The world of electric scooters is expanding more and more, Eleglide S1 wants to establish itself as a primary budget choice, and given the competitors it could also succeed, but it is needed more attention to detail.
Eleglide S1: Presentation
One thing I particularly appreciated about the packaging is that it does not require very special IKEA-style assembly attention, on the contrary it will almost arrive fully assembled. You will just need to tighten the bolts well and screw two of them for the main display.
You will be provided with 4 Allen screws of different sizes, the charger, two copies of the ignition keys, and pads with double-sided adhesive. The charger has a pull-out power cord, so should you break the cord it will be easily replaceable with little change.
You will have to make sure you tighten the handlebar grip very well with the Allen screws, because as I will explain later on it is vital. The first problem, however, is the front light, mounted in an extremely uncomfortable position. In fact it is mounted precisely on the front fender, and requires the locking of a screw to be able to tighten it correctly, and the screw is about 1 cm from the wheel, practically a telephone damagebut I’ll get to that later too.
Eleglide S1 unfortunately has nothing but a front light with a few lumens and the stop, quite visible but not too much. A voltage display and a larger one for checking speed, battery and racing mode parameters.
The handlebar is extendable up to a maximum overall height of 118 cm, while the handlebar is 54 cm long, but has the possibility of being folded in a compact mode of about 25 cm; the length of the Eleglide S1 is instead 115 cm, with a wheel diameter of 25.5 cm. All in all it is very compact, but certainly does not give the impression of being fragile, even though it weighs only about 16 kg. The weight is the greatest convenience, because Eleglide S1 folds in a second, and is light enough to be carried for a few meters, for example to get on public transport on the fly.
Unfortunately, when you mount it, you immediately feel a certain overall instability, probably due to the movable joint of the handlebar, which serves to quickly fold the Eleglide S1 into compact mode, useful for charity, but precisely makes everything a bit unstable. This instability is mainly due to structural defects, for example the handlebar rod when folded or unfolded remains free of play by a few millimeters, but enough to create vibrations on the whole Eleglide S1.
Without gaskets where to affect them, there is precisely this feeling of losing control. Even the suspensions, almost non-existent, increase the vibrations to the point of feeling them on your back.
Then there is the general lack of interest in fixing factory bolts. If you don’t tighten the handlebar carefully, after a few meters you will find it suddenly lowered, and it can be VERY dangerous.
The same goes for the front light, despite having fixed it carefully, and despite the uncomfortable position, after 30 km it came off, I lost the bolt and the fixing thickness, sliding the fixing screw on the wheel, risking to tear it apartand making the taillight slam all over the place, distracting me and making me almost fall out of fear.
Luckily the non-slip platform is excellent and wide, and allowed me to recover quickly, to avoid ending up like a cat on the highway. Bad experience due to a design error, even a bit trivial; I live in Florence, and happen to pass on cobblestones, but the joke is that it fell off while I was downhill on a smooth road, only with the vibrations of the wind.
I hope I have received a defective specimen, and that is not a problem of the whole product line. Fitting the taillight on the fender, where all the most disparate forces are unleashed, was not an enlightened choice.
Eleglide S1: Performance
Speaking of lighting, low-light visibility is like going at night with a firefly in a jar. Luckily I live in a brightly lit city, otherwise I would have risked my life several times. The lack of power of the taillight is just one of the many shortcomings, even the stop is not very visible, and lacks side position lights; I mean two LEDs were enough, nothing pretentious.
The Eleglide S1 motor instead stands out: 400W, 36V, Max rpm 750 ± 30r / min, Max Torsion ≥20N.m, and a maximum speed of 25 km / h, even if the manufacturer’s website declares 24. The acceleration is very convincing, even on grass and dirt, but I strongly advise you not to tempt fate due to the absurd stresses; lacking adequate shock absorbersyou’d ruin your back.
On the main dial you can select between 3 modes, namely slow, medium and sporty. Too bad though that they are totally useless, and you will end up using only mode 3, since the trigger throttle has excellent sensitivity.
Uphill, if you stay within 20% incline everything will be fine, while if you feel adventurous and push yourself further, it will simply stop and you will have to continue on foot.
EYE WHEN YOU ARE ON FOOT! Turn it off immediately, the manufacturers say the Eleglide S1 has a safety system so, if you accelerate from a standstill it won’t start until reaching 3km / h, exactly the walking speed. If by any chance carrying it by hand while walking you were to accidentally tighten the trigger throttle, it would end very badly, since for better or for worse the acceleration is really powerful.
The maneuverability and steering angle are really good, I tried very tight curves to go down underpasses, at 5 km / h, without ever having to put my feet down, which is really great, thanks also to the wide wheels. Living in Florence, I find myself a bit ‘everywhere the tracks of the tramway, and the wheels are nice and tough and wide of the Eleglide S1 if they drink them wonderfully.
The maximum load it can hold is 120 kg, but it is also true that it limits its overall capabilities by quite a bit. For example, the battery life, which doing a fixed test in sports mode, withstood 32 km with a 50 kg person at full charge, while it was reduced to 20 km with a 90 kg person, TYPE ME.
I also noticed that the battery indicator is not reliable at all, for example from five notches, the maximum, at three notches, covers almost 15 km, but from three to zero only 5 km. In fact, I was totally screwed the first time. So it is better to do a break-in charge and mark the maximum km. Charging from zero to full takes about two and a half hours, and performance from full to half charge changes considerably, especially in acceleration.
The brake it is single and disc rearwhich left me a little perplexed, I’m not exactly the number one fan of the least safe brakes on our planet, but I have to say that using it every day I have learned to trust.
Braking from 25km / h takes about 4m of braking, but has a slight engine brake when descending and leaving the accelerator, which significantly reduces the feeling of impending danger. Even if the engine brake is completely OUT at 30% gradients, I hit 40km / h.
I have not noticed recovery braking, and I think it does not exist, I have not found information about it, but I didn’t even notice any noticeable fluctuations in the charge.
All in all, however, at the price of € 359 there are not many choices, and I have seen much worse, in the sense that they should not even be allowed to circulate. However, I believe that with a few more tricks, it could really become a must buy.
#Eleglide #review #budget #performance