My Sector 8 Slingshot has just arrived! It has smaller wheels, a longer deck, kicktails at both ends, and a shorter wheelbase, which translates to a smaller turning radius. I am going to learn pushing and foot braking with this longboard! I think these are really important skills just in case when the battery goes dead or the brake malfunctions during a downhill slide. (Click photo to enlarge.) Stacking them together, we can see that the Slingshot deck is curved while the E=GO is flat. (Click photo to enlarge.) Overall, the Slingshot looks just awesome! And you know what, Eventually, I will port the battery, wheels, and motor assembly to the Slingshot. I am so excited now!
0 Comments
This is what they advertised at e-go.com. The top speed is fine as yes, I can get to 20 km/h. The range and ride time is however, a little bit off. From their website: With a 100kg/220lb maximum weight rider, below 10°C/50°F, about 22km-25km (13mi-15mi) and between15°C to 30°C (50°F-86°F) about 30km/18mi. Its worth noting that here are many variables that will impact on the distance that a Yuneec E-GO or indeed any electric vehicle can travel,,, My experience of the range so far is 18 to 22km, not 30km. And a maximum ride time of two hours, not three. Just for the record, my weight is just 145lb and the temperature I rode on is roughly 20-30°C during June, July, and August. I did ride up a bridge or two, and do some carving some of the time. I appreciate the fact that the E-GO Cruiser offers the best range of all electric skateboards as of today. However, it is not close to what is advertised. Now some screen captures from my Sony Action Cam! Oh, the charging time? 5 hours or a bit more instead of 4 when the battery is fully discharged. They did mention 5 hours in their FAQ though.
In general, and if I put the "sudden power loss" issue aside, I am satisfied with my E-GO Cruiser for the price that I paid. After more than two months of daily use, minus those rainy days, I could sum up the troubles I am having with my E-GO Cruiser. Temporary Shut Down or Loss of Remote Control - At first this happened two times when I rode pass the backyard of a house near my apartment. When power loss begins, the board starts slowing down no matter what I do with my remote control. After a second or two without the board coming to a complete stop, the board will beep for a second or so. After that, control or power resumes. I thought it had something to do with that house but I was wrong. Power failed at other locations too as I later found. Might be it's my smart phone doing some Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection thing? After re-positioning my phone pouch to the other side, and thereby eliminating the chance of the E-GO remote control touching my phone, temporary shut down no longer happened! And then I was shocked, kind of... It shocked me, kind of, when the power went out while I was riding down a bridge with the brake slightly applied. Would the power needed for braking resume soon enough or should I try stopping immediately before the speed picked up and became insurmountable? I never learned how to brake a skateboard with my foot! Sliding, even if I knew how to, was not possible on such a narrow sidewalk. Before I made up my mind, power and control regained. Up until now in August, losing power while going downhill has happened several times. I must learn to foot brake just in case a power loss is not temporary. (Note: you may want to look at "Hackers Can Seize Control of Electric Skateboards" here: http://www.wired.com/2015/08/hackers-can-seize-control-of-electric-skateboards-and-toss-riders-boosted-revo/. It mentioned that Bluetooth noise was the likely culprit.) Pushing without Power - Can one push the board without power? According to E-GO's FAQ section, "Yes, you can use it without power, the motor does provide a little drag but it's hardly noticeable." In reality however, pushing the E-GO Cruiser is less easy. Comparing to a regular longboard, the drag of the drive belt is VERY noticeable. And with 90mm wheels, the deck is high and it takes a lot more energy to push than a normal longboard with a lower deck. 25 Percent Power Warning - My estimation is that when the remote control starts warning me of power running out and switches me to the slower ECO Mode, there is only 15% power remaining, not 25%. My experience is that the battery could last roughly two hours on the kind of sidewalks and bicycle paths that I use with a certain amount of carving. (I am quite satisfied with the long range that this Cruiser is capable of.) After a warning, I found that I could ride another 20 minutes or so, not 30 minutes. This was so even if I avoided going up bridges and stopped carving after the warning. Flashlight on the Remote - Now you may want to forget that. The battery level LED flashes a lot brighter than the flashlight on the remote. Simply useless. Now this becomes obvious - bring some coins for taking a bus or some cash for taking a taxi should the battery completely run out or stop for whatever reason. And may be I should learn pumping too in additional to foot braking? The E-GO Cruiser is not weather sealed. If it is raining or if the weather forecast says it will rain quite a bit, I will leave home without it. The problem is, is weather forecast accurate enough? One forecast by AccuWeather said it would rain with a chance of raining of roughly 40%: The forecast by The Weather Network of the same day said it would not rain with a chance of only 20%: My take is, if the rain estimation is only 1-2mm around the time that I will ride, I will take my board. If any forecast mentions heavy rain or a possible thunderstorm, I probably won't.
If you are curious, this is the exact location: And this is the original photo - an HDR of several exposures. I must say that I have absolutely no idea what was written on that cement block and therefore, I wiped them out of my header photo.
|
DarrylTaking up longboarding... Archives
November 2018
Categories
All
|