Boyang Steven Sun great effort at producing this slick review! Amazing video and audio quality, superb editing, and of course it doesn't hurt to have the Wasatch Range for a stunning backdrop. Onto my comments... Brake lockup. This is a feature not a bug. I really like the lockup feature as that provides max braking when needed. As long as your fronts are still rolling you are in control. Having ABS just lengthens your emergency stopping distance before you smack into something. I have locked up my ZX numerous times after learning I could do it. I have my brakes set at 50% so I can gradually stop. But the lockup ensures I still have full braking force when I want it. No, I have not launched myself when it locked up. I practiced it so it is like DH sliding or ice hockey skate stopping. Easy peasy. Great Backfire feature! I have lots of no lockup boards. They will all skid or slide out on moist grass, wet pavement, wet leaves, live snakes, loose sand, pebbles, bunnies, etc... So losing traction can occur on any board with brakes given the right conditions. I noticed you are still running stock everything. It makes me wonder how many miles you have on your ZX. I have to make mods to make it ride the way I like. That's when I would be able to provide a balanced review. There's no way any board would be able to fit everybody's needs. For example the stock bushings cannot be expected to work for my 120 lb daughter and someone at the 230 lb range. The LED layer on the board cannot be easily damaged by scratching the side or the tail. The lights are located way inboard from the edges. If you remove the grip tape you'll see that much of the entire top lights up. So scratching up the edges ain't going to do anything to the lighting. Impact strikes on the pulleys and the guards. This is not unique to the backfire zealot. This happens to all belt driven boards. So if you don't want a motor strike a belt strike or a pulley strike, then it is hubs for you or rear facing motors... As for your customer service experience, you should specify what the problem was that they couldn't solve for you. It could have been minor and just a communication difficulty. If they didn't solve your dead motor problem, yeah that'd be an issue. So what was it? Thanks for the LED ring reference I'm going to look into it. Keep up the great work!
This information about ABS and locking up wheels is so wrong I need to pin it here. You also appear to be a Backfire Facebook Mod as you copy and pasted the same thing. on Facebook. 1) Locked-up wheels DOES NOT ACHIEVE maximum friction co-efficient. Locking up brakes is NOT ABS. How ABS works is by pumping brakes many times per second. Straight up locking up wheels leads to loss of control. This is very seriously to even try to spin wheels lockup as an ABS feature. ABS also needs a computer to calculate friction and how many times it needs to pump breaks to maintain maximum friction. I highly doubt such an advanced feature is installed on the Zealot X without marketing even mentioning it. Lastly why would ABS only kick in moments from stopping? that's also not how ABS works. 2) Backfire ADMITTED this is an issue and the are looking in to a fix.
@@evtechsteven The lockup feature only occurs on the last mm of rotation on the control wheel and it releases immediately like ABS chatter. So I don't think beginners are going to have a problem with it. Not unless they like slamming brakes all the time. I wouldn't drive a car like that, why would I ride and brake an eboard like that? You would get ejected long before any lockup chatter.
Great Vid... I really enjoy the long term reviews. Really shows which boards will stand the test of time. After all these boards are not cheap. I feel you hit all the major talking points Great Job...
Hahahaha, I like how the picture has those scratches on the motor mounts bottom side. Been riding around on my X for 2 months now and I have the exact same problem. Those motors are crazy overkill in terms of size and your clearance at the back wheel trucks is pretty low if you use the 97mm stock wheels :(
Man, I remember watching that led circle video awhile back. It’s an awesome concept. And I’m not surprised by your customer service experience. They dropped the ball for me as well for just basic stuff so it’s hard for me to want to spend money on their products anymore… but who knows, that may change in the future if they get better…
Excellent review again. It's a full review with the things a real rider cares about and needs to know prior to purchasing a board not 20 minutes of riding with crap music in the background and a non committal sum up.
Remember to progressively brake and use your vision. Locking up and potentially high or low sliding will only happen if you panic break. Put yourself in a statistic where you do not panic break and build good habits
The braking force of the motors should not exceed the maximum friction coefficient of the wheels. Backfire admitted to over tuning brakes on this board on my email correspondence with them. It’s one thing to purpose want wheel lockup for tricks by pro, it’s another dangerous thing to fail to tune the power of a board for mass market and try to sweep it under the rug
I don't have an x. I got the base g5 as soon as it came out because you get similar performance as the x for half the price. Acceleration may not be as strong as the x but I get to it's top speed of 28/29 really fast, as long as there's not too much head wind. I should also mention that I am 220lbs. Also being that it's a hub board it's quiter than a belt board and I don't have to worry about scratching the motors. Just my .02
Greetings from Whittier I have one functioning bored but I put together from parts that I found at the swap meet from a team gee mini and a backfire g2t and longboard deck after cutting off a drop deck parts I soaked it in water and bent the end of it so I had have a Kik tail with the handle super DIY but I love it thanks for your videos bro
Interesting that you mentioned about babysitting the board! My boards are relatively dirty and I never tried hard to clean them because it’s going to be dirty next time they go out. Have this one board with white wheels and that’s a totally stupid idea.
Awesome board. I like that you interjected Chinese language into it so they couldn't use as a barrier or excuse. Seems customer service is a thing of the past anymore.
The wheels lock up because those wheels are 80A. With something like mad wheelz v2 I doubt they'd lock up ever, who wants to ride with 80A anyway? Besides people with shiny roads.
Im not sure if any other boards have anti lock breaking stystems. That will happen with strong enough motors and breaks. Motorcycles and cars have computer controlled anti locking systems, but idk about e boards
Dang skateboards have came a long way, I Took my old Carver Skateboard out for a spin today and felt super alive! I cant wait till i can save up for one of these!!!
How does the brake do on a slight decline? Might be good to put tape barrier to prevent going 100%. There's some cool grip tape cleaners that work like a pencil eraser.
I have scrapped the back up quiet a bit now that you mention it from standing it up. And I seem to have a lighting issue where the light cuts off completely after the back motor from the left side. It seems the lights power starts from the back left and loops foward around and back to the right side because when I apply pressure on it, it turns the entire board back on. I somehow damage the lights power supply’s from inside idk. You think they can help with anything?
the amount of babysitting you need for this thing is huge drawback. also, that parasitic power drain should be a deal breaker for everyone....especially since there's no mention of it in any of the "reviews" I watched.
I have a Zealot S thinking about selling and getting an X. The stiff deck is the only thing stopping me. I have another Flex type deck with DKP and a powerful carbon fiber board. Im trying to decide between Backfire X and Voyager X.
I've had my Zealot X for well over a week now. And I was also worried about the stiff deck and how well it would do road vibrations. And all I can say is, only if you live in an area with really bad roads, this is not a thing to worry about. The board is so stable and smooth, which I don't see many reviewers comment. But as said, you should only worry, if the roads in your area, are really really bad.
I am seriously considering buying the Zealot X or the S2, I mainly want to buy it for transportation, I would have to travel 13 miles 5 days a week, what are your thoughts on this, will the battery degrade a lot?
I really like the looks of this board, but I was kind of turned off from it when you did your review of the Meepo Voyager x. There's just too much performance to pass up at the Voyagers price, and the little issues with this board, such as the low clearance and LED possibly busting, is just a hassle for me.
