Teamgee H6 Review After 1 Month
Great thanks @Brennan post this review for us.
Check his original post here.
I’m new to e-skating and received an early tester board from Teamgee. I planned on building a board but put that on hold so I could give a “beginner's thoughts” review without having any brand bias. My only prior experience was riding a friend boosted v2 dual+, which I’ve seen regarded as a good standard. I’m 6’1 and weigh 175 lbs. I received the board on April 13, and have put about 175 miles on it since then. I’ve been in contact with Teamgee and they’ve since updated their site with cheap replacement parts, so I ordered new hub sleeves for about $11 and feel safe riding the board hard knowing a replacement motor/wheel is only $29. I’ve ridden it through rain, dirt, sand, puddles, grass, and pebbles, to test the reliability of the hub wheels. I haven’t noticed any new wear on the board that isn’t expected, so I’m going to post this review now instead of when I planned, which was when I received the replacement sleeves in a week or so.
https://i.imgur.com/NLFKBC7.jpg
The board arrived well-packaged, and these are the contents.
https://i.imgur.com/AGQCFJS.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/4WB5JQQ.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/D5ia4xx.jpg
Deck: The 11-ply maple deck is 37 inches long with a 31-inch wheelbase. The battery is integrated into the deck, so there isn’t much flex there. No-flex is only bothered me when I ride on very rough pavement though. Riding on an asphalt road or a sidewalk is easy, and I can comfortably ride at the max speed without noticeable vibration. I love that the board doesn’t have any giant enclosures sticking out, and the only component sticking out isn’t cheap plastic either. It makes the board feel well-built. I usually take this to class so I enjoy the thin design, many people don’t even notice it’s electric. This works out for me because apparently electric skateboards aren’t allowed on my campus. It’s also well balanced and easy to hold, I hold it like a regular skateboard indoors because it’s so ergonomic.
https://i.imgur.com/YRZeg5N.jpg https://i.imgur.com/L1bpapU.jpg
Remote: The remote has a little screen which shows an accurate speed and odometer, both of which are in kilometers. You can’t see the screen in bright sunlight, but it’s nice to have. There’s also a built-in led light, which isn’t too bright so it’s only useful for signaling to someone or looking at the board at night. The remote feels very light and kind of cheap, but I’ve never seen the remote battery drop below 75% and I’ve only charged it ~3 times. I’ve also dropped it in puddles and on pavement and there’s no damage, so maybe the lightweight is beneficial for that. There are 2 modes on the remote, low and high. Low is great for beginners, very smooth acceleration and smooth braking, and a top speed of 18km/h. I mainly use high mode because it was very easy to get used to, and has a top speed of 31km/h. I used to skateboard when I was younger, and more recently I’ve been wakeboarding and snowboarding. Feeling comfortable on this board only took me an hr or 2 at most, about the same as the boosted. The board accelerates smooth and brakes a bit harsh on high mode, but I was used to the controls within an hour. As long as you lean into it, you can fully brake at full speed without being thrown off the board. The remote works from over 20 feet away and it has never disconnected from the board while I’ve been using it. Not as ergonomic as some other remotes but at least there aren’t any disconnection issues. The odometer resets sometimes too, usually around 100km. I think that’s because the remote has little memory. https://i.imgur.com/Ln1xW26.jpg
Hub motors/wheels: The hub motors are 350W each, providing 700W of total power. This 700W of power seems more efficient than the 2000W of power in a boosted v2 board, I’m guessing because of power loss from the belts. The boosted still accelerates quicker and rides faster, but it doesn’t feel like almost 3x more power than the Teamgee H6. Using Strava for my past 5 rides, I recorded an average top speed of 19.1 mph, slightly above the advertised 18.5mph top speed. Since I’ve seen it mentioned before, I’ll include this- I only notice hub motor stutter from big cracks in the pavement when riding uphill at 10% incline or more. It’s not enough of a stutter to throw me off, but it’s worth mentioning. I haven’t noticed motor stutter when hitting cracks on flat ground though, so this doesn’t bother me. I only fell once so far, and it was because I was accelerating and turning on wet pavement. The wheels had enough power to lose traction and spin, so the board slid out from under me, but luckily I caught myself. The main problem I experienced with this board is that one of my PU sleeves didn’t fit my hub motor well, so when riding the board, the hub took cosmetic damage. You can check this by flipping the board over and seeing if the wheels vibrate when you give them power. It’s hard to notice the vibration if you’re on the board. If they do vibrate, spin the PU a few notches around the motor until it stops vibrating when you give it power. It’s the same fix as with backfire boards. I informed Teamgee and they said they’ll be checking the wheels for vibration from now on. I requested thicker PU and 90mm instead of 83mm, I expect they’ll offer those on their site soon. I’m sure the thicker/bigger PU will provide a smoother ride and faster top speed. I’d prefer a slightly higher top speed over acceleration and hill-climbing ability, as those are good enough already in my opinion.
https://i.imgur.com/DAlH2mm.jpg http://i.imgur.com/LtiQPCs.jpg
Wheel spins and the board rides like new despite the apparent hub damage. Most of the hub damage was from riding on rocks/rough pavement before adjusting the PU.
ESC: It’s a basic ESC from what I’ve read and seen. No issues, acceleration and braking aren’t too rough or unpredictable. Easy to learn, may seem rough if you’re coming from a boosted or better.
Battery: The battery appears to be made of lithium pouches, that’s the only way they’d be able to fit it inside the deck. The board is advertised to have a 10 mile/16km range, and it actually does! I haven’t gotten below 9 miles of range on a full charge yet, and my last full charge got me at least 9 miles. The board doesn’t accelerate as fast when it’s below 50% charge, but it still hits the top speed. The battery also does not have that issue where it shuts off if you brake at full charge. It takes about 2 hrs to fully charge.
Construction quality: The build quality is very good for the listed price. The only things I’d upgrade are the front wheels & bearings. Those feel kinda cheap. I felt a slightly soft spot on the grip tape, and Teamgee said it’s normal. I was concerned it was a possible weak point that water could possibly enter and damage the battery, but they confirmed there are several layers, waterproof and heat resistant, between the grip tape and the components.
Conclusion: Overall I think this board is the best bang for your buck if you want something portable and easy/cheap to repair. You don’t have to worry about enclosures either, as the majority of the underside is wood. The company, Teamgee, although based in Shenzhen, is expanding to the US by bringing their parts here and making them available at Chinese prices. They appear to be using Amazon warehouses, so free 2-day shipping is a great bonus. A big problem I’ve noticed with Chinese eks8 is the shitty customer support and replacement parts. Teamgee doesn’t have this problem, their support has been within 24-hrs this whole month and they’re only improving. I only see the replacement parts available on their main site currently, but I’m sure they’ll be stocked in Amazon warehouses soon. I’ve enjoyed my time with this board and instead of selling it for DIY parts after this review, I’m keeping it for friends to ride along with me once I build the dual 6374 monster I originally planned. I have no concerns that Teamgee will disappear anytime soon, and that they’ll offer support and replacement parts for years to come at close-to-unbeatable prices. I saw a post yesterday that they’re already working on another board that’ll better compete with meepo and wowgo, here’s the link to the indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/teamgee-ultrathin-and-lightweight-electric-board#/
Anyways thank you very much Teamgee for introducing me to e-skating this way, I’ll keep updating this thread as I think of more info to include. Feel free to ask any questions, I’ll get back to you asap.
