KingSong S20 / S22 Eagle Electric Unicycle – First Look

So KingSong have announced their latest and greatest Electric Unicycle – the KingSong S20 / S22 Eagle. Should we be excited?

In a short answer – I am and let me tell you why. Kingsong have been in the game for a while now and have proven to produce reliable and affordable (ish) Electric Unicycles. I for one am a big fan of anything they come up with. My old favourite to date was the Kingsong 18XL. 

Kingsong have not been known to be pushing the speed limits with their wheels. While they weren’t the slowest either, the title of being the fastest has been taken by Begode for many years. Instead, they have been producing reliable wheels that are arguably the safest to ride on the market and have impressive optimisation for distance riding. This isn’t entirely the case with the S20 / S22 Eagle.

This wheel goes to 70km/h and with a declared free-spin speed of 105km/h, it rivals the best of Begode’s and will certainly turn heads. The torque of it is insane on paper and the highest on the market – 111V rated power, 126V charging voltage, and 2220Wh battery this should be enough to overtake any other EUC on the market. Of course, all this needs to be tested but this is what the manufacturer is stating. It’s also the largest of Kingsongs, with a 20-inch tyre that’s 3 inches thick.

Strong hollow motor (3300w) cooled with 2200Wh battery (LG LG50LT, 21700  5000mA, 120 cells with a smart BMS with balance and protect overshoot / over-discharge / overcurrent/ short circuit / overheating and support monitoring the battery conditions via KingSong APP) mean that you can go further at lower speeds because of higher motor efficiency.

Their declared distance is 200km with ideal conditions and light or an average weight Chinese rider. In my own guess and judging by my Kingsong 18XL with 1554Wh battery and 2200w motor that got me to from London to Brighton twice (I wasn’t saving battery either – in fact, quite the opposite), which is 60 miles away from my house, I estimate that this new wheel will comfortably do 150km or 93 miles, assuming the same cells are used.

The fact that it’s 21700 instead of the older 18650 makes no difference – the overall capacity hasn’t changed, it’s the same tech just with different packaging. The reason is that 18650 are popular and there is a shortage in addition to the fact that Elon Musk switched to 21700 everyone follows suit.

The controller ‘is designed with a 4 layer structure, allowing for better stability performance. Twelve large individual TO-247 imported MOS to sufficiently support the 3300W motor. MOS is attached to the aluminate body frame of the wheel, and 16 heat dissipation channels have been added to the bottom of the magnesium alloy motherboard base, for better heat dissipation, which provides a strong guarantee for fast and stable operation.’ It sits on top and has the display attached to it as well as the rear lights (including turn indicators!), charger, and the on/off button – all in a modular design!

In addition to having Bluetooth 5.0 and quick charge 3.0 USB ports for your phone or power bank, it comes with a fast charger, too – the original wheels like my Kingsong 18XL have a 1.5 amp charger while the S20 Eagle comes with a 6 amp charger, meaning that’s 4x the speed! You can expect to charge it in around four to five hours instead of 18 to 19. You can also buy a second charger as it has two charge ports and the maxim charge current allowed by the BMS is 10 amps!

An adjustable headlight that’s 2x the power of the s18 – 8*5W on the left and right. All EUCs have a headlight but it varies greatly in angles and brightness. Now you can adjust the angle which means you will be able to ride with your headlight in public places if you point it onto the ground as well as in dark parks or forests, where you can lift the beam up. If this is designed well this will be a game-changer.

A removable seat has been added to this wheel, too. A lot of riders like to ride seated for a short period of time during longer rides to alleviate foot strain. It takes some skill and you need shorter legs for it so it’s not for everyone. The seat is removable and by the looks of the photos quite flat so it shouldn’t be an issue for upright riding and can easily be removed. This will save £100 or so for the seat accessory.

Spiked footplates! Yes, we finally see spiked footplates (aka pedals) out of the factory! They also have a honeycomb design so you can use them in the rain and snow without worrying about slipping off. That’s another £200 saved.

The stock side pads/power/brake pads have a removable design and can be slid off altogether, leaving a flat surface, ideal for attaching your favourite brand, be it Clarkpads or the Sai pads.

Weight on paper is 28kg however some people mentioned it could be heavier. It seems however that they made it minimalistic in design, removing some parts that normally cover the wheel, making it look like a Rockwheel GT16 or the long-rumoured and mythical/futuristic looking GT18. It also comes with an in-built speedometer display that can also show power and other information. The LED battery indicator is said to only work when the wheel is stationary, according to the documentation.

Their quality control is top-notch. I trust my Kingsong wheels with my life (quite literally) and as I ride I never think about them failing on me just from personal experience as well as that of others. I can’t say the same for other wheels, which, as I opined earlier, in many cases are a DIY project. Kingsong make their boards in-house and have a rig to test them on (or so I was told and based on the photos I saw) and that makes a big difference to the reliability since the controller is normally the part that has a tendency of breaking more commonly than all the other parts of any wheel.

The absolute killer feature is the new type of suspension. All Electric Unicycles to date, with a slight variation, have been using the air suspension – the first generation of suspensions. The S20 Eagle is the first to introduce a spring suspension – second generation, the same one found in cars and in bicycles (as far as I am aware). A ‘unique X-shaped suspension system. Pro-level suspension provides ultimate support and shock absorption.’ This type of suspension is common for a reason. It has a good traveling distance (a third longer than S18’s) and it works.

The one possible downside is that it is designed for different weights – the stock one on S20 comes with one that is designed for an average weight of 75kg rider, or so I was told. While you can use it up to 120kg it may not work as well if you weigh much more or much less than the average it’s designed for. To replace it costs dearly – it’s an expensive part (you can expect to fork out around £100 for a quality spring).

In a summary, this new wheel is arguably the best on the market right now, at least on paper – they’ve considerably upped their game! It’s an evolutionary wheel that has everything long-term riders have been asking for and has the usual pro rider modifications integrated right out of the factory. It may or may not work for every – like the power pads that some people may want to change, but the fact that it comes with them out of the box is no doubt what we all have been waiting for!

Accessories from the box: S20 Eagle, 1x Charger, 1x Manual, 1x Warranty card, 1x Seat Cushion, 1x QC certificate.

Note: this EUC was renamed from KingSong S20 to KS S22. They are the same wheel.