Posted 27 Sep 2015
Hi Guys! So some of you might have seen my post on facebook, but for those who haven't: I've been researching euc's for ages, and finally decided to pull the trigger at the beginning of August when the new King Songs were coming out. I contacted Jason at wheelgo (he seemed to be the only one with the 800W at the time) who said that, because I was located in Canada, where there aren't any local resellers, my best bet was to contact Tina directly and get one straight from the factory - so that's what I did. I went ahead and paid for the wheel, but I asked them to hold off on shipping it until the new firmware came out, because I wanted to make sure I got the latest and greatest. A few weeks ago, Tina let me know that they were sending out my wheel. To make a long story short, my euc made it as far as Hong Kong, and no further. Tina doesn't have the experience or the resources to figure out the shipping situation, and she basically just couldn't get it to me. I hemmed and hawed for a while (as you may have seen from my facebook post), but based on the advice from you guys, I asked for my money back. Tina agreed to that given the circumstances, and apparently I should be getting that money back at some point here shortly. So I'm basically back where I started.
Once I figured out that King Song couldn't get me my euc directly, my knee-jerk reaction was to find a reseller who could get me one. But as I've had a few days to reflect, I'm wondering if maybe King Song is just the wrong fit for my needs, and that ninebot might be a better option. I've decided to take this shipping snafu and use it to reconsider my options. So, that said, I'm torn between ninebot and King Song, and am hoping for some guidance. I realize that King Song is WAY more powerful, but there are also many things that make me lean towards ninebot. Here's a pro/con list of everything that Sticks out to me:
Ninebot Pros:
- 16" - I intend to use my wheel mainly for commuting and pleasure cruising, not for tricks, sports, etc, and I feel that a 16" wheel would be a better fit than the King Song's 14".
- Reliability - Kings Song seems not to have ironed out the kinks yet. Between issues with speed control and tiltback/tilting forward, vibrating at high speed, etc, my impression is that there are a lot of bugs left in the system. Supposedly this batch coming out will have them fixed, but I have my doubts. This is OK if you're willing to roll the dice, but for my first wheel I'm wondering if something ultra-dependable like a ninebot would be better. I'm not electrically handy, and don't know if I would feel comfortable changing out a main board on my own.
- Support - based on my experience with King Song, I'm starting to really appreciate the value of local support and a large infrastructure/warranty system. I feel like if I had a ninebot that malfunctioned, I'd have much better success with a local reseller and ninebot than might be the case if I bought a King Song from someone halfway across the world.
Ninebot Cons
- Handle - let's face it - the handle doesn't work. I don't love the idea of sticking a trolley handle on (although I might end up doing just that), so a functional handle is a really important asset for me.
- Range - for my regular commuting needs, I don't need more than about 10km round trip, so the ninebot should be fine in that regard. But I hate the idea of having to cut a long weekend ride short due to low battery.
- Speed - Not being able to go as fast as you want sucks. This is my first wheel, so I don't have a great frame of reference, but I can imagine that the ninebot is a bit pokey.
King Song Pros:
- Speed/Power/Agility - I don't think there's anyone who would argue that the King Song isn't the better-performing machine. It's faster, stronger, and more powerful. I live in a city full of hills, and although I'm not heavy (about 72 kg), it would be great to have something with power to spare. As far as performance goes, it's King Song all the way.
- Headlights/Brake Lights - I LOVE the idea of this for commuting. It's so much more elegant than wearing a headlamp or uglying up a ninebot by bolting an external lamp to it. Because commuting is a primary need for me, the built in lights are a pretty huge advantage.
- Handle - I love the big, sturdy handle. Certainly nicer than the 'bot.
King Song Cons
- 14" - the pavement around here isn't great, and while I'm sure it's do-able, I don't love the idea of having to have hawk eyes all the time when I'm out and about for every crack in the pavement.
- Waterproofing - Has anyone actually USED that usb port? That and the speakers seem like prime targets for water infiltration to me, and I have concerns about water getting in. It's a wet climate here, so that could be a real issue.
- Reliability - As I said above, it just seems like every week there's some other major issue, whether it's the tiltback, vibrating at high speeds, e