Having been riding EUCs for over four years now, I thought I’d write about those I’ve owned, talk about my overall experience with them, and offer my thoughts on the subject in general.
My first wheel was an Inmotion V8, which I’ve owned since 2017. Being my first wheel, I was ecstatic when it came. I’ve been out on it every day and despite the rather small battery by today’s standards I managed to get decent mileage out of it. I’ve learned that Inmotion wheels use batteries (LG or Samsung?) that are not made for torque / high speed but are good enough when it comes to slow to moderate riding, and can get you very far indeed. My general range on my first V8 was between 30 and 50km (I weighed around 70kg at the time), subject to my riding style, and I think I did between 6,000km and 7,000km on it in my first year (hard to tell exactly as GPS readings are always different to those reported by the wheels).
Riding it is a joy. It’s a 16 inch wheel in diameter, is small and lightweight and is quite torquey. I remember doing Michael Jackson leans on it consistently and it never failed me! Leaning on it is easy as the pedals are soft and I love the riding dynamics of its software. Climbing hills on an Inmotion is a joy – you don’t need to push it, it just goes. It has sidelights and a headlight so it’s visible at night. The trolley handle is the best on the market – easy to use, and, being lightweight, makes it super portable. You can customise your sounds and lights. It’s also the easiest on the market for a tyre change, disassembly, and maintenance. I rode it in the rain and shine and by rain, I mean torrential rains! I’ve only had a single tyre puncture on it after 7,000km, going by the mileage on the app. Out of issues the only problem with it was the oscillation – if you hit a bump on the road at higher speeds, it starts to oscillate like a pendulum and you’re likely to fall off it (although you might be ok if you’re experienced enough and/or lucky). What killed it in the end for me was me dropping it into a canal. I got another V8 then sold it on soon after ‘upgrading’ to a V10F.
Not too long ago Inmotion have come up with a new V8, a V8F. It has a slightly stronger motor, larger pedals and a slightly larger battery. In my experience it has the same range as the old V8. It is very comfortable to ride now because of the larger pedals and the new soft faux leather side pads. I own a V8F that I use for smaller trips – e.g. to the local shops and my wife uses it as she’s lighter and gets a decent range out of it. I would say that it’s perfect for either a beginner, someone light weight, or someone who doesn’t need a range over 25km and speed of over 35km/h. Heavier riders can still ride it, as a friend of mine weighing 120kg did, riding his V8 – you just won’t get a good range out of it.
In terms of reliability it’s a let down. From what I heard from other distributors, the V8 had not seen many repairs and in fact was one of the most reliable wheels on the market. The V8F in my experience is highly unreliable at this point as I am having to repair a lot of them before they are even sold on as they fail my pre-sale testing. It’s important to buy it from a dealer, else you are risking having to order the parts at your own expense (repair is fairy easy but if you buy it from a dealer they are required to repair it for you as it’s part of the agreement with the factory).
My next wheel after the V8 was a V10F. Inmotion came up with V10 and V10F, with the only difference between them on paper being the size of the battery. I got mine from a friend who lives in Moscow and as she was travelling to Paris by train (in order to carry the wheels) she offered to buy one for me as she was buying one for herself and at a great discount to the market price. It was in the first batch of wheels.
V10F is definitely an upgrade from the V8. While it has the same diameter tyre, it has more lights, bigger pedals (same size as the V8F), ok speakers, brighter headlights, larger battery and a more powerful motor. It’s a joy to ride as it’s very comfortable, with pleasant riding dynamics akin to those of the V8. The battery is the same type as V8 so it does’t like fast / torquey rides (drains too quickly). Having V8s riding dynamics, the soft pedals are soft, allowing you to lean into your rides, and making the ride comfortable once you get used to it. You can adjust much of it in the settings. Good climbing ability – like the V8, it just goes up the hills without you needing to push it.
Sadly it wasn’t reliable for me as after riding it in the rain I’ve had major issues. Inmotion were helpful and sent parts however my second V10F also had issues due to the same – rain. I had to send it off for repair because I didn’t trust it and was away at the time so couldn’t repair it myself – this was paid for by Inmotion. This issue is due to the way it was designed and Inmotion have done some small modifications to make it a little more water proof. However, after my experience, I still don’t trust them. V10s seem to be better water protected than the V10Fs are.
My next wheel was a KingSong 18XL. I’ve never owned a KingSong before and it felt quite different to the Inmotion in every possible way. The pedals were harder, it was massive (18 inch in diameter), heavy, huge battery and immense range. It didn’t take me long to start loving it however. This wheel is designed for speed. You can ride as fast as it allows (50km/h) at all times and it doesn’t seem to affect your mileage. I went to Brighton on mine twice – which is a distance of just under 60 miles. I love this wheel. It’s well built, torquey, plenty fast and is very comfortable to ride. I highly recommend a case for it – I chose one from Roll.nz. It’s (or was) hand made from New Zealand and fits it perfectly. The wheel has descent speakers and a handle that’s very easy to use – the best on the market today. It has two levels of height – perfect for anyone of any height and build. It’s heavier than the V8F but is lighter than suspension wheels so the weight is quite manageable.
I’ve not had any issues on it the whole time other than a broken handle that I easily replaced. After riding through some very tough terrain, jumping on it and going through mud and heavy rain, it was always clean and dry inside whenever I opened it up for maintenance. It’s not particularly easy getting to the tyre and it has quite a few screws to undo but it’s not the end of the world either. You can actually patch up the tyre without having to open up the wheel – I did so and it worked. You can also put slime inside and that also seems to work, although not every time, as sometimes the leak just turns into a slow leak but it’s still there.
KingSong have released an updated version of the 18XL – a slightly more powerful motor and a new, stronger handle that seems to make a noticeable difference to it. Everyone who rode my XL have noticed how torquey it feels compared to their own, previous version. The only way to tell the difference between the versions physically, as far as I am aware, is by looking inside – the new version has a white shell inside while the older one has a black one. You can of course also log in to the app and it’ll give you your version there.
KingSong is big on supporting their distributors so you have to be careful about who you are buying your KingSong wheel from. If yours wasn’t meant for your country, it will get locked the moment you connect to it, and there is no easy way to unlocking it. They basically split the wheels into two categories – those made for China and those made for export. I still have my 18XL and am not expecting to be selling it any time soon.
In-between owning 18XL and V8F I decided to buy a KingSong 16X. After riding it I quite liked it and thought that it would be good to have one to play with. I didn’t quite need the full 16X so I went for the 16XS – smaller battery and a slightly less powerful motor, although with the same top speed – 50km/h. This wheel and the tyre are thicker than others and it has slightly more torque than other KingSong wheels.The full version has a battery the same size as 18XL – 1554wH Panasonic cells, therefore it will get you far and fast. The handle on it is the same as the 18XL in design, only a little shorter (almost unnoticeable). It has three levels of brightness of the front light – including an automatic sensor and very good quality speakers, with plenty of kick in the low end – aka the bass. All in all, it’s well engineered and is reliable. It can also take a tumble – it’s quite sturdy. It sells quite well. I decided to sell mine in the end because I wasn’t using it much, it was taking up space and my wife prefers her V8F so I had no use for it past satisfying my curiosity.
The latest purchase of mine was an Inmotion V11. I wanted to try a suspension wheel and there were two on the market at the time – V11 and a KingSong S18. I like the design of the V11 better and it’s larger battery. The range on it is descent enough – while riding at lower speeds my S18 friends need to charge while I don’t the whole way. The battery size on it is the same as the KingSong 16X/18XL and I believe that it do the same distance at lower speeds as the former can do at higher speeds. I.e. around 90-100km at 20km/h.
The riding dynamic of the V11 is less enjoyable for me than on the 18XL, with the former being more of a luxury car while the latter, the XL, being more of a sports vehicle in my eyes. I find V11 not responsive enough for my liking. The only benefit I am seeing is the suspension. It’s akin to being on a trampoline or that’s what it feels like – far from perfect but is better than not having any suspension. It has no speakers and I miss them quite a bit as I enjoy riding with slight music. The handle on it is not great – only marginally better than not having any. It’s somewhere between the 16X and a Gotway handle. This wheel is good for cruising at a constant speeds. In terms of reliability, it also has some issues – from words of other distributors a third are going bad. Inmotion is good as always with owning up to the issues and sending parts however having them installed on the V11 is a nightmare. The wheel is close to being unserviceable due to having too many screws of all conceivable shapes and sizes.
What about Gotway wheels? While I’ve never owned one I did play around with a few for over a week in China (around 1,000 on them in total) and I loved it towards the end of the trip. They have good power to value ratio but lacks great deal in build quality, which is why we don’t have any in stock. I believe that riding an electric unicycle, with it being a single-wheeled device, can be risky enough as it is, and the last thing we need is poor craftsmanship. I believe that Gotway and Inmotion can do better with their QC and engineering alike. It seems that KingSong unicycles have the highest build quality on the market for now.
