Evolve Bamboo GTX - Confused!!

So i have been researching a cool method for commuting to work, i have decided on an Elec Skateboard.. my commute is 30kms round trip and on a complete flat the whole way..

I have kinda decided on a Bamboo GTX and will likely pick it up on Wednesday this week.

I see so many negative things about this board (all old posts tho) to the point that I'm starting to disbelieve the positives. my concerns are below, excuse my lack of knowledge i have never really even been on a regular skateboard.

1. Voltage lag, will it terrorize me from half battery on wards.
2. Will the batter last 12 months? I'm doing 6000 kms a year.
3. Is it going to throw me off when it shits itself?
4. will it easily do 30 real kms in one charge?

many thanks

Dave

 

Hey Dave

1- It will not, a couple of things to remember though, if you want to keep the life of your battery as high as possible. Go with the slow charger. This takes 4-5 hours to fully charge.

2- It should last that far just make sure to take care of it. This is also being sure to use the modes properly. You wont get the range youre looking for in GT or FAST Mode. Eco was designed for trips such as yours. I only use GT or FAST to cross streets quickly when I'm on trips or go up steep inclines.

3- By throw you off do you mean the board might brake without warning? If so Ive had my board since 2/26/19 and have done more than 60+ miles on it already, never had an issue. If you mean braking and acceleration of the board. GT and FAST have stout acceleration, if you smash the throttle and not prepared for it, you might be throw off. Ease into it. Braking is the same thing.

4- I did a 17.4 mile trip one way and another 17.4 mile trip going home. This trip was on 3/14/19. I stopped briefly to eat because I hadnt eaten all day. Took the time to also charge the board a little bit. This was using ECO mode and using FAST mode to get across streets or go up hills. I never went in GT mode during the trip. It died less than a 1/4 mile away from my home. I kicked pushed it home with no problems. This was a day which it was sunny and 70 degrees out and high winds and did at least 34 miles before it died. I honestly believe it could of done a slight bit more should of it been not so windy. I'm also just a bit over the max weight limit Evolve says on its site (225) and it performed amazingly.

 

Thanks for the reply, lots of good info.

So i have test ridden the skateboard and i know it is powerful and can easily chuck me off with its acceleration or brakes but i mean power saving feature where it jumps into Eco.
Apparently they have changed it so it doesn't go int to power saving mode at 20% any more, but 5% instead?

its crazy how many people complain about these boards it is very close to putting me off buying one, i guess if you are busy enjoying it then you are not writing posts about it..... i have also noticed there are not many video's from owners..

from what i have read on your other post i take it you haven't had an Esk8 for too long so out of interest where do you get your info? or have you had a different one before?

 

Hey Dave, don’t let the negative comments fool you. The Evolve boards are absolute quality, I weigh 105 kg and they truck me around bush trails and bikeways like I’m a 48kg supermodel. I’ve just put the 38 tooth upgrade I my One GT board and I’m running uphills like flats now. My best is about 36 kms in travel but I’m riding in GT mode and can’t help but get onto the grass and slide it.
Your going o love commuting on the Bamboo GTX.
The only down side is you’ll be having so much fun you won’t be online writing something negative.
Enjoy.

 

thanks @Lounger4035 shame that people are so negative... im about 90Kgs so from what ive seen should be ok.

You say that you have done 36Kms best, was this on AT wheels? im not getting the AT setup from the start but sounds like i will want to get them at some point.

38 tooth upgrade does this improve torque and lower top speed? did effect your range?

The guy in the shop said that i wouldnt wanna go 40kmh as its a bit sketchy...

 

Yes people were complaining about the the ECO switch, dont worry though it doesnt jump in the sense of jumping. It just switches very smoothly and if you need the extra power just keep you finger on the trigger and it wont go into ECO MODE..only until you let off the accelerator.

Some of my friends have Evolve. The reason why they chose Evolve over boosted is the range and the customer service. They didnt like the fact that the range of boosted was only 14 ish miles and they would sacrifice the ability to travel easier with the boosted for the extra power. Second was the customer service, it came up multiple times while trying to make my own decision to buy a GTX. I kept hearing that they are willing just to talk to you and dont treat you as a number and I decided to test that myself with just a simple email about recommendations to get better range.

I emailed the CA office at 6am ET, they responded 2 hours later, I responded back, and 2 hours later they came back with an email. It was a generic email either, and it was a lengthy email about range.

One of my friends owns both the boosted and the Evolve. While in his opinion boosted is underpowered but also more refined. However he likes his Evolve board better due to the raw power the board has, he says Evolve is a but unrefined but he likes it that way. I tried to ask him exactly why but he simply couldn't put a finger on it

 

The 36km trip was on the street setup and riding on a perfectly flat bike path. I’m now riding the Carbon boards with the AT setup, it’s just way more comfortable up and down bumps and lets you off the beaten track if required.

 

Dave,

A couple of things. I agree with most everything written with a couple of additions. My experience with Evolve boards is you get the best range in Fast or GT with little throttle. If you like to carve while riding that doesn't help with mileage. The 30k range you refer to should be no problem with the street setup. Your battery will decrease after a few hundred charge cycles regardless of what the specs say. The board isn’t waterproof but there are precautions you can take to help keep moisture out of the circuit board area. As for the shifting of modes (command queueing) that hasn’t been an issue since the R2 remote was introduced. Every now and then you may have to resync your remote to the board but that is pretty rare now too. If this is a daily commute board I would make sure to order spare spacers, washers, bearings and a belt. I also found the belt guard to be more of a pain, with little things getting caught in it, than a help. Either way I love riding these boards in the city, so much faster to get around on. Be careful of local laws and get a good helmet and gloves. Enjoy.

 

hello there, buddy, i would recommend u to buy a nice spec e bike, trust me, i owned carbon gt with at and street ,and i have also owned boosted stealth, these things are toys, if u want reliable and something that u can grow with, that's a quality e bike, i have a folding e bike, i bought it from luna cycles, trust me, u will not regret it...my choice was the mosso bike.. stay safe...

 

Yea bike sounds decent enough...

I guess I have spent some time playing this over in my mind, i nearly went for an elec scooter but the end result is i kinda want somthing i can play with when not commuting. I know that i will need to get a new battery for it after 6 months, im hoping i can get one under warrenty first time and then upgrade the second time...

 

Hello mate, thank you for the info very helpful!

couple of questions for you tho:

1. So Eco is not necessarily the best mode for mileage? if i ride in fast with say half throttle will be better? also i will be on a flat straight bike path the majority of the way.....

2. I'm happy to buy some spares straight up.. no problem. Should i expect to break things en route? Again, i will be riding this thing mostly in perfect conditions - weather and environment.

3. When you say the belt guard is a PITA do you mean it gets clogged up and damages the board / slows it down / stops it in its tracks?

The shop had sold out of the boards when i went in to pick mine up... i should have checked first.. I will be getting min on Tuesday now so longer to wait wahhhh

 

RjodEvolve3297

1. While I don’t have a scientific analysis to back this up I do believe Evolve has a video on this which covers it. And while you won’t be doing hills it also covers the best way to handle those. Pretty sure that is where I got that info from. From a riding stand point once you have the board for a couple of weeks I will bet you will feel Fast and GT are the only way to go anyway.

2. I never have broken a belt and I have put my board through some pretty strenuous work in AT setup on single track bike trails. I weigh around 185lbs. After about a year and half maybe 2 years I replaced both belts for peace of mind and the old are now my back-ups. I say the belts for you because you are using it for commuting and you don’t want to have to wait for a new one to arrive before you can use your board again. The bearings you will need to replace every couple/few months. At a minimum you should take them out every few months to inspect. I usually take the current ones out and clean them with alcohol and re-lube them. I don’t do ceramics on this board. I just use Bone Reds and they are like $15 a pack. Dirt is the worst so if you have good roads/paths this will differ for you. It’s pretty much basic skateboard maintenance stuff.

3. For the belt guards I ended up getting twigs and other grassy like stuff with and occasional pebble caught in them. I also had to cut away part of the guard so it wouldn’t rub against the 97mm street wheels. After that I just stopped using them and prefer it that way now.

Everybody has their own style and preferences and I am sure you will find what works best for you. The board is a blast to ride, so much fun. I think the one thing I had to get used to the most is the force put on your back leg especially going uphill. It’s a different ride for the muscles. Anyway hope this helps and Skate On!

 

ZombieKillDave - sorry I should have addressed this to you. Thanks for keeping the world safe from Zombies and I hope this helps ;-). Have a wonderful day!

 

If you want the battery to last a year calculate your charge time, “trial and error” to stop charging @41v then charge again at work
If you can keep the battery 40-41v max it will last longer.
So if your getting to work with plenty in the tank lower your voltage again.
Full charge will get you 40 with eco
As for throwing you off, learn about trigger value settings. Make sure you tap the break a little to change the value by about 100 don’t leave it full off. You will find if you squeeze the remote it will change the break values. IE, breaks can come on when you squeeze the remote unless you add in the 100 when setting
At your usage with full top up charges it WILL NOT LAST a year

 

So having used this for 2 weeks, and i changed to AT tyres for the second week. I have found with AT I'm just getting to work, 13 kms. I travel at 30 kmh the whole way so understandable....

I'm basically gonna hammer the battery and if it breaks in warrenty I'll get it replace if not ill buy an upgrade. Simples.

 

Make sure you have 50psi in the tyres.
Don’t over tighten the belts or wheel nuts so it rolls a bit better. Other than that, have fun

 

hey man, good to know u are enjoying ur evolve product, i don't know if i told u but i had carbon gt and boosted stealth, and carbon gt for it shitty battery quality i had to sell it for 800 dollars loss when not even used more than 50 miles... then boosted i had to return it because boosted lack the pneumatic wheel option, now i was having this itch again for electric skateboard, so was drooling over the youtube clips of lacroix board, same price point as carbon gt but performance spec sheet is very high...

 

Do your self a favour and don't buy it....

You should either buy a second hand bamboo by one and upgrade the battery or build your own.

To be honest you should have kept the carbon and put a monster battery in it.
I'm already looking at a new battery, at 500 bucks so a total of 2k I will have a board capable of doing 30km minimum in gt mode without sag.

 

i did try to look for the better replacement battery but couldn't, anyways but why do u say i should stay away from the lacroix board, every body on tube can't stop saying good stuff about this board???