After much back and forth and a few boards that just didn’t quite convince me (Koowheel, Benchwheel stock), I started talking to the folks at Landwheel and weighed my options. If the above boards taught me anything over the last couple of months, it’s that I really enjoy the hobby. I come from years of flying FPV, quads, fixed wing etc. and these electric skateboards really got me hooked fast! SO - after a defective Koowheel and modded Benchwheel (stock batteries died on me 4 rides in), I pulled the trigger and ordered a V4 Landwheel.
This will be my ongoing review, as I’ve literally just unpacked and put it on my Enuff deck (which btw is way more compact than the Benchwheel longboard). Points I will address over the next couple of days/weeks/months:
brakes: probably my biggest concern. Mike gave me some great feedback and I am just gonna have to take things real slow here. My fingers are itching to start on fast mode, but I’ll keep it more casual on my first couple of rides.
mileage: they advertise 12 - 15km. The battery is a 36V 3200mAh lipo, so I guess we’ll see about that. If I get 8 - 10km I’d be a happy camper. I’ll also have to test this in both speed modes. I am getting 15km out my modded Benchwheel with 2 6S 4000mAh in parallel, so this should be interesting.
speed: probably too fast to be healthy, but I’ll measure both speed modes.
hill climbing: we have lots of hills in my area, my modded Benchwheel may not be the fastest but it takes 'em like a champ! So that will be a helpful reference.
Below some pictures. I will update this thread with further findings, videos etc. as I go.
First of all, brakes: yes, they are super touchy, and definitely a weak point in comparison to other boards. It almost feels like there is a bit of dead zone on the trigger when applying brakes (not on forward throttle) and then you have about 1 - 2mm where the brakes feel somewhat useful. Beyond that point the motors just stop dead in their tracks, Mike wasn’t kidding! So go practice your foot braking gents ;). Both the Benchwheel and Koowheel have way superior and more reliable brakes in my opinion.
Which is a bit of a shame, because everything else about this just feels so… premium!
Acceleration is smooth! Speed is ridiculous, it’s faster in “slow mode” than my Benchwheel in fast mode. I haven’t had a chance to measure this yet, as I was too busy getting the hang of the brakes system and not flying off the board
I’ve also tried “fast mode” because… I obviously had to. Holy moly! I didn’t push the board beyond 2/3 throttle because it was ridiculously fast. Like crazy fast! I don’t think they exaggerated with the whole 45kmh claim, but I will provide some numbers soon.
Mileage seems great for now: I rode the thing 6km around the neighborhood with fair uphill parts and returned home with 4 out of 4 bars. Later I am doing a 8km ride to work and I am 99% certain the battery will last long enough, I have a spare battery worst case.
The build quality of the remote feels the most solid out of all 3 systems so far, it’s really nice, although I still prefer the Benchwheel style remote ergonomics.
Even in low mode they are WAY too sensitive and dangerous to be recommended
As mentioned by others in this forum, I think the fundamental problem is that you (the people at Landwheel) think that the brakes need to be stronger.
They do NOT need to be stronger, they are strong enough. The problem is that braking needs to be less sensitive, which means that braking strength needs to be spread over the entire lower throttle range:
If you can get this right, you will have one of the best performing solutions out there! I just did 10km to work and speed, acceleration and hill climbing felt great! The brakes kept me from fully enjoying the ride though. A good reference point for braking would be the Koowheel D3M, which also utilizes a hub drive system and feels super smooth and responsive over the full lower range.
EDIT: Still had 3 out of 4 bars on both the remote and board battery, so great first impression there!
OK so I’ve ridden the Landwheel for a little over 20km since yesterday. It kills me that I can not recommend the Landwheel in its current stage (as in: V4). The brakes are simply put super dangerous (I am not exaggerating here). Why does it kill me? Because performance wise it’s a killer solution for a great price, although I can’t say anything about long term durability of course.
pretty smooth acceleration
I got 12km out of it, so that’s close to their specs
super fast! Like… dayum!
super steep hill climbing like a champ without slowing down (I am 84kg)
I wanted to shoot a video today but as it stands, it takes all my concentration to handle the breaks without causing an atomic explosion…
This is a perfect example of an “almost” great product. Shame really!
Well its definitely software, at least I think so. The problem is that we have no way of updating these drive systems ourselves, which is another missed chance.
At this stage I would not recommend Landwheel for commuting, which is only based on the poor brakes. Even though it’s so close to being a great complete package
Landwheel: why don’t you add a USB port to future versions so we can upload future Landwheel firmwarea to the board? It would save everyone so much hassle, time and shipping costs…
Hahahaha, The brakes and lack of full face helmet is why I haven’t ridden the @Landwheel long range or shot a video. I need both my arms to balance or brace for a fall (and not brake my phone, camera or gimbal). The only flaw is the brakes at this point. Without good brakes I’m not going to go that fast. They posted a screenshot of a customer doing 28mph or so. I would only try that on a hill because it would naturally slow me down at the top.
Glad you gave Landwheel a chance, they are working on the brakes. I’m also excited that they are working on controlling two units with a single remote, I know @pkasanda was also looking to make a 4wd setup
Yes, this could be a total winner! They said they will keep me (and I am sure you as well) posted on developments regarding brakes etc.
I was also thinking 4WD before I even received the unit, but the way it pulled me al the way uphill without any noticeable performance drop was simply astounding…
Where else would you see the benefits of a 4WD solution?
Thanks for posting the V4 review. Its very encouraging for most items.
On the topic of the brakes, I’ve been corresponding privately with Jason from Landwheel. We have exchanged a half dozen emails. For some time, the Landwheel Team was very focused on fine-tuning the E-Brake.
That’s changed. Their programmers have now been tasked with reprogramming the boards to use reverse current for braking purposes. Jason gave me an estimate of about a week for the reprogramming.
From my perspective, I think this is really good news. E-brake functions by trying to magnetically trap the stator into a fixed position. Jason’s team now recognizes that this has a lot to do with the Landwheel rider complaints about overly abrupt braking.
I’m very hopeful that the reverse current will produce some pretty nice braking. As I’ve mentioned in prior posts, the boosted boards use reverse current for braking and those brakes are fantastic.
I also get the sense that Jason and his team are very grateful for all the feedback.
I don’t speak for Landwheel. I’m just an electric skateboard enthusiast who bought a bunch of V2 Landwheels. I’m glad that Mike and yourself have added your voices to the topic of braking safety.
When you, Mike and I put our voices together, collectively, we did get our message across.
Your really positive review on everything except braking, plus Jason’s commitment to a new braking strategy, suggest that a really good Landwheel may be just around the corner.
When I ask for my replacements, I’m very hopeful that I’ll be getting some boards that are worth the wait.
That’s great to hear, PK! Really, really good news. I am hopeful I will receive a replacement pcb when the time comes. Could you let us know if you hear anything? Would it be OK to hook me up with Jason’s e-mail address? I feel like I am having a hard time getting my ideas across to Monica. I definitely think it’s a language barrier above everything else.
Yesterday, Monica agreed that the brakes require some work and I think that’s the general consensus. So we started talking about it earlier today and then, out of the blue, she basically starts telling me that the customers are fine with the brakes, as in: they know about it and still order the drive, so they must be OK with them. I go on to tell her that that’s not really how things work and that the brakes simply do not suffice for safe commuting. Then this whole back and forth starts, and she basically ended up telling me that she believes I am simply under Mike’s influence with regard to the brakes system (lol?).
I guess I am holding on to my Landwheel for now, although I am definitely getting a longboard deck to replace my current skateboard deck. It will at least make me feel a bit steadier on the Landwheel (although I am still pretty sure I’ll do a proper superman before all of this is over :P).
I’ll email Jason that you would like him to reach out to you. However, I think you can relax about them not listening to you on the braking topic. I know they were not understanding any of us for a long time. We all saw that. That changed today. I’m very certain that our message has been received clearly and that they are on the right track to make this work the way the customers want it to work.
Hope you enjoy it.
but the point is that this thing is so close to being a great drive, if only they can get the brakes right!