concave on the deck, which helps the feet to feel comfortable during rides.
It also makes turning easier.

There is a bit flex on the deck, so it helps a bit to combat vibrations.

Component Enclosure and ESC

Yeeplay M2s uses the most common remote and ESC pairing – the one which is the same as the Meepo V2P.

If you are familiar with the Meepo V2P’s ESC, you would know what to expect of Yeeplay’s ESC.
We will go over that in detail for those who aren’t familiar with them.

The M2s uses the typical double enclosures set-up to house its component. It uses the all-metal enclosures to prevent cracking, a problem that is commonly seen with plastic enclosures.

Wheels

Yeeplay M2s  goes for the industry standard 90mm wheels – which should get you over most bumps and allows for riding on less than perfect roads.

The 250w hub motors that Yeeplay M2s uses looks similar to the one uses by Winboard and Teamgee. They work well so I have no complaints on that.

Yeeplay doesn’t sell their own PU sleeve replacement at the moment of this writing, but it will be available on their site later.

The wheels come with generic Chinese bearings, not the best but it’s not the most important thing when you are not kick-pushing.

Trucks

Instead of going with a Caliber truck clone like the Ownboard, Wowgo, and Verreal, Yeeplay M2s goes with a Paris Truck clone.

And that makes turning on the M2s much easier, however, it sacrifices on stability making riding in top speed a little bit less comfortable.

The stock bushing that comes with the M2s are also from a lower quality generic Chinese brand.
As the result, turning on M2s feels less ‘elastic’ and less smooth as the bushing doesn’t push you back to level as well as branded bushings.

I highly recommend a bushing swap if you are going to use M2s for the long term.

Summary of Build Quality

The Yeeplay M2s is as well built as any other Chinese budget board, which at this day and age, is pretty good.

However, don’t expect stunning unboxing experience, or great polishing.

Yeeplay M2s is practically known generic parts put and package together neatly, and that should be your expectation when shopping in this market segment.

Riding Experience:

Acceleration and Deceleration

There are 3 ride modes:

  1. Beginner mode with a top speed of 10mph/16kmh
  2. Eco mode with a top speed of 15mph/ 25kmh
  3. Expert mode with a top speed of 25mph/ 40kmh
  4. Pro mode with a top speed of 25mph/ 40kmh

There is two very widely uses Electronic Speed Controller available in Chinese eskate market.
The one used by Meepo V2P and the Yeeplay is called the ‘LingYi’ ESC.
The one used by Ownboard, Wowgo and Verreal is known as the HobbyWing ESC.

The behavior of ‘LingYi’ ESC is pretty well-known.

Let’s start by talking about the acceleration and deceleration.

Eskate component from China is constantly improving, that’s also true for the ‘LingYi’ ESC which received a firmware update just a while ago, further improving on the smoothness of the acceleration.

In the first 3 modes, the acceleration on the Yeeplay M2s is smooth and with no perceivable lag.
Unlike the Hobbywing ESC, which focuses more on the preciseness of the control, ‘LingYi’ ESC do try to smooth out the acceleration in the first 3 modes so you experience less jolt even if you push too hard on the throttle by accident.

This makes the beginner mode on Yeeplay M2s much beginner friendly than Hobbywing’s ESC, yet veteran wouldn’t felt bored by it as the expert mode still gives thrilling acceleration.

However, the braking on the ‘LingYi’ ESC is a lot stronger and harsher than the Hobbywing ESC.
You will appreciate that stronger braking when you REALLY NEED TO STOP, but at any other time, most will like the smoother and gentler braking of the Hobbywing ESC.

The control passed the newbie test – where I lend the board to a completely skateboard-naive person and they are able to learn to ride it within minutes. But the braking is what ruined it from them. They can accelerate but are afraid of the braking.

There are talks where the new “LingYi” ESC will allow switching of acceleration & deceleration curves, but the unit I receive doesn’t have that function just yet.

On the Pro mode though…
I don’t actually understand the benefit of the Pro mode in ‘LingYi ESC’, I feel like it is just an excuse to be raw. In Yeeplay M2s, Pro mode is jerky without any significant increase in acceleration speed. The top speed doesn’t change either, so why bother?

My advice is to skip the Pro mode and you won’t be missing anything.

Vibration

Yeeplay M2s handles vibrations okay-ly. Not too good, not too bad.

The deck is not flexy enough to eliminate vibration, but it is still better than other variation which has a completely rigid deck.

The 90mm wheels, softer riser do help to some extent.

Stability & Maneuverability

The maneuverability of the M2s is where it shines. Paris truck clone is more turny than their caliber truck clone counterparts. I advocate change to a better bushing to get the most out of it.

However, this does come with the expense of the stability of the board.
Without tightening the truck, I am not comfortable to ride on the top speed with the M2s despite the comfort of the broader deck.
Once the truck was tightened down, it became a lot better.

Again, this is where a bushing upgrade will do wonder for Yeeplay M2s.

Remote Control

Standard ‘Meepo’ remote that comes pairing with the ‘LingYi’ ESC.
Ergometric design that is comfortable in hand.

4-speed modes, with reverse function.

Nice wheel dial with a fair amount of travel.

No disconnection.

Summary of Riding Experience

The overall riding experience on Yeeplay M2s is fair.

I like the broad deck with healthy concave, good maneuverability, smooth acceleration, fair vibration dampening.

However, many would prefer smoother and less harsh braking, and some would trade the turny truck to something more stable.

Comparing it to the same generation Meepo, Ownboard, Wowgo, Verreal, AEboard, I would say Yeeplay M2s special flavor would be the turny trucks and broader deck.

Capability

Yeeplay M2s is on par in its capability with the other Chinese budget boards.
Meaning – good value for money if compared to boards from any other segments.

Range

Rider weight: 165lbs(75kg)

There are three battery options for the Yeeplay M2s.

  • 4.0AH, Powerful Samsung (154wh) -12miles/ 18km range
  • 5.8AH LG  (208wh)  – 13miles/ 21km range
  • 8.5AH Sanyo (306wh) – 18.5miles/ 30km range

The board that I am reviewing has 4.0AH standard battery, and it gets me to 11.5mph/18.5km on a rather conservative riding. Top speed when I got a clear stretch, around 12mph(20kmh) otherwise.

As the marketed range correlates with the battery size, (watt hour/10 = expected range in km)
I have no doubt that the marketed ranges on the other battery options are also reasonable and not exaggerated.

The voltage sag is there but wasn’t too bad. With 40% battery left the top speed dropped to an acceptable 18.5mph(30kmh), then to 12mph(20kmh) on the last 10%.

Speed

Marketed top speed is 25mph/ 40kmh.

I weight 75kg or 165lbs and I can hit that, but it does time to reach the top speed.
Acceleration on the last few mph is a bit labored, but it did get there eventually.

Torque

Yeeplay M2s has dual 250W hub motors, and those did pretty well.

The normal everyday incline is not going to be a trouble here.

It passed the standard stop and go test on a 15% incline.

Customer Service

Customer service is a big part of an eskate purchase, even for an affordable brand.

Yeeplay is relatively new to the market and is still in the process of establishing their brand and customer service.

There aren’t praises from the customers yet, neither are there complaints.

My interaction with the team behind Yeeplay has been reassuring, as they are responsive to questions and polite in exchanges.

Verdict

The budget boards war usually comes down with which ESC you prefer.

‘LingYi’ ESC with stronger, harsher braking but comes with smart turn on and the ability to stop on an incline or
Hobbywing ESC which is gentle in braking, without smart turn on and makes a noisier sound.

For references:
Boards with ‘LingYi” ESC – Yeeplay M2s, all the Meepos, Panther X3S.
Boards with Hobbywing ESC – Ownboard, Wowgo, Verreal, AEboard, Backfire.)

With that said, the biggest problem for Yeeplay M2s is that Meepo V2P exists.

Meepo at this point is a more mature company, and V2P has the shredder trucks and higher quality deck.
However, if you like a broader deck, turnier trucks, and metal enclosure, Yeeplay might be a better board for you.

I guess there is the added benefit that, as an early customer of a new brand, you will be treated royally by Yeeplay.

Unlike other unnamed boards from Alibaba, Yeeplay M2s is a valid budget board option, especially for those who felt Meepo, Wowgo, Ownboard, and Verreal are too mainstream.

As all Chinese budget board goes, Yeeplay M2s do provide more value for money than the eskates of any other market segments, and it is easy to mod the s**t out of it.

Use coupon code ‘YeeplayHQ’ during check out to get $25 off from on your purchase

Click here to visit Yeeplay

Posted on by Sophia Tung

Acton Blink Qu4tro (production version 02/03/18) – Huh?

This review was originally published on February 5th, 2018 and reflects my honest opinions at the time of publication. No part of this review has been redacted in any way. It has only been corrected for grammar and spelling.

Follow the discussion on Reddit here

If you want the TL;DR, see end of review

Today (02/03/18) was a rare, sunny, California “winter” day. At around noon, I answered my apartment door to welcome a friend, Marvin of Bay Area Eskate, who had graciously agreed to let me ride and test his brand new Acton Blink Qu4tro. I’d previously had experience riding this board. Acton themselves had previously invited me down to their Santa Clara headquarters to test the prototype version of the Qu4tro. I had many thoughts about the prototype board at the time, but I also believed that my concerns were related to the fact that the product was in prototype phase and not at all ready for public consumption. Now that the board is in production, I will be reviewing the board as is, assuming that Acton has put in the required QC and intended for this to be the final product.

Hardware

Let’s start with the deck. The deck itself hasn’t changed much from the prototype, and I still harbor the same concerns as I did when I tried the prototype. It’s made up of three distinct pieces. The front and rear scaffolding, to which the suspension is attached, and the middle electronics housing, which… houses electronics. The deck is as durable and stiff as it was in the prototype. It is also as heavy and flat as it was in the prototype.

Because the deck is so incredibly heavy, it has more inertia than other boards. This translates into a whole host of problems, chief amongst them excessive inertia. This means that braking is a lot weaker due to forward inertia (though I suspect hub motors and the braking curve are also major contributors in this area) and carving is a lot harder due to difficulties experienced when trying to throw the deck around while fighting forward inertia (carving is also very hard because of the suspension and four wheel drivetrain; I’ll get to that later). The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that the deck is also completely flat, with no curve at all. This makes it very hard for your foot to get a good grip on the surface for control. So, in addition to wrangling a heavy deck, you’re also constantly trying not to slide off. All this does not make for a very good deck, which generally is supposed to enable you to enjoy the ride, not inhibit you and be something you have to explicitly wrangle around. Plus this also makes the entire board heavy and is a bitch to carry.

Besides the rather unfortunate deck, the rest of the hardware is less grim. There are white front and red back lights as well as white side lights, all of which are controllable via the app. Though, as of the time of writing, there seems to be some bug that prevents the Android app from controlling the lights properly. It is worth mentioning that these are visibility lights, as they do not get bright enough to illuminate any meaningful distance of the road ahead of you. The trucks (not suspension!) and hub motors seem to be the same ones as the Blink S2. They work, though I do worry about some of the reports of hub motors falling off on the S2 and wonder if they could happen on the Qu4tro. I’ve included pictures of the hardware and innards for those interested below.





Suspension

I suspect the suspension system will polarize a lot of people. The main problem here is physics.

Here’s the thing. Currently, the way a regular TKP (traditional kingpin) or RKP (reverse kingpin) truck is set up, there’s a pivot cup and a kingpin that forces the truck to only rotate in a sort of semi-circular fashion in one plane around the pivot point. In other words, the truck rotates around the axis determined by the pivot point and the kingpin keeps it in place. However, with Acton’s suspension trucks, in addition to the regular RKP single plane rotation, the suspension is further allowed to deform in infinite directions due to the nature of the design. See my beautifully drawn graphic for an example of what I mean:

Keep in mind that in a traditional suspension, you only want yourself to be suspended along one axis. If you need to be suspended along more than one axis, you add more *distinct* axis along which to be suspended. You almost never want yourself to be suspended in all possible axis, because then you’re really just jiggling around. That’s what’s happened with the suspension on the Qu4tro: You’re really just… jiggling, which prevents you from properly turning or carving with confidence at any reasonable speed. The suspension will deform and neutralize the majority of your turn. It’s honestly not great, and the default hard bushing Acton includes doesn’t make it any better.

Edit: Avenue, the makers of the original suspension trucks, have informed me that they have in no way licensed their suspension trucks for Acton, nor are they working with Acton on suspension trucks. Here is their statement:

[Statement Removed Due To Ongoing Legal Dispute]

I’d originally written a how-to and review on Avenue TKP suspension trucks modded onto my Carbon GT and quite enjoyed it, so please do not let this review scare you away from suspension trucks!

Remote

The biggest thing here is the lag on the remote. It’s just inconsistent enough during low end acceleration to get annoying. Sometimes, I would try to accelerate to a slow speed but end up just sitting there for a bit before the motors kicked in. I have no idea what the issue here is.

As far as I can tell, the outer shell design of the remote is left over from Acton’s original remote-as-carrying-handle idea. They’ve simply taken off the bits that make the idea work. This is unfortunate due to several reasons:

  1. The original tradeoff of the ungainly remote design would have been fine had the remote been able to act as a carrying handle. This is no longer the case. Since you can no longer clip the remote to the board, you would obviously try to put it in your pocket. The remote does not fit in your pocket.
  2. The design itself is not very ergonomic. The angled bits make the remote very weird to hold for people with larger hands. My hands are considered small and even I felt that holding it was a bit… strange.
  3. There’s no deadman switch. Even Evolve has seen the value of a remote with a deadman switch. This would have maybe been ok if the throttle was in a less easily triggered place, but nope, it’s very exposed.

There are other design considerations that have been overlooked. The board’s charge information is not glanceable from the remote. You either have to stare at the single blinking LED on the remote to sort of gauge your battery (similar to the battery flashes on the Yuneec E-GO) or fire up the Acton app and wait for it to connect to your board to get a more detailed reading. This is in contrast to every other high end board remote that shows either individual LEDs or a percentage readout on a display. I did not find a place to attach the strap either. These sort of things just feel like UX that could have been easily improved upon but were not.

It is worth mentioning though that even while riding through areas with heavy radio activity, the remote did not lose connection once. It also instantly connected with the board when turning both on, similar to the S and S2. I was pleasantly surprised at how fast I was able to turn both on and get going. It’s just unfortunate that the design is lacking.

Technical Testing

Testride Route: 

Rider specs: 125lb, 5’6″

As part of my reviews, I perform a series of measured, purely technical tests on review units. These tests are meant to push the units to the extreme that their electronics can handle and reveal any problems that may have not been revealed by simple riding tests. Technical tests are done under the most favorable conditions possible.

Acceleration

Acceleration on this thing on flat ground is no joke. On all modes, the Qu4tro accelerated to top speed beautifully and as expected. The curve is smooth and ramps up linearly on all modes. There’s almost no worry of being thrown off the back if you’re prepared. Acton nailed this regard. I will say that it’s not the fastest acceleration out there by hard numbers, but the Qu4tro manages to *feel* fast while accelerating due to even power delivery from the four wheel drivetrain, and that’s really no easy feat.

Acceleration on hills is another matter. On every single significant (+15%) hill I went up, I had power delivery issues even though the app said the board was at close to full battery. Every other small bump or turn I experienced going up hill meant loss of acceleration power. Every loss of power meant ramping back up from 0 again. This only got worse as the battery drained through the course of the day. At around 50%, the board basically refused to go up hills. After charging the board from 50% to 60%, I gave it back to Marvin. After riding for a short time on some relatively calm roads, he completely ran out of power. This should not have happened on the types of road we were on and in such a short time after charging. After we wrapped up our ride, he encouraged me to write about this issue as he was pretty disappointed.

Top Speed

My speedometer said 23MPH at 100% charge and 21MPH at around 70% charge. This is pretty normal behavior and technically satisfies Acton’s top speed claims.

Braking

Good news! Braking at 100% no longer seems to shut down the board! This is a great improvement from the prototype. Braking is also very smooth! This means you will not get thrown off, unlike a certain other “evolved” board we all know…

However, braking in all instances still leaves much to be desired, unfortunately. The curve goes something like this when you apply full brakes:

This is maybe not so problematic at slower speeds. It will ease you to a sort-of-stop in a decent amount of time. Where it does get problematic, however, is at higher speeds going downhill, when you need brakes the most. It takes way too long to get to 100% braking power. I even almost ran into the back of a stopped car once because the brakes took way too long ramping up. That sucks.

Stress Handling

I do acceleration and braking stress testing in a series of eight consecutive acceleration and braking sequences on flat ground. In a system where a lot of power is transferred to and from various parts of the system, this is an important test. Unlike the prototype, Pro mode here revealed no problems. It seems Acton has fixed the braking shutdown issue. Hard acceleration and braking seems to maintain consistency, and I did not get any cutouts.

Turning Radius

Due to the suspension, turning radius was mostly unsatisfactory. I’d borrowed a Boosted Board Dual+ from Last Mile SF to test the turning radius on a standard single kingpin truck, and the radius was better than the Qu4tro’s with both kinds of trucks tuned to the loosest they would go. The suspension on the Qu4tro would also try to bounce you back to neutral with every bump in the turn. This is definitely not desired behavior.

Drag Race

Carbon GT (5.2s) edged out the Qu4tro (5.6s) in the end. We had a couple boosted boards in the race at the beginning but there was no point having them in the end. We would have had a Raptor 2 as well except its FOCbox broke so it’s now in the shop… for the third time. We tried to equalize the external variables as much as possible.

Thanks Joseph from Bay Area Eskate for operating the DJI Spark! Sorry you couldn’t catch up to us in the end with the drone…

 

Ride & User Experience

In addition to my comments on the suspension system, I have some comments about the four wheel drive system. During any sort of harder turn or carve, if all four wheels rotate at the same speed even though their radius throughout the turn is different, the wheels will slip and you will start to slide. This is by nature of the four wheel drive system, but coupled with really slidey wheels, is a huge issue on the Qu4tro. It means you can’t really safely turn or carve at speed. To mitigate this, most modern four wheel drive systems, such as those in cars, have a differential system in place to handle the rotation speed differences necessary to reduce slip. I believe the Qu4tro especially really needs something like an active differential, though I can’t imagine the complexities that go into implementing something like that. It would really solve the slipping issue.

Putting aside wheel slipping, riding in a straight line is a blast. The zero to max power takeoff of the four wheel drive system is really something to experience. The only boards I’ve felt that really parallel the smoothness on takeoff of the Qu4tro is the dual hub drive Raptor 2 and a couple DIYs by /u/Spooky_Ghost.

Conclusion

What Acton has built here, then, is something that could have been much more, but is unfortunately marred by its own nature. I have very mixed feelings about this board, and I’m not the only one. Even the owner of this board told me he had mixed feelings. My personal opinion is that if you live somewhere with smooth, straight roads and lots of hills, this is probably an excellent board. On the other hand, this board seems to struggle climbing up hills at battery levels under 70%, which is supposed to be its claim to fame. The jiggly, ineffective suspension and heavy deck doesn’t help its case either.

My, what a dilemma.

TL;DR

Wanna be fast and torquey in a straight line in a hilly area and don’t mind the weight? This is your board.
Wanna carve effortlessly or live someplace with heavy traffic? Look elsewhere.

Special Thanks and Notes

This review would not have been possible without the kindness and help shown to me by the following people:
Marvin, Joseph, Tone, and everybody from Bay Area Eskate group (woo BAEskate!)
Last Mile SF

I try to write fair, unbiased reviews for fun, not profit. All equipment used is either borrowed or purchased. Hope you enjoyed reading!