Rear wheels full lock-up with no rider brake input. Crash

Anyone else had this happen? First, I'm an experienced Evolve rider, 4 years with BGT/CGT and had my B GTR for about 2 months.

Had the rear wheels lock up while riding on a smooth road, going fairly slow (about 15-20 km/hour) without any user input on the remote. Felt like full 100% brakes hitting instantly. Caused me to fall and hit hard on both hands (wearing gloves), probably re-injuring a wrist injury I got a few years ago riding my CGT.

My initial thought is this happened due to a previously damaged GTR remote control. A few days after I got the board, I (of course) dropped the new remote, only a couple feet onto outdoor cement tile. It hit just at the front edge, causing the LCD display to die. Controls still operated OK (seemingly) and I could still use the board fine, but without seeing the display. Both the throttle and brake were not hit and operated, it felt, the same as before the drop.

Anyway, board and remote had been working fine. Tonight, was riding in a nearby park, smooth surface, after dark but with double lights on the front. Just going along, heard the wheels lock up, and it felt like I hit a huge rock that locked the wheels. Before I knew it, I was on the ground. Luckily, wearing gloves, helmet, heavy jacket - no cuts, but hit wrists pretty hard.

Then I checked to look for the rock I must've hit, only to be dumbfounded that there was no rock there. I thought, ok, maybe a small one got caught in the gears where the cover is, nope, nothing. Wheels turning freely. Totally normal mechanical operation. Not locked up, nothing rubbing, no marks from a rock or anything hitting. The wheels just - totally - locked up while I was riding. With no outside impact, it had to be from the e-brake. And no, I did not accidentally hit the brake, I'm sure of it.

Have there been any other cases of this? Sudden full brake application without hitting brake on the remote? I thought the disconnects of the bad old days with the GT were bad, but I have to say, instant 100% brake is worse than just a momentary disconnect.

I love the new board and the improvements the GTR has. And the new remote is much prettier and more user friendly - but - it's WAAAAY more fragile than the old GT remotes. I've dropped those dozens of times, crashed with them, they just still keep on going. My GTR remote became basically unusable after a 2-foot drop, and then possibly sent me flying to the asphalt this evening. And after today's crash, which wasn't really that hard of an impact to the ground (for the remote), the GTR remote is totally destroyed. I've had similar with the GT remotes and again, they're both fine.

Any input, or alternative theories how this may have happened, would be appreciated!

 

Hi there,

It's just happend with me as well.
Last year I've ridden more than 2000km ( Carbon GTR and Stoke, mostly Carbon GTR) wihout any problem. Today morning when I was riding to the pool the brake is activated an blocked the rear wheels at 30km/h speed. I simply took off :-| To be honest I've felt twice before that the the brake suddenly blocked for very short period (few milliseconds) but I was able to keep my balance both cases.
The remote's broken today but it wasn't a surprise, unfortunately that's the weakest product of the Evolve.
I'm going to ask the local distributor (and service) what's up with this.
cheers,

 

After posting here, I found on reddit a few other cases where the same thing happened. Also a YT video discussing it, with a reply from Evolve. Basically saying if the remote is ever dropped, it's possible to happen if accelerator and brake on remote are not re-calibrated. Not cool.

Don't know if I can ever ride the board again with confidence after this happened.

 

It doesn't sound good. My remote was perfect condition I've never dropped before.
I have three remote, two of them broken, waiting to LCD replace but I pretty sure the problem is somewhere else. It doesn't make any sense to speak about the calibration. But I will refer to you what's their official answer (it's in New Zealand).

 

Agreed, it sounds like a catch-all to absolve them from any responsibility.

Let me know what you find out.

I'm considering transferring one of my old GT controllers into this board and using it along with the old remote.

It may be a step backward in convenience, but at least in 4 years of riding my CGT/BGT I've never had a brake lock-up.

 

Please contact Evolve directly and let us know what clears up!

 

PS no remote drops in 12 mos, (and bought a back-up remote), CGTR then BGTR, in part due to stories like these suggesting remotes don’t drop well.
Glad it went as well as it did!

 

I'm going to do that tomorrow since today was a public holiday.

 

Hi there!
Me and my friend just experienced the same (fist him and then me a few weeks later) full lock up and both fell hard in the ground.
We wrote to Evolve only to get a reply asking if we might have eventually hit the brakes or lost control of the board... so typical of a company who does not want to assume that their product is faulty.
I totally lost confidence on this board and I will never recommend it to anyone - though I took 2 more rides with it again very slowly after the accident just to try to figure something out and try to obtain any kind of explanation.
At the time I am writing no satisfactory reply came from Evolve.
Cheers,
Alex

 

Sorry to hear you had it happen also, but at least this confirms I'm not crazy and imagining it! )
As I mentioned, after it happened I found on Reddit, a few cases of the same thing occurring.

Don't know what else to say except I'm super bummed about this, because I love e-skating in general, it's given me a new sport/activity these past 4 years, and I love Evolve boards in general. But this needs to be addressed and fixed. It's crazy that a simple (inevitable) drop of the remote, or mis-calibration of brake, could cause unexpected full brake appication. Reminds me of the bad old days where people could accientally put the GT remote into reverse while riding.

 

Do not own a BGTR. Just considering purchasing the AT model for "trail" and non pave riding..

Questions regarding the remote. Is there is a spring, mechanical cam that positions the brake thumb lever to no braking when released? If so, wondering if it is defective that a minor bump, gravity or just slight pressure results in engages the brake. Subtle enough defect that you wouldn't feel or notice while resetting your remote but enough to engage braking. Based on the need to reset the remote after a bump or drop due to magnet/sensor shifting. Could this remote's design, build, and/or quality control be the cause of sudden braking? From what I can tell the rate and expo of the braking function cannot be set by user? And braking force is higher at higher speed over ground? Would almost be nice to have no braking to real weak max braking function. Generations of longboard skaters have lived without brakes.

When resetting your remote have you been recording the setting numbers? Evolve in their YTube video noted not to be concerned with the specific numbers of the brake and throttle settings numbers. Just make sure they read high-low-high-low or maybe it was low-high-low-high. Wondering if there is something associated with those numbers. Would be a hint to user if they do change that something is not right. Also, maybe there is a specific set or range of numbers that is associated with unexpected braking.

Not sure how many of these units have been sold and used. Guessing thousands. Even if the issue is with 1:1000 units considering some of the consequences it's one too many. Especially if it is you hitting the ground. Based on my past experiences I will kissing the ground enough due to rider issues. Don't need additional impact, slide injuries due to mechanicals.

 

I don't think it's always the remote though. My brakes full locked on me last week, luckily at low speed, but would not unlock even with the board turned off, and the remote wouldn't connect. Tried to reconnect it and the thing made a hissing sound, burning plastic smell. Opened it up once home and the motor controller had a huge bulge on it. It's being sent for repairs now, but my trust in this brand has gone from 10/10 to like 2/10, I just can't believe how common this issue appears to be. I did not have my finger anywhere near the brake, and this was no 'slight brake' like I said, the brakes remained locked even with the board off.

Evolve just tell me how I can trust this thing again, I love this board, but this issue is just too common...how was this not fixed in the GTR???

 

Any updates from anyone? As a potential new buyer and someone who has read of a few of these incidents I'm very curious to know if there's been any progress.

Cheers

 

This same thing happened to me a few days ago. I was riding on a wide open street and the brakes locked up. I was doing about 20 mph and it threw me into the curb and then onto the sidewalk. I had to have surgery for a broken right femur and a fractured right arm. I’m now in recovery and I’m definitely not happy! There is no doubt in my mind that the brakes locked up and I was catapulted off the board.

Feel free to reach out to me if this happened to you. I would love to hear your story. scott12phillips@gmail.com