Yecoo Boards gets updated

Yecooboards

New kid on the skating block: Yecooboard tries its best to improve continuously in line with customer preferences, Yecoo’s original four skateboards have become five, and each of its skateboards has its strengths. Three of its boards have been upgraded to match for skaters’ tastes.

Let’s have a look at what remains the same and what has changed:

Yecoo GT

Upgraded Battery

Working on the customers’ feedback on original Yecoo GT’s substandard battery performance. Yecoo has updated its battery from the originals Samsung 6s4p 8.8ah 25.2v to Samsung 10s5p 11Ah 36V and Samsung 10s5p 15Ah 36V.

Now, the marketed top speed goes up to 25 miles with the extended range battery (the actual range may be affected by road conditions, the rider weight, temperature, etc.)

Climbing proficiency of the board has increased from 20% to 30%.

The new battery will reduce voltage sag, allowing the rider to maintain high speeds, even as the battery runs low.

What is more, N5055 motor sees an upgrade to the high speed N5065 motor. 

With a change in the battery, the battery box also changes to occupy its upgraded tenant. Of course, the weight of the board also increases relatively; the current board weighs about 10kg.

Upgraded ESC

Yecoo has also refined the ESC algorithm to make acceleration and braking very smooth and optimized the efficiency with which electrical energy is converted into mechanical energy at high speeds.

The brake has four gears to facilitate the setting of brake flexibility.

The most prominent feature of the ESC is the smart boot, which powers on automatically when rolling more than 3 feet/ 1 meter, so you don’t have to bend down to press the power switch.

Price

Yecoo GT is priced at $719. Yecoo is doing a lot of promotions recently, and thus you can get 10% on your purchase. 

Deck theme

In the pre GT deck pattern, it was black grip tape with lines and spiders. Some skaters quite liked the old design as is resisted dirt. The new, improved pattern is yellow color-block covered by black lines, which still has a spider pattern in the middle.

Yecoo GTS

Upgraded Battery

The Yecoo GTS battery capacity has been increased from 6.6Ah to 9.0Ah and 10.5Ah. A significantly improved battery helps maintain high speed even when the battery is low. So the range of the board increases from 25km to 33km.

Upgraded Motor

Yecoo GTS upgraded the N5055 to N5065 high-speed motor, making the belt motor more flexible and torque more powerful.

Upgraded ESC

They have deeply optimized the ESC algorithm and made the acceleration and brakes very smooth; they also tuned the conversion efficiency of electrical energy to mechanical energy when it’s at high speed.

The brake has four gear positions, and these settings make it convenient for the rider to set the braking flexibility.

The most outstanding feature for this ESC is the intelligent boot which automatically powers on when rolling for more than 3 feet / 1 meter so that you don’t have to bend down to press the power switch.

Price

Yecoo GT is priced at $699. Yecoo is doing a lot of promotions recently, and thus you can get 10% on your purchase. 

Yecoo XJ

 Upgraded Battery

The Yecoo XJ battery capacity has been increased from Samsung 10s3p 6.6Ah 36V to LG 10s3p 7.8Ah 36V and LG 10s3p 10.5Ah 36V. So the range has increased from 25km to 34km (actual range will be affected by road conditions, the rider weight, temperature, etc.)

Upgraded Remote Control

The existing remote control has been replaced with a new model, from Hobbywing. From the original thumb ring structure into the shape of a more proper handgrip, making it more comfortable. 

Upgraded ESC

Now they use Hobbywing ESC to replace the old one, as we all know that Hobbywing is famous for the smooth acceleration & braking system.

Price

Now, the pricing of GT is $429.00. The actual price is subject to the website.

Deck theme

They have two choices of the deck themes, the beige pattern and the black classic.

Yecoo X2

The X2 is a basic model from Yecoo and features a high cost/performance ratio, with a price tag of just $399, this board’s a real bargain. All PCB electronic components of the upgraded Yecoo X2 are covered and protected by special solid glue to prevent damage caused by water, dust, or shock. 

Concave is similar to Yecoo 2S, and it is convex, black deck covered by shallow honeycomb texture, with hornet pattern in the middle. The deck is two layers’ bamboo+6 layers of maple with a size of 38*8.85 inches.

X2 wheels are available in two colors, black, and orange. It’s 90 mm diameter high elastic PU wheels are comfortable, anti-vibration, wear-resistant, and silent. X2’s wheels have 7mm larger diameter than ordinary wheels.

Look at its other specs:

  • Range Goes up to 12~19 miles(19.3~30km) with the extended range battery (actual range will be affected by road conditions, the rider weight, temperature, etc.).
  • Speed  Top speed of 23 mph(38km).
  • Hill Climbing 20%~30%.
  • Ride Modes 3 ride modes, from Beginner to Expert.
  • Battery Yecoo X2 provided battery is LG 4.4Ah, Samsung 6.0Ah, and Sanyo 8.5Ah. Aluminum alloy battery housing.
  • Remote The new remote has a display that measures speed, battery life, and mileage.
  • ESC Uses Hobbywing ESC which is famous for the smooth acceleration & braking system.

Checkout Yecooboard by clicking here.

This post is sponsored by Yecoo

Yecoo GT – Does this budget 2 in 1 worth your time?

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.

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.

Visit Yecoo Board by clicking here.