Tag: Evolve clone

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Verreal RS—among the top 2 affordable DKP all-terrain boards with beefy specs?!

Today, we will be reviewing the Verreal RS. 

For those who don’t know, Verreal has been around since Oct 2018 and is already a veteran in budget e-skateboards. It made its name with the Verreal F1, a board that provides a relaxing and comfortable riding experience for a reasonable price. 

Affordable and comfortable has always been Verreal’s design language since then. And today, we will be reviewing the Verreal RS, their flagship product released back in 2020 and has its all-terrain kits available this 2021.

To take a look back at Verreal F1, click here.

Designed with Evolve Formula

Now, a quick overview of the RS.

Verreal RS was crafted with the Evolve formula: a double-drop deck plus double kingpin trucks with a dual-belt set-up that allows easy conversion between all-terrain and street. 

In fact, Verreal RS is the most affordable Evolve clone out there. The 10s4p street with 576 Wh costs $759 while the 10s4p AT version costs $1179. For more context, the Evolve GTR street with a 10s4p battery will cost you $1549. That’s double the price of Verreal RS street. Pretty sweet!

Build and specs

Now, as per usual, let’s dive deep into the specs.

  • Deck: 7-ply Canadian Maple, 2-ply Bamboo; mild flex; subtle wide concave
  • Camber/rocker: Drop-down deck
  • ESC: 10S Hobbywing ESC; 4-speed modes; no smart power-on; generic Hobbywing remote
  • Motor type: 6368 belt motors, 2 x 1500 W, 170 kV
  • Marketed Topspeed: 25 mph or 40 km/h on AT wheels; 27 mph or 43 km/h on Cloudwheels. 
  • Trucks: Forged DKP Trucks
  • Wheels: Street wheels: 90 mm / 97 mm; Cloudwheels: 105 mm, 120 mm; All-terrain: 7-inch pneumatics
  • Battery: 16 AH (576 Wh) – $779; 20 AH (720 Wh) – $979; All-terrain – $1179
  • Marketed range: Street wheels: 16 AH – 25 miles (40 km)/20 AH – 31 miles (50 km); All-terrain wheels: 20 AH – 28 miles (45 km) for a 75kg rider; 17 miles or 28 km for a 100 kg rider

Verreal RS has a deck with a mild flex. It’s made out of 7-ply Canadian maple combined with 2-ply bamboo. Sticking with the Evolve formula, the deck used is a double-drop deck with subtle wide concave. 

The electronic speed controller is a 10S Hobbywing ESC with 4-speed modes paired with a generic Hobbywing remote. This is likely an older generation of Hobbywing ESC and the board doesn’t power on automatically by turning on the remote.  

Belt motors have the same rating as the latest Evolve Hadean

Verreal RS also uses 6368 belt motors with 2 x 1500 W and 170 kV which has the same rating as the one on the latest Evolve Hadean. 

The marketed top speed is 25 mph or 40 km/h on AT wheels and 27 mph or 43 km/h on 120mm Cloudwheels. 

To know more about the specs of Evolve Hadean, click here.

For the trucks, Verreal RS said they use forged Double Kingpin trucks. Double Kingpin trucks will allow easier changes in direction with tighter turns. We’ll talk more about the quality of carving later during the ride experience.

3 options for wheels

What took this board on another level though, is its selection for wheels. Verreal RS offers 3 types of wheels to choose from. You can use street wheels in 90 mm or 97 mm, Cloudwheels in 105 mm or 120 mm, and all-terrain pneumatic wheels in 7 inches.

In this post, we will be reviewing the all-terrain set-up and 105 mm Cloudwheels set-up.

Having 3 options may seem really cool, but we hesitate to recommend regular street wheels for the RS since the board already has a pretty low ground clearance even with our 105mm Cloudwheels. We shudder to think how terrible it would be if regular street wheels are used.

Aside from a selection of wheels, Verreal RS also allows 2 battery options: 16 AH (576 Wh) for $759 and 20 AH (720 Wh) for $979. You’ll need to top-up $200 more for the all-terrain version which costs $1179.

For this review, we will be using units with 20 AH batteries.

The marketed range of Verreal RS is 25 miles or 40 kilometers for the 16 AH battery, and 31 miles or 50 kilometers for the 20 AH battery.

Range might be the best thing about this board

Using AT wheels, this board was marketed to get a range of 28 miles or 45 kilometers for a 75 kg rider. For a 100 kg rider, the marketed range is 17 miles. 

When we put it to the test, we got 28 miles or 45 kilometers of range with 105 mm Cloudwheels and 22.5 miles or 36.2 kilometers with AT wheels.

For its price, Verreal RS really does provide a lot of range. It is arguably the best part of the specs.

Riding Experience

Now that we know the build and specs, it’s time to ride!

Riding Verreal RS felt like Wowgo AT2 but with way more stability. The deck felt a little shorter compared to other AT boards, but the subtle wide concave is nice. 

The control is very smooth, and the board’s acceleration strength is not crazy strong even on mode 4. It felt a little bit less strong compared to Wowgo AT2, but the feeling of not getting thrown off the board even when changing to top speed is awesome.

Much more stable DKP trucks

Overall, the ride felt really stable due to Verreal’s version of double kingpin trucks as compared to other brands. To put in some context, the Verreal RS is a much more stable ride compared to the likes of Wowgo AT2 and the Exway Atlas. This also means that it is not as carv-y as the other double kingpin trucks, but that is not a problem. Double kingpin trucks are already more carv-y than your regular reverse kingpin trucks.

This also means that you can easily change into top speed without getting off-balanced with the Verreal RS. Going uphill won’t be a problem, either.

To watch our real-world range test for Exway Atlas, click here.

Enjoyable low ground clearance

The double drop deck of Verreal RS also allows a very low riding height. This again, adds more stability, but we also like the carving feel of being this close to the tarmac. It is as if we are one with the road. The bottom enclosure clearly didn’t enjoy this as much as we did, though! 

Also, I’ve always found that a drop-through deck has a way of reducing road vibration. You’ll still feel them when using 105 mm clouds, but if you want to reduce the vibration more, 7-inch pneumatics is the way to go. 

THE VERDICT

I’m sure you notice we have been using Wowgo AT2 in comparison a lot in this review, this is no accident as Wowgo AT2 was our favorite budget Evolve clone up to this point. So this begs the question, after we’ve tried the Verreal RS, do we now have a new favorite?

When you are looking for a budget Dual Kingpin all-terrain board, Verreal RS is amongst the best choices you have at the $1000 mark, but so is Wowgo AT2.

Here’s our thought: It depends (duh)! Compared to Wowgo AT 2, Verreal RS can give you 25% more battery and more stability. On the flip side, Wowgo AT does have nicer things such as slightly better post-sale service, slightly better polish, and some nice features such as the smart turn-on.

To summarize, Verreal RS offered beefy specs, superior range, comfortable control, and a comfortable riding experience that‘s geared towards stability. It’s also very versatile for supporting different wheel configurations. If you are willing to put up with the inconsistent post-sale service, the Verreal RS is definitely amongst the top 2 choices when looking for an affordable Dual Kingpin all-terrain board.

Click here to check out Verreal RS

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Ownboard AT 1W Review – Good Evolve clone?

The Ownboard AT1W is a board that hasn’t been talked about much, beyond how it stole its graphic design from the Evolve GTR. If you look past the design shenanigans, the Ownboard AT1W is actually a pretty beefy board worthy of some attention!

Ownboard AT-1W Review

  • Deck Size: 39-inch (99cm)
  • Top Speed: 25mph (45kmh)
  • Range: 24miles (40km)
  • Battery Pack: 432Wh (Sanyo GA in a 10s4p, 14Ah)
  • Weight: 27.5lbs/ 12.5kg
  • Motor: 2 x 1200W hub motors.
  • Wheels: 105mm rubber wheels
  • Price: 799 USD
  • Features:
    • Remote with Telemetry,
    • Swappable Wheel Sleeves

Beyond just copying the grip tape design, Ownboard also kept most of the Evolve formula – using a double kingpin truck, Double drop deck, and a 10s4p battery configuration.  The battery cells on this one, however, are Sanyo GA, and the total pack is 432wh in size.

And the ESC it uses is the widely popular Hobbywing ESC.

The Ownboard AT1W uses 105mm rubber wheels and powers itself with two 1200W hub motors. This yields a top speed of 25mph (45kmh) and a range of 24miles (40km).

In short, you can think of the AT1W is as an Evolve Bamboo GTR with 105mm rubber wheels and hub motors. Obviously, as the AT1W uses hub motors, there is no way to convert it to pneumatic AT wheels.

So you might be thinking: there are many many Evolve clones out there, so why should someone care about this one in particular? Well, the Ownboard AT1W is definitely one of the more affordable Evolve clone, and $799 is a good price for any eskate with 10s4p battery. What I meant to say is that Ownboard AT1W looks good on paper, and what we are trying to know is if it is also good to ride.

First, let’s talk about the numbers.

Numbers & Performance:

Range:

The 10s4p 432wh Sanyo GA batteries did hit the full range of 24miles or 40km it promised. However, we can’t verify the marketed top speed, which is 25mph(45kmh), as the board was too wobbly for us to comfortably reach that speed. That’s is even after tightening the Double kingpin trucks all the way down.

Top Speed:

We aborted our test at 21mph (35kmh) and called it a day. The board definitely can hit the marketed top-speed 25mph (45kmh), it just that we as the rider couldn’t. We will talk more about the truck letter,

Riding Experience

Speed Control – Buttery Smooth

So, let’s talk about the riding experience. First, let’s talk about speed control. The Ownboard AT1W uses a customized Hobbywing ESC, similar to their other products. That means buttery smooth speed change with fairly good strength in the brakes. Unlike the Exway and Wowgo boards, there is no smart-power-on for this one, which is too bad.

Torque – Sufficient but not very powerful

Many of us love to hate the 10s set-up as it bottlenecks the torque, especially when combined with hub motors and big wheels. As that is exactly what the AT1W is, it’s no surprise that the torque on this one isn’t amazing. While going uphill wasn’t an issue for us, we had issues when trying to ride it off roads. For example, when we are riding it on thick grass, the board was unable to start from a standstill due to the lack of torque. This will probably be a dealbreaker for those who really love torque.

Manoeuvrability – Twitchy trucks

As I mentioned just now, this pair of double kingpin truck Ownboard uses is not great. You see, when it comes to double kingpin trucks on an eskate; some brands did get it right, but many didn’t, and those who didn’t get it right usually end up with wobbly trucks. Ownboard’s double kingpin trucks are obviously the latter, and in our opinion, this is the most significant weakness of the AT1W. It has poor return to center, so when you make a turn, it doesn’t rebound back and help you recenter. The lack of rebound also means it doesn’t help to stay centered. Of course, the double kingpin trucks do allow a small turning radius for tight turns – so there’s that.

The flaw with the truck is such a shame, as the rest of the board is very likable.

Vs Road vibration – great

Underneath the pretty grip tape, there is a wide deck with moderate flex and a comfortable concave. Our feet felt pretty comfortable on the deck. The flex of the deck, the drop through set-up, and big 105mm wheels also means that road vibration is pretty well absorbed, and riding on the rough road is actually alright.

The 105mm rubber wheels did their job well and will roll over most terrain, but all-terrain they are not. They can do grass, sand, and rough road; but gravel and stones are definitely off-limits. The accurate name for this board should be Ownboard Semi-AT1W, but I guess this doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Issue – 1) Poor bottom clearance

105mm wheels on a double drop deck also mean that the bottom of the deck has very little clearance. I promise that you will rub the bottom of the deck on every single speed bump out there. This again is a point against off-road uses.

Issue – 2) Rubber wheels aren’t durable

Another thing that many people love to hate about rubber wheels is that they tend to wear fast. Well, they do, but at least the rubber sleeve is replaceable.

Verdict:

Should wobbly trucks and poor ground clearance stop you from considering this $799 board?

Let’s look at it this way: the AT1W is not for someone who is looking for an All-Terrain board, I hope that’s pretty clear by now. It’s also not for those who like to ride really fast, as the trucks are pretty wobbly.

Who is the Ownboard AT1W good for?

Perhaps someone who needs the range, who needs the safety provided by relatively large 105mm wheels, and who doesn’t typically ride fast and really likes the maneuverability of a double kingpin truck; but someone who, at the same time, doesn’t like the maintenance of a belt-drive and prefers the hassle-free hub drive.

I don’t think this description matches a lot of riders out there, but if that description fits you, then consider Ownboard AT1W.

So, what do you think? Do you like the look of this AT1W, and what do you think about it? Let us know in the comment section.

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

Posted on by Paxson Lim

Raldey AT-V3s Review – The best affordable AT?

Previously, we have reviewed the Raldey MT-V3, and concluded that it is the best option for someone who is looking to buy an affordable Eskate for commutes (you can read it here).

This time, we are reviewing the Raldey Bamboo V3S-AT, a board that was designed to be the most affordable AT option. 

At $899, the Raldey Bamboo V3S-AT has all the assets to be a great AT board…. Or does it?

Raldey AT-V3s Review

  • Deck Size: 40-inch x 13-inch (96.5cm x 23cm)
  • Top Speed: 28.5mph (46kmh)
  • Range: 19miles (30km)
  • Battery Pack: 504Wh (Sanyo GA in a 10s4p, 14Ah)
  • Weight: 23.6lbs/ 10.7kg
  • Motor: 2 x 1500W belt motors.
  • Wheels: 165mm/ 195mm airless
  • Price: 899 USD
  • Features:
    • Remote with Telemetry,
    • Push to power-on,
    • IP 55 weatherproof.

Let’s look at the parts.

Deck – Bamboo???

Raldey Bamboo AT-V3s’ product page listed the deck material as “8-Layer Canadian Maple deck”. Meaning, it has absolutely nothing to do with Bamboo. I reach out to Raldey and they told me it’s actually Bamboo plies mixed with Maple plies. I don’t care. The deck has no flex and calling it bamboo deck brings no meaning, so let’s just not call it Raldey Bamboo from now on.

However, despite being a little bit shady on the marketing side, the deck is fine. It’s almost the same as the one used on the Raldey MT-V3. It’s wide and has a mild concave, which makes it comfortable for foot placement. But it’s definitely not flexible, thanks to the full-length plastic enclosure screwed to the deck. 

Wheels – Airless rubber wheels

There are 2 wheel options available, 165mm and 195mm. That’s around 6.5 inches and 7.6 inches. The review unit we get is rocking the 165mm wheels. These are airless rubber wheels, and we will talk a little bit more about the ride feel later. 

Trucks – Wide Double Kingpin

The trucks are 14-inch double kingpin trucks, which makes them slightly wider than the typical 12-inch truck found on competing AT boards, like the Wowgo AT 2 and Ownboard Bamboo AT.

We will talk about how well these double kingpin trucks fare later.

Electronic Speed Controller – Customised LingYi ESC

On the electronics side, Raldey is using a customised LingYi ESC featuring push to power-on.

Veteran Eskater would already know how the board rides just by knowing the ESC it uses, but we will talk more about it later.

Battery – 10s4p Sanyo GA

In the battery department, it is equipped with a Sanyo GA battery in 10s4p configuration, making a pack of 504wh batteries. Sanyo GA is a pretty competent cell for Eskate.

10s4p is also the typical size for most AT boards.

Motors – 6368 belt motor

The pair of 6368 belt motors are rated as 1500W each. They are top-mounted and allows the board to have more ground clearance. However, it does make the board more difficult to stand leaning to the wall.

Numbers for Raldey AT-V3s: Top speed and Range

Raldey did not put out a marketed top speed and range for the 165mm configuration, but for us, all these parts come together to give the Raldey AT-V3 a top speed of 23mph (37kmh) and a range of 20miles (33km), when riding fast on the pro and high modes. 

So, here comes the $899 dollar question – how well does the Raldey AT-V3 ride?

Speed control

First, let’s talk about speed control.

Raldey uses a customized LingYi ESC which has 4 acceleration modes and 4 brakes modes that can be adjusted independently from each other. We said this before and we will say it again, when it comes to acceleration. Ling Yi ESCs are meant to be ridden in the 3rd(High mode), but not the 4th(‘Pro’ Mode).

Pro modes have super strong acceleration with a less smooth curve, and the result is a jolty feel. In high mode, acceleration is smooth enough, while still being strong. No reason to go to the 4th mode unless you enjoy peeing your pants a little bit from time to time.

The braking is great, smooth, and has 4 different strength that cater to everyone’s individual tastes.

Ride feel

Next, let’s talk about the ride feel.

The stiff deck, plus airless rubber wheels that are super thin on the motor side, means the board felt rough on gravel and trails. Don’t get me wrong, the wheels are big enough to roll over these surfaces, the experience just isn’t fun, as the wheels and deck do little to cushion the vibrations. Obviously, it would be better if you are riding on the 195mm wheels, but we have no way of telling how much better. I am guessing not by much.

Regarding the torque, I know many of you aren’t a fan of 10s batteries, but for us, Raldey AT-V3s is plenty powerful. Good enough power for whatever hills we encountered during our ride.

The general riding experience on regular roads is fine, but we can’t help but notice some flaws in it. The trucks, though wide, are the type of double kingpin trucks that are on the twitchy and wobbly side. We are still able to get to top speed and live to tell about it, but it’s a bit sketchy. 

Although the Double Kingpin trucks allow a small turning radius, they, unfortunately, have a poor return to the center. Combining that with a stiff deck and hard wheels make carving less fun. Upgrading to a better set of bushings would probably solve this complaint though. 

Final Verdict: Best Budget AT Option?

With all that said, the final question to be asked is this: how is the Raldey AT-V3S as a budget AT option?

Here is my answer: The over-arching theme of the Raldey AT-V3S can be summarized as capable but not comfortable.

Yes, the wheels are big enough for all-terrain, but it’s not comfortable.

Yes, double kingpin trucks allows better carving, but the bushings and the rough wheels mean that it wasn’t the buttery smooth carving experience we would have loved to have.

Yes, the individual parts are great, and the board is IP 55 waterproof, but the over-all polish of the product is lacking, and this Raldey is not as pretty as some other brands.

In short, the Raldey AT V3S is a perfectly capable ride for any situation, and any terrain, but it’s not a refined one. For many, it would be worth spending a couple hundred dollars more for something pricier, but for those who want to pay the absolute minimum for an AT, this is a solid choice.

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