Dynamic tiltback in Begode wheels? It’s possible!
Everyone probably knows that Begode makes the fastest and most powerful wheels on the market. This company doesn’t let us forget this, introducing even faster and more powerful wheels. However, despite this, we are still looking forward to certain features that would allow us to take full advantage of Begode wheels, while maintaining highest riding safety. One of these features is a dynamic tiltback.
What is dynamic tiltback?
In a nutshell, it is a function that counteracts situations in which the wheel no longer has the power reserves to continue to keep the rider stably balanced. Dynamic tiltback makes it so that if the power reserve falls below a certain safe threshold, the wheel will start to tilt back. Importantly, the operation of this function accounts for all variables – battery charge, slope, wind, rider weight, road irregularities and so on. This is why it is dynamic in nature (hence the name), as regardless of the conditions, it will always provide us with a minimum, usually user-defined safety margin.
Interestingly, dynamic tiltback is a feature we can find in many models of King Song or Inmotion wheels, inlcuding older ones. This makes it all the more surprising that Begode still has not added this feature to its most recent products. Especially since the latest models from this manufacturer easily accelerate to speeds of several tens of kilometers per hour, and overcoming the hundred kilometers per hour barrier is only a matter of time.
There are only two features in Begode wheels, which have a rather limited impact on riding safety. The first is a user-configurable speed limit, which is intended to counteract exceeding a certain speed limit. Unfortunately, as the battery level drops while riding, the maximum riding speed also drops. It may not be possible to reach the speed limit at a more discharged speed, as an overlean will occur sooner. This, unfortunately, usually ends in a painful fall and sometimes a crippling injury.
The second feature is an audible wheel overload warning alarm. It is always enabled and activates in a manner similar to dynamic tiltback. The problem is that at higher speeds the sound of the alarm is masked by wind noise, so you may not hear it (especially if you use a full-face helmet).
EUC World app has long made it possible to set alarms that will be felt as vibrations or heard through Bluetooth headphones, speakers or a communication set. This way, even the strongest wind will not be a problem. The problem here, however, is a slight delay in triggering the alarm, due to data transmission limitations between the wheel and the app. This delay cannot be avoided, but normally this is not a problem. However, for people who like to ride on the edge, any delay in response matters. That’s why dynamic tiltback is probably the best possible feature to immediately counteract the risk of wheel overload/overlean. This makes it all the more surprising that to this day no Begode wheel is equipped with this feature. But does this mean that wheel users have to accept an increased risk of falling? Not necessarily!
Dynamic tiltback in Freestyler’s custom firmware
There are people in EUC community who make special contributions to it. There are those who create content so that we can increase our knowledge of what is happening in the world of electric unicycles. Some help others learn to ride or solve various problems. Others use their skills to provide useful accessories and modifications to original components.
Such people include Bill, known as Freestyler, who decided to develop modified firmware for various models of Begode wheels and add the missing, and much-needed, dynamic tiltback function to them. And he succeeded! You can read about the details in the corresponding thread at forum.electricunicycles.org. There you will also find more information, including instructions how to install custom firmware on your wheel. In the forum you can ask questions to the author of the modification and users who have decided to install custom firmware in their wheels.
Of course, you will also find full support for the new feature in the latest version of EUC World. Freestyler’s custom firmware doesn’t only introduce a dynamic tiltback feature, but also a much more accurate, reliable indication of the safety margin in EUC World. This is because this parameter is not calculated, but based on precise data sent by the wheel using custom firmware. You should also expect more accurate and realistic indications of battery current, power and energy consumption. This is however a totally new, experimental feature that needs some input from the users to fine-tune it.
Can I install custom firmware in my wheel?
Not every Begode wheel can have custom firmware installed. Especially you can’t install it on a green mainboards. More, not every black mainboard is supported as well. So to find out if such a possibility exists, follow these steps:
- Make sure you are using the latest version of EUC World. You need at least version 2.26.0. If in doubt, visit Google Play to see if there are updates available for EUC World.
- Launch the app and connect it to your wheel.
- Go to the second tab of the app screen (by swiping screen left or tapping on a second dot on an app’s bottom bar) and check if the Version parameter is available. If you find a value starting with GW instead of a dash in this field, custom firmware may be installed in your wheel. In this case, contact Freestyler if you want to find out how to do it.
If your wheel version starts with CF, you already have custom firmware installed. It’s worth to mention that, after installing custom firmware, you can always return back to a stock firmware using official Begode app. But… I don’t think you’ll do that.
Let’s convince Begode to introduce such a feature to its wheels!
Custom firmware was created to make Begode wheels safer. However, this is a modification that is not supported by Begode. It is mainly intended to show that it is possible to add such a feature to these wheels, and thus encourage the manufacturer to introduce it in all new firmware updates. So feel encouraged to contact Begode representatives (or at least your dealer), ask for this feature to be added to official, stock firmware and pass the link to this article. I hope that with adequate pressure from our community, Begode will respond by adding dynamic tiltback to their wheels.
Disclaimer
The custom firmware has been solidly tested both by Freestyler and by several users who have installed it on their wheels. So far, no problems have been found, and the creator of the modification declares that the modification does not affect other wheel functions and safety. However, I would like to make it clear that when you decide to use custom firmware you do so at your sole and exclusive responsibility. Under no circumstances can you direct any pretensions or claims to Begode, Freestyler or EUC World (or any other parties).
