This is the clean minimalistic beast of the Electric Scooters that seems coming out of a garage from Motor GP, but is it any good? Should you buy it?
WideWheel Pro 2020 – Specifications
The scooter comes in three different models:
- Single 500w Motor with 10Ah battery
- Dual 500W (1000W) Motor with 10Ah battery
- Dual 500W (1000W) with 15Ah battery (subject of this review)
The main advertised specification:
- Max Power: 800W or 1600W
- Range: 30Km or 50Km
- Top speed: 45Km/h
- Charging Time: 4-6 hours
- Max Load: 120Kg
- Max Climb Angle: 30°
- Self-weight: 22Kg
- Wheels: about 8″ or 200mm and 100mm wide
- Dimensions (mm): 110 x 55 x 110 opened; 110 x 22 x 40 closed
Summary
It is a scooter that does not pass unobserved around town as it looks like a hybrid between an electric scooter and a motor from GP, it looks stunning and powerful, but while it is powerful the build quality is not exactly the one you would expect out of a 1300€ scoter, to make things worse is the junky and highly unsafe throttle which will force you to spend an additional 70€ if you are a DIY person or 130€ if you want someone to install it for you.
Widewheel Pro 2020 – Pros & Cons
Pros
- Minimalistic Design, a new look emerging from the crowd.
- Power, you better hold on firmly otherwise the torque will knock you off.
- Speed, 45Km/h is definitely not the fastest in the market but I dare anyone getting to that speed in a crowded bike lane or walk-side which combined with the acceleration is crazy. PS. to get to that speed you will need to unlock ludicrous mode.
- Folding mechanism, the folding hinge looks and feels sturdy. No chance for the columns to come lose while riding.
- Braking, with high power you need an equally efficient braking system. With the two wire-controlled disk brakes you can be certain to stop when you chose without delays.
- Suspension, the in-body suspensions do a good job to ease up road imperfections, but…
- Tyres, you will never go flat, but…
Cons
- Control, this is horrible. The built-in throttle makes your ride very jerky and not easy to control, the control lever has a stroke of about 25mm (1″) but the active part is about 12mm (less than 1/2″), meaning that you need to dose the nearly 45Km/h with 12mm while riding with your body moving. No matter how hard I have tried but it is junk so the only option is to buy a better throttle and install it.
- Laggy, the scooter is also not very responsive, because of the throttle, you need to take the lever down for about 10mm before the power kicks in so the first part of the stroke is dead. Similarly, after braking it does not give back the power instantly, this is because of hardware I believe since the problem persists even after you replace the throttle.
- Manoeuvrability, the wide tyres look great but they are not practical. Steering is not great, the experience has nothing to do with what we are used to with bikes, you feel like you are going to fall each time because when you lean to steer the grip area becomes the small edge of the tire as compared to typical tires, add that up to road imperfection and you can even damage the rims.
- Suspension, the suspensions are not typical compression coil springs but torsion coil springs like the one found in the clips used for the clothes, which are not very good at dampening and when you ride on larger cracks or small potholes you feel the wheels going repeatedly and fastly up and down for a fraction of a second and the feeling is not great.
- Mud Guards, this is annoying, the mudguards especially the rear ones do not go over the tyre, therefore, you will get dirty. The option is to either buy a 15$ extension or design one and 3D print it as I did.
- Brake levers, are cheap and wobble during your ride making noise.
- Deck, if you are okay with riding with the feet in line then no problems, but if you like to ride with the feet side-by-side then is not okay. The scooter is wide enough for the latter, but the actual flat grippy part can accommodate one foot only.
- Weight, here they lied, the 22Kg is actually 24.5Kg. Let’s be clear it is not a Xiaomi m 365 or a Segway ES1/2 from a few years ago, this thing is massive and heavy, and you do not want to carry it up and down stairs, although I do up and down 4 floors twice a day.
WideWheel Pro 2020 -Verdict Should you buy it
Like anything, when you buy something there are compromises, it is a good-looking scooter and if you are okay with the CONS and to spend the extra money on a better throttle and the extension of the mudguard, then you will enjoy the power of it, but if I should choose today I would have definitely opted for some other brand like the Zero 10.