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I vote we call this the call this thing the Evolve āBlingā.
Whoās with me?
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iāll be pre-ordering on the 23rd. i love the old school āwhite wallā 97mm wheels 
. the gold blings are, no doubt, an eye candy.
from what i understand, this board is between the carbon gt and bamboo gt. carbonās performance, and flex of the bamboo.
also, 50km range, and 45kph speed. so im guessing the price will also be between the two gt. i hope.
Iām not sure iāll buy one, but at a local esk8 meetup i rode a guys bamboo GT and was really impressed - a nice board for sure.
Being a gargantuan guy and watching the āimproved flexā in his video (heās really a small guy in comparison) - Uhā¦ iād bottom out or break it i think!
I wonder if theyāve done anything to improve the battery performance? Or weāll still expect to send to @longhairedboy for his battery magic upgrades?
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canāt wait for these wheels to hit evolve usaās site!
my plan is to continue humiliating commercial companies.
21 Likes
Get em 
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I love how Evolve LOOKS but we are literally in a room with source to build better PERFORMING boards. BTW who is the DIYer in the vid? Tag yoāself
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Are you guys going to preorder GTX?? I donāt really know which one I should buy:
-Boosted Board Dual+ with extended battery -Evolve Bamboo GTX
How far do you plan to ride the board? If it is further than 10 miles get the Evolve
The thing isā¦ one of the CONS for Boosted Boardā¦ obviously is itĀ“s rangeā¦ 
But maybe itĀ“s not that bad with extended batteryā¦
On paper, even with the BB extended range battery, the GTX and R2 beats it with twice the range. Speed? We know the answer to that. But base on most comparison videos, BB is the most comfortable.
If you need performance, go for the Evolve. If you want to be Casey Neistat, get the Boosted.
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hahaha nice one 
well, for what I could read, EvolveĀ“s remote is not a very nice example of āperformanceā xD
And those back motors placed where they areā¦ Iām not really sure if thatĀ“s really āsafeā for their integrity.
Mmmmmm yeah, of course I love EvolveĀ“s range and speed and acceleration, and this Bamboo GTX looks really nice, the deck very similar to BoostedĀ“s flex, and with a lot of more range etc. Just maybe those motors in Gold that you look like Ali G
If you buy the GTX it will have a updated firmware with some new safety features. But sure, the trigger is sensitive in the faster modes and it can be difficult to master in the beginning.
What Iāve come to learn in my 33 years is that people are retarded and shouldnāt be allowed to maneuver eh, well pretty much anything. And the problems with the remotes are exaggerated because of this. But thatās just my bitter and cynical opinion 
Edit: btw, the bling on the gtx looks like shit 
Yes, but I also read that they removed reverse.
Well, itĀ“s not about the accidents that people may have if they are not careful with the remote, Iām talking about losing connection while riding.
See? You donāt like either those gold motors haha. Arggggg so difficult to make a decision xDD Evolve Street Carbon GT itĀ“s really nice but I want the deck to be a little flexible, as GTX is right nowā¦ so GTX would be great, if I donāt look at those gold motors, of course xD
and I just read that if you need a firmware update for the remote, you need to send it to their headquarters? omgā¦
I found also this review:
EVOLVE GTX RELEASE BREAK-DOWN THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. After building the social media hype for over a week, Evolve finally launched its new board. Dubbed the GTX, this board is essentially the demon love child between a Bamboo GT and a Carbon GT. Itās honestly something the consumer has been crying out for, and now we have it! No longer will Evolve customers have to choose between the range of Carbon GT or the āfeelā of the Bamboo GT. With the GTX they have the best of both worlds!
While there are some impressive little upgrades and improvements, itās not all peaches and cream. There are known inherent problems with the boards that are still to be addressed. Here I break down the good, the bad and the ugly of the new Evolve GTX.
THE GOOD
Flex ā Any rider who uses their board for daily commuting, cruising and carving knows the joys of flex. Not only is it a crazy amount of fun to sink into a carve, that feeling of ābitingā into the road that you just donāt get from a stiff deck; a flexy deck also absorbs the imperfections of the road. Flex acts as a dampener and a mild form of suspension. The Bamboo GT deck certainly flexes, but not as much as say a Boosted or even the Evolve Gen2 Bustinā Series Bamboo (which is still an amazing board). The fact that Evolve have put the work in here to produce a flexier deck is going to produce an even more comfortable ride that carves better than any Evolve board before it.
The battery/range ā This is the one weāve all been waiting for! A bamboo board with the carbon size battery!
The most comfortable commuting set-up in the Evolve family is a Bamboo GT on an all-terrain (AT) set-up. The only problem with this set-up is that youāre generally not getting very far on it! The smaller battery on the Bamboo GT (compared with the Carbon GT), coupled with the decrease in range you inherently get from an AT set-up, as well as the dreaded battery sag (ECO drop) meant this set-up was only good for a short distance. This was a huge annoyance to many as the best commuting commuting set-up also happened to be the set-up that produced the least amount of range. What the?
Evolve have responded. The GTX comes with the same larger battery found on the Carbon GT. This means a 50km range in āideal conditionsā, much like the Carbon GT.
This is by far the best feature of the GTX and has redeemed the release of this model. If it was just a facelift to the Bamboo GT (which it looked like it was going to be for a while), then the GTX would have been a pointless exercise. By adding this feature Evolve now have a suite of boards with different specs, price points and capabilities. Credit where credit is due, this is good business.
Remote firmware ā Reverse is gone! This is arguably a good thing. Most (I say most) people donāt use it and many people were slipping into reverse by mistake, which caused a lot of injuries. Reverse has now been replaced by a SAFE mode, which detects any irregularities in remote to board connection and wonāt allow any rider adjustments (mode shifts etc.) whilst the remote is in SAFE mode. This too will prevent many of the problems (many leading to injury) people have been having with syncing, drop outs and unexpected board behavior.
The dreaded ECO drop feature has also been further dialed back to 5% on all new remotes. This coupled with the larger battery makes the GTX infinitely more enjoyable to ride for much longer, Iām sure.
The change in font is neither here nor there.
Larger wheels ā Bigger wheels equals a higher top speed. While this is awesome it was going to come at a cost of range unless Evolve either improved or upsized the battery, which they did indeed do. If they hadnāt upsized the battery I honestly would have listed larger wheels under BAD. If they kept the same Bamboo GT battery and also failed to do anything about the ECO drop situation, larger wheels would just be another hit to the range of the already short-changed Bamboo GT, but alas, theyāve taken care of both the battery and the ECO drop, making larger wheels another plus for the GTX.
A higher top speed, more clearance and more urethane between you and the road, again making for a more comfortable ride.
THE BAD
Same motors ā The generic motors used across the Evolve range are plagued by issues. The motors on the GTX appear to be exactly the same 2x 1500w (3000w total) motors used by the regular GTās, just gold instead of black. This means the same failure and replacement rate will apply to the GTX as it has to the GTās.
Some people have been lucky in the motor department, but for a lot of people their boards spend more time on the shelf waiting for replacement motors than they do on the street.
Same battery cells ā Although a bigger battery is a good thing, Evolve battery packs are made up of average quality, generic cells, which is what led to the ECO drop fiasco in the first place.
If youāve ever seen āMAINTAIN BAT!ā pop up on your LCD screen, this is due to one or more of these average quality cells dying in the arse, requiring your entire board be shipped back to your Evolve distributor. With no improvement in cell quality, it appears as if the same problems may be destined to plague the GTX.
Wheel quality ā When youāve got the battery power/range to play with a bigger wheel is awesome! For a long time the ABEC11 97mm Flywheels have been the go to wheel for people looking to upgrade in this area. Evolve are trying to get a slice of this pie by offering their own 97mm wheel. However, Evolveās attempt at developing their own 83mm (stock GT) wheel has been hampered by chipping and flaking issues. This is due to the cheap quality urethane used compared to the tried and proven formulas of Orangatang and ABEC11. Only time will tell if Evolve have fixed their formula in order to produce a better quality wheel, but hopes arenāt high for this one.
Having the wheels stone ground is also an interesting choice. This process is usually done to longboard wheels to make them slide easier, but it is usually done to smaller, harder wheels. Stone grinding big, soft wheels usually designed for grip is a bit unorthodox.
No environment sealing ā This is just a missed opportunity. Look at any other premium board released in maybe the last 6-months. All have some level of environment sealing. Evolve need to get on this train fast or be left behind.
Same remote ā This is personal preference. I have less of an issue with the Evolve remote than most, but a bulk of the community have been screaming for a redesign. The main issues appear to be with trigger sensitivity and lack of a dead man switch. There appears to be no improvements in the area with the GTX.
No real fix to syncing, drop out and multiple connection issues ā The new SAFE mode, while progress and a great initiative, is a break-fix. There is a much larger and very real problem with Evolveās board to remote syncing and many drop out issues. This tends to affect more later batch boards than earlier batch ones, but as the GTX is obviously a new board, it is likely to be plagued by these problems also.
With no real solution offered here, the problems encountered by many community groups on their group rides will still be present. The āsync circleā process must go on!
Cannot do firmware update from home - The micro USB port on the remote is configured for power only, not data. This is why we have to keep sending remotes back to Evolve for firmware updates. This is a massive oversight and is seeing a huge wastage of money on postage for both Evolve and customers.
Still no (real) app - A lot of boards in the budget range have these now. Thereās not really an excuse for a premium product not to offer a partnering app that connects to the board.
Deck length ā A faster board needs to be a more stable board. The GTX can also go further in terms of range. You need to be stable, secure and comfortable on a board like this. Bumping the deck up to 40 inches would have been ideal to allow for a wider, more comfortable and more stable stance. Not a big deal, just a missed opportunity.
Thereās also room here to renege a little on my previous comments regarding flex. If weāre being honest a faster board needs a stiffer deck. If youāre anything like me though youāll still count a flexier deck as a win. The trade off is you need to know how to handle flex at higher speeds and/or how to adjust bushings to suit your style and intended use.
A high speed board with a highly flexible deck and a community of riders who tend to just āgo for itā straight out of the boxā¦ Well, if people couldnāt handle their speed wobbles beforeā¦ Watch this space!
Grip tape ā Meh. Grip tape is grip tape. Many will say this is an improvement over the grip spray applied to the Bamboo GT. I guess it is. My point is whether its grip tape or grip spray, everything has to be replaced. The grip spray was easy to recoat and/or equally as easy to sand back and replace with your own custom design. The new grip tape design on the GTX is bound to peel fairly quickly with all of the individual pieces, like the Evolve āEā being open to abuse.
The design itself looks great, donāt get me wrong. But itās a lot of work gone into something temporary and something many people are going to replace almost just as quickly as they get their board.
THE UGLY
Gold ā Why? For me the addition of gold makes the board a poserās board. Itās unnecessary, adds nothing to the board and honestly just takes what should be a stealth board and turns it into something ostentatious and flamboyant.
The gold motors are like beacons. Cops who would otherwise turn a blind eye or not even realise that your board is electric will now be all over you like a fat kid on a cup cake! Then thereās the added appeal to thieves as well as a general drop in street cred. Rolling around on gold motors isnāt going to get you much other than weird looks from people wondering what kind of carrot youāve got stuck up your arse. Itās the esk8 equivalent of chrome spinning rims!
The motors themselves are still positioned in traditional GT configuration, which also means theyāre going to cop the same amount of abuse and scratching as regular GT motors. That pretty gold finish probably aināt gonna last too long and what youāll be left with is something pretty horrid looking.
If Evolve had dropped the gold and just kept the black this list wouldnāt even have an UGLY category ā thatās how close they were. At the end of the day aesthetics is a matter of opinion and this is just mine. Yours might be different, and thatās okay too.
SUMMARY
All in all you have to consider this the āSā line board similar to Appleās business model. Hopefully the next full model release (GT2?) will address the BAD items once and for all. When that day comes Iāll happily part with my cash, but not until then.
In the meantime many riders can finally get their hands on their dream board, a Bamboo GT with Carbon GT range, and for now thatās nothing to sneeze at!
For existing GT riders you can get your hands on Evolveās 97mm wheels and upgrade your remote to the latest firmware.
Preorders for the GTX start on 23rd June at 10am on the Evolve Skateboards website.
1 Like
Evolve all day
Why is it $250 more? Just for grip tape.
Hey Guys need help im 7 feet toll, and 285 lbs and i wanna get Evolve carbon GT is it gonna be good for me or better to build a custom?
Overall I wouldnāt advice anyone to get an Evolve Board (any of them) as a first board.
Issues are:
Battery sag - this would be an extra big one for a big guy like you Remote connectivity - either a permanent occurence or never happens, depending on remote/board Overheating causes unanounced shutoffs - also more of a concern to you given that you are a bit bulkier Parts only available from Evolve themselves
Iām currently fixing all of those issues on my BGT - I replaced the battery already (to a 12Ah 10s4p) and am about to replace the motor with Focboxes.
Basically, if I didnāt have the Evolveboard anymore but had all the money, Iād do my best to get my fingers on evolve Trucks, maybe their enclosure as well, and thatās it. Everything else should always be higher quality than Evolve uses