Great to hear it's a better fit, despite its shortcomings which really don't seem to be too major all considering. The ability to climb hills is important but I would also think a decent suspension makes all the difference in the world, the Ninebot is pretty rigid on bumpy roads and I totally get what you're saying about handle bar shake and the lack of feeling stable at higher speeds.
Thanks for sharing your experiences with us here, I'll definitely keep my eye on this thing.
As I’ve been racking up the miles on this: the suspension works best for the larger things you run across in streets and paths. Roots cracking the pavement, dips and small potholes/etc. Keeps things under control when you have to deal with that. But gravel, dirt and gritty asphalt? The solid tires like to communicate that all right up into the scooter. But overall, it’s still an improvement over no suspension at all. All in all, I feel like I have
Got brave enough to do a little riding at 21mph on this thing on roads I know well. Stable. Even at 15mph, I can lean pretty hard and still get good traction because of the very wide tires. It takes getting used to, but it is interesting once you do.
I took the bottom off to take a look inside the deck. Mostly to see what the battery looked like in terms of size. The battery pack seems to be a bit longer than it needs to be for a 13S6P 18650 pack, and it looks like the battery is padded a bit to take up the space. Could probably fit a 14S6P pack in there and make it a 52V setup for longer range. I wonder why they didn’t do that.
In terms of raw build quality, did notice that one of the kickstand bolt holes wasn’t threaded fully, so the screw can’t fully tighten. The kickstand still works and doesn’t move, but if the one good bolt ever comes loose, so does the kickstand. Might consider getting a slightly shorter bolt so it stays in the threads that are there. There is a tiny bit of play in the stem with the new clamp which doesn’t affect riding (I didn’t even notice it until I had put over 30mi on the thing), which can probably be adjusted. Again, no deal breakers, but it’s a bit clear that this was built to price.
From an engineering perspective though, not bad. The deck casting is done well (other than the thread tapping error) and it is clear that making space for cables and cable routing was a core idea. All the wiring has a place to either go, holders to keep it in place when needed (complete with threaded mounting points in the deck, and channels for wiring heading to the stem or the motors, which is good for a single piece casting like this. Charger wires go straight to the battery pack, using an XT40(?) connector. So clearly the pack itself contains the BMS, which isn’t surprising. Then two XT60 connectors come off the battery pack, each going to a motor controller, one for the front, one for the back. The power connectors off the battery are fused and the fuses replaceable. Neat little addition is the casting of the deck is such that some foam helps hold the battery pack which is encased in insulating epoxy resin boards. And there is a cage that further restrains the battery and prevents it from moving. The bottom half of the deck is plastic, but a metal skid plate helps provide even more protection for the battery and other electronics. About the only complaint about what I saw inside was the motor controllers didn’t seem to have any clear mountings, either they were buried under the routed wires, or they were possibly glued in. I’d be somewhat surprised if they were glued in though, since they would be the only thing glued into the deck other than foam.
Yeah, a little cheap in some component selection (that battery voltage sag…), but I don’t feel like they cut corners on the electrical work and battery protection which is good. I would have put the fuse holders on the other side of the XT60 connectors, so that they don’t add cost to battery replacements since the fuses are replaceable separately, though.
I’m somewhat curious if the system could take 52V or not from the battery (the e-bike controller technically can, but can the motors?) since there is space for a 14S6P pack in the deck. But it would still be possible to go from a 48V/15.6Ah pack (2600mAh cells) to a 48V/20.7Ah pack (3450mAh cells) at roughly the same weight down the road.