“I bought my s18 from ewheels in 2022. I am so glad I bought it from ewheels. The questions were answered quickly. When I had trouble with a control board (my fault) they reaches to kingsong on my behalf and offered to send in a replacement. My next euc will also be an ewheels purchase. BTW The molicel version is a beast.”
“If you need to buy the S18, then get it from eWheels. The Molicel battery packs address the biggest shortcoming safety wise with the wheel. However, I can’t recommend this wheel based on my personal experience. After 1200 miles of riding, not one of those miles has been problem free. There are serious quality control and assembly issues. I have spent as much time working on the wheel and fixing things as I have ridden it (and I’ve never had a crash). I hate this wheel most days. I was talked into getting it over the Inmotion V11 and seriously regret that choice. My friend has a V11 and it it light years ahead in terms of assembled and quality control.
I do like having suspension. It makes the ride less jarring and has given me the confidence to tackle off roading, small jumps, and stairs. Any suspension system requires maintenance, but I think it is worth going the suspension route.
What I dislike is:
1) the shell design looks good but is incredibly impractical. Everything is held in by flimsy plastic tabs. I’ve already had to replace multiple shell components despite never having a crash. And because of the design there are almost no good options for attaching pads or other accessories. Just horrible design choices. I hate it.
2) The suspension is poorly put together. Bolts were so over tightened in the linkage that they were bent. I had to dremel them out and replace them with my own money just so they could freely spin. The suspension rods were not properly aligned and rubbed the tubes. The shock linkage bolts smack into the side of the fender on bigger compressions. There is so much stiction that the shock out of the box only started to kick in on bumps that were about 1” in size. For regular road riding there wasn’t much difference between this and my non suspension wheel until I hit larger pot holes. I’ve had to extensively rebuild and rework the system to get it working correctly. This has been really expensive and time consuming.
3) changing the tire is a joke. Set aside an entire day if you get a flat. The stock tire is awful. I replaced it with a better tire after 500 miles. However, the fender has almost no clearance. Out of the box my tire has never been aligned correctly. It turns out the axels themselves aren’t properly aligned and I don’t have the correct milling tools to fix it. You have to use shims to align it. However, trying to get the tire align so affects how smoooth the suspension is. I’ve spent about 19 hours so far trying to get the tire aligned without impacting how the suspension moves and avoiding rubbing the fender. It is a nightmare with a nightmare. I can change the tire on my other wheels in about 2 hours or less.
The wheel has been a money pit. I’ve spent hundreds of extra dollars trying to fix it. It still doesn’t work right. I’m ready to cut my losses and move on.
You may get lucky and get a better wheel. It really depends on who assembles you’re wheel in the factory. This is my second and last Kingsong wheel. I am in hell.
Again, whatever wheel you buy get it from eWheels. They do have incredible support and have been helpful through this ordeal.”
“I got the Molicel edition. I also have the standard edition. The molicel is my ride of choice for it's extra oomph at the cost of 7-10 miles range. I absolutely love the s18 despite some easily fixed flaws with the suspension. I ride aggressive offroad and do jump. To me it feels as if it's the perfect weight and width. It's nicely balanced and (with practice) has gotten me over some tough terrain. Roots, small stumps, rocks... all are trivial for this wheel. It is also a fantastic bike lane and sidewalk vehicle. The wheel is sized just right where most curbs can be hopped over at a 45 or 90 degree angle. It goes down stairs like a dream. Again, with practice. I truly hope Kingsong makes a version 2 of this wheel with upgraded coilover suspension and a bit more torque.”
“Awesome wheel! I shopped other wheels for a year thinking that my 180lbs would be too much for the S18. I was wrong.
I got the molicel because I needed the torque. I ride mostly technical off-road and this wheel has not failed me once.
Every hill I've pointed it up, it was ready to climb it if I was. Every rocky crag that I've dropped down, the S18 easily navigated.
I wasn't expecting much from the stock shock, but it has performed really well.
The wheel took a tumble down an 80 foot hill the other day and just lost one small part. It was still ready for more after that.
Tough wheel, good suspension, great torque = a fantastic wheel. Highly recommend it.”
“Got the S18 Special Edition at the end of May and it is my first EUC. It has been incredible and I am glad to have found this hobby. Once you really dial in the suspension it really makes the ride smooth.”
“This new S18 Special Edition is exactly what the original should have been. These Molicels make the whole difference. The wheel is nimble, light, but even more powerful than my Sherman Max, almost! Almost impossible to make it beep through pushing it hard, whereas before I had to tone it down since its 3p battery was seriously underpowered. Love my new S18, definitely my new trail wheel!”
“This for sure had more oomph to it than stock, and I didn't notice any deterioration in performance, as I was able to accelerate up my test hill both at the beginning of the ride and right at the end at 40%. I think the extra for the upgraded battery turns a good wheel into a fantastic short distance or technical wheel. I would not like it to be my only one, range anxiety being a thing, but it's perfect for my usage scenario, which is riding trails.”
“This is my first wheel so I don't really have anything to compare it to but I really enjoyed the suspension, I really only used it on gravel and grass sections as of right now but it does help soak up road bumps just like my mountain bike forks do as well. I have done a couple 25 mile loops with over a thousand feet of elevation gain and the battery sits at about 50%, so not too shabby.”
